She looked away, the sun was too hot and looking at the water made her eyes hurt. She closed her eyes, and slid slightly on the bench so as to rest the back of her head at the bench. The cool breeze, the hot sun and the sound of the water made her relax, there was a small sparrow chirping somewhere and a crow cawing his lungs out. She smiled thinking that if the crow was a human she would hear innumerable abuses from its mouth.

As she relaxed breathing deeply, she heard hurried footsteps. Before she could open her eyes and see, she felt an angry punch on her arms. She was furious and got up, staring at the boy who had punched her. He said in an insulting tone, "Babes, this is no resort for you to relax, get up and go everyone is waiting for you." She was so furious, but didn't say a word, she knew it was no use picking up a fight with him, this isn't the first time, every time they met they fought, and she was sick of it. Both of them couldn't stand each other's sight. She walked away and soon broke into a light trod, she didn't wanna spend a single second with the guy.

[She left the school in the same year. She was at the boarding school only for two years. In those days there were no cell phones, so she just exchanged her new address with the girls in her hostel and a few teachers when she left]

7years later...

One day she got a mail from her best friend, she was in the same town. Soon they met and chatted about all the good old days at school, all about the new teachers which joined, the old ones who left, new classmates, old friends, their prospective careers. All the fun they had in school, all the kiddish stuff they used to do. They exchanged phone numbers, and kept in touch and met frequently.

6months later...

She sat at a bench in her college, the teacher gave the lecture off, it was Valentine's day, there were barely any students in the college. Her phone rang, she looked at the screen, an unknown number, she looked surprised, she picked up the phone and said,
"Hello"
"Umm.. Hi is this Shiba?"
She was surprised as not many people called her with that name, her name was Shibani, it had been ages since someone had called her that, surprised she said,
"Yes"
"Hi Shiba, its me, Shivang"

Her mind raced back 8years, first day of boarding school. She was scared, she had never stayed away from her parents. Her mother had arranged her cupboard and reluctantly taken back all the homemade goodies, which the warden refused to accept. She stood at the gate waving at her mother. Soon, all the girls in the hostel surrounded her and started asking her questions and showing her around the hostel. The evening passed but she couldn't sleep well at night, she missed her mother, as she was only 9years old.

Other day, at school, she had kept her bag next to one of her friends desk, and had left the class as there was still time for the lectures to start, and her friend was showing her around the school. When the bell rang, they returned to the class, she found her bag thrown across the room and a boy stood at the desk where she had kept her bag. He glared at her and said "How dare you keep your bag on my desk?" She was shocked. She said, "I am new, and Shipra told me to sit with her, I didn't know it was your desk." He said, "I don't care, just get lost" meanwhile, she had turned to pick her bag. No one had ever spoken to her in that tone, she could not control as tears trickled down her eyes. She did not notice the pin drop silence in the room, after filling the books back in her bag, she turned to see that a teacher had entered the room and from the look on the teacher's face, she realized that the teacher had witnessed the incident. The teacher said "Shivang, come with me to the Principal's office"

She remembered, innumerable other fights, with him, over the remaining two years at school.

"Hello, Shiba, you there? Can you hear me?"
"Oops sorry, yes Shivang"
"How are you?"
"I am fine thanks, how are you?"
"Lonely"
"Sorry!"
"Yes you heard it right, lonely"
She laughed, "What's wrong Shivang, stop joking"
He said in a serious tone, "No Shiba, I ain't joking"
"Then you are surely drunk"
"No, I am in my senses Shiba"
She didn't know what to say.
"I want to say something Shiba, I am sorry. I am really sorry."
"Its ok" she said awkwardly.
They chatted for a while, but there was still some awkwardness. And they realized the awkwardness was not because of the animosity that they once shared, it was absence of this animosity and something else which made them feel awkward.

It was Valentine's day!