Vijay and Suvarna were close friends since childhood as their mothers were long distance relatives. They had fun together, along with the rest of the kids in their neighbourhood. She liked his mother and father, who had a lot in common with her own parents, and this made her gradually come to like him. In addition, he was gradually developing attractive looks, a greater energy for action and a height difference that quickly separated him from the rest.

By the age of twelve, her feelings of love were strong due her adolescence and this caused her to get annoyed at the other female children that played with him, which often led her to shoving them aside or causing them to fall and injure themselves.

She was a kid, but she was smart for her age and seeing her actions causing others to get injured frightened her. Realising that her strong feelings for him were causing pain to others, she gradually distanced herself from him until a rift had developed between them.

Since then, they spent their childhood, school life and high-school separately like she intended, but fate had other ideas. They were always being placed in the same classes, no matter the grade they were in and would wind up on school activities together as if they were destined for each other. However, neither of them held any conversation and the rift remained the same until their final years.

She could not continue to ignore her feelings any longer and, with support from her two friends, she slowly started to make her advances at the age of seventeen.

--- * ---

There, one day at school, in their science class, the both of them heard their teacher explain the science in emotions and how our brain interacts with it all.

“Love is not easy to explain, but at your age, most of you’d already have girlfriend or boyfriend. Still, let me tell you that there are two kinds of love at your age; plain love and true love,” he explained, making hand gestures while in the midst of speaking. “Plain love is that you love the opposite gender’s appearance, looks, wealth, and whatever else that are plain to see. Simply put; puppy love.”

His last words made everyone laughed, and he smiled as he continued to say, “Now, true love is different. It’s deeper, stronger and,at certain times, becomes painful. For example, if you think of the person you truly love, then you’d feel your heartbeat a little faster, even skip a beat like in the novels.”

“No. It’s the truth,” he added, seeing the disbelieving looks on their faces. “Wanting to be with them, wanting them to be with you, spending time together, etc. It becomes painful when you can’t spend time with them, when they don’t understand you, and when you are rejected.”

At that moment, a student raised his hand and asked with a slight croak, “Sir! I got a question.”

“Go on,” the teacher said, nodding at the student with a smile.

“I was wondering, is it painful if we suddenly get dumped?”

“Well, you’ll definitely feel a lot of pain when that occurs if you truly love them. For puppy love, it’s more or less shrug your shoulders and move on without regrets. That’s why, love is painful and separation is like breathing a tight knot.”

Vijay seizing the opportunity, raised his hand and said, “Sir!”

The teacher, mildly surprised to see an unexpected student raise his hand, asked, “Yes, Vijay?”

“Sir, I was wondering whether it’s called true love when you’ve been in love with the other party for years, but they don’t seem to understand your feelings? For example, if I were to possess such feelings...”

He instantly regretted saying that because all eyes suddenly turned to focus on him with looks of surprise and interest.

“It’s just an example! Just an example!” He said hastily, looking around with a wry smile on his face. Then, turning back to the teacher, he asked, “Like I was saying, sir, if one had feelings from, let’s say, childhood to now for the same person and one’s trying ones best to gradually get closer to them. Would that make it true love?”

For a moment, the teacher remained silent as he gathered his thoughts before responding, “I would say… yes! It’s because your commitment to love that same person and gradually getting closer to them with your continuous effort… Yes, these feelings are true love indeed.”

Vijay smiled in satisfaction and said, “Thank you, sir,” and he glanced at Suvarna, who was resolutely keeping her eyes fixed on the teacher, struggling to hide the blush that was trying to break out on her face.

After class, Suvarna’s friends giggled as they sat closer to their friend and asked, “Suvarna… Did you hear? He’s clearly talking about you…! He’s clearly sharing his feelings about you…!”

“He was just speaking generally. He… He said it himself!” Suvarna replied nervously, trying her best to look uninterested despite the edge in her voice.

“Oh, stop denying it, Suvarna. He loves you. Plain and simple.”

Suvarna remained silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll try again during lunch,” much to her friends’ delight.

