Vaibhavi, 25, is a freelance writer in Delhi.
Childhood sweetheart
It was a lazy summer afternoon in 2013. I was killing time scrolling on Facebook. Suddenly, I saw Abhimanyu’s name pop up on my list of ‘suggested friends’. I couldn’t control my excitement and sent him a friend request.
We went to the same school for years, before my parents moved me to another school. He actually looked almost the same even after so many years.
In no time he accepted my friend request and we started chatting immediately. I had just started my new life at college and being in a relationship was on my mind for sure. So when he asked me for a relationship online, I said yes.
We used to talk for hours on Facebook messenger. We both loved to write poetry and often wrote verses for each other. Two months down the line, I began to feel attracted towards him. This was going to be great fun or so I thought.
A ‘special picture’
One day he sent me a ‘non-veg’ joke. He said he would like to send more, but I told him not to. It was not my thing and hoped he would understand. Later that day, he said he wanted to have a sex-chat with me. I ignored his behaviour thinking he was just teasing me.
Next few days passed normally with our everyday chats. After a week, he asked me to send him a pic that no one had seen. ‘A special pic,’ he said. I got confused as most of my pics are on Facebook. He then said he wanted me to send him a nude. I was shocked. I did not expect that from him.
He kept asking for that ‘special pic’ for days. I kept avoiding him.
Then one day, Abhi video called me. I took his call and we started talking normally. Then he asked me to lower the camera because he couldn’t see my face. I lowered the camera but he asked me to continue lowering it.
The brown part
We had been talking for a while when I realised that the camera was on my breasts! As I scrambled to change the angle, he asked me to relax and show him my ‘brown part’. I felt really embarrassed when I realised he was asking me to show him my nipples!
I suddenly felt really scared. I signed off from the video call. I couldn’t believe what was happening. For me, our friendship was all about emotions and care. Sure, physical attraction comes in every relationship, but this soon and in such an awkward manner? Where was this heading to?
I broke up with him and blocked him everywhere. He kept texting me using various other means and I kept ignoring his messages. I was really hurt. I didn't know with whom I could share my emotions. I felt bad for losing a really good friend.
*To protect the identity, names have been changed and the person/s in the picture is/are models.
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About the author: Vinayana Khurana is pursuing M.Phil in English literature from Delhi University. She is a woman with Cerebral palsy but that is not her identity. She's a writer, a poet and a Comic Artist. You can reah her out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn