I first met this stranger when I was 13. She looked the same age as me, but way more confident. It was her stride that made me notice her. She was tall for her age, walked straight, had high-cheek bones & caramel colored eyes. I was coming from my tuition class when I first saw her. She was with a group of her friends, a bag strap tied just to one of her shoulders.

The way she talked, the way she walked & the way she laughed; I rooted all my attention only on her. I noticed none of her friends who walked as close as possible to her & laughed gleefully – inviting looks from strangers.

Call it fate or call it just a mere coincidence, but the next day, our timings synced, and I saw her again. She was on my mind the previous night, but not that much. It felt good seeing her from afar. I wasn’t shy with girls, but I felt shy approaching her & starting a conversation. The place we lived in, the boys had a poor reputation and I don’t think she would see me in a good light.

Every day, while returning from tuition, I saw her, or rather I should say that I matched our timings so that I could see her. That confidence, those fierce brown eyes & her stride just made me feel so shy. One day, I crossed paths with her, nearer to those ferocious eyes. Unluckily, our shoulders grazed a bit, and she went off balance for a rare second.

Wow, she is so beautiful!!

STOP STARING!! I heard a ringing bell in my mind.

I apologised instantly. I thought I’d have to hear a mouthful from her, but she just said, “sorry, my bad” and went about with her friends. You might think that after this, at least once, I’d have notched up the courage to talk to her and made her mine with my super flirting skills?

Well, friends, I’ll give you a Reality Check – Magical meetings don’t happen.

After that knock up with her shoulder, I still saw her every day on the same street, but that’s it.

She was just a stranger!

It’s been 7 years, and now, I don’t see her on the streets. Just like me, I think she also went somewhere for further studies. I can’t say I’m going to miss her, but I’ll definitely remember those unique brown, fierce & ferocious eyes mixed with that confident stride and a Good Fashion sense. God, I could lose myself in those caramel eyes of her, but….reality sucks! I got around to know her name- Sonali.

She was a stranger whom I’ll never know, but still know a lot since I saw her in real life and not hidden amongst filters like the ones on social media.

I’d like to summarize her in one line: “She’s a stranger, who isn’t a stranger anymore, but STILL is a stranger after all!”

Because not every story needs to be a Love Story, sometimes infatuation is the limit