Half Girlfriend

‘All we have for peace in this city,’ I said.
We sat in silence and watched the ripples of water, my hand inches
from hers. I wondered if she would be okay if I held it. She had held
mine on the plank, after all. But I guess it was okay on the plank,
because she needed to hold it. Now, it would mean something else. At
least, that is how girls think. Still, I decided to try my luck. I inched
my hand playfully towards hers. She sensed it, and moved her hand
away.
How do girls do this? Do they have antennae, like insects do? Or
are they thinking of the same thing themselves? How else are they able
to react so well so fast?
‘You’ve started working on the speech?’ Riya said, shaking me
trom my thoughts.
‘Sort of,’ I said.
I took out sheets of paper from my pocket. I had scribbled notes in
Hindi on the key points I needed to address. I handed them to her.
‘The school needs toilets, chairs,blackboards...’ she read out. She
turned to me. ‘Madhav, you need to do more.This is just a list of things
you want.’
'I'm still working on it.’
‘He is Bill Gates. People ask him for things wherever he goes. The
idea is to not ask for anything and yet earn a grant.’
‘Not ask?’
‘Yes. Never ask. It comes across as needy.’
I looked at her. Did she leave me because of the same reason? ‘I
do that sometimes. I come across as needy,’ I said in a small voice.
She understood my context. She didn’t admit it, of course. She
simply paused before she spoke again. ‘These goras are different. You
have to come across as happy and confident. Not desperate.’
‘Read the rest. I talk about other things, how the school was
created and more.’
She patted my shoulder.
‘You are doing fine. Don’t worry. We will do this together. I’ve