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You, Me and Everything In Between
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Siyali sighed and leaned against the edge of a bookshelf as she watched Siddharth Rajput close the door behind him.
"What are you upto now, Sid?"
Siddharth jumped at the sound of her voice. He didn't know anyone else was in the library at this time.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he pointed out. "Never mind. Don't answer that," he quickly dismissed his own question knowing that he was the odd one out in the library.
She ignored him and glanced at the computer room behind him.
"Were you playing in there the whole time?"
"Psshh, no! That's boring," he explained; eyes glinting with mischief as he spoke. "Messing, however, would be a more appropriate term!," he grinned, finishing proudly. "That way, we won't have those bloody typing lessons all week."
Her eyes and body shifted, following Sid as he walked over to her and leaned against an opposite bookshelf.
"So what's up?" Sid questioned, noticing her tired self.
His interrogation only irritated her more. "The fan."
"It's the ceiling, idiot," he corrected her lame comeback.
"Cranky and grumpy today, huh."
"Shut up, I'm thinking."
"About?"
"About whether I should report you for this," Siyali sighed.
He shot her a nervous look before relaxing at the sight of her fixated self. She didn't seem to be making any move. "Nice joke. That's one for the books," he answered her, keeping his cool. "But seriously, what's up? You've been crankier than usual this week."
"Usual?"
"Yeah, you're a pretty cranky person to be around, Siyali."
"Thank you, but you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover."
"No problem, but I didn't know you were a book." He smirked at her frustrated reaction.
"Sheesh, It was a joke. Never heard one before?"
"Plenty from you," Siyali replies. "Except, I don't find myself laughing at them, sadly."
Sid chuckles at her wording, "You're not supposed to laugh at them sadly, dummy." He clicks his tongue and suggests, "Chill maro. And let's get you a life too, starting with this!" He reached for the book in her hand and quickly shoved it into the self behind him.
"Hey, give it!"
Siyali reached for the book but he grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers for a second before leaving it at her side.
Sid grinned, "You're not reading anymore books today, Siyali."
"Who the heck are you to tell me what to do? Book doh mujhe, Sid!" She yanked his arm to move him out the way but ended up pulling herself back. He wouldn't budge.
"No! Back off, Siyali!" He playfully pushed her away, his grin turning into a smile as he noticed the edge of her lips turn upward.
"Doh mujhe!" Siyali broke into laughter as she tried to grab the book from Sid's grasp.
Sid's smile grew wider as he watched her giggle. Better than she was before at least.
"You're so annoying, Sid!" She told him, her mood getting cheerful when she managed to push him away.
"Annoying is better than cranky anyday, Madam." He moved to the side, leaning against the wall as he watched her grab a chair to stand on and take the book out from where he had shoved it.
Soon he had grabbed another chair and both were now seated next to each other against the bookshelf.
"So, why so serious? Did someone forget to turn in his homework today, teacher?"
She closed her eyes and sighed. "Why did you have to remind me?"
"Are you serious? Is that what really happened?"
"Sort of..."
"Let me guess, your bhai refused to do his math homework or something."
"Will you stop calling him that? He's not my-"
"bhai. I know, he stressed. "You don't have to remind me." he grimly muttered mostly to himself.
Her eyes turned quizzical at his weird response.
"Kya?"
"Kuch nahi." He quickly changed the topic. "So, what did he do, Utkarsh? Did he throw away a book in front of you or something?"
Siyali sighed, rolling her eyes. "He's making things awkward between us ever since-" No. She couldn't say it.
"Ever since he confessed to you?"
"How?-"
"What? Don't act like you're not aware that the whole school knows about it, Siyali."
Siyali snapped her book shut. "He said he's accepted his feelings and he wants to show it to me." Her voice radiated with increased frustration. "It's so awkward. I mean, he's always carrying my books for me, he says weird things in front of everybody, and last night, I don't know under whose influence, he sneaked into my room with a bunch of roses! Can you believe that?!"
Sid snorted as he briefly recalled Utkarsh and the guys' suspicious behaviour yesterday. So, that's what it was.
"Why doesn't he understand"-Siyali's voice snapped him from his thoughts-"how I feel."
