Whose crush is it anyway?

                                                        Whose crush is it anyway?

Mobile phones can be a real curse. Well, at least if you know that your crush has your mobile number for the past week and hasn’t bothered to use it!

To begin from the beginning, it all began two months ago, and yes he took that long to take my number. I sat drumming my fingers on the table awaiting my new lab partner for the academic year 2011-12.I wished it wouldn’t be some geeky, know-it-all who would make me look dumb. Neither did I want someone who couldn’t tell a vernier caliper from a micrometer. Ideally, I wanted someone with ordinary intelligence like me and someone who would also infuse some humor into the usually sleep-inducing practicals.No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than a tall, brown-eyed boy took his seat next to me. Almost immediately after that, we were called for the explanation of the day’s experiment.

  Having set the apparatus, we began the experiment to confirm the law for series and parallel resistances using a potentiometer.

  5 minutes. No conversation.

10 minutes. Still nothing.

“I so love this crap that you’ve got to do in electronics, circuits, these wires…”

  Thank God he finally spoke!

“Um really? I find them confusing. I just can’t figure where the galvanometer goes and where the rheostat goes. It’s all very intriguing.”

Oops! Did that make me look dumb?

So I quickly asked, “So you planning to do engineering?”

“No, there are better ways to kill yourself”

Not sure if I heard him correctly, I said, “I thought you enjoyed electronics...”

“You see my brother’s doing engineering and he’s slogging his life away. I don’t intend to do the same.”

“So what do you intend to do?”

“The day I figure out, I’ll let you know”, after which he smiled the most endearing smile, so much so that I wished it was only meant for me!

  His quick wit and sharp presence of mind more than made up for his laid-back attitude in life.

  He didn’t tell me his name before leaving which I took as a sign of his disinterest in me. You definitely let a girl you like know your name. Nevertheless; I couldn’t contain my feelings for him any longer and raced to the library to blurt them to Stacey, my best pal since kindergarten.

“I have a crush on my lab partner!” I yelled and then went on to narrate our entire conversation verbatim. Stacey laughed and exclaimed, “Congratulations Kelly!”

Thus, I began to await Wednesdays and Thursdays when I would meet him in the lab, and spent the rest of the week waiting for the following Wednesday and Thursday to arrive!

I’d finally found his name. Oliver Russell. Once after adjusting our microscope, Oliver said, “I wonder what you’d do without me.”

“Exactly what other students are doing without you; I’d work faster and better.”

“Hey chill. You’re getting all offensive”

“Oh did that hurt? I’m sorry, that I’m really not sorry about it.”

I quietly continued working. He said something funny but I didn’t bother.

“Hey just get a life okay, “he said breaking the silence.”Loosen up a little. It’s okay to laugh at stupid things that people say and do. That’s how you learn to laugh at yourself”

“What do you mean loosen up? And I know how to laugh at myself!”

“Oh, so you already know how to laugh at stupid people”, he said lightly.

I couldn’t help but smile at that. He’d finally given it back to me. He’d finally shut me up. I went and narrated this to Stacey. She was both happy and thrilled for me, for I was truly falling for Mr. Russell.

  Once in the chemistry lab, Oliver hurriedly asked,”Hey what functional group does ethyl alcohol have?”

“If its ethyl alcohol, it has to have alcohol as its functional group no? Dodo!”

“Oh yes.Hey you know why the dodo’s extinct, don’t you?”

“No, they’re not extinct “I smiled cheekily.”One is standing right next to me.”

He gave a short chuckle.”Wow, so you’re finally learning to have a sense of humor.”

“Just shut up!”

  So he was a sport. I loved the way he teased me and teasing him back was fun too. I’d been uptight with him earlier but now I was at ease. And of course you know who heard the entire exchange verbatim: My dear Stacey.

He’d glanced at me a couple of times during the lectures, after which I’d dug my nails into Stacey’s flesh. He also regularly smiled at me, that endearing smile that I loved but that did not account for anything. He didn’t ask me to hang out with him, now that he had my cell number and neither did he flirt. I couldn’t be ridiculous enough to think he actually liked me.However; I enjoyed the limited we spent together.

Oliver was an avid reader as I discovered one day.

“I simply love the science fiction genre. Frankenstein’s my favorite.

Do you...Read?”

Did I appear that ignorant?

“Uh, yes. But I enjoy mystery novels. Huge fan of Sidney Sheldon too”

Then I suddenly asked,” Hey how’s your speech for Literacy Day coming along?”

“Great! I’m going to crack many jokes”

“The lame ones that you usually crack?”

“Yes, the same lame ones that have you in splits.”

“Go ahead. Flatter yourself.”

“Hey, be nice,” he said while nudging me playfully.

And on and on we went, and I wished we could go on like this forever.

And obviously, Stacey patiently heard me out as I told her the exchange of the day.

“But why doesn’t he just ask me out for the upcoming prom?” I cried.

“Patience darling. I bet he’s dying to.” Stace assured me.

As the thoughts of the prom danced in my mind, the following Wednesday, Oliver said,”Hey Kelly, are you done with your journal?”

No, you idiot, is there nothing better to ask about than a stupid worthless journal?

But all I said was, “No, I’m finishing it”, without so much as glancing up.

“Do you know salsa?”

No, but I sure know karate and if you don’t……Oh my God! Was he actually leading to THE QUESTION? Was he going to ask me to THE PROM?

‘Kelly?” Oliver shook me from my reverie.

“So I was asking, does Stacey have a boyfriend? I mean is she seeing someone?”

“How does it matter?” I laughed.

”Why do you want to know if she’s dating?”And even as I said it, reality finally struck me!

He wanted to go to the dance with Stacey. It had been her all along. He didn’t like me!

“Hey Kelly, will Stacey go to the prom with me? Please tell me”, he begged.

I sat there dumbfounded, unable to speak. My eyes were transfixed on my journal as I decided whether I should report this conversation to Stacey. Verbatim.

                                            THE END