Fault in Our Stars, in Us!

June 2nd, 2020   /   share Tales

It's a beautiful shining night in the campus today. It's not a usual night. The stars are shining bright and the moon is in its waning gibbous phase. It is shining bright reddish yellow just above my head. I am standing at the balcony of my room looking at the stars and trying to figure out the constellations. I realize that I have never seen a shooting star. I have always wished to see one.

From where I stand, I can see no one. All I can see is the barren roads and the street lights. Lights in most of the rooms in other buildings are switched off. This made the sky look more brighter and stars shone a bit more every second. I can see that a girl is standing in the girls hostel building on the same floor as me. I can vaguely see her face as the girls hostel building is quite far but I am pretty sure she is someone from my batch as she is standing in the same floor balcony of her room as me. I barely know any girls from my batch. I am looking at the stars again.

Suddenly, my phone rings. I go back to my room to pick up my phone to check who's calling. The name flashes. It's her. The one girl from my batch I have always wanted to talk to but couldn't. Why will she call me at this time? It's 2 o'clock. I realize that the girl standing there must be her.

I pick up the call. 'Hello' I say. 'Hey, Ved!', she replies. 'Tara, everything Okay? You are calling me at this hour?'
'It's you na Ved. There. Standing at the balcony!'
'Yeah. It's me. You have eyes or what? How in the world could you have guessed it correctly.', I reply amazed and shocked.
'I'm not a chashmish like you are, you see?'
'Hahaha..'
'What are you doing up so late? I could see you have been looking at the sky for so long now. Missing someone?'
'No. I'm not missing anyone. Just looking at the sky actually. Trying to find fault in our stars'
'Wow! Fault in our stars. The fault, dear Ved, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings', She said quoting Shakespeare.
'Underlings , you say?'
'Yeah. You know? We are after all just stardust.'
'Hmmm!! '
'What?'
'I still don't get it why you called me?'
'I guess, I was trying to find fault in ourselves.. And you just happened to be there looking for the stars.'
'I know we have our faults. But we are just pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, sooner or later, we will fit together', I said quoting Danny L. Deaubé

A long silence cast upon us. We are not speaking any words. I can listen to her breathing. What a sight it is! Two underlings in different buildings standing under the stars and moonlight and the wind blowing past our skin and I can listen to the soothing sound of her breathing at 2 in the night. We are looking at the sky hopelessly waiting for the other person to utter a word. I see a shooting star, suddenly, running hurriedly to fall and meet the horizon.

'You don't believe in that wishing thing right?', she asks. 'That wishes come true when you wish while a shooting star is falling.'
'No. Of course not. I don't believe wishes come true like that.', I reply.
Even though I don't believe in that type of wishing, I already saw a shooting star. One wish already came true. Other one, I felt, was about to come true.

'I'm in love with a shooting star
But she moves so fast
When she falls then
I'll be waiting', I said

'Give my love to a shooting star
But she moves so fast
That I can't keep up
I'm chasing', she replied.

'Wow. You. Are. Awesome', I said surprised. How often do you come across a girl who knows the lyrics of one of the beautiful song ever written and can quote Shakespeare and is trying to find faults in beings, in us?

'No. We are awesome', She replied and I fell for her then and there. I felt as if I was waiting for her since forever and that moment I was finally living it.
She giggled. I giggled.

'Hey, Do you think we should try finding faults by meeting over coffee or something?' I said. I wanted to say I love You because it felt the pieces of the puzzle were already fitting together. But coffee felt right there..
'Umm…', She started laughing. 'Yeah, we should. Tomorrow after the class?'
'Yeah!'

My two wishes came true today. But did we find the fault in our stars, in us? I guess the fault found us and fixed us together.