OS| I Did It For You

"Of course he is going to ask you! He has been around you for months! There's no way he will not ask you!"

"But I still don't understand why you want to go with him."

She frowned at her friend. "What do you mean?"

Jyoti sighed and shook her head in disapproval. "Forgive me, but he is always acting so stupid! And if he is not, he is being clumsy. I just saw him yesterday and he was looking at his phone, grinning like a goofball, and guess what? He walked straight into Nadia Hussain's locker and he even left a dent in the door!"

Lavanya giggled whereas Khushi blushed deep red, staring at her lap as she tried not to smile. "Aww! Poor him! I think he is cute!" Lavanya gushed, giving Khushi a tight side-hug.

"I know, Jyoti," Khushi bit her lip. "We were texting right then and he told me about it."

"But how can you even like him?" Jyoti winced. "He is so... Khushi, he doesn't speak a lot, he has few friends and he is awkward and clumsy, he is not rich-"

"That doesn't matter, does it?" Khushi replied, hurt.

"No, it doesn't," Lavanya glared at their friend sharply, with a silent command to shut her box. "Don't worry, Khushi. You know Jyoti, she was just trying to annoy you!"

Slightly relieved, Khushi smiled tightly and continued filling out her report.

***

"Khushi?"

She almost swallowed her hot chocolate down the wrong pipe as his voice hit her ears. She felt his hand awkwardly pat her back.

"Are you okay?"

Coughing, she tried to smile at him and nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry... You took me by surprise."

He shifted on his feet uneasily, his gaze locked on the floor as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "S-sorry about that..."

She chuckled. "Don't be silly. It's nothing."

"Uhm... Actually..." He winced slightly. "I... I wanted to... How are you?"

"Fine, thanks. And you?" she frowned slightly, realising that there was something he wanted to tell her. He bobbed his head to say yes more quickly that normally. His mouth opened once, twice, then, grimacing, he stepped away from her hurriedly, as if her presence was burning him.

"I have a class... See you later..."

She lifted her hand to give him a little wave that he didn't even see because he had already run away, and, disappointed, her shoulders slumped and she crossed her legs, trying to push away her unease.

***

A small smile touched her lips as she caught him with a fellow student and she leaned against the bookshelf to watch him for a moment, unnoticed. He was patiently explaining something to the other boy, all his focus on the matter before him. She knew he wanted to be a professor someday and she could already see how wonderful he would be. With his charm and patience... She lost track of time until his tutee stood up and left. He hadn't seen her yet, he was busy stowing his things back into his bag. She took a deep breath in.

So what if he hasn't asked you yet? Lavanya had said with a roll of her eyes. You can ask him! You know how shy he is, Khushi. Go ahead and ask him.

He lifted his head and saw her, and his ears reddened violently as he blinked in surprise. She bit her lips to hide a smile. His glasses had slid down nose by just a few millimetres and that only made him look more adorable. She walked up to him, wishing she could feel as composed as she was successfully appearing, and righted his spectacles. He gulped nervously and pasted a smile on his face.

"Hi," she grinned.

"N-namaste." No sooner had the word left his mouth, he clapped his palm on his lips and crunched his eyes shut. "Sorry, that was... H-hi..."

She giggled, resisting the urge to pull him by the nose with great difficulty. "Namaste, Arnav. How are you?"

"F-fine... You?"

"I could say I'm fine, maybe I'll feel better in a few minutes?"

Shyly, he closed his bag and shot a genuine smile at her. "What happened?"

Biting her lip, she twisted her fingers behind her back. "It's about the Spring Ball... Will you be my date?"

His expression dimmed. "Khushi... I... I have already asked... someone else..."

It felt like she had been slapped. Her mind went blank in that instant. But she kept her smile up, unwilling to appear weak. "Oh... That's... that's great... Do I know who the lucky girl is?"

"No," he shrugged, reddening, and she realised that whoever it was, he truly liked her... "But I can't wait to introduce the two of you. You will like her... and... actually... I have told her about you... She already likes you..."

Tightly, heartbroken and rejected, she widened her smile as much as she could without letting him see her burning tears. "I cannot wait to meet her..."

***

"I had told you that you should have accepted Rajveer's proposal to be his date!"

"Jyoti!" Lavanya [hair] warned her, seeing pain fill up their friend's eyes.

"I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" Jyoti [hair] grumbled irritably. "Look at yourself, Khushi, you are looking so beautiful tonight and you are alone! It's a waste! Just let me find that Arnav Singh Raziada and I'll show him what happens when one hurts my friend..."

Khushi [hair] smiled at her tearfully and hugged her tight. "Calm down, Your Grumpiness! It's not his fault if he doesn't feel the same way as me, right? If he's happy, I'm happy too."

Jyoti rolled her eyes. "You, Khushi Gupta, are too generous! And since I can't stand it, I'm going to my date now. You keep pining for that dumbass..."

