I started sweating profusely..

As he moved away from the place,I was ready for the thunder from Pavi..

I knew..

She was going to curse me with all the words..

Paviii..

I dragged and saw her..

She was looking like a volcano which is ready to burst out anytime sooner..

Unakku moola irukaa..

She was literally spitting..

Hey, avan kekkrapa enna Pavi panna solra?

I tried hard to bring in all the innocence in my face..

She stared at me..

After all, she is not Rocky sir to believe me..

Avan kekkrapa ennaala vara mudiyadhu nu sollanum..

Before she could talk further, the science staff entered the class and the issue was subsided temporarily..

Until lunch, she was silent..

Myself as well..

I didn't want to argue..

While having lunch also,she didn't open her mouth for talking..

Nisha who kept calm, started screaming..

Enna di nenachitu irukeenga rendu perum?

Edhukku ipa ipdi amaithiya irukeenga?

I lifted my face to see Pavi..

She was busy with her sambar rice..

Vidu Nisha, avalukku naan edhu pannalum ipdi dhan kovam varum, I told just to provoke Pavi..

I was right..

Pavi was annoyed..

Unakku purila di..

Avan epdi kooptan paathiya..

Unakku bayama irundha naanga kooda varalaamam..

Ivan enna enakku solla?

Modhalla ivan yaaru enakku solla?

Ivan enna prince ah?

Enna attitude di idhu?

Ipdi dhan invite pannuvangala oruthara?

Nee sollu Nisha..

Nee poviya ipdi koopta..

Nee epdiyum engala vida neraya parties attend pannirpa..

Sollen neeye..

Ipdi dhan invite pannuvaangala?

Avan dhan koopadraan na ivalum haan naanga varom nu palla kaatraa..

She saw Nisha who was silent..

Already Pavi was fuming..

Nisha didn't want to fuel it..

I know..

Love nu vandha friends mukkiyam irukadhu dhan..

Aana, andha kevalamana invitation ku laam naan vara maaten..

Nisha vandha kootitu po..

I really don't care..

She was breathing out of anger..

Her nose was reddish pink in colour..

She was too cute to see..

I know..

I was wrong..

I shouldn't have told, 'Naanga varom'..

Instead I should have told, 'Paakalaam'...

Sorry Pavi..

She was busy again with food..

I tapped her shoulder..

Sorry di..

She shrugged off..

I can now understand what kind of irritation it would be at the age of 16..

I got my gyaan at the age of 30 whereas it was just a small error then..

Hmmmm...

Next two days, she behaved sulky..

I didn't know why she didn't sit with me for lunch..

She did come to the home for picking me up and dropping me..

But, she didn't even utter a single word..

I was silent..

Nisha was the mediator between us..

Of course, it was her who patched us up again..

We three skipped the birthday party..

And yeah, everything went back normally..

Until the monday morning break..

Rajesh came again..

Even though I had palpitations, I thought of calming myself down..

Hi, he said with a smiling face..

I replied back with a Hi..

Ennachu, yen nethiku varala? He asked..

Illa..Veetla konjam..

Before I could finish, he asked Pavi as well..

Neenga yen varala..

She saw me..

I could sense the fire in her eyes..

Adhuva..Avalukku bayama illa..

Adhan ava varalaye..

Adhan naanga edhukku waste ah nu dhan varala..

She spat out the fire..

Haan, Purila.. He replied in a confused tone..

Onnum illaye..she made a fake smile and went out of the place dragging Nisha..

I was sitting embarrassed..

Sorry..

Ava edho..

Again, he interrupted me before I fould finish..

It's okay..

Namma innoru time meet panlaam..

He said and left the place..

I was bit relaxed..

I didn't ask or tell anything to Pavi or Nisha once they came back..

I was talking normally..

And the days were flying..

Schools, tuition, exams - Life was rolling busy..

Quarterly exams were over..

My marks weren't upto the level..

I had to strive hard..

I knew well that if I had to get the 1st group, I had to study well..

Slowly, the playfulness was being replaced with the attitude to study..

But..

But..

My love for him was growing with each passing day..

Even though, he didn't mingle with us, he smiled at me then and there which boosted up my spirits..

The half yearly exams were there..

It was science examination..

I was too much into the book that I failed to notice who was coming opposite..

I lifted my face to see Rajesh..

He must have shampooed his hair..

I literally skipped my heart beat on seeing the handsomeness..

He smiled at me and left to the classroom..

I went like a driven robot..

I wrote the exam having his face in the mind..

It took me several minutes to understand where I am, what Iam..

I wrote the exam with much pushed concentration..

That was the last exam..

When we came back after the exam, I was telling Pavi about the holidays..

We didn't have tuition as they had finished the syllabus...

They gave us 10 worksheets to do...

That was it..

We parted away planning to meet after 4 days for the worksheets..

The next two days actually went well..

Except Amma's sound which was echoing all through the day..

She was mad on me for various reasons..

Of all them, trimming my hair on a tuesday topped the list..

I cut them because I had split ends..

They could not be seen while braiding with  ribbon..

Whereas they were so visible without ribbon..

I washed my hair and I did cut really half an inch..

Moms are moms, aren't they?

She found it and was scolding me for one whole day..

As usual, Athai came for the rescue..

My hands just go through the hair now..

They are free..

I have stopped braiding it after I cut it as layers..

I can still hear amma saying, 'Thalaila enna, kinna vecha paravalla..

Nalla azhuthi pinnina dhana adangum..

Ennaiyum illa, onnum illa..

Shampoo vera..

Sembatta pudichu poi iruku..

Idhula thala viri kolam vera'

I have learnt the act of ignoring these stuffs these days..

Hmmm..

So yeah, the next day I had planned to visit Pavi's home..

Which didn't happen..

Not only on Wednesday but I couldn't visit her home at all..

Athai felt unconscious on Wednesday morning..

The first thing which indicated that she was unwell..

She had bleeding over her saree..

We thought it was because she was at the age of menopause..

I always felt bad for Athai..

She was just 30 then..

She was married to uncle, who died at the mandapam itself just few seconds after tieing the knot to her..

She was blamed as usual..

She lost her interest over wedding by then..

Or may be men..

She used to wear the colour sarees with a white blouse and kept a white streak of thiruneer was always there in her face with a smile..

She settled with us after the grandparents left the world..

Life wasn't easy for her..

And that's the main reason why amma was so kind with her..

And now, this issue..

She was bleeding profusely and we admitted her..

The next 6 days, she kept us on toes..

As I knew cooking and there was no school, me and amma took care of herself in rotation..

Appa took care of her in the night times..

She used to sleep calmly in the nights..

So, no issues were there..

She came home after a week..

The next day was the reopening day..

I was exhausted mentally as I couldn't see her tormenting..

I didn't know that a very good shocker was waiting for me in the school..

--Will brew..