Girl At Home

She saw him coming towards her and for a second she was confused. She looked around but his girlfriend was nowhere in sight. She looked back at him and all of a sudden, he was close enough for her to touch. He smiled sheepishly at her and she realized what was happening much too late. Just as she was planning how to run away he touched her arm.

“Hey there,” he said flirtatiously.

She looked at him and then back in her locker. “Go away. Isn’t your girlfriend waiting?” she said, a little too harshly.

A frown graced his features. “Sick leave,” he paused, as if considering the best way to frame his next sentence. “It’s good. I needed a break from her anyway.”

“Oh, bored already?” she teased.

“Well…” he furrowed his eyebrows. “Not as much bored as… okay, bored.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “You’re still a pretty lousy boyfriend. That hasn’t changed.”

“You would know,” he said, grinning. That grin that she had fallen for before. Before she knew. Before, but never again.

She closed her locker and was about to walk away when she realized he was still smirking at her. She sighed and looked at him.

“What do you want?”

“Uh…” he hesitated. “I was wondering if-”

“No.”

“But you didn’t even-”

“No” she repeated.

“Can you at least let me finish?” he pleaded.

She knew what he was going to say. She knew this game all too well. She had been a part of it before, but always on the other side.

“You’re going to ask me out on a date,” she stated plainly.

He gasped dramatically. “How did you know?!”

She sighed again. “Listen, no. I can’t believe you’re even asking. You have a girlfriend.”

“But she’s-”

“I don’t care if she’s sick. Don’t look at me. In fact, don’t look at anyone. You’ve got a girl at home.” She paused as she realized she had risen her voice considerably and there was now a small audience around them.

“You have a girl at home. AND EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT, don’t they?” she asked the gathered people. They all nodded in agreement.

She looked back at him and said, “So stop being a dick and asking other girls out.”

Then she closed her locker, took her bag and stalked away.

He stood there dumbfounded as the audience ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’.

She didn’t know her that well but she felt a strange responsibility to do what’s right. He had crossed all the lines and she felt that she should know what exactly she’s dealing with. She wanted to protect her.

She would’ve been flattered. It would’ve been a fine proposition if she had been a stupid girl. But she knew better and she had learnt that she was not special. She was no one’s exception. So there wasn’t anything to lose right?

She texted her.

---

He caught her again after school.“Hey!”

“What now?” She turned to look at him.

“What was that you did in the hallway today?” he demanded, standing with his hands on his hips.

Just as she was about to answer, his phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID and frowned before rejecting the call. It was her.

She called again.

“Pick it up,” she told him.

“First tell me what on earth that was,” he replied before cutting the call again.

“Okay. You’re an idiot. What kind of boyfriend asks random girls out when their girlfriend isn’t around?”

“I have an expla-” He began before his phone rang for a third time. He didn’t even hesitate before cutting it again.

“Look, she’s waiting for you and you’re just tailing the newest thing in town. You’re taking what you have for granted. It’s not right. You need to grow up.” She said exasperatedly.

He looked genuinely stunned, as if he didn’t know what he had been doing. A few seconds later, she got a text from her.

‘I’m breaking up with him,’ it said.

She sighed and looked back at him. “Go home and don’t ask me again. Stop chasing girls when you already have one.”

“Look, you don’t understand” he told her.

She looked at him intently, “Maybe I don’t. But I do know that you’re about to lose your girl. Again. Maybe this time, you should consider learning a lesson.”

He raised an eyebrow, as if comprehending what she has just said. Finally, he smirked at her and said, “What about after she breaks up with me? Then, will you-”

She rolled her eyes and just turned around and walked home. Again, it was a fine proposition but only if she had been a stupid girl.

And she totally would’ve taken it, if she hadn’t once been just like her.