Nina laughed as she wiped her eyes"Don't look at me like that,The memories are already hazzy,I don't remember much but...

--------------In the exhibition hall--------------------

It looked like the student's had already set up to work,we three arrived there and assembled our projects near the entrance so that people could see our projects first,saem was at the left,I was at the right and Prince between us.

There was a lot of space,One thing about our science exhibition was that we need to exlain our project and the other was that we take signatures from the viewers as well as a remark if they want to give one.

Exhibition day in our school used to be very lively and crowdy exactly like a fish market,Students would be asking for signs, people would be listening to their explanation and asking questions about it.

It was not my first time there,I had did it once before and alone (it was kind of loney and sad).Well this time I had those two with me so i was no longer lonely and sad alone but the three of us together were lonely and sad.I can't really say they were lonely for look at them!

They were the perfect jockers for time pass like for example,I remember that one time their little robo dog broke it's leg (must have hurt a lot).

Now they were finding glue to stick it together, they asked the neighbouring senior  girl about it and she gives them a 'dandride'.

Well fyi,Dendride is a very good glue made from alcohole,it also smells like alcohole and can actually make you feel drunk if you smell it for long (I know,childrens shouldn't be handling such dangerous glue but it was famouse and cheap)

So they did their work of reattaching their robo dog's leg and then gave it back to the senior,till there it was okey,the problem was that right after that they started pouring themselveswith water,I was like"What the earth are you doing my dear half brained,psychopathic rivalish-friend?"

Prince looked at me,his eyes were all red and he was soaked in water and wipping his face with his tie he said,"I smelled it"

Saem said from  the background,"Me too".

I pointed at the exit of the hall and said,"I  already knew you had only two brain cells left but there is a thing called WASHROOM and SINK"

Those two ran to the washroom as they ordered me"Atleast look after our project"

'EXCUSE ME?'ATLEAST'YOU SAY? GO SUCK ***S',Is what I wanted to say.Belive me,I am not a hot-headed & bad-mouthed person but how can someone be so hilarious and yet so annoying?

Don't get me wrong but we did't have much free time to be fooling around.Speeking so much our jaws were hurting like hell on earth.By noon our hall was almost housefull,but not our stomachs for they were demanding for food.We were starving and  that's when-

my mom enters the show!

My dear mother who had thought about her little disappointment's  hungry stomachs just before i was leaving for school had packed me murli(a type of snack made out of rice which is crunchy and is usually nit eaten alone but usually with curd or with onions chillies and masalas(spices) called jhalmuri,you know what?Just google it)thinking about her failure (aka:daughter) and how hungry  I would be by noon.

I opened the old steel tiffin that had about murli to temporarily stop the growing of my stomach.

But as the steel tiffin opened,those two,whatever they were doing,time STOPPED for them.

They looked at me.

I looked at them.

They looked at Murli.

Murli looked at me.

Me looked at them.

At that point,those tasteless baked rice seemed to look delicious.

"You...want some?",I asked.

Maybe he hesitated to admit defeat,Saem did not gave in but Prince did..

Well as a generous person I am(lie),I gave Prince a generous amount of murli (again lie).

For the hungry stomach he had,maybe I was(only just a little bit)life saver to him.

People looked at us awkwardly once or twice,we didn't care at all,how could we?We were starving afterall. After a minuite or few,Saem gave in,I saw prince passing a share of his murli to Saem.

As a whole,our problem of hunger was temporarily solved.

As we finished the murli and I shoved the tiffin box back to to the side bag I borrowed from my father. Prince bended and reached my ear,arms crossed he said,"He is here"

I looked at him still for a second and then asked,"Your kidnapper?"He looked at me as if douting my broken sense of humor;I laughed off,"Just kidding!Yo~don't look at me like that!"

"Who is here,dude?"

"Father.",He said with a poker face.

"Huh?Where?",I squeezed my eyes and looked in the crowdy entrence,"I re~ally wanted to talk to him about how bad-mannered you are."

He sighed at turned to Saem and maybe said the same thing to him.I did see a person looking at prince at approaching towards him.

Yup,that must be his father.

I patted on Prince's shoulder and asked as I pointed the fatherly-looking gentleman.(even through pointing is quite disrespectful),"Is that him?",I asked.

Yup,that was his father.

"At the least,behave",he said to me that actually pissed me off a bit,That's beacuse I am not like an abnormal extroverted monkey who only knows one subject that is maths like them,I am quite well behaved infront of others,I just wanted to be friends,yo know!

I whispered to his ear,"Shall I tell him about all your mischief?"

He bowed,I thought (maybe)he was going to grab my foot and be like,"Please~!Have mercy!Spare me~!" and cry all over but it turned out he bowed to take off his shoe and just before he furiously threw it on me-"Just kidding,bro!Geez! I withdrawed.

"If you babble any nonsense,I will send you to jesus",He pointed the shoe at me.

Just then I saw his father coming towards us,his gaze was firm on Prince.

A little bit pride softly mixed with happiness.

As Prince's gaze turned to his father,his dad hid it with a not-so-happy smile.

