RAABTA

The first time I saw him was on the bus I took once every week. I was in the nineth standard and took extra classes for Maths because finding X was really a lot of problems. And on my first day of class, I managed to catch the 4.55PM bus. The only empty seat was beside this boy whose uniform was unfamiliar to me. What grabbed my immediate attention was the book he was reading; “Doctors” by Eric Segal. It was my favourite. He noticed me staring at the book cover absent-minded once or twice while I pretended to look away and he cleared his throat and resumed reading. For the whole thirty minutes of the journey, I was gathering the courage to ask him his favourite part but failed at it. I cursed myself for being the introvert that I am, grabbed my bag and walked to the door. Turning back one last time, I could see he was engrossed in reading. Every time I boarded that bus he seemed to be in the same seat, in the same school uniform, either listening to music on his headphones or readi