I walked towards him, and then, he slightly moved forward and whispered in my ears -

"The mic was MUTE!" 

He winked at me, and drove away.

"What...?" At first, I did not understand his words or rather his SECRET.

Later, when I  entered my home, my mom asked," Shweta...tune phone kiya tha?"

"Woh actually galti se lag gaya tha shayad" I did not want to continue this conversation, but my mom relieved my stress, saying -

"Tera call kaafi time tak chalu tha, lekin aawaz hi nahi aa rahi thi!"

"Kyaaa..." At first, I screeched and later I understood, the meaning of Kshiteej's  previous statement. 

"Ohhhh...

Usne call MUTE kar diya tha..."

I simply wondered - Was he that smart or I that naive? That I didn't even understand his statement. But I adored his smartness, or rather his presence of mind.

That night, when I opened my Whatsapp after dinner, before going to bed, at first I thought to message him, about our conversation.

I browsed through the contacts, found his name, and with a beaming smile, I typed -

"That secret was indeed smart" 

Unexpectedly, he replied in an instant.

"Haha...

Your welcome Ms. Kalantry!"

I questioned again,

"Par tune tera SECRET toh bataya hi nahi"

He replied - "Unfortunately, I have no SECRETS to disclose"

Followed with - TWO CRYING EMOJIS.

"Awww...how unlucky...hain na?" - I commented back.

"Exactly..." 

"Agar tumhare nazar mein, koi SECRETIVE insaan hain, toh mujhe batana zaroor" - his replied seemed mischievous.

"Okayyyy!"

"So, are you looking for a SECRETIVE person?" - It seemed like an interrogation, as I restlessly waited for his reply.

"Well...not exactly...but haan"

"Either a person, whom I can tell my SECRET 

Or a person, whom I can involve in my SECRET"

That winking emoji after his answer, simply increased my temptations, to reveal my truth.

However, I CONTROLLED MY RISING SPIRITS.

I was tempted to reveal him that, for his search of a person, for both the categories, I HAD A SINGLE ANSWER, in my mind.

Answer = Ms. Shweta Kalantry

But expectedly, neither he messaged nor I, as the conversation ended on an incomplete note.

Keeping my phone aside, tucking myself in the warm quilt on my soft bed, I simply wondered at his words and my imaginations.

************************************

"Kya karu...kuch samajh mein bhi nahi aa raha hain!"

"Iski baaton se toh lag raha hain, ki yeh thoda bigada hua toh hain!"

"Because he is very much interested into relationships and stuff"

"Aur yahan tak ki, isne toh yeh bhi bata diya - ki iska koi SECRET toh nahi hain - which means, he is clearly SINGLE and has no crush.

But agar isko maine apne baare mein bataya, toh what will be his reaction?

Agar isko nahi acha laga toh....sab wrong ho jayenga/

Acha thike...ek kaam kar sakti hoon -

I can tell him, that I can be the girl of his first category, with whom, he can share his secrets.

Atleast, phir dheere dheere, mujhe pata toh chalega, ki iske dimaag mein ya dil mein, chal kya raha hain.

Haan...yeh ekdum sahi plan hain!"

*************************************

I held my phone again in my hand, and was typing my message on the PERSONAL CHAT of Kshiteej, when I suddenly realized the other consequences.

Pressing the home button, I again switched off my phone.

************************************

"Arre yaar Shweta..." I spoke, to myself.

"Main usko yeh toh bol dungi, ki he can share his secrets with me, but what if, he begins to treat me, like his sister.

Phir toh woh mujhe behen bane dega.

Nahi yaar...yeh nahi chaiye!"

Aise toh sab galat ho jaayega"

************************************

It was horrible of me, a seventeen year old grown-up teenager, to have such a childish behaviour.

But at the same time, I felt that these are some common unanswered questions, arising in every teenager's mind, who might have a CRUSH in their life.

Not a hard core crush or love,

but just a sweet, simple teenage crush - AN INFATUATION.

And no matter what, the expedition one teenager gets into, while trying to find the answers to these unexpected questions, are the most memorable moments.

That stupid advice from your best friend, that crazy observations of other boys and girls of your batch, that endearing chats with your SECRET person, that unending fear of this untold words spilling out and many more moments.

While I was anticipating for an adequate solution, an amazing thought struck my mind.

"Thank you soooo much KABIR" I got up, sat on the bed, and laughed at my excitement.

Got hold of my phone, opened Kabir's whatsapp chat and scrolled up - just to find that link.

THE CALCULATOR OF YOUR CRUSH - which Kabir had sent me.

"Yeh same link agar main Kshiteej ko bhejti hoon, toh mujhe bhi uske secret ke baare mein aur uske crush ke baare mein pata chal jaayenga!

KYA BAAT HAIN SHWETA - for a change, I smirked at my smartness.

Without thinking about anything else, or any other consequences, I simply opened that link, and created a similar link with my own name - SHWETA.

Once the creation was done, I copied the link, with eagerness and anticipation, I opened whatsapp and opened Kshiteej's chat.

I could see that he was ONLINE, and closing my eyes, with a great deal of excitement, in my heart and the curiosity of knowing his answer, I sent the LINK to him.

Within a minute, the blue tick on the message, increased my expectations to another level.

On the default web browser of my phone, I quickly opened my DASHBOARD and refreshed it, for more than 10 times, waiting for the answer.

"Yeh ladka kar kya raha hain yaar"

"Blue tick toh pehle hi aa gaya tha, iska matlab message toh isne pehle hi dekh liya, uske baaad bhi, fill karne mein itna time kahan lagta hain"

I was annoyed on Kshiteej, for a mistake, which he had not even committed.

I kept my phone aside, and got up to have some water, to calm down my exhilaration.

