He fought with himself in the hope of realizing that his thought and vision are wrong. How can he love his childhood friend? Deep inside he felt ashamed of getting this thought. He remembered the times when they studied together. How can this relation turn to Love? No. I am insulting our f’ship by getting these thoughts. He was sure Yamini will never have such feelings for him. The more he tried to forget her, the more intense his feelings became. He didn’t want to live a life without her.

Yamini was out of touch with him for 1 week now. This was unusual. They were never out of touch for more than 2 days. Am I so unimportant to her now? He panicked. No, it can’t be. He called up at her home. Her mother responded.

‘Varun! Long time dear. You don’t have time for us? You didn’t even come to see Yamini? She has been bed ridden since 5 days…’

Varun just banged the phone down and rushed to Yamini’s home. What has happened to my Yamini?

As he had full freedom at her place, he just said ‘Hello’ to Yamini’s Mom & ran to Yamini’s room. Yamini looked like a kid sitting there. But what was this? She had become so thin. Her skin became dark & her eyes were sunk in. Something was seriously wrong.

‘Yamini’, he managed to say.

The moment she saw him, she looked down & started crying. He hurried to her & took her in his arms. She hugged him tight.

‘It’s okay, Yamini. What happened? Tell me. Something is wrong? Look at me, Yamini! ’

She refused to look in his eyes. It took a long time for her to open up.

‘He doesn’t love me, Varun.. I though he loved me.. but when I told him, he laughed at me and said he said he can never love me. I am not his type.. and now I hear that he already has a girlfriend. Varun, I made a fool of myself. He and his friends laugh at me. I can’t face anyone. I can’t go to college now. He never loved me. And I thought, by his actions, that he loved me…..’

She cried hard. Varun was quiet. There were too many shocks to cope up with. Firstly, the fact that Yamini started loving someone else. Then, she didn’t even think of sharing this with Varun. He couldn’t see her plight. His feelings came later. First, he had to make her ok.

‘You didn’t do anything wrong. You are pure, Yamini. That guy doesn’t know what he has missed. He has missed a gem, that’s, you. You can keep your head held high. You are not a fool. He is a fool! Promise me. You’ll start going to college soon. And no need to take this medicines. My best friend is fine. She doesn’t need all these medicines. She needs laughter’

‘Varun. Please sit with me for sometime’

He managed to hide his tears and wiped her tears. Atleast he was happy, he was there as a shoulder for her again.

He took leave from work for a week & visited Yamini daily. They ate together. He brought comedy movies & they saw them together. They played board games. They spoke of school & college days. Yamini’s laughter was like God’s gift for him.

Once, when they were having juice.

‘Varun. I am sorry. I didn’t tell you about him. I was losing touch with you. I agree studies and assignments were taking up time. But he was taking all my attention. I thought of nothing but him. I feel so guilty. How could I forget my best friend, for a bastard like him.. I know you are feeling bad that I ignored you’. And she became sad again.

Varun looked down and didn’t say anything. He never spoke about his feelings. But he was happy. Yamini could still understand his emotions.

Soon, Yamini recovered. She became lively again but matured too. 2 years passed & both of them got jobs; Varun’s job was outside city.

‘Varun. Lets go to our favourite spot’, Yamini decided.

And they went to the end of the city beach. They sat down on the sand and watched the sun set.

‘Varun, remember the time.. Many years ago, you tried explaining to me how it is day in one part of the world and night in he other..’

‘Yes. And you kept arguing that in our place its day and its day at your grandparents’ place in Hyderabad also; and so my theory was wrong..’

They laughed.

‘And how I was throwing chits at you in History class in… 6^th standard I think, right? And by mistake one chit fell on Sir’s desk!!’

Varun smiled. But he was thinking something else. Was this the right time to tell Yamini about his feelings? They would be separating. God knows where they would land up. But he was scared. Yamini was just out of a trauma. She didn’t want to upset her again. Nor did he want to spoil the purity of their friendship.

‘Will we always be there for each other, Yamini’, he asked, looking straight at the sun.

Yamini have him a puzzled look.. She looked confused. He took his hand.

‘Varun! We are best friends. No one dares take my place, ok?? I was about to lose you once, Varun, because of my foolishness. Not again. No one can fill the empty space that you occupy’, she replied sincerely.

They sat silently, wishing for each other’s happiness.

Yamini came to drop Varun at station. They couldn’t say anything to each other. They looked here and there, at people passing by, at hawkers, beggars. Finally, the engine driver honked the horn loudly. Yamini’s heart skipped a beat. She stared speechlessly at Varun as he boarded the train. She suddenly had the urge of hopping into the train herself. The train started. Yamini stood rooted to her place. She raised her hand to wave to Varun and stood in that position without moving. Varun was quiet too. He waved to her.

‘Bye Yamini’, he said to himself and watched her figure become smaller and smaller.

Yamini kept standing there even after the train was out of sight. She suddenly felt lonely and scared.

My best friend, who was always by my side, has gone away. What do I do without him now? When will I meet him again? Will those days return? I took for granted that Varun is always there for me. But he is gone. Will he still be there for me whenever I want him?

With a heavy heart, she moved towards exit and wondered what turn their friendship would take in future..