On Vijay’s side, one of his friends asked, “What the heck were you thinking asking such an outrageous question? You almost blew your story!”

Vijay shrugged his shoulders and asked, “Guys, it’s just a question.”

“Really because I feel it’s something deeper,” another friend said, knowing the true feelings his friend had for Suvarna. “I guess you wanted to confirm that your feelings were true, right?”

Vijay in response, did not speak, but merely smiled at his friends.

The two students loving each other in secret, did their best to get closer, but ended up failing due to her becoming flustered while around him and dashing away, even at times when she tried to converse with him. This left them both feeling hopeless.

Feeling dejected, she resigned to watch from afar as he became extremely good at sports and soon headed to join the state cricket league. For his part, he became increasingly worried as time passed because her looks greatly improved over the years and she became a great beauty. This drew a lot of attention to her, much to his dismay.

Since childhood, he harboured feelings for her. He felt strange and insecure about these feelings, therefore he maintained his distance while keeping up a front, focussing on learning. He listened to the teachers every year and understanding his feelings, made him more determined to confess to her. Unfortunately, he was unsure of the timing and, as such, years went by.His feelings became stronger , eventually developing a strong love within for her, amplified by her beauty.

Being encouraged by his friends, he tried to make contact with her. Sadly, she would escape at each opportunity and even ignored him, despite him changing his routine in going home with her instead of going home with his friends.

He felt dejected, but his friend kept encouraging him to keep trying. At that time, he constantly received confessions from other girls, attracted by his good looks and style. Not wishing to deal with them, he left it to his friends to ward them off .

One day, Suvarna saw him playing sport more eagerly than before, driving fours and sixes with great force. She did not know that he was doing it specifically to impress her after noticing her watching him. Her feelings arose and she asked her friends on how to approach him, with them telling her to head down to the field and wait for him to come so that only they will be there.

As planned, once the bell rang, her two friends wished her luck and she headed off to meet with him. Reaching the bottom stairs, she headed towards the field, but when she took the turn, she was startled to find that he was not alone. A girl was there, standing close to him. He wore a tired look on his face, having just exited the sports lesson.

Before she was noticed, Suvarna jumped behind the wall and hid while eavesdropping on their conversation.

“I love you, Vijay. Please, go out with me,” the unknown girl said much to Suvarna’s dismay.

Suvarna clenched her hands tightly and prayed to the heavens that he would not respond to her feelings.

Vijay, tired of these confessions, said in a firm voice, “I’m sorry, but I already have someone I love.”

The unknown girl, shocked by the direct refusal in such a manner, wept and ran away, turning the corner and disappearing along the corridor, completely missing Suvarna in her hiding spot.

Suvarna stood there, her eyes wide open, and her face fixed with a mixture of shock and horror. She was glad that he refused the unknown girl’s advances, but felt greater horror upon learning that he loves somebody else. She clutched at her chest, feeling as if her heart was about to break apart from the shock, as if all light left the world.

She slid down the wall and knelt on the ground, keeping her mouth shut with her hands as tears trickled down her grief-stricken face, she returned to her friends to their secluded spot and let her emotions run free, crying her heart out, her startled friends trying their best to console her.

“What happened?” They asked when she had calmed down a bit.

She explained what happened between Vijay and the unknown girl while looking as if she no longer had any hope in her life.

“So what? There’s still hope!”

“Did he say whom the person he loved was?”

Suvarna shook her head, her friends breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then that means you still have a chance!”

“He’s your childhood friend and that’s something that’s going for you!”

Suddenly, one of them had an idea and they said, “Maybe, that someone is you!”

At that suggestion, Suvarna was taken by surprise and slowly said, “That’s…!” Shocked at herself, she immediately shook her head and said, “No! That’s not true! I don’t believe it. I won’t!”

“Suvarna…! Don’t be like that! There’s hope! Trust us! Trust in yourself!” Her friends said to her, but she continued to shake her head, not wanting to believe in their words as all hopes were dashed.

