The scene, which felt cinematic just moments ago, had transformed into something I never expected to witness,
She was there, standing all alone, drops of tear streaming down her face...
"O-" I was just about to call her when,
"Onjoli...?" another voice interjected mine.
It was Alo,
Stumbling upon Onjoli in that state, Alo threw away the paper tea cup in her hand and reached Onjoli with quick footsteps.
Covering my face with my hoodie, I raced to the side and hid myself partially behind a nearby pole. The fact that I was aware and yet failed to interact with her was killing me with guilt and embarrassment.
"Oiiii... what's the matter!?" Alo asked, gently wrapping her face in the palms of her hand.
"..."
No reaction...
"Whoa! You've got a temperature; what are you doing out here in the cold!?" she further inquired, placing her right palm on Onjoli's forehead,
"..."
Still no reaction...
My eyes were fixed on Onjoli, in search of any kind of movement that could help me comprehend the situation at hand. Now that I think about that situation, it was quite familiar to what happened a few moments ago,
"OIII, WHAT's UP!??" Alo yelled, frustration evident in her expression as she grabbed Onjoli's shoulders and shook her and that was the moment, when she reached her breaking point.
The intensity of her tears swelled all of a sudden, and her composed face slowly gave way to a torrent of underlying emotions,
"...Alo...!" she whispered, her voice filled with pain.
Absolutely dumbfounded by the texture of her voice, Alo quickly pulled her into a warm hug.
"Y-You... are shaking..." expressed Alo, in an affectionate voice that was quite unfamiliar to me, her face filled with concern. My heart was beating wildly, unable to make sense of anything that was happening in that frame I was looking at...
I found myself staring blankly at Onjoli's face, trying to feel the depth of her emotions. Everything was cold, dry and desolate...
It felt like the whole atmospheric ambiance had gotten overturned on me,
Also, the factor that was majorly affecting the whole mood of the situation, was the emotional music from the song, Jol*, that was being played by ITI# at that moment.
Alo tightened her grasp on her, "Onjoli, please tell me what's happened to you...?" she pleaded, in that same affectionate tone that almost sounded motherly at that moment,
"(Sobbing) W-What... *sniff* should I do...? *sniff*" whispered Onjoli, helplessly, crying out her pent up emotions,
"..."
I could easily conclude from her expression that Alo was absolutely blown away on listening to her highly unprecedented response. "Hey, w-what is it that's burdening you?" she asked, her face gradually turning pale with every passing moment... She had always been the type of person who remained optimistic, regardless of any situation she found herself in. So, the fact that she was submitting to the situation at hand made it very clear about the amount of love she carried for her friends.
She began stroking Onjoli's hair, very gently, in an attempt to calm her down,
"*sniff* This place, all these moments.. everything is coming to an end...!" Onjoli wailed, unintentionally gathering a bit of attention from her surroundings.
" '...everything is coming to an end...!' Huh? Those lines feel soooo real, now that I think about it" I thought, gazing at the stream from over a small wooden bridge, located on route to our college.
Few of the students and stall owners, who were standing in close proximity to them, were occasionally glancing at Onjoli, wearing an expression which was well familiar to me,
"Ahhh.. she must have had a break up," is what, they must have been thinking.
Their sneaky expressions, and brazen gossip, reminded me of a dialogue from Shilpi, which was quite accurate to my artistic taste of revenge, in that situation- 'Oh fiesty onlookers... how clueless you all remain!'
Onko, the protagonist of our comic- Shilpi, was facing a very similar situation in the story when he had expressed those words.
May it be fiction or be it reality, that scene will always break my heart and forever...!
"C-calm down..." Alo whispered empathetically, finding herself at a loss of words against Onjoli's mighty declaration as it was indeed our 'final' day of college, or atleast that's what we had expected at that point of time.
"It's all soooo unfair...!" Onjoli uttered, drops of tears once again streaming from her eyes as she tug her face in Alo's shoulder.
A tense silence echoed throughout the atmosphere as ITI# began singing a new song after a short break. Soon the highly moist sound of the Bm chord bloomed from over the stage and then slowly resonated it's way throughout the enture campus. Their new song was titled, Protidhoni**
Alo stood still for a while, gazing at the trees at the end of the ground, which were reflecting the colorful flood lights of the stage, onto the tents of the food stalls.
"B-but you are here now...!" she stated all of a sudden, subverting both of our expectations at that moment. "T-tell me, what's the point in wasting the whole night, crying... a-and thinking about all these super depressing stuff...!?" she complained. I was totally captivated by that moment, and it also marked as the first time that I looked at Alo from a totally different perspective.
"Now stop crying," Alo stated, "Can you imagine how pathetic it feels for me to see these people, standing all around us, making fun of you? You, who I have always considered my idol?"
"..."
Onjoli stood there, totally speechless on hearing Alo's words.
"Also, weren't you with Ishita and the others? Why would they leave you here, all alone!?" Alo exclaimed, a tiny grain of rage mixed with her feeling of empathy.
"I-it's not their fault*sniff* *sniff*," replied Onjoli,
"Huh... but why?" Alo questioned,
"I... I didn't want to trouble anyone, by displaying them this-*sniff* this helpless and pathetic side of mine! I didn't want to ruin *sniff* this last night for a-a-anyone I, I am so sorry... *sniff* *sniff* for involving you in this...!" Onjoli exclaimed, her tears of self repentance bursting forth and pushing through the desparate efforts of Alo.
In simple terms... everything backfired!
"Oi, oi Onjoli" Alo whispered, grabing a hold of her shoulders once again, "I need to take you inside... I think this all must be because of your fever--"
Just when she was about to pull herself backwards from the hug...
"Oiii --!!"
... Onjoli's senses gave away to her fever and she fainted.
Unable to react to that sudden event, Alo too lost her balance and that... that was the moment when I stopped being a videographer and finally dared to step inside a frame of my own imagination. A dynamic rush of hormones wilted throughout my body as I reached out for her senseless body and within a moment, which was extremely fast paced, she was there in my arms for the very first time in my life!
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