Lovers

*Contains graphic descriptions. Please read at your own discretion. The story is entirely ficitonal and is not meant to offend any person.

Her lips burned on mine. I could feel her body heat through the flimsy garments that separated our skins. I could smell the faint perfume of her hair. And I could feel her hand behind me, holding me, supporting me, bending me backwards, as always.

When naina first caught hold of me today and kissed me, I have to say that although I was taken aback, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. For a long time now she had been making it amply clear that there was more to us than just good friends and in the last few days the hints had hardly been veiled. I mean, I could never be sure. But I thought I felt her lips on the top of my head when fell asleep on her shoulders in that boring founder's day speech. Or I felt her hand brushing past mine too many times as we walked yesterday. Or the hand was more on my back than the back of the seat as we watched the Speed Racer in INOX. Maybe it was my imagination but she did touch my knees too often while talking and her hands had definitely brushed past some sensitive areas while walking past me. But somehow I always allayed my fears at the conscious level by calling it a coincidence or general figments of my imagination. So when she finally did touch me, I was very taken aback. When she suddenly wheeled me around, held me with her strong arms and kissed me, I was surprised, but somewhere all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

Naina. Girl extraordinaire. Tall, pretty, intelligent- she always topped class and was basket ball captain of college team too. She was universally regarded to be an all rounder and was a teacher’s favourite. She was also a great leader, they said. She could encourage and inspire the most timid of beings and could lead any number of people to any task. In short she was brilliant. But to me she was a lot different. She was my hero alright, but she was also my best friend. Like the rest of the college, teachers included, I was in awe of her personality. But where she helped others because she liked to be looked up to, her helping me was entirely because she genuinely cared.

Yes Naina genuinely cared for small insignificant me. It probably stemmed from her need to be looked up to and respected. But when she met me there woke in her a maternal spirit seen in all women, specially the domineering kind. She probably just wanted to protect me. And she did a good job. The marks I got were all fruits of her efforts. She taught me before every test, be it class test or the more important semesters. And sitting together for long hours in the library and corridors gave rise to a relationship much deeper than probably expected by people of us.

Looking back, what drew us together was our loneliness. For me that was understandable. Having come from a closely knit family, adjusting into a hostel life was never going to be easy. I moped in my solitude and did not open up. The result was as expected; no one took an interest in me. Some of the people tried being kind but it made me retreat into my shell even more. As a result I became what is defined as a loner.

But her story was difference. She had everything, she was outgoing. She was always surrounded by people. But all these people revered her and were in awe of her. But they were also secretly jealous. So she never found that camaraderie that she looked for.

And then we met. Well it was not that big an incident. It was quite harmless. We met in the café when we both wanted the same drink but there was only one bottle left. Overawed I let her have it. But she gave it back to me, took something else and went and sat between her gang. I don’t know what came over me but I carefully divided the drink in half and handed it to her plumb in the centre of her friends. She looked up, startled.

That is how it started. Then she returned the kindness a number of times in class and lab. But even then the interactions remained the same as her interactions with the other quiet people in class. What changed it a little once was when I did very badly in an exam and I was publicly hauled for it. The teacher did not stop till she had her fill of publicly humiliating me. I must have looked very forlorn that day. She took a liking to me and took me under her wings. Probably the maternal feelings were born then.

But what sealed the bond was when one day I saw her cry quietly in the bench by the basket ball court. It was a Sunday evening and the play fields were deserted. I couldn’t see what she was doing. All I could make out was the tall, splendid figure slouched over the bench. Instinctively, I moved towards her. She probably heard my footsteps because she looked up. I took in her tear stained face and probably for the first time in my 18 years acted strong. I held her while she poured out her heart and cried. That day we became friends.

That was 2 years back. In the last two years we’ve seen a lot of successes and failures but we’ve always stood by each other. To the whole world, this pairing seemed strange. But for us it was just right. We acted as perfect counterfoils of each other. And so the friendship grew.

During these two years the friendship blossomed. We came really close. But it was only lately that I felt her behaviour towards me changing. Not that she distanced herself. But she became more possessive, aggressive if I was to have other friends. And then there were the subtle and sometimes not so subtle hints. And then today happened.

She caught hold of me in this wonderfully experienced manner. From the first moment itself she took control, the way she always has in this friendship. She put her hands around my waist to support me like she always has through life’s turbulences. In her eagerness she forced herself on top of me till I bent back, like always when faced with her whims. As her kiss got more urgent, the thoughts became more frantic. I did not know if I was ready for this, if this was right. But as usual she took control and took the decisions for me. I knew I had nothing to worry about. The thoughts were slowly displaced by her fragrance and her urgency. I thought nothing when her hand finally moved up to my breasts.