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“Love comes in coils.” [Jacqueline]
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[Jacqueline’s POV]
If you are not playing any games, I will think about it.” I was talking to him, but my tone was smaller. My ears were buzzing with
my bus mates snickers but I kept my attention on the window.
“Okay. I will be waiting.”
I didn’t respond to him, it wasn’t necessary. Focussing all attention on the road. The buildings were pa**ing one after another.
The sidewalks were crowded with students, tourists, and some common middle-cla** people, it was lined with bushy trees ringed
in metal grated. Our neighborhood was near and I mentally prepared myself to get down. I glanced around noticing my bus
mated gossiping with their friends over the shouting of some few kids as well as the noise of traffic. My chest squeezes as I
notice few kids staring at me and then saying something in their respective friends’ ears.
“What are you looking at?” His voice startles me to the point that I almost jumped in my seat. I crane my neck away from his
face. He was close too close to my face. Words cease to function for me as my heart speaks for itself as his black eyes glue me
into his soul.
Tina was right, I don’t deserve even a single second of his attention. Maybe every girl in school just like him.
He shakes a hand through his hair and pretends to come closer to me to which I back away my heart th****** in my chest while
my head comes in contact with the window gla**.
“Don’t get stressed over these kids Jacqueline. People will always have something to say. So you ought to get used to it.”
The mind screams I need to push him away or say something rational in his presence, but my heart beats like a drum. The bus
screeches and stops. Fortunately, I have moved my face away from him. Otherwise, we would have kissed indirectly. His damp
hair tickles my neck and I exhale before asking him to move away from me. He moves away from me immediately as if being
thoughtful. I didn’t want him to find out about my burning cheeks so I made a run for the door. Teasing laughter echoes behind
me as he says goodbye to me. The kids behind me barked to move faster and I ran away quickly. My heart thump inside my
chest. We were just a breath away from kissing. I didn’t stop until I reached our door. Opening it from outside I entered quietly
and walked up to my room. It was a rare day, but I was filled with happiness. One teenager wanted to be my friend, I didn’t lose

against Rohan, I looked great today. All the things were amazing. I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror
again.
I honestly looked fat but it was kind of a cute fat girl, not an ugly fatty. My whole face was much rosier and suddenly remembered
our almost kiss. My fingers moved to my lower lip but Remo’s face flashed before my eyes.
‘Strange! Why did I think of Remo?’ My heart thumped and I expelled a sharp breath. My smile re-emerges and I slap my face
with water. After making sure my face was back to its original color I walked back to my bed. Noticing my phone’s ping, I took it
out from my school bag.
Third Person’s Pov:
Remo finds himself staring at his reflection in the window. He senses a layer of loneliness slowly encapsulating him as he
realizes his family must have been enjoying the party. He tries to brush his thoughts under the carpet but it doesn’t help. His
mind wanders to people and his eyes shine when Jacqueline’s name pops up in his head. She could make him smile.
Remo: “Hey.”
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The response was instantaneous, and a smile bloomed on his face.
Jacqueline: Hie!
Remo: How are you?
Jacqueline: I am good. How about you?
Remo: I am fine too, baby.
Jacqueline: Jerk. Jerky jerk. Don’t call me baby humph.
Remo: oh my baby You sound happy today. Want to share?
Jacqueline: Yes. You remember the guy I told you about?
Remo: I do! What happened to him?

Jacqueline: He threw red paint on me today in the cla**room.
Remo: What. Why?
Jacqueline: Well. He was challenged so it was his revenge.
Remo: He sounds like a kid from primary school. Who does that at this age?
Jacqueline: You are right he looked like a kid too when I hugged him.
Remo: You hugged him?
His palms clenched as he stared at her last text sharply. Why did her text annoy him to the point that he had texted her the
question? She wasn’t even his girlfriend. He found his reflected face which had somehow turned into a scowl. ‘What’s wrong with
me?’
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Jacqueline: Yes. Well, he was kind of smiling at me, so I painted him red by hugging him. It was so much fun.
Remo: uh. Oh. It does sound like fun, but Jacqueline, you shouldn’t hug a person who wants to hurt you.
Jacqueline: You are right! It was just in the spur of the moment. It kind of happened.
Remo: Don’t do that ever again.
Jacqueline: I won’t.
Remo: My good girl.
Jacqueline’s eyes turned softer as she read the text. Why did her heart thump reading his text?
Jacqueline: I am not your good girl.
Remo: You are my good girl whether you like it or not.
Jacqueline: Okay bad boy. We talked too much about me, how was your day?
Remo: Woah! I am your bad-boy. Hmm. It sounds so nice.

Well, today is my Grandpa’s birthday so everyone’s gone home and I have stayed.
Jacqueline: Nope. You are not mine. Why didn’t you go?
His eyes narrowed but then loosened immediately. He can tell her about himself. It was only right.
Remo: Well soon I will be all yours. About grandpa, I don’t like him.
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Jacqueline: As if, Stop kidding. Anyway, Why don’t you like him?
Remo: He kind of had thrown us out of the house when we were poor. He doesn’t love us at all.
Jacqueline: I understand. I am sorry you had to go through something like that.
Remo: You can’t. You have never been there.
Jacqueline: I have been there a lot of times.
Remo: What happened?
Jacqueline: My Grandparents have for some reason always hated us. They tried to kill me twice. They have chased us out two
times.
Remo’s eyes widened at the realization and for the first time in his life, he realized he should never make presumptions about
people.
Remo: Tried killing you. What did they do?
Jacqueline: I was probably seven months old, and it was wintertime, my grandpa took me from the neighbors home who loved
me a lot. He removed the scarf I was wearing and tried another one to my neck too tightly. Mom says I was unable to breathe
when she found me. She was doing the dishes when an old woman who used to work in our home came to her and took me to
mom. The old woman realized that I was suffocating and she told mom immediately. Mom says, her hands were trembling when
she cut the cap from my head side because the scarf around my neck was so tight that it was impossible to cut it from that place.
I survived though.

Remo placed a hand on his heart, it felt stuffy for some reason, she almost died.
Remo: why did they do that?
Jacqueline: I was my parent’s first child and he was the sole bread earner. After he had me, his love and money were kinds of
leaning towards me. They were in a bubble of insecurity and tried to harm me.
Remo: I am sorry, you had to go through that Jacqueline. I wish I could take away that pain from you but I know I can not. So I
will be cheesy, that kind of thing has made you whatever you are today. Your kindness is probably the result of what life has
thrown on you.
Jacqueline: Oh. Well.