Chapter 4

As commanded, Matthew promptly exited the class with the hope that Martha would read the letter.

 Martha again felt bad for Matthew as she blamed herself for not taking the letter from his hand early that led to him making such a silly excuse.

“But wait, I am not to be blamed entirely. He deserved this punishment to make such a foolish excuse. Glad that I have been avoiding such a guy all this while who can’t even come up with good excuses” thought Martha while comforting herself a bit.

The school bell rang and finally the mathematics lecture came to a halt and Mrs. Bennett left the classroom. Martha closed the notebook which brought to her sight the paper that Matthew had handed over to her.

When she had taken the paper from Matthew’s hand, she quickly hid it underneath her notebook.

She opened the folds to find a message by Matthew. It read –

Hey love!

Yes, I don’t mind calling you love. Anyway, both of us know how badly I wanted to talk to you ever since our lips first met.

”Is this how he remembers our bond? By the memory of our first kiss? Not a good way to start a letter at all!” Thought Martha

It has been quite a lot of days you’ve been avoiding me. You know I have made every attempt to speak to you about the night we kissed each other by accident. I have been trying to seek apology from you for that and to tell you that it was as sudden for me as it was for you. And to also tell you that I really like you.

But I do not intend to emphasize on all these things here. I want to have a word. Meet me in room 34 on the third floor.

“Third floor? No one goes there. What is he up to? I don’t think I should go. Maybe I should talk to him properly tomorrow.”

 I know you’d be pondering whether to follow my instructions or not. Worry not. I have already made it easy for you. It’d be good if you come to meet me because if you don’t, I will jump onto your roof at midnight and breach into your room via the window so to have a word with you. 

“Heck! I should meet him today on the third floor only!”

Your love, Matthew

“No you’re not. Or maybe you’re.”

Martha was in a dilemma whether to meet Matthew or not. Part of her wanted to meet him badly and tell him how much she missed him all this while.

Part of her suppressed the idea and advised to think about this idea. She finally made up her mind to meet Matthew on the third floor.

The final bell rang and all the students began to leave. Martha’s friends inquired why she wouldn’t be accompanying them on the way home.

She said she wanted to get her doubts cleared by the faculty. As studious as she was, her friends believed her words and bid her goodbye.

 After seeing off her friends, she quickly rushed to the third floor to find room number thirty four. After reaching the third floor, she was walking along the corridor whilst looking at the number of each room placed on top of the entrance.

“Twenty nine, thirty, thirty one, thirty two…..” Martha kept observing the numbers as she reached close to her respective room. No sooner had she stood before room number 34 that somebody grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the room. It was none other than Matthew.

He grabbed her hand and brought her close to him. Not giving Martha even a chance to speak, he placed her back against the wall and stood inches away from her.

She was further flanked by Matthew’s arms on both right and left side, leaving no chance for her to escape.

“Is this why you have called me here in a secluded place? So just to do anything against my will? Let me go!” said an irritated Martha.

Oh I am not letting you go anywhere, not this time. You have been teasing me a lot these days by neglecting me like I am nothing. I have been so desperately trying to have a word with you.

So it is my turn to seek answers from you and of course, do anything in the best of my interests” said Matthew, with a pinch of anger in his voice.

Martha seemed to get a little scared of Matthew which Matthew noticed and therefore said something to comfort her, “Don’t worry, it is not as if I will be taking undue advantage of you. However, a little intimacy is good so I can have a closer look at  and admire your beauty.”

“What is it you want to say to me?” asked Martha, her eyes lowered.

“First answer me why you’ve been ignoring me since our visit to the woods?”

The two minds of Martha again jumped in to make a decision.

 “What should I tell him? That I cannot muster up the courage to tell him that it felt so special when he kissed me? Or tell him that he should’ve understood by my ignorance that I am not at all interested in him? No no no!! Let’s stick to the first option only.”

“I” said Martha after a brief pause. A few moments passed but she didn’t seem to have anything to say beyond ‘I’.

“I?” asked Matthew as his desperation grew. He himself had wondered if she wasn’t interested in him and that’s why brushing away his attempts at having a conversation.

“I”

Please say something beyond that word Martha. I know it’s a little uneasy for you to be with me here.

 But you gave me no other option to work upon. For all this time, I have been in a limbo thinking that you indeed felt the same way as I did when our lips met.

 You may know that I didn’t do that on purpose. Then why have you stopped interacting with me. As far as how I felt about it, I felt something growing out of the moment we were busy exploring each other’s lips.

 I felt love growing out of it Martha. I felt love for you. Maybe you didn’t. But I felt immense love for you. Love that I can shower upon you my whole life and love that I would seek from you“

“What if I say I too felt the same way as you did?” finally said Martha, with eyes still low.