Window by Pallavi Ghimire

Part- I

“Hello?” “Hello! Where are you?” “I’m on my way waiting for the bus. Where did you reach?” “Oh, okay. I’m almost there. A couple of stops away- “ I wave my hand at the bus. “Stop! Umm.. I’m boarding the bus. Will be there in a bit. Bye!” “Alright, see ya!” You’re lucky if you get a seat in a local bus here. I’m supposed to meet him at Ratnapark, so that’s where I get off. I get a seat beside the window. As I make myself comfortable, I see two teenagers outside waving at the bus I’m seated in. They are in their school uniform. The girl hastily gets in the bus while the guy tries to figure out where the girl sits. The bus is crowded. The bus just begins moving while the driver pulls the brakes to let some more people in. The conductor screams at the standing people already inside the bus to shift as much in as they possibly could; to let more people in. I stare out of the window to find the schoolboy still there, his eyes fixed somewhere in the bus. I turn around and find the girl, her eyes fixed on the guy. The crowd doesn’t seem to bother the girl much. The two have an unbreakable eye-contact and that reminds me of something, gets me in the feels.

Part- II

The bell rings. “Alright, guys! See ya’ll tomorrow!” I say as I head towards my bus. Only three buses had arrived then, out of which one belonged to my route. I got on the bus to find Daniya already keeping a seat for me. I’d be the one doing that usually though. I liked the window seat, so did she. I insisted, she refused. So I sat down, took off my bag and placed it on my lap. “So how was your day?” she asked. “Normal. How was yours?” “Yeah, the same. So how is, ahem! Paul?” “Daniya, I’ve told this to you a couple of times already. I don’t like him!” To be honest, I blushed. But tried hard not to show it to her. I had some good acting skills. “Ya know, I’ve caught him looking at you a couple of times.” “What’s wrong with that?” “Oh! So you defend him now hm-hmm!” “Stop with your teasings, Daniya..” I turn around; my eyes get fixed on bus number 5. His bus. I found Paul already in. He was standing. The bus was a bit crowded, so he may not have been lucky enough to fetch himself a seat. As I was about to roll my eyes towards Daniya, he saw me. I paused for a split-second and immediately looked at Daniya. She already was looking at Paul. She poked me with her elbow after a few seconds. “What?” “He’s staring at you. Again!” This was not the first time I noticed. We had occasional eye-contacts once in a while.

Part- III

“Teenage love, ha!” I mumble to myself. Well, me, I’m still in my teenage; the last year. “Ratnapark!” The conductor screams. I get off the bus and look around. “Boo!” “Oh gosh, Paul! I’m scared to death” I say in a sarcastic tone. “Haha, had fun on the bus?” “Yeah, sure. Crowds are so amazing, eh?” I say as I look at him. His eyes still remind me of our occasional eye-contacts and the teasings I suffered. He laughs and nods. “It’s fun to “see” love stories in the bus, though,” I say and wink.