Chapter 6/Sample Chapter

Chapter 6

Over the course of the next three days, we spent our time, intensively preparing for the competition. We had set nothing short of the victory cup in our sights. The group was singing well and Madam’s decision to make an individual sing the song was working out brilliantly. All our voices were perfectly matching with the song when we were singing, save for the accent used in the English songs which was slowly improving with each day.

I was supposed to sing ‘Subha Hone Na De’ along with Sonia who would cover the female portion of the song. As it was a duet, Ma’am had ruled out a chorus in it, which meant that only I and Sonia would sing the entire song. Tanya Ma’am was young and she knew what would make the audience scream. To make it more appealing, Ma’am had also instructed us to use movements and a little bit of dance steps as she knew that it would spread some excitement among the crowd. In a way, we were not going to merely sing. We were going to sell this performance, to rouse maximum attention and response from the audience.

I had even struck up friendship with Sonia. Initially shy to talk to me, she opened up a lot once I began talking to her. She would always be bubbly and enthusiastic and she even managed to bring in some of that energy into the performance. Her eyes always gave me a feeling of attraction, that she liked me at some level. During the song, I was supposed to catch her hand from behind and keep holding it till the end. She would just react with vigor and sing well.

Not that I hadn’t been experiencing similar emotions. I found myself thinking about her all through day and night. She was the first girl I had felt so strong feelings about. She was the thought that came to my mind every morning and before I went to bed. I found myself admiring her smile, her eyes and her lips. I wondered: Is this what people call love?

On the third day, after five continuous singing bouts, Ma’am had allowed us a break for ten minutes. She also had some work to do and went outside. I, Raj and Sid sat on a bench and stretched out our arms.

Sid spoke “So Tom. How are things?”

I put on an expression of innocence although I did know what he meant “What do mean ‘things’?”

Raj hit me on the head “Oye. Do you think we’re blind? You think we’re not affair of your little affair with Sonia over there?”

“Affair? What affair?” I asked in an oblivious tone.

Sid put his hand of Raj’s shoulder “It’s only been two months since this son of a gun landed here, and he’s started taking girls already? Alright dude, I am the senior here. I have studied for four years now in this school Since you have no feelings for her, I’ll flirt with her. Who knows, maybe she’ll-”

At that point, I snapped back “Don’t you dare talk like that, Sid. Fine, I accept that I have a little something going on for Sonia, which means that the Bro Code does not allow you to think of her in any indecent manner at all. You get that? No talking about her behind my back, alright.”

Both Sid and Raj started laughing “Alright. So, tell us what you kids have been up to lately.”

“Nothing much, actually. But I get a feeling that she likes me every time I sing with her. I mean, look at those eyes. Who wouldn’t love those? She’s simply an angelic beauty. We just talk occasionally but it’s mostly limited to school issues and I don’t know how to approach the romantic zone without breaking that little something we have right here.”

Raj then offered a solution, something that he rarely did and something that was actually useful “Why don’t you add her on Facebook? You could talk a lot over there. And chatting is way better than talking. It helps you plan out your responses in a better way.”

That idea hadn’t struck me yet. I hadn’t been active on Facebook ever since I joined school, except to add new friends from here. Facebook required internet and internet required money which I had in limited quantity. The only source of money for me was my Mom. My mother was a practical thinker and she always tried to make her kids understand the value of money. To enable this, she would allot me money based on the amount of chores I did in the house. Cleaning the whole house would earn me Rs. 10. Cleaning the whole house plus arranging all books and other item lying around the house would earn me Rs. 30 and another Rs. 10 bonus if she was very impressed. Up until now, I had no real need for money with Raj financing all bills when we went to roam around the city, but if I needed internet, I needed money and I had to earn it on my own.

“Good idea, Raj. I’ll see if I can send her a request today. You know her username?”

“Search it out, dude. You’re the one who has to get the girl, not us. But I am sure she should have some mutual friends from school. Go in that way.”

I glanced at Sonia who smiled at me. I smiled back and turned to Sid “Dude, you’re the expert on women. How do I do this? I’ve never attempted to woo anyone before and I am kind of nervous about it.”

Sid looked at me seriously “Alright, to borrow a phrase from the Big Bang Theory, shut up and sit straight.” I laughed “Shut up and sit straight? Dude, that doesn’t suit you at all.”