Since then, the slowly receding wall between them quickly solidified and, again, any attempt that Vijay made towards her went unnoticed. He was more proactive than before, trying to ask her out because his friends tipped him off that the other boys were interested in her. Feeling that he was going to lose her, Vijay became more determined than ever before. He resolved: “I will confess to her by Valentine’s day!”

Even so, things did not improve and left him feeling thoroughly hopeless.The same could be said about Suvarna, who seemed reluctant in getting near him after hearing that he already loved someone.

Eventually, Valentine’s Day came and Vijay sat alongside his friends in class, receiving a lot of gifts. Meanwhile, Suvarna and her friends also received many gifts, much to Vijay’s dismay.

Earlier, before anyone else arrived, he ventured forward to give her his gift. Startled by his sudden attention, Suvarna avoided him. Seeing her strange behaviour, her friends whispered encouragingly to her:

“Come on. Take it!”

“‘He’ is giving it to you!”

“This is your chance!”

Suvarna looked troubled by this and, turning to see the eager smile on his face, she felt a strange sensation in her chest. Almost on reflex, she extended her hands out and grabbed the gift from him, causing a bright smile to form on his face. Then, she placed it beside her desk and turned away from him, hiding the thoroughly bewildered expression that formed on her face.

. He was crestfallen that Suvarna did not give him a gift in return, only her friends did, with grins on their faces. He turned around and headed back to his desk, where he sat and watched his friends slowly opening their chocolates, tasted them, commenting happily about them and the many gifts they each received.

Meanwhile, Suvarna’s friends rounded on her friend and whisper-shouted at her:

“What is wrong with you, Suvarna?! That was your golden opportunity to get his attention!”

“Yeah! I totally didn’t expect him to be the first one to give a gift to you!”

“Totally! You should’ve given it to him right there!”

Suvarna eyed her friends with a reproachful look on her face and whispered back, “Sorry… I… panicked... and… you know…”

She left her sentence hanging while shifting her eyes elsewhere, causing their friends to give her a look of exasperation.

“You will hand him the gift we planned! Okay?! Do it during lunch, when everyone’s left and he’s the only one left.”

“His friends will be fine to stay since we’ll stay by your side, make it look like you planned to give it to him at the same time as us. Understood?”

She looked suddenly nervous, but upon catching the glimpse of their expressions, nodded meekly in agreement.

On Vijay’s side, his friends saw the dejected look on his face and went to speak to him.

“What? You didn’t receive a gift or a chocolate from her?” One of his friends asked.

When he shook his head, another friend said, “Man! Tough luck, dude!”

“I still don’t know why you are so determined to go after her. I mean, the girls is–!”

“Don’t you dare talk bad about her!” Vijay rounded on his friend, a fearsome glare that instantly made his friend go quiet.

Another friend sighed and clapped his depressed friend’s shoulder, “Relax. I’m sure she was nervous and will most likely give it to you when there’s less people around. So, cheer up, will you?”

Vijay could only nod his head and try his best to recover his mood.

After the morning classes were over and it was lunchtime, Vijay and his friends left after nearly all the class had left because Vijay was still cramming the notes down due to constantly looking towards the girl he loved. As they left, they were called to stop and turned to see Suvarna and her friends standing there.

“What’s up?”

“We have something to give you!” One of Suvarna’s friends said with a grin on her face.

The two girls, slightly pushing Suvarna onward, urging her forward to give her gift to Vijay, while giving their gifts.

“H-H-Here’s… y-y-your… g-g-g-gift…” she stammered, trembling from head to toe, extending her trembling hands out for him to take the much larger gift.

For a moment, Vijay was silent as he stared dumbfounded at the gift. Then, his face lit up and he broke into a wide smile as he exclaimed, “Wow! Really? This is for me?!” When she nodded without looking at him, he smiled brightly and happily and accepted the gift from her trembling hands.

“Thank you!” He said, smiling broadly at her, feeling his heart leaping with joy.

