Chapter 9
"Swayam'?" she called out, not knowing what he was up to. Next thing she knew, she was being tickled by him. Not able to control her laughter, she fell down on the bed and he continued. She tried different way to escape him. She couldn't even say his name properly for once without laughing.
***
"You," she turned off the playlist and wrapped the headphones around it and then continued, "don't need to know what songs I like. Now out with the truth. WHY are you here?"
He took a step towards her and she stood in the same spot, just leaned back a bit as he whispered hoarsely, "Don't you know?"
She was startled for a second by his question in place of giving the answer to her own questions. The question had her thinking. Didn't she know why he was there? She wondered if somewhere inside of him, even he had the same feelings for her or not. That is the sole reason she was back. To know what's going on inside of him.
The way he looked into her eyes had her flabbergasted and out of words. She didn't know what to say. She stumbled, "I- I..." Then he winked and she understood the tiny prank he played. And he had succeeded! He had taken back the iPod from her hands and ad managed to take her in a trance whilst he did that.
She pushed him away by his shoulder. "I'm not some crazy psychic."
He followed her like a dog would follow his or her master. "Really..? By the way you looked back'"
She stopped and stood still at the words. She went into a tiny flashback as she remembered how she had looked back at him while wondering about his feelings for her. Coming back to senses, she said, "Whatever. You're just good at manipulating people, that's all. It seems like the years have given you that advantage."
He wondered what that was supposed to mean. When he couldn't understand in the seconds break, he asked, "Now what's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing." She replied and opened the closet.
He didn't like how he wasn't getting the full attention there. He complained, "Didn't aunty teach you to attend a guest when they're home? You shouldn't ignore them!"
She put down the blanket she had taken out and said sarcastically, "Oh she did. But she failed to mention if I should talk to those who come at midnight; that too from climbing the pipe. So now, it's my choice. When I talk to her, I'll make sure to ask her in case of any future incidents."
He replied with a sarcastic smile and then said, "Alright, I probably deserved that. But'"
"'But what? Why are you here?"' she urged him on.
"I wanted to talk to you." He admitted to her. She couldn't help but smile at him finally admitting the reason. She was hoping that was the reason and now she knew. She blushed a bit as well seeing him looking down on the ground as he admitted. Her heart felt like saying, "Awe'"
But she wasn't going to give in this easily. She had waited all these years hoping that one day he himself would come to her or call her. When he didn't call, she was disappointed. But she knew they had made no promises or compromises to each other. So she couldn't and shouldn't blame him. Things change with time, right?
She said while grinning like a devil from inside. "I'm not interested though, especially at this time of the night. I'm sleepy and tired too from the past days hustle. So, if you don't mind, can we talk tomorrow?"
"But'"
"No ifs or buts. Please Rey, go for now. I promise to come find you tomorrow."
He wasn't happy with this idea but nevertheless, agreed to it. He knew he was impatient to wait. But somehow, he did understand that she must be tired from the flight and also from the day at college. Least he could do was let her sleep in peace without him being the reason of keeping her up all night.
He proceeded towards the window but she called out. "Why are you going from there? There's a door you know..!"
He smiled at that and turned around to go out the door instead. He opened it but it wouldn't. He went a bit unbalanced as he hadn't expected the door to be stuck. Kriya walked up behind him as he tried multiple times to pull the door open. It wouldn't! Rey was feeling a bit embarrassed that even after being a boy; he wasn't able to pull open one stuck door.
She tried her level best to stifle the laugh away, but couldn't. Tapping him, she asked if he needed help. It was all through the movement of eyes and hands, no words spoken. He refused, shaking his head and continued trying and groaned out in frustration when it wouldn't open!
***
Sharon stood up from the bed suddenly remembering something. The tickling session had ended and they were working on the posters for the fest. "Shoot!!"
Swayam looked up from the poster he was working on and asked, "What happened?"
Without answering, she rushed out the room and Swayam followed seeing the seriousness of it. He stopped her just outside the room and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I think I locked Kriya's room while you picked me up." She blushed a bit by the end of the sentence but quickly recovered to go open the door.
Swayam grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "No wait." An idea suddenly hit him.
"Swayam, what are you doing? Let me go! What if they want to come out?"
"Shh." He said and pulled her a bit away from the door in case Kriya and Rey were just by the door. "Leave it closed." He then explained to her how they can spend some time alone.
Sharon understood his idea but pointed out, "If the door doesn't work, what about the ladder'?"
Swayam considered that. He hadn't thought about that. Both of them seemed to have the same idea as they both rushed out of the house together and around the house towards Kriya's balcony where the ladder was safely standing taking support of the balcony.
They quickly pulled the ladder away from there and when they saw figures in the window, they hid themselves and rushed back in the house, to not get spotted. Or else, their whole plan would be of no use. And from tomorrow on, they knew they'd have to do more than just this simple planning. More hardships were to come. Even though they felt like getting back at Rey just an hour ago, they weren't going to let that come in between.
They would do all they could to bring them together and make them realize that the feeling they've always kept inside of them is not just friendship, but something more than that. Something that only their hearts can understand the depth of. No one else in this world can tell them that other than their own heart. The world calls if love, but as it is said, love cannot be spelled. It can only be felt. And feeling come from heart, not your mind where all the knowledge is stored.
Hope you all like the part! Please do leave your likes and comments :) As the next chapter hits a decade, it'll be a long one with a shocking twist. 😉 And it'll be up when I get 60 likes for this post. For SS post, there's a different demand but don't worry about that as I'm sure that'll be done. See you all soon! Khushi <3
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