OS (Series): Happily Ever After
Part 3
"Of course I can do two things at once," I stated indignantly.
"Prove it." Akash smirked and Payal shrugged helplessly. Stupid cow. I'll show him!
"I will."
"What are you doing?" Arnav materialised out of nowhere (an impressive feat considering he was almost six feet tall) and was now giving me his usual odd looks.
"Showing your brother that I can do two things at once."
"Rubbing you stomach and patting yourself on the head?" Akash added.
I rolled my eyes. "At the same time," Hello? Is he blind?
"I choose to rise above your childish taunts because I am a capable, emotionally independent, twenty-first century female," I pronounced.
"Listen. Um, can I talk to you for a sec?" Arnav interrupted, which was pretty much the cue card for Payal and Akash to shut up and gawk at Arnav with keen interest. "Alone," he added, glancing nervously at their vulture-like stares.
"Uh yeah. Sure." I got off my chair, curious.
We exited the cafeteria, walking past the rows of lockers (oh, shiny) and into an empty classroom (ew, science). I sat on a desk while Arnav leaned against a wall, hands shoved deep inside his pockets.
I blinked up at him expectantly. "What's up?"
He frowned, in the midst of some kind of staring competition with the space above my head.
"Hello?" I waved my hands in front of his face and he jerked, blinking rapidly.
"About the girl." It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about.
"Mmhm?" I nodded encouragingly because being a good friend is all about helping each other solve problems .
"I think I'm going to follow your advice," he continued.
"Good." Nod.
"And tell her."
"Great." More encouraging nodding.
"About how I feel."
"You go girl! I mean, boy." Nod. Ow! I think I pulled a neck muscle.
"I really like her. Love? I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair frustratedly. I rubbed my neck painfully.
"It's okay." I reached out and pat his shoulder awkwardly. Being a good friend is also about understanding each other's feelings and moods and right now he seemed to be experiencing some sort of emotional crisis.
"She's smart and funny and beautiful. But quirky. In a good way. And she has these big brown eyes that you can melt into . . . and a smile that makes you feel like you're the only person that matters." No wonder he likes her. She sounds so perfect she's probably not even human. Maybe I'm a little jealous. Just a bit. Only because Arnav's my friend, and it's totally normal to feel possessive about your friends ' right?
"She sounds awesome," I beamed.
"Yeah. She is," he murmured softly looking straight into my eyes almost making me topple off the desk.
"And she's sitting right in front of me."
Wait, what?! Shocked didn't even begin to cover it. I sat there, frozen in place, my mind replaying his words over and over again. She's sitting right in front of me. And if I was stunned by his confession, nothing could have prepared me for the way he gently cupped my cheek in his hand, slowly leaned over, and kissed me.
He kissed me.
It wasn't one of those dramatic Filmy kisses ' the ones where the guy grabs the girl.It was feather-light and soft. Lingering. And it made my toes curl, my stomach somersault and my brain short-circuit. My heart was thudding so loud I'd probably deafened the entire Southern Hemisphere.
Scary? More like mind-numbingly, stomach-churningly, hand-tremblingly terrifying.
He broke away and brushed the pad of his thumb lightly across my bottom lip. Once. Twice. Sending tingles down my spine. Then leaned back, regarding me with his dark, bottom-less eyes.
I knew he was trying to gauge my reaction. I knew he had his heart on the line and it had probably taken all his courage and plus some to admit this. I knew this was the part where I was supposed to confess my romantic feelings for him. But I couldn't. There was a part of me that wanted to throw my arms around him and bury my head in his chest. But there was also a large part that was freaking out. Majorly.
I slid off the desk and took a step back, swallowing hard. "I-I'm sorry. I don't . . . I can't . . . It's just . . ." I shook my head trying to clear the confusion, unable to word exactly what I was feeling. Did I even know what I was feeling?
He stared at me hard for a heartbeat, and I saw the shutters come down over his eyes. He nodded slightly before turning around and quietly leaving the room.
I felt like I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life.
So I ran. I ran as I called out to him. I saw him turn around. And at that particular second, I crushed right into his arms, with so much force that he he had to take few steps back to keep us steady.
"You still owe me twenty bucks and a strawberry cupcake," I blurted out moving a few steps back away from him.
He stared.
"Because Payal and Akash are dating now." Still staring.
"So that means I won the bet." Nope. No reaction.
"Are you going to talk or are you just going to keep staring at me like that?" Expressionless stare.
"Fine," I huffed. "Don't talk. But I'm saying what I need to say." Darn it! Still nothing. The guy hadn't moved an inch.
Alright then. He asked for it. I poked him hard with my index finger. I saw the flicker of surprise before it disappeared behind that blank, expressionless mask. So he's still human after all.
"I like you." Poke. "A lot." Poke, poke. " I don't know." Poke. "Maybe even love." Poke, poke. "What I said before . . . was a mistake." Poke. "I freaked out. Badly." Poke. "So yeah. I like you." Pokepokepoke. "(In case you haven't figured it out, that was my declaration of love.)
He opened his mouth and my heart stopped.
"You talk too much." Not quite the response I was expecting. "You're nauseatingly cheerful." Gee, thanks. You really know how to make a girl feel loved you know that?
"You're really weird." What is this? Point-out-all-Khushi's-flaws Day?This isn't funny anymore.
"You're cray and kiddish! You are a gone case, you know that?" If he was so worked up over that why did he like me in the first place?
"And sometimes you speak like you're in some kind of SRK or Salman's Movie." Or maybe he never even liked me. What if it was all some sick joke?
I stepped back, stung, praying that I wouldn't cry. Not now. Not in front of him.
He leaned forward and something flickered in his eyes. "But for some crazy, weird reason I still like you." I stopped breathing. "A lot." My head was spinning. " I don't know. Maybe even love." He threw my own words back at me. Jerk. Insane, unoriginal jerk who I happen to be completely crazy about.
If I didn't like him so much I'd kill him for putting me through that. "You monster!" Ah, screw it. I'll just kill him. "How dare you insult me '" I was cut off because for the second time in my life, Arnav Singh Raizada kissed me.
"Wow," I murmured when he broke away. That's what he's reduced me to, the vocabulary of a four year old. Only a brain transplant can save me now.
He flashed me one of his inducing smiles and my knees buckled. Good thing he was holding me in his strong, manly arms. Wait, did I just say 'strong' and 'manly'? I think my IQ just went into the negative numbers.
Then I remembered. "Hang on a second. I thought you didn't believe in happy endings." I narrowed my eyes accusingly and frowned. Well, tried to. It's hard to frown at guy with a face like that, who has just declared his like-almost-love for you.
He smiled softly and dipped his head so our foreheads were touching. I melted.
"I don't. But I believe in you."
***
---THE END---