Sangeeta Bhargava
Lucknow, India
Belinda groaned. The flight had been delayed by two hours. It was precisely at that moment that she noticed Shirley. Colour drained from her face. Her throat went dry.
Shirley looked the same – just a tad heavier, the hair shorter. Not tied in braids anymore. She looked prettier this way. She was with a little girl – talking and smiling indulgently at her.
Belinda put on her shades and looked the other way. Had she seen her? She didn’t think so. There were two rows of passengers between them and the girl was keeping her busy.
Seeing her suddenly, after all these years, took Belinda back to their boarding school. She was in class twelve. Their school was perched atop a hill, right next to the boys’ school. That day Belinda stood near the fence pretending to look for something. It was the common fence between the girls’ playing field and the boys’ football field.
Ashley kicked the ball hard. Belinda looked surreptitiously at the ball as it bounced off the fence and then at Ashley who was running towards it. As his feet shuffled the ball around, he slipped a note into her hand before kicking the ball back to his team.
Belinda looked around carefully and heaved a sigh of relief. No one had noticed. The girls were busy playing. Sister Anne was engrossed in a conversation with two of her classmates. Belinda crumpled the piece of paper in her moist palm after reading it. She was frightened. If the nuns found it, she would surely get the strap. But she was also in love.
She caught hold of Shirley after dinner and pulled her to a corner. “Ashley wants to meet me by the lake at ten tonight,” she whispered.
“Tell him it’s out of the question…” Shirley paused and stared incredulously at her friend.
Belinda returned her gaze arrogantly.
“NO!” Shirley hissed. “Surely you aren’t…You can’t. You’ll be thrown out of school if you get caught.”
“I won’t,” Belinda replied and walked off. She didn’t care. All that mattered was Ashley.
Later Belinda approached Shirley as she brushed her teeth. “Can I borrow your red purse?”
Shirley stopped brushing and stared at her for a long moment, her lips covered in white foam. Belinda fiddled with the piping on her dressing gown. She knew Shirley had noticed. She had her red t-shirt and jeans on underneath the gown. Belinda waited patiently as Shirley rinsed, wiped her mouth and walked over to her locker. Wordlessly she handed her the purse.
At exactly nine o’clock Sister Anne came and said the night prayers. By 9.15 the entire school was plunged in darkness. At 9.30, only snores could be heard. Belinda slid out of the back door of the toilet and ran across the lower field, on to the dirt track. She did not stop until she had reached the edge of the lake.
“Ashley?” Belinda’s heart thudded loudly as her panic-stricken eyes searched in the darkness. He was there all right, right next to the weeping willows. Belinda ran into his arms. Ashley smiled. And then he kissed her. Belinda had never been kissed before. She felt herself melt as his rough, chapped lips explored the softness of her mouth.
Belinda was glad it was a moonless night. The two of them rowed across the lake. The reflection of the lights of nearby houses shimmered beneath the oars. It was perfect. Until after they said goodbye.
Belinda started at the sudden announcement. She picked her handbag and boarded the plane. As she sank into her seat, she remembered how hard she had been breathing as she ran back up the hill. She stopped to catch her breath as she neared the dormitory. Just then a small light started moving towards her. She gasped and ran inside.
The next morning Mother Fernandez, the principal strode into the year 12 classroom. Belinda turned deathly white. She saw Shirley glance at her and looked away. There was a sudden murmur in the classroom. Mother clapped her hands loudly. The murmuring died away instantly. “The night watchman saw someone sneak out from your dormitory last night.” Mother looked around the class before continuing. “Whoever it was had better own up. Else I will have to suspend the entire class.” There was a look of shock on everyone’s face as Mother left the classroom.
Belinda shuddered. Even after all these years, whenever she thought of that day, a shiver ran down her spine. She wiped her brow and touched the television screen in front of her.
“Oh my God, Belinda, is that really you?” It was Shirley, bending over her, a warm smile on her lips.
Belinda straightened and stole a look at Shirley.
“So good to see you after all these years,” Shirley gushed as she clasped Belinda’s hands. “What have you been up to?”
“I…I just finished my Ph. D,” replied Belinda, avoiding eye contact. “What about you?”
“Well, you know what happened. I couldn’t possibly get admission in any college after that…..But wait till I tell papa. He remembers you. He’ll be so proud. He always wanted me to go to college.”
Belinda licked her lips. “It wasn’t my fault. The watchman found your purse and gave it to Mother. She asked me if I knew who it belonged to. I told her it was yours. That’s all I said.”
“I know,” Shirley replied.
“Why didn’t you tell her the truth?”
“You were intelligent. You were my best friend…I was going to drop out after school anyway.”
“I didn’t mean to….I was scared….” Belinda blabbered incoherently.
“Of course you were. We were just kids, Belinda.” She put a hand reassuringly on Belinda’s arm.
She had forgiven her – just like that. Belinda looked at her smile, mesmerised. When she smiled, she looked just like the angel in the painting that hung in the school office. It was a smile that reached her eyes and made them twinkle like two glittering orbs. Funny, despite all her degrees and accolades, Belinda had never been able to smile like that.