After 5 more minutes, since he did not reply, I myself felt dejected.

"Agar usne fill kiya hota, toh usko samajh toh jaata, ki mere pass, uske crush ka naam hain"

"Aur woh kuch-na-kuch reply toh zaroor karta"

"Hutt yaar Shweta - PLAN FAIL"

With utter dejection and despondency, I closed my eyes and slept, without even checking the DASHBOARD again - whether he had tried or not.

On the upcoming Sunday, at 6:30pm in the evening, I had just stepped out from my car, after a well-spent afternoon, at one of my relative's place, with Mom and Dad.

A killer deja-vu and a pretty similar incident, rather  a  - Coincidence, as Kshiteej, was on his Jupiter, coming back to his home.

Mom had already went inside, and while Dad was parking the car, I stepped outside, and noticing me, he stopped his vehicle, a little ahead of my main gate.

As I stepped outside, he looked back and glared at me, without any sign/action. Then, he again looked forward, and moved into his own parking.

"Dekh ke, andekha kar diya!" A low blow of disappointment struck me, as I turned around and walked into my house.

I had just entered through the door, and turning around, was about to close the door, when I could see a dark blue-black colored figure, in the background.

Though I had closed the door, with utter curiosity I opened it again, just to find Kshiteej standing outside the main gate, in blue full sleeves hoody and black denim.

Though I had a pretty smile on my face, noticing him outside, I  controlled myself and yelled - "Paach minute mein aati hoon, Mummy"

I strolled outside, as he waved his hand, in acknowledgement.

Standing outside the main gate, I exclaimed - "Hi".

"Hello" his reply was quite simple, this time.

"Mujhe laga ki tu ghar pe chale gaya, because maine baahar aake, tujhe gaadi pe dekha tha!"

He gave an explanation, saying -

"Arre actually maine tumko dekha tha, par aise gaadi raaste mein kaise khadi karta!"

"Isliye, main gaadi park karke aaya."

What a genuine reason - "Okay!" - I replied.

Now, there was an arbitrary and whimsical silence for the next 15 seconds. I had this thought in my mind (to continue the conversation with - "Aur kya chal raha hain?") and was about to ask the same, before which, he suddenly uttered some words - 

"Shweta...I am sorry agar tumhe bura laga!" I could notice a typical frowning smile on his face, the smile on a person's face - when the person is a gloomy but not guilty.

"Sorry kyu?" I asked.

"Sorry for that answer, par tumhe bhi aise nahi karna chaiye tha!" this time, a disliking laughter prevailed on his face.

"Maine kya kiya?" I asked, about any mistake of mine, which made me sad.

"Yeh tum puch rahi ho!" He mocked, but I was still not able to make out, about which topic was he speaking.

"Arre sach mein nahi pata!

Tu kis topic ya cheez ke baare mein baat kar raha hain?" I again asked, with a little more exaggeration.

"Main uss link ke baare mein baat kar raha hoon, joh tumne mujhe Whatsapp pe send ki thi" I was overwhelmed with his answer, because to be frank, I had actually forgotten about that link, from that night itself.

"Tune woh link open karke, quesiton try kiya tha?" I asked excitedly.

"Unfortunately Haan!" His voice was comparatively low this time, when he replied.

I quickly tucked out my phone, from my pocket and simultaneously asked him," Toh tune kiska naam daala tha?"

He instantly answered - "Yaar mujhe kyu puch rahi ho! Wahan pe toh likh ke aaya tha ki -

YOU HAVE BEEN FOOLED BY SHWETA AND

YOUR NAME HAS BEEN SENT TO SHWETA.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh" with every 'H' in the 'Oh', my excitement reached another limits, as I was anxiously searching for that DASHBOARD TAB on my browser.

"What Ohhhhhh"

"Tumhe pata nahi hain kya, woh naam!" His statement was more of a rhetorical question, since he had assumed that I was aware of  the name of his CRUSH, which he had inputted in the box of the link.

"Kshiteej...sach bolu toh, 

MAINE ABHI TAK CHECK NAHI KIYA THA!" I laughed loudly, as he banged his hand on his head.

"Oh Shit, matlab maine khudne, tumhe abhi iske baare mein yaad dilaya!"

My amusement increased, when he realised that it was he - who reminded me, to check again, the name of his crush, which I had received in the dashboard of my link.

"Woh actually, uss din tera wapas koi message nahi aaya na, toh mujhe laga ki tune try nahi kiya hoga ya tujhe already uss link ke baare mein pata hoga."

Instantaneously, he screeched - "C'mon Shweta, agar mujhe already pata hota, uss link ke baare mein, toh phir main, woh link open bhi kyu karta?"

I understood his answer and spoke - "Toh tune wapas, kuch reply kyu nahi kiya mujhe?"

I looked at him, but he simply smiled, flaunting his hair and did not speak a single word.

"Haan mil gaya!" I finally found that page and scrolling down and screeched - "KEEJ".

"What KEEJ?" he asked again.

"Tune tera naam KSHITEEJ daala tha na?" I asked.

"Haan" he spoke.

"Toh shayad yahan KSHITEEJ ka KEEJ aaya honga" I answered.

Exactly, after 3 seconds, both of us, together exclaimed, in one voice - 

"AUTO-CORRECT"

Although both of us looked at each other and laughed, due to the similarity and timing of our thoughts - the smile on my face suddenly decreased and this gave way to his frowning look, as I noticed the name of his crush on my phone screen.

I was dumbstruck and stood their like a statue, as Kshiteej whispered after a few seconds," Shweta, kya likha hain screen pe?"

A little hesitant at first, I cherished at the fact and handed over my phone to him, as he had an eccentric look on his face, while he glared at the screen.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER