*Aslesha*

"College me competitions honge na Aashi? Kab tak apna talent chhupaaogi tum. Mujhe lagta hai iss baar tumhe jarur participate karna chahiye. Tumhare nritya me pehle se bahot jyada improvement aayi hai. Aur yahi toh wakt hai duniya ko apna asli talent dikhane ka" Tai suggests after my riyaaz is done as I am removing my ghungroos.

"Stage fright hai mujhe Tai, aapko toh pata hi hai. Aur mai Kathak khud ke liye karti hu kisi aur ke liye nahi. Aur mujhe khud pe utna confidence bhi nahi hai" I tell her and she shakes her head.

"Fir bhi soch ke dekho. Tumhare andar bahot potential hai aur tum ek bahot khoobsurat nartiki ho" she says and I smile feeling happy for her compliment.

"Mai sochungi Tai pakka. Ab Mai chalti hu papa intezaar kar rahe honge. Agle hafte milte hai" I say and leave.

There is no way am gonna participate in any competition. I know I'll get really nervous and just go blank on the stage. Or worse I'll trip and fall. Or sabse worst log mujhpe ande aur tamaatar fekenge.

The thought of hundreds of people staring at me makes me shiver and I erase those thoughts and get inside my house.

I can hear squealing and shouting in my house and I know Dhruv is here. "Hey Aashi kab se rukaa hu mai. Chal jaldi aa ludo laaya hu mai" he says and I smile at him. "Uncle ko 3 baar haraya maine" he says and I look at my dad who looks messed up.

"Cheating kar ke. You handle him Aashu. He got me tired in just 10 minutes" he says and goes inside his bedroom.

"Mai fresh ho ke aati hu tab tak tu set kar" I say and go inside my room when he shouts "Mai blue ha.. I'm blue". I laugh.

Dhruv is my 5 year old neighbour and the craziest person I know. I love spending time with him.

I go and sit in front of him and we start playing. 

After ten minutes, my one piece has already gone home with two on the way and he has just one blue piece out because I hit the other two.

"Aashi chips vagera laa na kuch bhuk lagi hai" he says and I go to the kitchen and bring banana chips for him in a plate. I go and take my seat again and he looks at me sheepishly.

Kuch toh golmaal kiya hai ye.

I look down at the board and just as expected he has changed the position of my ludo pieces.

"Oye cheater! Mera ye piece ghar jaane aaya tha, tu change kiya" I say removing it and placing it where it was.

"Nahi nahi andar hi tha" he argues. "Liar Dhruv. Cheater hai tu" I shout at him.

Paanch saal ke bachhe ki chaalaaki toh dekho.

He keeps denying it and I start chanting 'cheater cheater cheater cheater cheater cheater..' when he finally screams on top of his voice and turns the ludo upside down making all the pieces fall everywhere.

Great.

I fold me hands and give him a blank look. "Mai cheater nahi hu Aashi" he whines making a guilty face. He comes in front of me and pulls my cheek.

"Isme teri bhi galti hai, bachhe ko jeetne dena chahiye na" he say folding his hands.

He is so adorable. I suppress my smile.

"Achha? Tu bachha kaha hai lekin. Tu toh cheater hai" I say and he starts whining again. "Nahi naa.."

"Achha thike thike. Nahi hai tu cheater bass" I say and his face lights up.

"Haaa" he squeals and starts eating the chips again and switches on the TV and starts watching Shin Chan. I go and start making dinner.

"Aashi.." I hear him call out. "Ja raha hu mai ghar ha" he says.

"Road ke side se hi jaana" I answer.

"Ok bye Aashi. Next time jeetne dunga tujhe. Kitna haaregi bachhe se" he says and giggles and runs away. I shake my head laughing at his tactics.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

*Viraj*

I park my bike near a tree and look at the entrance of the Cabo de Rama fort. It's the start of July and there is hardly anybody present here. No shops or people around. How the hell am I gonna get information on this. I walk inside twirling the bike keys in my hand.

The first thing I see is a church. Oh I didn't know there was a church in here. Its not really big but a small one. But it's really poorly maintained. Actually the whole place is not that well maintained. There should definitely be someone inside who manages the church.

I step inside and see a man sweeping the floor. I clear my throat to draw his attention and he looks up at me.

"Excuse me uncle? Can I speak to you for a moment?" I ask him and he nods and I go inside. "I'm from the West High College and I've got this assignment where..."

"You too?" He asks looking confused.

"Sorry?"

"Oh there was this girl who just came here before 10 minutes saying that it's an assignment to know about some history of this place without using the internet. Something about this place which not many people know" he says.

Aslesha.

"Err yes. She's my partner is this project" I tell him.