Lavanya squeezed Khushi's hand as Jyoti moved away. "Don't take her wrong," she winked. "She is just worried for you."

"I know... Go away, now. Aman has been staring at you for ages and that's making me guilty for keeping his date away from him."

"I don't want to leave you alone, Khushi... Look, Rajvir came alone too and he's a nice guy. Why don't you hang around with him?"

Smiling, Khushi patted her cheek. "Because it would not be fair to him and to me, right? He is nice, but I don't like him that way."

***

"You are here!" She stiffened and her head slipped off her palm as he sat down beside her. "I have been looking for you," he half-smiled, half-grimaced uneasily.

Bravely, she stretched her lips into her brightest grin, trying not to show the hurt. "It was getting boring inside... How is your night going?"

He chuckled, looking down. "My date is getting bored too..." he shrugged.

"Oh."

Heat flew up her cheeks when he glanced at her. She felt him look away, then turn to her again, his lips parted, as if to say something, but before he could, his phone gave a shrill ring. She saw him smile at the caller ID and with another heartbreak, she realised that it was his date.

"Yes?" he grinned, with a slightly embarrassment. "I'm sorry... I'll be right there in a few minutes, don't worry. Yes... Yes, of course I'm bringing her along, I found her. Okay."

He grimaced at her after he had hung up. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine..." she smiled tightly at him.

"Come on," he stood up straight, looking dapper in his black tuxedo. "She wants to meet you."

She didn't get up right away. She regarded him warily, her head tilted to the side. "Why?"

And his lips twisted in a meek smirk. "You are my friend, right? I have the bad habit of talking about you..."

That gave a painful tug on her heartstrings. She was his friend, he talked about her to other people, but he still liked someone else? Reluctantly, she got to her feet too and let him lead her back to the ballroom. Khushi sighed. It was not going to work if she behaved like this, was it? What was Arnav's fault in it? She could not expect him to like her back simply because she liked him...

"Hey," she smacked his arm and giggled, trying to lighten the situation. "You're wearing a bow tie, huh?"

His ears turned pink as his grin widened. He caught her hand and placed it on his arm. "Yes... because bow ties are cool..."

She nodded. "Thank you for introducing me to the Doctor. Bow ties are indeed very cool."

He laughed with her. It pinched her, deep inside, but she overlooked it. She really needed to get over him but that was not so easy, was it?

"Oh, she's right here."

Shock widened her eyes as he steered her into a corner. Surely she was seeing things wrong...

"You had told me you would be quick!"

"Sorry, Nani."

The elegant elderly woman who stood before her pulled his cheek with a sweet smile before turning to her. "And you must be Khushi?" Bewildered, she merely nodded and his grandmother turned to him. "You made a good choice, Arnav. I am very proud of you."

Khushi's mouth opened soundlessly as Arnav blushed furiously. "Khushi... This is my Nani and date, Devyani Malik," he stuttered hastily. She blinked at him, not quite understanding yet, but the woman was already pushing them towards the dance floor.

"Oh, that one's a nice song, go dance with her, beta. I have already met her, we'll talk more later on. For now, go and enjoy yourselves."

"But..." Khushi looked from Nani to Arnav in sheer puzzlement.

Nani rolled her eyes. "Go! Don't worry about me, I'll stay here, watch the couples and think about your Nana... Go!"

Arnav shook his head, chuckling, and led Khushi away, sweeping her into his arms gauchely as soon as they stepped into the dancing area.

"What was that?" she gasped.

He bit his lip and winced. "Actually... Woh... It's you I wanted to ask out for tonight..." he confessed, reddening in that adorable way she loved. "But Nani came over, she's going to be with us for the next few months, and... I... Well, as I said, I tend to talk about you... a lot... and so... She said she wanted to meet you and... I always wanted to... you know... ask you to come home with me and meet everyone but... I didn't know how you would... react to that so... But then, I decided that whatever happens I... I have to... uhm... you know... ask you to be my date for tonight... and I asked for some advice... And then, Nani said how she had never been to prom or balls or anything... and..."

"And?" A smile had started pulling at the corners of her lips while he was talking, forcing himself not to meet her eyes.

He lowered his head in shame, eyes shut tight. "I don't know... I just felt that it was not fair that Nani had not been to these things... So I thought I should invite her... That way she would... she would get to m-meet y-you t-too?"

A little giggle escaped her lips as her slender fingers reached up to tweak his nose. "Do you know how adorable you are, Arnav Singh Raizada?"

He opened his eyes tentatively. "A-am I? I... I mean... y-you think I a-am?"

"You absolutely are," she whispered before pressing her lips against his stubbled jaw. "But you don't know how to dance, Mr Cool-Bow-Tie."

He grinned, scratching the back of his head. "No, I don't."

She smiled up at him intelligently and placed his hands on her the correct way. "I'll show you," she winked.