Chapter 5

Taani is in her room getting ready and she hears Swayam and gang outside but doesn't go out not wanting to ruin her or anyone else's mood. 'ringring'

"Haan Shreya, I am almost ready, kitna time lagega tuje?" Taani asks, "Actually I am like 10 mins away from your house, I will honk when I get there, be readyyyy" Sneha says ends the call. 'Pagal ladki' Taani thinks with a fond smile, she quickly gets ready.

Taani's outfit:- an orange sleeveless dress, tight around her upper curves but flowy at the bottom



She had bought this dress when she and Rey were dating, she didnt really wear dresses but thought might as well wear one since she is going to a club.

As she walks out of her room, she sees the whole gang sprawled in the living room, including Kriya who was sitting next to Rey, looking at Taani everyone takes a double take (except Kriya).

"yaar yeh Hitler toh hot lag rhi he" Vicky comments lowly but Swayam hears him, he shoots a glare in his direction and thn looks back at Taani, "kaha ja rhi ho?" Swayam asks, "umm kuch friends ke sath bahar, I might be late" she answers.

"In that dress?" Swayam feels a bit uncomfortable seeing his sister in a dress so 'revealing', "its almost knee length bhai" she says making a face. "Kuch aur pehen le?" hearing Swayam Taani gets irritated, "bhai Sharon also wears dresses like these, she wears dresses shorter thn thi-" she is interrupted by Simmi, "oh toh Sharon ki nakal kar rhi ho, dressing style change karne se Sharon jesi nai ban jaogi" she says snidely.

"Mera woh matlab nai tha Simmi and please yeh overprotective hone ka natak mat karo bhai, that only works when you are actually present in your sister's life", "what do you mean by Taani?" Swayam says a bit angrily, "you know exactly what I mean, you barely acknowledge my presence, you don't even know at what time I come home from college, we haven't had a talk which lasted more thn 5 mins in the last 2 months and now suddenly you want me to believe you are concerned?" Taani replies back just as angrily.

"Oh stop being such a brat Taani, Swayam has been busy and you know it, you are making it sound as if he abandoned you or something, you are an adult" Sharon says not liking the way Taani is talking to Swayam, "you are right Sharon, I am an adult, I can wear what I want and go where I want." she says before leaving not waiting for any reply.

Swayam feels a bit frustrated but doesnt know on whom he is angry and also doesn't want to spoil his friends moods, so he just let's it go for now thinking he will talk to Taani later in private.

Rey looks on angrily, he wanted to stop Taani, he didn't like the idea of her maybe moving on or something. Kya soch rha he tu, she isn't going to move on so quickly, she loves you, shayad muje jealous karne ke liye kar rhi he, haan thats probably it.

"Sorry sorry" Taani says sliding in the passenger seat, "woahh dude if I wasn't straight or if I was a straight guy I would soooo be hitting on you, you look HOT!" Shreya says looking at Taani and thn start driving. Taani is surprised to hear her, not many people actually acknowledge the fact that they are straight and she voices it out, "woh I am an lgbt ally, you are not homophobic or something right? Because we cannot be friends if you are homophobic" Shreya replies.

Hearing Shreya, Taani feels relieved, she didn't really have people around her who she could be open about her sexuality, only three people in her life know about her being bisexual, "I would be a hypocrite if I was homophobic" Taani says a bit vaguely, "wait what? But I thought you dated Rey? I mean you guys were talk of the college for a while, especially after you guys broke up" Shreya says confused, Taani feels a bit sad hearing about Rey and her past but thn she puts on a nervous smile, "I am bi, bisexual" she says looking down.

"Oh wow, thanks for sharing that with me, I know its kind of hard to come out to people" Shreya replies feeling a bit good thinking that maybe Taani trusts her and thinks of her as an actual friend. "It is, I mean more thn hard its not really safe I guess, only 3 people in my life know about me, 4 now" she smiles at Shreya.

"Aman ko pata he ki me bhi join kar rhi hoon?" Taani asks, "Haan I told him, also I wanted to tell you this so that you aren't too blindsided when we reach there but ummm Maya di will be joining us" Shreya says a bit nervously knowing the equation between her and Taani. "What?! Tune jaan bujke muje abhi tak nai bataya tha na?" Taani says feeling a bit betrayed.

"Kind of, I really wanted to go clubbing with you and I knew agar pehle batati toh tu mana kar deti, I haven't really made many friends in college, I am an introvert and uske uper se nerdish toh... I am sorry" she says making a kicked puppy face, "fine, ese muh mat bana, but I telling you, if she is rude to me na toh I won't hold back" Taani says grumpily and Shreya smiles. "Yay"

They reach the club, "Taani tu yaha utar ja, me car park karke aati hoon" Shreya says and Taani gets down. As Shreya drives away to look for a parking spot, Taani looks around and sees a jeep parked on the side and lo and behold, Maya is sitting on the hood smoking a cig, Taani makes a disgusted face and looks away.

Shreya comes back towards Taani and says "Aman ander he, he said Di bahar he-", "haan woh rhi teri di, waha jeep pe bethke phoonk rhi he" Taani says with a yucky expression. "Di!" Shreya shouts, Maya hearing a familiar voice looks towards them and sees Taani and Shreya, she jumps off the jeep and crushes the cig beneath her shoe before walking towards them.

"Itna late kyun ho gaya? Aur yeh mahotarma kya kar rhi he yaha tere sath?" Maya says completely ignoring Taani which makes Taani irritated, "Di kaha late hua he, also please be nice, she is my friend!" Shreya says, Maya glances at Taani and looks her up and down which makes Taani a bit flustered and so Taani looks away, "hmm, ander chale?" And the trio walk in.

Shreya and Maya quickly spot Aman at their regular table and walk towards him with Taani following them, "Aman meet Taani, Taani meet Aman" Shreya gestures towards them, "Aap? Aap woh puppy wali he na?" Aman says forwarding his hand to shake Taani's, Taani shakes his hand, "haan, hi" says a bit awkwardly. "You guys sit, me drinks leke aati hoon, what will you have?" Aman says standing up. "A whiskey for me" Maya says, "I will just have virgin mojito" Taani says, "a beer" Shreya says looking a bit sheepishly at Maya's disapproving face. "On it" Aman says walking away.

"Aapko thoda bhi hypocritical nai lagta muje ese disapproving looks deke when you yourself just ordered a whiskey?" Shreya says teasingly, "Haha very funny" Maya says drily. "Yeh older siblings na, they think they are our parents" Shreya says looking at Taani, "I know, my brother is the same, he literally told me to change this dress when I was leaving the house" Taani said annoyed. "Maybe we wouldn't have to if you guys didn't get in trouble" Maya says pointedly at Shreya.

Before anyone could reply Aman walks in with the drinks, "So Maya how's teaching a bunch of college kids treating you?" Aman asks, "Ekad students he jinko apno se bado respect karna nai aata, no manners I tell you" Maya says looking at Taani,
"Tu toh ese baat kar rhi jese tu 27 ki nai balki 47 ko ho" Aman says making Taani and Shreya snicker while Maya just gives him a fu*k off look which makes Aman chuckle.

The gang walks in, "Woh Taani he na?" Kriya says pointing towards their table, Maya's back is turned towards them so they don't see her. "Leave it, let's just ignore her, warna humara pura mood kharab kar degi" Vicky says and they all walk towards the other end of the club. Swayam feels a little uncomfortable seeing his sister surrounded with strangers but thn gets angry remembering how Taani had rudely talked to Sharon not that while ago so he just walks off following his friends.