She nodded and quickly turned away, heading in the opposite direction and was soon joined by her friends. Feeling thrilled at receiving a gift from her, he could not stop himself from continuously bragging about it with his friends. His friends kept up with it for the sake of their friend, knowing that this was happiest he had been in a long while.

They went upstairs to their usual spot, the roof of the building, and opened what they got from Suvarna’s friends. It was the usual chocolates and a greeting card, wishing them to be good friends with one another. Vijay, feeling too eager to wait any longer, ripped open the gift box and when he saw what was inside, his enthusiasm dropped and his expression was replaced by a look of horror.

Meanwhile, Suvarna joyfully exclaimed, “He took it! He took it! He took it!”

“Stop repeating it over and over, Suvarna!” Her friend said, smiling brightly at the great happiness that she was in.

“We’re happy for you,” interjected another friend with a smile, glad to see her finally in high spirits again.

Suvarna turned and asked, “You did remember to put the card in, right?”

“Yup! I made sure to include meeting up at the rooftop during the second lunch break,” her friend replied with a smile.

Suvarna’s eyes sparkled with hope, and she said, “Finally I can tell him how I really feel.”

An hour later, when they were all in classes, the bell finally rang to signal the start of the second lunch break.Vijay made his way to the rooftop from the sports field, having just finished another sports lesson. Suvarna, on the other hand, went upstairs while accompanied by her friends for support.

A few minutes later, they arrived and found Vijay standing there, facing the other way.

Her friends held back to watch the scene unfold by saying their words of encouragement.

“Good luck!”

“You can do this!”

Thus, Suvarna walked onto the rooftop and the sound of her footsteps caught his attention; he turned around to face her. She smiled nervously and looked at his face; she noticed the glum look on his face that made his attractive features darker. She felt a shiver startling her.

When she came to a stop, a tense silence spread between them; he looked at her with a dark and sorrowful gaze. She could not understand what had happened, nor explain why he was clutching her gift that way.

Deciding to break the awkward silence, she opened her mouth to speak when he suddenly said, “I’m sorry.”

“Eh?” She asked, surprised of his words.

He quietly walked over to her and held out the gift to her while saying, “Please, give it to the person it was rightfully intended for.”

“Eh…?” She responded slowly, looking thoroughly bewildered.

He forcefully passed it onto her and said, “It seems you’ve mixed up the gifts, so please give this to the one it was originally intended for.”

Suvarna stared up at him in shock, wide eyes staring at him in disbelief, holding the gift box that he returned. As he stepped back, she finally found her voice and asked timidly, “W-W-Why…? Why…?! I don’t… understand…!”

A heavy look formed on his face when he replied, “You don’t understand? Then, have a look inside the box and it’ll explain it all.”

She quickly took a look inside the box and found a neatly made cream cake with perfectly arranged icing. Then, her eyes widened when she saw the name that was written on the cake.

“Ajay.”

“Ajay?” She asked, puzzled for a moment at the unfamiliar name. “Who…?” Realising the situation instantly, she looked up alarmed and said, “No! This isn’t what you think!”

“It’s plain and simple to understand, Suvarna,” he replied in a voice devoid of any emotion. Then, he heaved a deep sigh and said, “I thought that maybe I had a chance and when you gave it to me, I was… really happy but it seems that it wasn’t meant for me. If I did accept this, then I’d be stealing it. So, no. I don’t want it.”

With that, he walked past her and headed towards the stairs, leaving her standing there stock still. A wild rush of emotions started to clash inside of her: sadness, grief, depression and agony of hearing such painful words coming from the person she loved. She knew it was a misunderstanding, but her voice got stuck in her throat and no word came out.

Suddenly, a wave of anger, unknown to her, rose to the surface and she bellowed, “WAIT!!!”

Her words echoed in the surroundings as it stopped Vijay, causing him to turn and face her with a surprised look. She slowly turned to him, and he saw the tears welling up in her eyes and trickle down her face.

“Why…? Why…? Why does this… keep… happening…?” She asked, and collapsed onto her knees, wailing her heart out.

