She-He

Arin liked Ronita from the moment he saw her. It was not love, not at
all. Ronita was only average-looking. It really was respect. There was
something in the way the girl stood alone, or spoke to others or merely
looked at you that made you feel that she was special. Indeed, both
Arin and Ronita were just thirteen year old. They were still children.
But both Arin, Ronita and others were beginning to recognize that they
were changing. Not only were their looks becoming different, their
thinking was taking new, different directions. Boys now thought that
the girls were the most special people in their life and girls thought
alike about boys. There was a time when boys and girls together played
what they now thought were childish and silly games. Now the boys and
girls formed separate groups and played what they liked. Arin liked to
play cricket. Many boys from different grades played cricket in the
lunch break. Arin joined them. The girls generally spent the lunch-time
playing table tennis on the lunch tables, once they were cleared after
the meals. On a certain day Arin was batting. He had made twenty-five
runs when a full toss was bowled at him. Arin hit the ball straight
down the ground and it landed on the table where Ronita was playing
table tennis with another girl. The hit was so hard that it nearly
broke the table into two. Ronita pretended to not notice Arin's
straight hit. But her mother visited the school during the lunch break
the next day. Mrs Sen waited for Arin's cricket match to begin. And
once it started Ronita and her mother walked towards Arin who was
fielding at long-off. "Young man," Mrs Sen said, "you have been
bothering my daughter. What do you have to say about that?" Arin was a
little puzzled at first. He regained his composure and said, "I have
done nothing. Your daughter has been calling me Jug Ears because my
ears are long." Ronita shook her head and denied this. Her mother kept
on insisting that Arin had been teasing her daughter. Arin kept on
denying that he had done anything at all. When neither Mrs Sen nor her
daughter were prepared to listen he asked to be positioned at first
slip. This seemed to work because Ronita and her mother were both
afraid of the hard cricket ball and would not venture near first slip.
Well, Ronita's mother did not try to meet Arin again. But Ronita
stopped playing table tennis with her girlfriends in the lunch break.
Most of the time she would sit in one corner of the balcony and watch
the boys playing cricket. Indeed, she began to take a special interest
in the progress made by Arin. No one except her knew this though. And
if she did not watch Arin's batting she would ride her cycle. She was
among the few girls who rode to school on a bicycle. Ronita chose the
lunch-time to practise her cycling. And her idea of cycling-practice
was going in circles around the small cricket field. And one little
accident happened quite frequently. Arin would be fielding in the deep.
A ball would be hit towards him. As Arin moved towards the ball Ronita
would appear out of nowhere on her cycle. A great collision would take
place and both Arin and Ronita would be hurt badly. No matter how many
times this happened, no matter how many times both Arin and Ronita were
warned, the incident kept on repeating itself interminably. In the end
Ronita was forbidden from bringing her bicycle to school. Ronita and
Arin were now in the ninth grade. They were students of the same class,
called division B. And they fought over everything. Both wanted to sit
on the first bench. Arin came to school by car and so he came earlier.
Naturally, he was able to occupy the first bench more frequently than
Ronita. Ronita reminded Arin daily that as a girl she should be offered
the better seat by him. Arin did not bother to provide an explanation.
Every time a question was asked in class both Arin and Ronita tried
hard to be the first one to answer it. Indeed, often they answered
together. When an exam was held Arin and Ronita were declared first
jointly. As much as the two quarrelled, each had great respect for the
other's ability to excel. They were now at the end of tenth grade. The
board examination was approaching. School was due to end very soon. The
students had spent many years together and felt sad about going to
college with people they did not know well. Some students were planning
to join the same college en masse. The school organised a dance for the
outgoing students. Each student was expected to come with a partner.
Neither Arin nor Ronita could find anyone to go with them. The
explanation offered was that they were too good. Their friends secretly
felt that they would go with each other. Ten minutes were left for the
dance. Ronita was waiting outside the dance hall wearing a beautiful
black dress. She looked stunning and glowed in the dim light. She
wanted to go to the dance. And no one had still asked her. It was not
illegal to go without a partner but all her friends were going with
their boyfriends. She was feeling very low. She knew that she was
decent-looking and very smart. More smart than most boys could digest.
She was feeling lonely and ignored. She was about to cry when there was
a tap on her shoulder. It was Arin, looking fabulous. He looked into
her eyes and said, "Will you go to the dance with me?" Ronita was
delighted but she controlled herself and said, "Yes, I guess so. What
about you?" Both Arin and Ronita broke into a smile and entered the
dance hall hand in hand.