THE WISH OF HER

chapter 2

Ajay Kumar’s POV:

I wake up sharp at 6 o’clock when the alarm rings. I always maintain punctuality—that's my habit. We should encourage others to be punctual when they don’t follow it.

So, I always wake up my little sister, who is still sleeping and dreaming about something. I love to irritate her, so I take a glass of water and pour it on her face. She wakes up, makes a face at me, and screams, “Daaaddd! Mooooommm!” But no one comes because this happens every day.

I say, “Get up, paithiyam (crazy one), you’re already getting late for school!” She has no words to respond, so she just goes to the restroom. Meanwhile, I brush my teeth and take a bath. After that, I help my mom in the kitchen because I love cooking.

My little sister soon comes back and says she is hungry, so Mom feeds her. I pat her head, then have my breakfast, grab my school bag, and ride my bicycle to school.

As I get closer to school, there is some traffic on the road. I see an auto beside me, and inside, there is a girl looking to the other side. I think she’s admiring nature. Yeah, I love looking at nature too. But when I see her, she has a small smile on her face. I can’t see her full profile because she is looking away, but I can tell you—she looks like an angel to me. Yes, of course, I know her. None other than Manisha.

I have always admired her from afar because she is always silent and has never spoken to any boy since she became my classmate. I don’t know how to explain it, but I like looking at her because she is so different from other girls. However, I never crave to watch her all the time because I don’t want to develop unnecessary feelings, the kind my friends always talk about. I just glance at her once a day, that’s it.

After the traffic clears, I go to Pranav’s house, which is near our school. After Subhman, he is my best friend. When I arrive, Subhman and Pranav are having a serious conversation while staring at the rose plant behind their house. They don’t even notice me.

To grab their attention, I take some ice cubes from the fridge and quietly slip them inside their shirts from behind. They both scream like they’ve seen a ghost. I can’t control my laughter.

Now, they are both glaring at me.

Subhman, furious, says, “Macha (dude), don’t laugh too much! We’ll take revenge for this.”

I quickly control my laughter because I know what he’s capable of when he’s angry.

After that, the three of us walk to class, talking about Batman. We argue, each claiming, “I AM BATMAN.”

I have a Hot Wheels toy car in my pocket, and suddenly, it falls out. My friends freeze in shock because they are crazy about Hot Wheels. I tease them by not letting them have it, so they start fighting me for it, pushing me backward. That’s when I bump into someone.

Instantly, I turn around—and it’s HER. Manisha. She has her eyes closed. I immediately apologize because this has happened twice before, in 6th and 7th grade. Back then, she would always turn around and shout, “i***t!” whenever I bumped into her. I know she’s going to say it again.

I watch her as she slowly opens her eyes and looks directly into mine. My heart starts racing. I’m afraid of what she’ll say next.

But surprisingly, she says, “It’s okay, Mr. Kumar.”

Her voice is as sweet as honey.

That’s it. My heart flutters. I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, but I just smile at her and walk away with my friends.

Now, we are all standing in the assembly. I’m still thinking about her voice. My inner voice is yelling, Control, boy, control! Nothing happened! CONTROL YOURSELF!

After the assembly, we have a moral science period, during which we all fall asleep. When the second-period bell rings, my friends get ready to play cricket inside the classroom. I warn them not to, advising them to study social studies instead because our teacher had told us to prepare.

But they don’t listen to me and start playing anyway. So, I continue studying.

Then, Subh creates a scene—he accidentally hits the ball on Hina’s tiffin box. Subh and Hina start arguing. I ignore them and keep studying.

Three periods pass, and after lunch, it’s finally time for social studies. I am fully prepared for the oral test. The entire class looks horrified.

The teacher randomly selects one boy and one girl to answer each other’s questions.

She calls out: “Manisha and… Ajay Kumar.”

I freeze.

Now, the two of us are standing by the window.

I ask her, “Who wants to answer first?”

She replies, “You go first.”

Looking at her while answering correctly feels impossible, so I manage by staring at the classroom wall as I recite my answer.

Now, it’s her turn. I ask her to answer the question. But she seems lost in deep thought. I don’t know what she’s thinking, so I snap my fingers in front of her face.

She looks at me and hesitates. Then, she softly says, “I don’t know the answer, Mr. Kumar. I forgot to study… Please don’t tell the teacher.”

I can tell she’s embarrassed.

I smile and reply, “It’s okay, Manisha. Let’s just stand here for a few minutes and tell Ma’am that we answered each other’s questions.”

She looks relieved. We stand there, glancing at each other, then at the classroom. After some time, we go back and tell Ma’am that we have finished. Manisha still looks nervous, but the teacher tells us to return to our seats. I chuckle at her expression.

After school, I go to the playground with Subh and Pranav, near Subh’s house. We play football and then head home.

Later in the evening, I turn on the TV and call my sister to watch with me. But she’s studying seriously—she has a test tomorrow. So, I watch alone.

While changing channels, I come across a music show. The anchor announces the topic:

“How to Know If You Have Feelings for Someone.”

This catches my attention.

The anchor explains, “When you look at that one girl, you lose yourself. The whole world becomes silent Your brain stops thinking.You forget to breathe. You forget to speak. But you can hear only one thing—your heart racing. And your eyes only focus on her. If this happens, then you definitely have feelings for her.”

I close my eyes.

And suddenly… she comes into my mind.

Why am I thinking about her?

Everything I just heard on TV is making me remember her voice, her face, the way she looked at me today.

A Tamil song, Unnale Unnale, starts playing on the channel.

I start replaying the day’s events in my head, and before I know it… I’m smiling like an i***t.

My heart whispers: “You have fallen for her, man.”

I keep smiling—until I open my eyes and see my dad standing in front of me.

He raises an eyebrow. “What are you thinking, kanna?”

I feel awkward and quickly reply, “Nothing, Dad… Just thinking about my friends and the crazy things they did in class today.”

Then, I rush to my room and shut the door.