CHAPTER 9
SPORTS MEET
I hurried down the back road of my college, feeling the rush of being late for my first class. The security guard always insists on checking ID cards, even during those early morning hours. Once I reached the back gate, I was searching through my tote bag, which felt like an endless pit of chaos as everything tumbled out. Just when I finally found my ID, all of my belongings were already scattered on the ground. As I bent down to gather my things, a hand reached out to help me. I noticed the delicate veins running through his hand, and when I looked up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was him—the guy in the grey hoodie from the fest.
“Oh hey, what a surprise! What brings you here?” I asked in a surprised tone.
“Well, your college is hosting a sports meet today, so I’m here for that!”
“Oh really? What game are you playing?”
“Basketball!” he replied with a cheerful grin.
“Well, best of luck—hope you play amazingly! I really have to go now. I’m running late to class.”
“Oh, no worries! If you’re free, you should come watch the match; it starts at 10:00.”
I smiled and waved goodbye as I noticed his entire team looking my way. I didn’t think much of it and hurried off to my class. When I arrived, Janaki had saved a seat for me; she’s truly the reason I look forward to attending. She was my only friend in the department. I settled into my seat, taking a moment to catch my breath and soak in the familiar atmosphere.
Janaki suggested with excitement, “How about we catch a sports game after class?”
“I’d love that! I was actually invited by someone to watch a basketball game, so let’s go together!”
Janaki smiled and nodded in agreement. After enduring an hour of a rather dull lecture, we headed over to the cafe to grab a bite. My all-time favourite treat there is a delicious brownie! Once we ordered one, we made our way to the basketball court. The game was already in progress, and it was a thrilling match between the girls. As we settled in, enjoying our brownie, I spotted the boys warming up for their match, and there he was, alongside his teammates. As the girls wrapped up their first round, the boys began changing into their jerseys. When I caught a glimpse of his jersey, I was completely taken aback to see the name of his college!
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It was written ‘Hansraj’. I checked again to see if I read it right, and it did. All his team members were wearing the same one. He went in between his team members which made me not able to see his name written on it. With a shock on my face, I stood up. Janaki looked at me and asked “what happened? Where are you going?”
“Maybe I am going to hell with full embarrassment”.
She laughed and said, “for what?”
“Long story, no time for explanation.”
Janaki got a call, and she still had some tasks left to finish for her society work. With a smile, she mentioned she wanted to hear the story, and I gave her a thumbs-up as she headed out.
I did my best to catch a glimpse of his name tag, and I noticed it started with a ‘c’. I could feel my blood pressure settling and for a moment I was so calm that it didn’t start with ’z’. But when I took another look, I saw it said ‘Captain’. Suddenly, my heart began to race. I felt an unusual flutter of excitement. What if this captain turned out to be Zayn Arora? Oh boy, that would be something! I started piecing together the Duolingo joke he told on fest day. But then again, what if I was just overthinking it, like Jenya suggested? I decided to call Jenya to chat about it.
“Hello Jenya. Ask Dev to send Zayn’s photo, now.”
“What happened?’’
“If you are in college, come to the basketball court. I just want you to see that boy from the fest”.
“Oh, I am not in college. I will be late. You take it easy and don’t worry. I will send you his pic within a few minutes”.
“Yeah, bye.’’ I cut the call.
The announcement came up calling the team members of Hansraj and their opponents for the first round. When he came to the court. He hurried over to my seat where I was sitting, his hair dancing lightly in the breeze. I couldn’t take my eyes off the moment, feeling my heart race as I took a deep breath to steady myself.
“Thanks for coming to cheer me up.” He said with a smile and walked to the court.
I shot a quick message to Isha and Praba, inviting them to join us at the court as soon as they could. The whistle blew, and the excitement of the match really kicked in. Hansraj was on fire, scoring points left and right! When the interval finally arrived, I spotted Zayn making his way towards me. He settled down next to me and, while tying his shoelace, he kept stealing glances my way and then said.
“Hey, Duolingo. ‘Kitabo aur filmo mein bhi aisi kahaniyan nahi hogi aur agar dikhti bhi hain, to wo sach nahi hoti, bas banayi hui hoti hain.’ Please translate, I don’t know how to translate it.” After saying this, he gave me a smile and ran to the court.
Jenya’s message appeared on my screen. I opened her text, and all I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat. As the photo began to load and eventually finished downloading, I found it difficult to breathe. It was him. It’s Zayn Arora who is playing in the Hansraj team as the captain. My whole world felt like it had collapsed. My mouth went dry. I realized why I was experiencing this—perhaps it was embarrassment, or maybe I sensed that this was the start of something new.
I immediately texted Jenya saying the grey hoodie is none other than Zayn Arora and I’m sitting in front of him clueless. Not knowing what should I do.
Jenya mentioned she would ensure her return and would explain things to him. I shared the message with Isha and Praba. When Zayn shot the ball, the audience erupted in cheers as his teammates embraced him. He sprinted toward me and gave me a high-five. I did have doubts about whether it was truly him from our initial conversation. However, one thing I couldn’t figure out was how he recognized it was me. Perhaps to this day, I still can’t believe it.