"Oh didn't she tell you that I have just started working here since 2 months so I can't help you but Father Joseph can. He is out of town for now and he'll be back on Tuesday if you need some information" he tells me.

Arre yaar! Ek ghanta bike chalaa k haath me ghanta aaya.

"Okay. I'll come after that" I say sighing. I quickly join my hands in prayer and then in a few seconds go out.

When I am leaving that man calls out, "Hey can you please come together next time? You and that girl I mean. Father would have to explain everything twice. But you two are partners so you can just come together and take notes together right?" He asks smiling and I don't have the heart to deny him. He is right actually. That makes sense.

But hell, I'll have to ask Aslesha now. What if I don't and just tell her that I got the information and the assignment is done. Yes that'll be better. Problem solved!

Yaha peeche ke side sea ka view bahot achha hai sunaa hai. Ab aa gaya hu toh dekh leta hu.

I walk towards the edge of the cliff and... Wow!

Kya view hai ye!

The coconut trees are standing tall swaying a little with the wind like they are guarding the fort. The vast paranomic view of the sea is breathtaking. Thank God, I came back to Goa.

For me it's the best place on earth. My home.

I turn left and see a girl sitting on a rock in the corner, her head rested on her knees and she is facing the sea. She is wearing a baby pink coloured jumpsuit. Her hair is swaying with the wind and I don't know why but I just stand there, getting rooted to the spot.

She slowly lifts her head and tucks her hair behind her ear and I finally see her face.

Aslesha.

She's still here? Itne der se mai isse dekh raha tha? Huh!

But she looks really beautiful sitting there looking at the sunset. Her face glowing. She almost looks angelic sitting there with that background. The colours of pink red orange blue all blended together in a beautiful mix.

Ab jab pata hai ke vo Aslesha hai fir bhi tu usse dekh raha hai idiot! Ghar ja!

Just then she gets up and her eyes fall on me and she gasps.

Great. Wah Viraj! Aur dekh usse! Dekhte hi reh ja so that she thinks you are some sort of a creep.

She frowns and looks away and walks towards me. Oh will she talk to me? She'll avoid me I guess. No she'll obviously talk to me. Hum college me thodi hai. I know she'll come and tell me that she was asked to come after Tuesday. I'll just ignore her as usual and snap at her.

She is almost here. 5 steps. 4 steps.

3

2

1

Here we go.

She straight away walks past me like I'm not even there.

What the fuck.

What the actual fuck did just happen.

Did she actually just walk away without saying a word. Without even noticing me.

But then I see earphones lying on the ground and I know they are Aslesha's.
Without thinking I take those and run towards the exit.

"Aslesha" I call out when she is standing by her scooty and wearing her helmet. She turns and looks at me with a frown. I notice that a small v forms just between her eyebrows when she does that.

"Tumhare earphones girr gaye the" I show her the earphones in my hand. She checks her pocket and sighs.

"Thanks" she says and takes them from me. "Vo aaj Father nahi the. Tuesday ko aayenge" I say.

What the fuck. Why are you telling her this!

"Yea I know" she says looking at the church.

"Unhone kaha ke Tuesday ke baad jab bhi aao tab saath me aana" I say looking anywhere but at her.

Kaisa yeda hu mai. Mera muh khud hi chal raha hai. Ye plan nahi tha!

She suppresses a smile and I can see her faint dimple. "Achha toh?" She asks cocking her head.

Kaisi ladki hai! Yaha already meri itni embarrassment ho gayi aur isse mere muh se sunna hai sab clearly.

"TohIthinkweshouldcometogether" I say quickly gritting my teeth together and she chuckles.

"Kya? Kya ha? Hassne jaisa kya hai isme?" I ask angrily. How dare she make fun of me.

"Kuch nahi" she says still laughing.

"Fine whatever, hassti raho!" I say and go towards my bike and start it.

She laughs more.

Bloody hell. Vo dimple nahi hota toh barabar uski smile gayab karta.

"Aww.. grow up Singhania!" She calls out.

"Get lost Mathur" I say and purposely drive by her side, making sure to give her a shower of mud.

Jaane do mitti muh me. Itna muh khol ke khi-khi kar rahi hai.

"What the hell!! You bastard!" She shouts while coughing.

This time I laugh loudly leaving her standing there fuming with anger and go home feeling satisfied to have gotten on her nerves.

Oh how I love irritating Aslesha Mathur.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

Ye dono kabhi nahi sudhrenge! I guess their goal is to annoy the other to the fullest. So do you guys think that Aashi will finally reveal that she is a Kathak dancer. And will Viraj and Aashi do the assignment as partners? Also, did you like little Dhruv? And btw that pic is really of Cabo de Rama fort. Isn't it beautiful? Baaki bass agle chapters me pata chalega. Keep reading! Ily :)