"How do you feel?" Sid asked curiously.
Siyali just looked at him before sighing. "He gave me this last night"-she pulled out a white note from her jacket's pocket and showed it to him-"He wants to meet." He said he'll propose to me in front of everybody if that's what it will take for me to say yes.
A minute passed and she found him staring ahead with a scowl plastered on his face before he fisted the letter in his hands. His eyebrows were furrowed, lip pursed, and eyes unreadable. She didn't expect this sort of reaction from him. She expected him to burst out laughing from the cheesy love lines and even crack a joke about it. However, he said nothing and just stared ahead.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." His face remained grim.
"Nothing? You have nothing to say. No jokes to make today?" She watched him as he rolled his eyes but remained silent. All of a sudden he stood up and tore the letter into pieces and stuffed them into his pockets.
"Hey! Why did you do that?"
"Oh, you wanted it? Too late for that."
"Tum toh!" She stood up pointing a finger at Sid. "Yeah yeah," he swatted her finger away, pretending to stretch while she fumed.
Sid looked down at Siyali who crossed her arms and bore holes in the ground looking extremely upset. He furrowed his eyebrows and fisted his hands at the sight of her, refraining himself from going over and punching that idiot Utkarsh for making her this way. That dolt had turned the strong and feisty Siyali that he knew into a somber and dreary person. He didn't want to admit why but he didn't like the way she was today.
He had to something about it.
"I got an idea at how you can solve your brother's-turned friend's-turned lover's problem," Sid proposed.
"You do?," Siyali suspiciously peering at him, ignoring his taunting categorization of her friend.
"Yeah, I do, Siyali." He mocked.
Suddenly his eyes lit up as if he came up with a new idea and he bent towards her and smirked. "But first, chal mere saath." And with that, he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the library.
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"Excuse me?" She stood there, hands on her hips as she tried to process what Sid had just said.
"You heard me. Ditch with me."
She immediately turned around at his confirmation and began walking the opposite way.
Sid jumped after her, blocking her way. "Oi, sun toh!"
"Mujhe kuch nahi sunna. Hato!"
"Abe, ek baar baat toh sun! You won't see him until dinner, right? So, if you're not here for dinner, he can't see you. And if he can't see you then he can't propose to you in front of everyone. Understand? He'll look for you but he won't find you. Why? Cause you'll be with me. Outside the school."
"Are you insane?! Do you really think that I will go out with you?" Sid frowned at this. "Do you know what will happen if we are found missing from school? This is Warrior High!" Siyali exclaimed.
"Hey, I've done this so many time before and I never got caught so why today? And besides, no one will notice cause its Saturday and we just have to be back here before 8, right? I'll make sure that we do. I got it all handled."
"This is your master plan? I should avoid my best friend for a day? If he doesn't find me today, he'll just confess again tomorrow. Besides, I told Parth I would meet with him today to talk about it."
Sid glared at her. "Hey, I said to hang out with me not Mr.Poker Face. Besides, we can figure out a permanent solution away from school. Trust me."
"Trust you? We can't go out unless we go through the front gate and there's always a guard there."
"Oh god, you're such a textbook!" he breathed exasperatedly. "Just trust me! I've got it all handled. Once we're out, we can think about what to do with Mr. Toad.'"
Siyali stood there with a straight face, unconvinced. Sid sighed and turned around. He smirked before cooly mentioning,"Okay, don't come with me but I'll be there to watch your guys' breakup."
Siyali gave him a curious look. Reverse psychology always worked.
"Drama hoga, pura school dekhe ga, Utkarsh ka dil aur tera happy, little, sad family dono tootenge."
She glowered at the back of his head with tired, almost surrendering eyes. It may have sounded dramatic but it was possible. Utkarsh and her were feeling very emotional right now and when you have an emotional confrontation with someone, it could always end badly. Take last night for example, it ended with a "Go to hell!" from her. So what would happen today, when he planned on proposing in front of everyone. And for now, atleast she could get out and think about how to deal with the situation maturely. His offer was surely better than waiting until Utkarsh finds her.
