CHAPTER 10
976 Words
How and when did she exactly fall for Richard?
She didn't know.
But, right from the start she knew that Richard was a wonderful man.
Rachel was seated in the last row of the class along with Angela who was busy texting and she didn't have any amusing reason to look into her own mobile. So, Rachel's eyes were just sauntering around at random people.
Suddenly, she felt like she had met someone's gaze. Rachel scanned the whole class once again.
With the recess still on, the class was tumultuous. A pair of girls were fighting over a half bitten lollipop, 'the pomp gang' was busy taking selfies, a couple of them were making out, a group of boys were head banging for a Flo Rida song , a naughty girl was throwing fake frogs at others and another dozen boys and girls were plotting against the seniors.
Yet, amidst all this chaos, another group was discussing homework.
None of them, seemed to be bothered about Rachel. So she thought she'd just imagined it.
When Rachel was about to relinquish, she caught sight of a curious pair of eyes.
The guy was turning around and talking to another guy. Rachel couldn't see anything but his eyes because the other guy was hiding him. Those curious black eye balls moved to look at her every time it got a chance. Doing nothing but simply penetrating into hers'.
Unlike other times, Rachel didn't feel scared or uncomfortable. She looked back at him. She didn't feel anything at that moment but simply didn't want to be the first person to look away.
Rachel had a good look at him only when they were walking out to the cafeteria. He was tall, handsome and seemed to be quite a reserved person. She also learnt that his name was Richard.
From then on, Rachel made it a point to frequently notice what he was up to.
One day, Angela fell sick and couldn't make it to college. And Rachel was all alone.
There was a boring guest lecture on economics and Rachel couldn't keep her eyes open. So, she started playing candy crush saga on her phone.
She was so engrossed in the game that she didn't even make an effort to look up and pretend as if she were listening.
And pretty soon, she was caught.
The lecturer was annoyed and yelled at her in front of everyone. Rachel was petrified, ashamed and battered all at the same time.
For Rachel, it was hard to put up with the shame without Angela. She'd always had soft shoulders to cry on and pretty painted nails to wipe away her tears ever since she was a child.
She was sat all alone in the cafeteria, burying her face in her hands and letting out relentless tears. It was then that she heard a movement.
It was Richard.
Richard felt sorry for Rachel. He loved her. And he knew that talking about the incident would only deepen her scar.
He sat across her and said "hi"
Rachel made faint attempts to return the smile.
"Hmmm I thought you'd like to see these" he said handing over a few sheet of papers.
Rachel took them, puzzled.
And then what she saw made her melt.
Those were pictures of her in the cafeteria, drawn and shaded meticulously with a HB pencil.
"These are so beautiful" she said as she went through every picture. They were drawn when she was doing something random.
She saw him and he was grinning at her expectantly, his eyes intently scrutinising her every reaction.
"How did you.... I mean.... I was doing something in random... And how did you manage to draw these within the short span of time?"
Richard shrugged. "I usually have to keep looking at something to sketch it perfectly. But with you, it was totally different. I just have to look at you once, and you get registered so vividly in my mind, like a captured picture. I drew these at home"
Rachel blushed.
Did he just say that she was different to him?
"This is so nice" she chirped. "Can I keep one?"
"Oh sure" he obliged with another enchanting grin.
At home.....
Rachel was plopped on her couch, smiling at the walls.
Angela looked around, confused. "Rachel, are you okay?"
No response.
"Hello" Angela said, waving her hand in front of Rachel's eyes.
Rachel recoiled.
"Hey Angela! When did you come?"
"Looks like someone's floating in Jupiter" chimed Angela with a sheepish grin.
"Shut up .How are you feeling now?"
"At last it's occurred to you that I exist. Well, am fine"
"Good. Take care" Rachel said getting up, hoping to elude further investigations.
Angela grabbed her hand and forced her to sit on the couch again.
"So, what were you thinking about? Or should I ask who were you thinking about?"
"Is that a question or a statement?"
Angela chortled. "Question"
Rachel knew she had no means to escape. "I was thinking about Richard. He is such a wonderful person" conceded she.
"Oh my! Oh my! My little sister has fallen in love!"
"Shut up"
"Tell me more" demanded Angela.
Rachel told her everything and showed her the
sketches that Richard had given her.
Angela winked. "Now that looks like the beginning of a beautiful love story"
"You won't believe Angela! Richard made me feel so light. I totally forgot about the economics incident after speaking to him"
Just then her phone rang.
It was Richard.
"Hello" said she, picking it up.
There was a long silence. Then she heard him clear his throat.
"Hello" replied he, with much reluctance.
And then they went on and on.
On and on and on.
They had no track of time.
What Richard didn't know was that Rachel was a girl of secrets.
Many dark secrets.
- Writer