I did not notice at first but his father seemed quite a gentleman unlike his child who was,well a lot like a wild monkey. A white shirt(probably,I don't quite remember)and black trousers.He did not have hair over his scalp but around it,he wore a cap,the one that london people  used to wear in movies,you know the newsboy cap (google it) that has a flat top.And a leathery side bag.He was quite fair than me or his son and had wrinkles too.He seemed good educated and well- mannered.He asked his boy a bit about his project and also an explanation. Prince was engrossed in explaining while his father gazed at him with an unremovable smile,at times Prince would look at his father and his father would quickly look at the project and act as if he was listening very carefully and nod time to time.Saem,as if giving a chance to Prince to shine,did not interrupted or asked for credit whereas me on the other hand did not hesitate to stare at them bluntly.

After heearing his explanation as his father was about to move to see other peojects,prince went like,"Hey,what about the sign?!",His father,as if suddenly remembered about it went like,"huh?Oh,o-yeah"and came back.His father was about to take out his pen from his shirts pocket but Prince handed him his pen."Here?"his father asked pointing the pen at a area of the paper,"Not there!You have to sign here",he pointed at the right place. It felt to me as if a father is sitting with his 5 year old and having tea-party and the girl is like,"Pa paaa!You hold the cwp wike this nawt wike that!!",And maybe his father also felt like that.As I was drowning in my imagination his father suddenly asked,"What have you made?"He did not look at me when he said that as he put on a remark on his son's copy,Once I thought I misheard it as it was a crowdy moment.But then he went,"Hm?"asking for a reply,I panicked and also was a bit embarrassed but if put my act together and started my usual explanation,did he sign my copy?I don't remember.Maybe he was not interested in me or maybe my project was just too simple for him to ask anything about it,but only after visiting his son did his eyes open and he saw his surrounding and maybe that is normal for parents,my papa also would probably be like that too so I could understand.

Soon as people gathered around I could no longer see his father.I lost sight of him.I noticed from the corner of my eye of prince running to his father's direction as I was engaged with customers then I saw him running out of the exhibition hall with a ten rupee in his hand and after a while again coming back running with a packet of chips.

I knew I was not getting a share of that packet of chips for I was a girl and you won't share with a girl you not like,right? And on top of it Saem was his buddy so I had no place between them!He came back penting and sweating,he opened the packet of chips,the smell of the spices tingled my stomach to growl again but I convinced my greed to stop. 

I knew I was not getting a share of that packet of chips for I was a girl and you won't share with a girl you not like,right? And on top of it Saem was his buddy so I had no place between them!He came back penting and sweating,he opened the packet of chips,the smell of the spices tingled my stomach to growl again but I convinced my greed to stop.Just because I shared a little murli with him dose not mean that he will share a packet of chips with me,right?

But why?

Why would he do such a thing?

Why would he give me a handfull of it?

Was I stearing too much?

Did I deserve it for how rudely I act towards you?

Why?

Saem,his buddy himself got a less amount of it.

'Ah,no no no!I am getting to serious,yeah that's all it is,right?'

'I not special or anything to him,I am just...me..'

I thought maybe if I make him angry he might go back to being the angry squicky monkey I see him as.

'Right!One thing will probably anger him!'I took a piece from my palm and streched my hand pointing towards his mouth.

I did not say anything,

He did not say anything.

The crowd was noisy but it all blurred for me..

He did not hesitate,or thought twice..

He ate the chip from my hand,his soft lips touched my fingers..maybe.

'oh..',I thought..

'it's quite unexpected..but it's kinda nice...",I said to myself as I ate the chips he gave me.

"I don't...hate him.."

---------------Outside school building------------

As I was walking back home,I saw Prince once again,he was peeping behing the headmistress office wall,It was a little amusing,I called out to him and asked what was he doing.

He ran to me and joined me,as if dodging the question I asked he said"Naah,It's nothing".

We both walked and talked untill our paths changed direction..

--------------Mr.Ahid's office-----------------

"And that's how we fell in love!",I exclaimed.

"....."Mr.Ahid looked at Nina as if speechless and very doutfull.

"You fell in love because you feed him a piece of chips?",Mr.Ahid asked finnaly spoke.

"Yup,long story short,sir",Nina smiled.

"You fell in love because you feed him a piece of chips!!?",he exclaimed with frustration.

"Why do everyone I tell this story give me the exact same reaction?",Nina wondered.

"Sigh.Ma'am,I think all you need is some male friends",Mr. Ahid took off his glasses.

"That is the exact thing my sis told me!How accurate!",Nina was surprised but then looked at him and smiled miserably. 

"I am not crazy,Mr.Ahid and ofcourse there are many things that made me come to this extent.Prince might not be same as before,he can't even bear to look at my face more than 25 seconds but If I have come till here to be his wife,how can I leave it at this?I can't let a marriage fail like this and it's not like I can marry anyone anytime.I just want to know where the problem is.So,if you can tell me anything,I can't be anymore gratefull,Sir"

"I do understand your circumtance but,sigh,what can I say here,most things can't be changed at this point.We can't just tell you anythings for we have privacy policies.Ofcourse,there are laws that will support if you are right but..."

Nina stood up,"I understand,but can you at least tell me when he visited,I beg you."

-----------Outside the district office------------

'2nd of August...9 pm....',I mummbled to myself.

"Guess....are going to get worse from here.. just as I thought."

------------18_years_back------------

Nina sleeping in the bed, back toward he mother,facing the wall,She couldn't sleep..

Stearing at the celling many things were going on in her mind..

Suddeny out of all the messy thoughts she had on going around,she mummbled..

"...do..i..like..-

________________To_be_continued________________