Sid turned around and inched towards Siyali, pounding his shoe at every step before finally stopping beside her. "Or you can avoid this mess for now and think about how to deal with it outside," he continued his tempting offer, "while you have some fresh air, lunch and laughs because frankly,"he smirked" you really look like you need it"she jabs him with her elbow"and maybe even hit me once or twice for being a jerk."
He extended his hand to her, summing up his offer. "Now, come with me or watch the ending of Siyali's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum' family today."
Siyali held his gaze for what seemed like an eternity.
Sid smirked, pleased at his outstretched hand finally meeting hers.
"Okay."
Sid released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
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"The hell?" Sid sours at the taste of lemon tea. They couldn't freakin' use different cups? Or put labels?' He glances at Siyali who's busy munching on her burger with eyes closed while sneakily gliding her cup back and grabbing his. He aah-ed in satisfaction at the taste of soda.
"I had no idea the back gate was that loose. The teachers told us they got it fixed."
"Huh, and like a champ, you actually believed them."
"Hmn." She continued munching on her burger.
"So," Sid drawled, crossing his arms. "From the way you're gobbling your burger. I bet it's your first. Aren't you glad I bought you one?"
"Nobody told you to pay for me, if that's what you're implying."
"Hmph, as if you have any money on you."
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"You liar!" He pointed an accusatory finger across the table at her. "You had money and you still made me pay for you!"
"You never asked. You just went ahead and paid for the both of us like a fool."
"Oh, so I'm a fool now?"
"Correction, like a fool."
"Big difference," he mocked, grunting and sinking back in his seat before a smug expression registered on his face and he jumped right back up.
"So, it's 2 right now, how do you wanna kill the next 4 hours. We gotta be at the bus stop by 6."
"I don't know. It's my first time here. Besides, this was your idea that was supposedly all planned out," she mockingly stressed.
"Alright, genius. I was thinking we should hit the mall and in case you didn't know, it's a shopping area."
"I know what a mall is, Sid!" She proceeded to smack his arm and say, "And you get your first hit for being a moron."-she smiled brightly at him, her face beaming-"And we got some laughs out of this too!"
"All under an hour," he replied in a heartbeat, smirking at the upward curl of her lips.
"Shut up. You can hang out at the sports centre while I take a look at the bookstore there," she offered.
He looked surprised at her suggestion. "What?" she asked innocently.
"Nothing, I just thought you'd force me to tag along while you shop like every other female."
"Why would I do something like that. I don't even have enough money to shop like every other female."
"Of course," he looked past her at the mother-son placing an order at the counter.
"Unless you want to buy something for me, then I'd be happy to have you around."
Sid looks back at Siyali, his attention now on her and leans forward and smirks. "Thanks. but your fat self already emptied half my wallet."
"I am not fat!" She smacks his forehead away from her.
"Ow! That's not a good thing to do, you know."
She blinks up at him. "What?"
He looks down at her. "Smacking people's heads. You're gonna break something in there one day and regret it."
"She gives him a fake smile. "Well, in your case, how can I break anything when there's nothing in there, dummy."
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh. Better than someone who reads all day," he challengingly retorts.
"I don't read all day, she counters."
"Could've fooled me. That's practically all that you do. Even on weekends, you probably just read all day and then read some more," he finishes with a smirk.
"No! It's to spend time with my friends. Hang out and play together," she counters with a fist of pride.
His smirk turns into a full fledged smile. He couldn't help it. He found it amusing that she was so happy he guessed wrong.
"And I'd also make time to make sure they're doing well in class."
He deadpans at her comment and he resists the urge to roll his eyes at her "teacherly" attitude.
"You should really learn to sit tight without being a joy killer for once. I mean come on, all you ever talk about is school, homework, or the future."
"It's for their own good! I can't be like you!-"
"That's true."
"-Careless, reckless, and breaking rules all the time. I mean, what kind of student in the whole world goes around cutting the power of the school a day after receiving detention?"
"The kind that has an interesting life!" he states with intensity. "Besides, they deserved it!"-he ignores the look of disbelief on her face and continues-"Come on, there are guys out there that do worse. You know it. Doing these things gives you experience that reading books doesn't. I mean, you gotta learn how to deal with certain situations. You're gonna find yourself around people who aren't described in your little textbook and you won't know how to handle them. Doing the things I do helps with that. It all adds up to your experience and expands your worldly knowledge." He finally stops, waiting for her reaction.
