Part II

Her friends were talking to her now. She laughed a little, but mostly at her own jokes. She was taller than the others, and definitely the prettiest. A stand out, for guys like me. It appeared as if she had recently learned how to be sure of herself. Looking at her, I figured it was about time she did.

I found it strange that she never looked in my direction. Not because I'm some godlike man-beauty, but because I had been staring at her for ages now, and I thought it only right that she notice that. 

I considered the possibility that she was used to guys staring at her all the time. Surprisingly, that didn't make me uncomfortable at all, which was weird, considering my eternal grudge against slutty girls, or girls who threw themselves at guys even if they actually had no intention of following up the chase with anything real. It just pleased me to know that guys appreciated how beautiful she was. However, when I considered that they stared at her for reasons other than her beauty, I felt a surge of rage, which even later in my life I could never fully justify, considering I'd never ever even talked to her at that point. Another thought that crossed my infatuated mind that she was one of those ultra beautiful girls who never fully understood the magnitude or effect of their beauty and, thus, immersed themselves in meaningless relationships and men just to assure themselves that they were indeed attractive to the opposite sex. I knew not if she was one of these women. But what I did know was that if I ever got her, I'd make sure she knew just what a gift to womankind she was.

I realized how irrevocably spellbound I was. It surprised me. 

But, I must admit, the thing that happened next surprised me a little more.

Somebody pushed my shoulders down. It hurt like hell. More than it usually does, even taking into account my hooligan friends. I think that might have been because of how hard my body, however subconsciously, resisted to having my gaze pulled from her for even a second.

my shoulders were hurting, and i heard my backbone rak slightly, , but, i shit you not, my only worry was that i had missed watching her live and breathe for the last two minutes.

"Hey, Lucky! I got her name!"

"Don't call me that, man." I said, seriously.

"Ooookay, Lakshya, then. Let's start over. Hey Lakshya, I got her name!"

Nayan was back. I really loved the guy sometimes, but this really wasn't one of those times.

"Whose name?" I grunted, rubbing my shoulders.

"My girl, baby, my girl!"

I laughed, inspite of myself.

"Your OOF?" I asked.

Nayan gave a non-committal grunt.

He stayed silent and stared in the general direction of my girl.

I turned away from her in shock.

"Is it just me, or do you sound apprehensive about the idea of nailing her, man?" I asked, raising my eyes in mock suspicion, and interest. "Are you serious? Why do you care about her? I mean, How do you care about her? She's a, she's an OOF ... for A Day! Unless it's turning into something more?"

I was genuinely surprised at this point. This emotion (or any, for that matter) was more than uncharacteristic for Nayan. This was just plain strange. 

He looked back at me suddenly, looking as if my last few words had pulled him out of a daze. But, I knew the truth. I knew he was pretending to not have realised that I had caught on to his weak moment.

"Dude, she's an OOF," he said, "she could never be anything more than that, she hasn't got enough spunk in her to become important to me, you know that, right man? Just my hot piece of ass for the day."

He looked relieved to see that I had, apparently, bought his explanation.

"Oh, and I got your girl's name as well." It took me a while to get back on track? A name. Evidently, she had a name. I couldn't think of any combination of alphabets that would do justice to the wonder that she was. "Zara," said Nayan. "Zara-"

"No, don't tell me more!" I interrupted. "Let me find out for myself!"

"Wow, dude, you're a freak," he laughed. "Anyway, man, catch you later!" 

With that, Nayan walked away from me for what was sure to be.... a night just like any other.

******