Prologue
Laughs burst from Ashok as he was hit with Eesha’s elbow, Ganesha tossed a battered futball to Rashmi, Aiza and her band of followers squealed as their wrappers were stolen by the wind, and the heat beat heavily down on all of them as they ate their “rooftop lunch.” Time slipped by merrily in the sun, and there were sure to be groans and sighs in 18 minutes, when Mr. Arya would blow a whistle, and this weekly delight would be over.
Pavitr sat comfortably in the semi circle of his friends, rowdy boys covered in grins and brows that promised mischief. His name was called often, and each joke was followed by eyes wandering to him, cautiously asking his approval. He jovially replied with laughter each time.
He threw his head back with a roar as Dileep explained to the group how Pav had forgotten his lunch at the school last week, and they had found the decidedly rotten thing on his desk, along with a note from Mr. Arya about its “interesting smell.”
With his head leaned so far back, he could see her.
She was sitting on the edge of the rooftop, gently kicking her legs to a slow offbeat rhythm. The wind wrapped around threads of her hair and pulled them into twists, but she never lifted her charcoal smudged fingers to move it from her face. Her eyes stayed dutifully trained on her piece of paper, as she hastily made sharp drags across it.
She had never been interesting, in a swarm of students she was peripheral, happily drawing on the outskirts of Pavitr’s cacophonous world. Sure, he knew her name, but they all did. The class had advanced together through their adolescent years and growing up side by side had led to an unintentional, but comfortable familiarity.
But even though he was used to her presence, it wasn’t one he knew. People approached Pavitr, he was electric, and he knew it. His classmates drifted to his desk, and his joy seeped from him easily, though he did make a point of allowing it to. It slipped into a girls barret that he complimented, it burst from the smile he flashed his friends, and it spread in the cheers of his name as he juggled for his classmates. He breathed in their attention, and it strengthened his lungs.
But whenever he juggled or danced, or sang, and consequently caused Mr. Arya his frequent headaches, y/n had just smiled politely, or quietly giggled…and then continued on with her drawing.
He realized he was staring, and decided it was time for something to be done.
He swung his legs out from under him and glided over to her secluded corner. Snickers and yelps hit his back, but they quickly faded as he left the group behind. With his hands behind his back, he leaned forward, craning his neck over her shoulder.
Suddenly he felt a warm pressure on his chest.
“Please be careful! You could fall!”
Her hand pressed firmly against his skin, a small charm on her wrist twinkling with the swish. Terrors swam through the lake of fear in her eyes, and her grimace had contorted her face. Her paper had become rapidly tucked underneath her forearm, and the charcoal had snapped in her hand. The top half of it rolled across her lap and plummeted gracefully through the air into the bustling street below, but she didn’t take her eyes from him.
“I could probably just brush it off if I did.”
“What?”
“Yeah I’d bounce right back up off the pavement. You know, like rubber! I’m agile, and athletic, a fall like this does not pose a threat compared to - ”
He was stumbling backward a few steps, waving his arms cartoonishly to maintain his balance. Her arm was left extended in the air, having guided him back to safety.
“I’d rather you not take your chances.”
“I just wanted to see what you were drawing.”
“You what?”
“Your drawings, you always have a sketchbook or some paper with you, you must be cooking up something pretty spectacular!”
Her smile was warm but her eyes were wary.
“Oh.”
“Soooooo…” he said.
“...Can I see them?”
She brought the papers down from her face, where her hands had instinctively guided them. She kept her gaze on the rough cement of the roof, but she slid the papers towards him across her lap.
“Wow!”
His exclamation hit her in the face, and she jumped, but his hand grabbed her arm keeping her steady, and from falling into the street. The gentle wisps of his fringe drifted across her forehead. He smelled of coconut oil.
There’s Reva, and Priyanka! And- oh my goodness it’s Dileep! Dileep hey look at -
“Shhhh” Y/N shouted, clapping her hand over his mouth. His warm brown eyes met hers, and she shook her head.
He slowly used his free hand to move her hand down, to reveal a glowing smile.
“Got any of me?”
A high whistle blew, and groans and sighs filled the air.
Three years later -
He was in love with her.
Y/N was his best friend of three years, and for the last two, his heart had had her name inscribed on it. Their calls lasted deep into the night, earning him frequent scoldings and tired eyes the next day in class. But all he had to do was look at the sweet smile on her face as she tugged her matching eyebags, and he didn’t regret it an ounce. They had slept over at each other's houses as long as their guardians had allowed, and they even pushed it six months beyond that with their pleading eyes and their glares, until the foot had been officially put down. They fed stray dogs, they wrote songs together, they danced in the rain, and every moment, the words were in his breath. With every beat of his heart, he was saying
I love you, I love you, I love you.
He needed to tell her, the pressure was building in his chest. He couldn’t figure out the best way to do it, and it needed to woo her beyond belief. It needed to end with her saying “Oh pav I could never live without you! You are so romantic and handsome and so very strong and your muscles are-”
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He jumped from his bed, and rushed to the door, making sure to check his breath and swoop a hand through his tussled hair. He knew it was her, either that or Maya Auntie coming home from the market, and it couldn’t hurt to be at his best then either.
He swung open the door, leaning forward like a mermaid on the bow of a ship, his grin devouring his face. But as his head swept side to side, his smile faltered, he was greeted by an empty hallway.
A faint rustle and a twitch of paper caught the corner of his eye. His gaze drifted upward with the slow tilt of his head, and what he saw before him left his mouth dropped. The entirety of the wall was stacked head to toe with paper. From yellow and curling to crisp and white, each was filled with faces and places crafted in dark charcoal. Fifty or so of his face were looking back at him, but it was not alone. spotted in between the army of Pavitr’s, was the face of the girl he loved.
A child’s drawing of him at school, a slightly better, and bizarrely anime styled, rendition of him, Y/N, and Gayatri singing karaoke, a beautiful portrait of him staring out a window. As he rushed down the hall he was met with even more of them, years of their shared life were hung lovingly on these walls. But as he reached the end, a final paper was tapped up away from the rest. He pulled it down, and his heart finally burst. On it was a simple picture, the two of them, him grinning, his laugh practically ringing off the paper. And there was Y/N, kissing his cheek. The light revealing the faint outlines of something on the back was the only thing keeping him moving through his awe.
“I hope this can be us someday. If you’ll have me.” - Y/N
“Pav?”
He looked up, and there she was. The soft yellows of sunset drifting through the window and brushing her hair and skin. There were tears in her eyes, and she was shaking, but a small hopeful smile reached out towards him.
He knocked the wind out of her with the force of his hug.
From that day on, they were together.
The next year, he became spiderman.