- 7. Sharmi
After my coming-of-age ceremony, my mother sat me down. “Listen, baby,” she began, “from now on, you need to be careful around boys, understand? If they ask you to go anywhere alone, you mustn’t. Do you understand?” But understanding was beyond me. It had been ages since she’d sat with me like this, really talked to me.
“If anyone touches you or speaks to you in a way that makes you uncomfortable, tell me. If anything like that happens when you’re alone, just walk away,” she instructed. The thought of Driver Sundaram flickered through my mind, but I kept it to myself.
I felt every eye on me back at school, especially the boys’. My physics teacher, after asking how I was, remarked to the math teacher, “She’s suddenly blossomed.” The comment only deepened my embarrassment.
From then on, I found myself drawn to the mirror. My face had a definite glow, just as they’d said. My cheeks held a rosy flush as if rouged. My hips had indeed widened, and the sight of my reflection, standing straight, was startling. Only after measuring myself with a tape measure did I feel a semblance of relief. My breasts, fuller now, sat firmly on my chest, like twin orbs I couldn’t help but admire. Sometimes, after showering, I’d wrap a towel around myself, then, in a fleeting moment of rebellion, let it fall, revelling in the brief glimpse of my own nakedness. I couldn’t resist the allure.
At school, I was treated almost like royalty. Arjun, whom other girls would have given anything to speak to, now trailed after me relentlessly, fueling a nascent sense of power. Devising ways to keep him hooked became a twisted form of entertainment. He was undeterred, pursuing me with a wounded, almost pleading gaze, no matter how many times I rebuffed him. At times, I felt a pang of pity.
This casual cruelty towards Arjun elevated my status among my friends. Girls would have done anything for his attention, yet he was fixated on me. But I was soon to learn that every game has its limits, a lesson delivered sharply on my close friend Reshma’s birthday.
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