Vijay instantly alarmed, said weakly, “Suvarna? Suvarna! Please stop! Please!”

At that moment, her friends came onto the rooftop after hearing her wailing sounds and shouted, “Vijay! What did you do?!”

He whirled around, looking perplexed as he said, “I don’t know! I haven’t done anything!”

Upon reaching them, they glanced at their friend and saw that she was clutching onto opened gift she presented to him this morning. Shocked, one of them rounded on him while the other went over to console her.

“What the hell is wrong with you, returning the gift that that she lovingly gave you?!”

“No! You’re wrong!” He replied in desperation, waving his hands frantically to prove his innocence. “That cake wasn’t for me! Honest!”

This time, it was her friend who looked confused and asked, “Not for you? What do you mean? It has your name on it!”

“My name?” He asked, looking bewildered. “No. Why would it have my name?”

Realising that something was wrong, the girl focused her attention on her other friend consoling Suvarna and asked, “Hey! Look and tell me what’s the name written on the cake!”

As ordered, the other friend peeked inside the box and was quite surprised.

“Ajay,” she stated, then turned around to ask, “Who’s Ajay?”

Her friend, who was equally as surprised as her, initially repeated by saying, “Ajay? Are you sure?” When her friend confirmed it by double checking, the angry friend closed her eyes and placed a hand on her forehead in clear irritation, which she proclaimed by saying, “That stupid shopkeeper Dammit! It’s supposed to be Vijay, not Ajay! I told him clearly as well, but I guess he didn’t hear me properly.”

Vijay looked between them for several seconds in silence, but now decided to ask, “What do you mean?”

The angry friend sighed before she turned to him and explained, “You know that her father lost his job, right?”

“Yeah. My mom told me that they were struggling financially,” he said, nodding in agreement but feeling unsure what that has anything to do with their current situation.

“Yes. Well, they were really tight this month and so, she couldn’t afford to buy the cake. That’s why I bought it in her place, had the shopkeeper write your name on it, but… damn! I should’ve been more careful…!” She finished, lamenting her mistake.

“She felt hopeless, thinking that you love someone else, but she still didn’t want to give up,” the other friend said imploringly, eying Vijay with sadness.

Vijay stared at Suvarna in disbelief, unsure whether to believe the truth in her words or not. Then, he heard the tearful voice of the girl he loved for so many years finally speak.

“I loved you… for so… long…!” She said, her face crumpling up as more tears streamed down her sorrowful face. “All this time… trying to get close… trying to… to c-c-confess… I… I…”

She could no longer speak as words failed to express the amount of grief she was experiencing. Vijay watched in horror as she cried and cried continuously, as the pain in her chest would not settle down.

He walked towards her, ignoring the clear attempts her friends made to get in his way, and he knelt down in front of her before saying, “I’m sorry, Suvarna. I’m really sorry, but now… I can finally say that… I… I love you!”

Suvarna, looked up tearfully, in shock, “Eh?!”

To her surprise, she saw that there were tears welling up in his eyes as he continued to say, “On my life, I speak the truth, Suvarna. I’ve loved you for a long time, back when we were still kids. I always wanted to be with you, for… for… for… many years,” and he too started to cry as he couldn’t contain his emotions.

“Vijay! I don’t want to see you like this! You’re always smiling, whether it be with friends or family, and I want to see you just like that! So, please! Stop crying!”

“Yeah! You’re not a baby, are you? Are you?!” Her friend exclaimed with furrowed eyebrows.

The other friend said, “Let’s go. Leave the love birds alone.”

She moved forward and began dragging the other friend away. Soon, the two of them disappeared down the stairs, leaving only the two of them there.

“I’m sorry, Suvarna,” said Vijay, his voice muffled by her hand.

“Eh?” She said, reacting in surprise and withdrawing her hand from his mouth. “No! It’s not your fault! It’s… It’s…!”

She sniffed a few times and wiped the tears away in an attempt to smile at him. He felt a little relieved and gently took her hand .

