Chapter 11
By the time Meera and Hirsh finished discussing the project, the sky outside had already started turning orange.
The mall lights had come on, and the evening crowd was slowly filling the cafés and corridors.
Hirsh closed his laptop.
"I think that's enough for today," he said.
Meera stretched her arms slightly. "Yeah… my brain is officially done."
For a moment, there was an awkward silence between them.
The earlier anger had mostly faded, replaced by a strange, quiet understanding.
Meera picked up her bag.
"Well… bye, I guess."
"Bye," Hirsh replied simply.
She turned and started walking toward the exit.
Just before she left the café, she glanced back once.
Hirsh was already looking at his laptop again, typing something with his usual serious expression.
Typical.
Shaking her head slightly, Meera left the mall.
Later that evening, after dinner, Meera decided to go for a walk near the park close to her house.
She needed some fresh air.
Her mind had been full all day — football practice, the argument with Hirsh, the project discussion.
As she walked toward the field, she heard loud voices and laughter.
A group of boys were playing football under the dim evening lights.
And of course…
Rohan was there.
Her heart did a small, annoying flip.
He was running across the field with the ball, his messy hair falling over his forehead just like always.
A few of his friends were shouting and joking as they played.
Meera stood near the edge of the field for a moment, watching.
Her brain started arguing with itself.
Don't go.
Just go home.
But another voice said—
You joined the football team. You should practice.
Taking a deep breath, Meera walked toward them.
The boys noticed her almost immediately.
One of them raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… hey?"
Meera tried to sound confident.
"Can I play?"
A few of them exchanged amused looks.
"Sure," one of them said with a shrug. "We're making teams anyway."
They quickly started choosing sides.
Names were called one after another.
"Rohan."
"Kabir."
"Arjun."
"Sam."
Players moved into their teams.
Meera stood there awkwardly.
One by one, everyone got picked.
Until…
She was the only one left.
Someone laughed quietly.
"Guess she's with us," one of the boys said.
Meera felt her face burn with embarrassment.
Still, the game started.
She tried her best to keep up.
But the truth was obvious.
She wasn't very good.
At one point she missed an easy pass.
Another time she accidentally kicked the ball in the wrong direction.
Finally, during an important moment in the game, she failed to stop the ball — and the other team scored.
The boys groaned.
Rohan ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.
"Seriously?" he said sharply. "You could've stopped that!"
Meera froze.
"I—I tried," she said quietly.
"Well try harder next time," Rohan replied, irritation clear in his voice.
The words hit harder than she expected.
For the rest of the game, she stayed mostly silent.
Eventually the match ended.
The boys slowly started leaving the field.
Meera turned to walk away, feeling stupid for even coming.
"Hey."
She stopped.
Rohan jogged over to her.
His expression looked different now.
Less annoyed.
More… awkward.
"Listen," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."
Meera blinked.
"What?"
"I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," he said. "It was just the game."
She shrugged slightly. "It's fine."
There was a short pause.
Then Rohan suddenly smiled a little.
"To make up for it," he said, "I'll buy you ice cream."
Meera looked at him suspiciously.
"Are you bribing me?"
"Maybe," he admitted.
She tried to hide her smile.
"When?"
"Tomorrow evening?" he suggested.
Meera pretended to think about it.
Then she nodded.
"Okay."
Rohan grinned.
"Good. It's a date."
Her heart skipped a tiny beat.
And as they walked in opposite directions that night, Meera couldn't stop smiling.