"Wow. That actually sounded impressive."
"Shut up"-the edge of his lips quirk upward for a second, enjoying the look that she gives whenever he has an impact on her-"I'm serious."
"I'm serious too", she replied truthfully.
"Look, all I'm saying is you won't be able to solve your life's problems with that kind of textbook mentality. I mean take today's case for example. Do you have a textbook that'll help you with how to deal with a friend who likes you?
"..."
"I thought so. God knows what'll happen when you decide to date someone. What're you gonna talk about, math ya phir literature?" he mocked.
"We're having a conversation right now that's not about the things you just mentioned," she comments.
"...We're not dating," he mumbled after a second of silence. He suddenly smirked and came close to her lowering his voice to a soft, naughty murmur. "Unless you want to. I mean, you'll have a lot"he grabs her hand, playing with her fingers"of exciting stories you'll be dying to share with your friends. "I promise babe"Ouch!"
"I'll be dying to share this slap and that's your third one in case you didn't know."
"I know how to count, Siyali!"
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I got a bad boy, I must admit it
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
I don't care who sees it babe
I don't wanna hide the way I feel when you're next to me...
"So"-Sid's voice drowns the music playing over them at the mall-"Aside from the fact that we left without getting caught and had that lunch I promised, I believe I deserve to say, I told you so and you deserve to say, thank you."
"How about 'shut up?' How's that, huh?" She nods upwardly at him.
Sid pouts at her and slouches his arm over the table they're sitting at. He lays a hand on his head as he tinkers with the pull tab of his empty pepsi can, eyes maneuvering over the black souvenir cap he bought from the sports store. He picked it up simply because it was the only one that had BOXING' labeled over it.
"So that's what I get huh. No words of appreciation or anything. Had it been any other girl, she would have expressed her never-ending gratitude with a hug or even a kiss, you know?"
In a swift movement, Siyali picks up the hat from the table and smacks it over his head, covering his face in the process.
"..." Sid doesn't make a move, laying over the table with his hand holding his head and the hat blocking his view dramatically building suspense.
"But Siyali is Siyali," he pronounces. "She shows her appreciation by"-he brings the hat up with his index finger, his eyes now coming into view as he smiles sarcastically at her-"maar pitai."
"Shut up!" Siyali giggles at his deadpanned moping.
"And thank you," she suddenly conveys to him, taking off his hat and ruffling his hair with a sincere smile.
Sid stares at her, taken aback by her sweet gesture and smile. "Che, whatever," he replies coolly. He crosses his arms and leans against his chair while Siyali goes back to reading her recently purchased book.
After a moment, Siyali looks up to glance at Sid. She found him doing something he usually did in class. Sid was staring out the window. He always did that, gazing out the window in class. He looked deep in thought, his eyes conflicted with emotion. She always wondered what he was thinking about while he did that.
Siyali found herself worrying over him, forgetting the open book in her hand.
"Siddharth?"
"Hmn?" He broke free from his trance.
"Tum theek ho?"
"Haan, mujhe kya hua?" he sighed. "Let's get out of here. I can't stay here." He mumbles.
"I can't," he repeats softly.
He gets up to leave and Siyali's eyes dim as she stares at his walking figure.
*Flashback*
"It's raining pretty hard out there isn't it? Perfect day to go home, huh?" Sid's voice was sarcastic but unusually dull as he approached Siyali who was standing in the hallway looking outside.
"I know. For the first time we're going home and it'll be raining the whole time." Siyali placed a hand over the window watching the rain hit the ground.
They stood there, side by side, in silence.
"Siyali..."
"Hmn?" She tore her eyes from the rain and glanced at him.
"Are you mad at me?" he finished.
"What difference does it make to you anyway?" she spat back angrily, remembering his prank on Utkarsh from yesterday. He had taken Ma again and left her at the edge of the school's rooftop.
"God! How many times do I have to tell you-"
"That it wasn't your fault?" "Your friend himself told me that it was you who planned it all." Siyali interrupted him and took a deep breath before turning to the window again. "Please, we've already argued about this, Sid."