Sid shook his head “Bro, don’t concentrate on the expression, focus on the content. Let me tell you something. A woman is a mystery which most men attempt to solve throughout their lifetime. Some do it, a majority of them fail. There are three things a woman likes in a man: maturity, attention and sense of humor. The last one is particularly very important. You must be able to make her laugh all the time. Women don’t care even if you’re the target of all jokes as long as you can show that you can deal with it in an easy going manner and take it easy. Coming to attention, it is very important to make your presence known across town in a good manner. The thing is first they start talking about you. Next, they talk about you more and more. Finally, they begin to crush over you unconsciously. Not just that, it also helps in initializing conversations. If you’re Mr. Invisible, she won’t give you a damn. She might talk with you but that’s it. She’ll have no more interest in you. But if you’re Mr. Somebody, you just have to initialize and that too only occasionally. You’ll see how they carry the conversation forward until you’re exhausted. That’s how fame will help you. Then comes maturity. This is the something that ranks alongside sense of humor. No matter how cute or handsome you are, or how famous you are among the girls, they will never accept you as their boyfriend unless you show a great deal of maturity and reliability. You must take the lead in every action you take. Women love a man who takes control and is in charge. Your mature attitude also boosts her impression among her peers who’ll congratulate her for having such an awesome boyfriend. She’ll never let go of you after that and the only breakup letter you’ll see will be from your side. A combination of these three qualities holds the key to unlocking the hearts of 99% of all women. If you can manage to master these three qualities, then my friend, you have no going back.”

By now, all the boys had congregated around Sid as he preached his sermon. Vishal, who had been quietly listening all along suddenly piped in “But don’t grades matter? Aren’t they important too?”

Sid replied in his all-knowing tone “Trust me, your grades are the last thing women want to know. Most girls who’ll wanna know that kind of stuff are usually total brainiacs, save for a very few members, they’re not the type of women you’d fall for. Sure, girls are proud of their boyfriend’s achievements but there are many better ways to do that.”

Akshay asked his doubt next “Hey, I know that the methods you just described were perfect to land a girl but Indians don’t exactly follow those rules. I have tried to use them before and failed before abandoning the attempt completely.”

Sid replied “You need to change your style, my friend. That’s all I see lacking in you. And don’t expect the sky to fall and the first girl you ask out to accept you there. You may fail many times before you actually manage to get her. But never lose heart. Indian girls don’t appreciate too much forwardness and prefer if you approached them slowly. I’ve failed a couple of times because I was not aware of that. To tell you the truth, in reality, you don’t just date them. They rely and depend on you for everything and things can go very astray if you breakup. But only very shy or traditional girls are like that. However, if it’s a new generation model, that is, if she grew up watching Grey’s Anatomy, then you should have absolutely no problem in getting her.”

Tanya Ma’am came back “Alright my dear heroes and heroines. It’s time to get back to work.”

We went on and practiced continuously. By the end of the day, we were a total mess, sweating and stinking as the power had gone out for two hours. As soon as Ma’am dismissed us, I walked towards Sonia and said “Hey. Exhausting practice session, wasn’t it?”

She responded with the same chirpiness that I liked in her “Yep. The temperature was so high today.”

Dead silence. I often find this portion to be the most difficult in talking to her, I simply didn’t know what to say next. But I decided that it was now or never and mumbled “So, what’s your Facebook ID?”

She replied “Gee, I don’t use Facebook. I receive a lot of unnecessary messages from idiots on it.” My smile decreased the next moment. Say goodbye and walk back, said my mind. She probably doesn’t want to add you as her friend on Facebook for a reason. She must have noticed the change in my expression for the next thing she said was “But I can give you my number. We can chat through WhatsApp. Here, let me give it to you.”

She scanned the room with her eyes finding no paper pieces in the room. She murmured “Paper… Oh what the hell” She took my hand and began writing her number on my palm using a blue pen. She then said “Message me when you get the time. I come online at 8 pm. See ya.” With that, she left the room.

Sid and Raj, who had been in one corner of the room all this time, rushed and hugged me from behind as soon as she left the room. “Son of a gun, you managed to get the phone number of the girl who has the entire 8^th, 9^th and 10^th grade boys behind her back. How on God’s green earth did you manage to pull it off, dude?”

“Hold on to your horses, Raj. This doesn’t mean anything. She must have given her number to countless boys before. Does that mean she was in a relationship with all of them?”

“Doesn’t matter, Tom. You still managed to get her number which is a far more impressive feat than anyone so far.”

Sid also added “Don’t forget that she wrote it on his palm. I mean, if it were any normal girl, she wouldn’t have even dreamt of touching you. But this one, she did what no girl had done before. And I am ready to bet a thousand bucks that none of the guys whom she had given her number to, would have it written by her on their hand.”

Raj then asked “”So, Tom. Are you gonna take her? When will you pop the question? What’s gonna happen next? Quick, we need the answers immediately.”

I replied “Frankly, I don’t know what’s gonna take place next. I do like her and this is the first time I have a real shot at a relationship. But I guess it’ll all be very spontaneous now, brother. Regardless of whatever happens, I am sure of one thing. The equations have completely changed for Mr. Tom Richards” I smiled.

 

Reviews

[Jessica Burgess]

Very good. You have some abbreviations in your story that most people would not know, so if I were you, i'd go back in and just take those out and just spell out whatever it is that you're trying to say. But overall, you really did well. It was interesting reading the male version of going through the processes of being attracted to someone and trying to figure out what you what to do about it.