“It’s not your fault. It was a misunderstanding,” finished Vijay, making sure she doesn’t blame herself.

“Oh… Uh… Okay…” She said meekly, rather surprised by the firm look in his eyes.

For a few seconds, they remained in an awkward silence that was only disturbed by the sounds of the birds landing nearby. They looked at them and then turned to smile at one another before realising what they were doing and looking down again.

“So… Uh… Vijay,” began Suvarna, being the brave one to speak up first. “Do you… D-Do you… really... love me?”

She asked the question in a low whisper because of the nervousness she was feeling..

To her question, Vijay looked surprised before saying with conviction, “Yes! With all my heart!”

As a demonstration, he spread his arms out wide in front of her, surprising her in the process. Her eyes widened, and she blushed her heart skipped a beat.

He asked, in an equally nervous voice, “And… you… really—?”

“I always have, and I always will!” She replied in a firm voice, looking determined when she said that.

Then, unable to control herself, she moved forward and flung herself at him, hugging him tightly. He was surprised at her suddenness but his expression softened and he too responded, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly.

Several minutes later, the bell rang, signalling the start of their lessons, but the two of them ignored it. Their time together was precious and, at that moment, nothing else mattered to them. So, they shifted their location to the bench that oversaw the view from the top, which was located near the tall fence that was constructed to stop people from leaning over the side of the building.

“I never imagined my first confession would end up like this,” he said finally, smiling wryly at her.

“Me neither,” she stated in agreement. Then, she confessed her idea by saying, “I… imagined my first confession to be in the middle of a lake, where we were sitting on a bench, filled with dancing balls of light all around us.”

Vijay turned to her in an instant in amazement and said, “I think such a thing only happens in the movies, with all the graphics and stuff.”

“You’re right,” she said and laughed.

They remained silent for several more seconds, enjoying the view when Lakshman asked, “Uh… Suvarna?”

“Yes,” she responded, prompting him to continue.

He hesitated a bit longer before saying, “I… I’ve been selected to participate in the state cricket league.”

“Really? That’s fantastic! Congratulations!” She replied, looking at him with a face full of happiness and pride. “I always knew you’d make it into the league!”

“Thanks!” He replied, grateful that she was pleased with his performance. However, he still had more to say because he said, looking rather worried, “Um… Will you be okay while I’m away training, practicing and doing other things?.”

“It’s okay,” she said, so readily that he turned to look at her in amazement. Noticing his expression, she smiled easily and said, “In case we do end up becoming lovers and you getting elected to join the league, so I was prepared to enjoy the time we have together before you go off to play for the league.”

Feeling worried, he asked, “Hey. If you’d like, I’ll quit—!”

“No!” She said firmly, looking sternly up at him. “You worked so hard to get in, and you’re going to throw it away just to satisfy me?” She shook her head and turned to face the view before saying, “I will be lying if I said I’ll feel lonely without you around, but… seeing you succeed will also make me feel very happy. So, never give up, never surrender and never lose!”

Her eyes momentarily flashed with seriousness, causing him to make a determined smile and say, “Yes. I won’t lose. I promise.”

She was a little surprised before saying, “It’s okay, even if you lose. I’ll be there, Vijay. Nothing will change between us because,” and she clasped his head with both hands and pulled him closer to her face before whispering, “you’ll always be… my Vijay.”

The two of them smiled and soon realised, with their heads so close to one another, they could see each other’s lips. Their hearts beat faster and, slowly, they drew their lips closer to one another.

“Hey, Suvarna,” whispered Vijay, pausing for a moment as he felt like saying something at that time.

“Yes?” Suvarna whispered back.

“I forgot to say this but… Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Those words didn’t register at first, but she soon understood the meaning and blushed while smiling as she whispered, “Yes. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

And they kissed, touching their tender lips together for the first time and, at that moment, the nearby birds took flight. As they rose into the sky, a cool wind lifted the leaves on the ground and scattered them in air, signalling the fresh start of the young couple that was born on that eventful day.