Noone’s ever gonna date you, bro!

Jane was finally getting married to him. He is an engineer. He belongs to a good family. He has his own house and gets a good salary every month. His parents live in their own house so she won’t have many works to do. He has said he will open a new boutique for her. She’s always loved fashion designing. She talks a lot and he listens patiently. He is social and well behaved. He doesn’t have any bad habits like smoking or drinking. He is better than me in every way.  She completes him and he completes her.

I am her best friend. Our friendship started eight years ago. I still remember the first time I saw her. It was on the first day of our high school. She was sitting on the first bench and I was on second bench – corner seat. From there I could see her properly. She was not the most beautiful girl in the class, but there was something about her that I had never seen in anyone else before. It’s been eight years and I haven’t seen anyone who’s made me feel that way. I told my seat partners that I liked her. I told them how I adored Jane and would do anything to spend my life with her. They started laughing at me.

I started talking to her. We started going to college together. We started sharing things. Some days when we were busy all day, we’d sum up and tell each other about how our days went. She helped me with my homework. I helped her with maths. I fell in love so quick.

It hit me like a heart attack when she told me that one of the boys from the class proposed her and she said yes. I didn’t say anything. I acted cool. I started teasing her and telling her I’d help them get married and she laughed saying my wish will come true after few years only. Deep inside I wished she’d say she was not serious about him. But she was.

I saw her cry for the first time on the day she broke up with him. They broke up for some stupid reason. I felt bad for her. Seeing her cry made me sad. But somewhere inside I was happy. I knew her so well and I knew it that no one could understand her better than me. I started planning how I’d tell her what I feel about her someday in such a way that she wouldn’t say no. I thought that I’d give her some chocolates and flowers and she’ll be mine. I was too young then. I didn’t know it takes a lot more than chocolates and flowers to get a girl. I didn’t want to pass time with her. I loved her truly.

After few months, she started dating another guy. I was a fool to recharge her phone so that she could talk to him. It is so funny I couldn’t say no when she asked me to transfer a little balance on her account. And my balance would always be zero. I had landline phone set in the living room. Every night I used lock everyone’s door from outside and then sit in the living room and talk to her. I used to make up reasons to hear her voice.

After high school, we went to different colleges. We started meeting less. After two years of getting friend zoned, I started seeing other girls. I was never quite interested in any of them but I dated a few. I looked for her in everyone I met but I failed. Studies and work kept us busy. We used to talk once in a while.

Last week I got a call from her. She invited me to the marriage ceremony. After thinking a lot whether I should go or not, I was there standing in front of them ready to get married. She was looking so pretty with makeup and her curly hair looked beautiful. I loved it when her curls fell on her face when she talked or laughed. I was seeing her after years and she was still the same. She was looking at him and smiling. I knew she was happy. I was happy for her but I felt a little heaviness in my heart as I was losing her forever.

The ceremony ended. I met my old friends there, including my seat partners. They started talking about the first day of high school when I told them how I adored Jane and would do anything to spend my life with her. We talked. We ate. Then we waved her goodbye. She went with her husband. We were still sitting there and talking as most of us didn’t get a chance to meet each other after high school. Then my eyes fell on a girl. She was sitting on the opposite table. She was wearing a blue dress. I could see her clearly. There was something about her smile. Every time I liked a girl, by looks, I used to compare her with Jane. But this one had darker skin tone than of Jane and was short and thin. She had long straight hair. She was just opposite to Jane as Jane was fair, short, and chubby and had curly hair.

But I liked her. It was the first time I felt that way for a girl after Jane. This was good news for me because I never liked any of them. Maybe as my chances with Jane were impossible, my brain started coming to senses and instructed my heart to beat for this new lady.

I told my friends that I liked the girl on the blue dress. They started laughing and teasing me. They said I fall for every girl I see and kept repeating how I said I liked Jane when I first saw her. They started making fun of me how I failed to propose Jane despite my several attempts. I wanted to talk to that girl on the blue dress but I thought about my friends. In their eyes, I’d be a jerk trying every girl I see.

As we laughed and talked, I noticed she was also looking at me. As she giggled with her friends, she kept repeatedly looking at me and smiling. My inner-self told me to be a man enough to approach her and at least introduce myself. I started getting a feeling that she was interested in me too. I looked at my friends. I didn’t tell them first because if I listened to them they’d not let me talk to her. I got up and looked nowhere else. I directly went to her and said she seemed to be shocked. I got nervous. I started itching my head and the only word I could find was: HI. Her friends laughed. She didn’t reply and just kept smiling.  She didn’t follow the script that I had planned on my head. I expected her to ask if she knew me, then I’d tell about myself but she didn’t say anything.

I felt my ears turning red. I stood there like a fool for a few minutes. I could see her friends giggling and laughing at my stupidity. Then I returned to my friends. I could hear them roaring with laughter.

“Noone’s ever gonna date you bro,” one of them said. I am not sure about that. But one thing I was definitely sure about. I will never approach any girl like that again.