Sid scowled at her, stabbing his thumb into his chest. "I'm your friend, Siyali! Not that bloody Ayaz!"
She tore her eyes from the window and glared at him, ready to counter when she took in his dull face.
"Are you alright? You look...tired, kind of."
At that, his eyes perked up and he looked at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"What's that? You worried about me? That's so sweet of you, Siyali."
She rolled her eyes.
"I just can't say anything nice without you getting the wrong idea of it. You're not like how you are all the time, so I just wanted to ask if you were okay. But you're starting to sound fine to me now. Chalo, it's almost time for us to leave and,"-she paused her ramblings-"What are you doing?"
"Take it. It's cold."
"No, why would I? And besides, you'll get sick if you go out-"
"I'm not going anywhere, dummy. My family is at school, remember?"
That's right. His vacation wasn't like the rest. He didn't have a home to go to. Family that would welcome him and ask about him. Her friends and her had the orphanage. And Sid's family, well, she knew how they were. Her thoughts were disturbed by a sudden black sheet invading her vision.
"I don't need it," she protested grabbing the jacket off her head.
He impulsively argued, "Take it or I swear I'll grab you"!"Her eyes widened at his sudden declaration.
"-And I won't let go," he finished quietly. His face was serious, eyes conflicted. "You want me to do that?"
Siyali's face flushed and she violently pulled the jacket closer to herself answering his question. She did not want that.
"Thought so."
She put it around herself, feeling the warmth embrace her body. The goosebumps started to fade.
"Thank you." She looked up at him and smiled at him hoping to ease the seriousness radiating from him. It didn't work.
Sid's face went grave again as he quickly looked away. "Yeah, whatever. It looks good on you," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He tried to act cool about the whole thing while she couldn't help but think how awkward this was as she shuffled her feet. How exactly did she get herself in such an embarrassing situation?
Seconds dragged until Sid grabbed his forehead in a vain attempt to rub off the heat and stop the pounding in his head, "I gotta go. I can't stay here."
"I can't." His voice echoed faintly and without looking at her, he abruptly left heading out into the rain.
She didn't seem him for the next few days.
*Flashback Ends*
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"You're thinking about him. Aren't you?"
"About who?" Siyali spluttered, her face slightly turning pink from the relived memory as she locked eyes with Sid who's peering down at her curiously.
"Utkarsh. You're thinking about him and yourself, right? Siyali looks away from Sid who raises an eyebrow at her questionably but stays quiet nonetheless. He moves away from her and stretches sighing in satisfaction when his back cracks.
They sat on a bench together waiting for the 7pm bus to Warrior High.
Siyali stared ahead, now thinking about Utkarsh. What was he doing? She wondered if he was okay. Her eyes softened as she replied, "I don't want to ignore him. It hasn't been a day since I saw him and I already miss him," she sighed, completely missing the broody expression her companion's face overtook.
"Don't miss him," he impulsively states.
She glanced at him, completely perplexed. "Kya?"
"Mera matlab hai ki just confront him," he stuttered, eyes jumping around as he looked anywhere except her. "I mean, we are talking about Utkarsh here. He'll probably spill tears before you do."
Siyali turned to look at Sid. She empathized with the teachers who had to go through his nonsensical blabber and never-ending sarcasm. Shaking her head, she claimed, He's my best friend. If we break up, who will I have?"
"...Me."
"You'll always have me, Siyali." He took a second to look at her now noticing her eyes brimming with tears. "Stop crying. You look terrible. I can't stand it when girls cry. And you're the worst, your eyes get all big and tragic...damn, please stop crying. That twerp will come crying to you once I smack some sense into him."
"Don't you dare touch him!"
Sid ignored her. "And if that doesn't work then we'll tell him that you have someone else that you like."
He observed her from the corner of his eyes, carefully noting her reaction.
"What?" she replied indignantly. "There's no one like that, dummy." She smacked him for his outrageous suggestion. "Besides, that would just complicate things even more."
"Ouch. Siyali! By the time we get to school, I'm gonna have more bruises than I'd get from a boxing match. And you're right, I don't think anyone can tolerate you more than a few minutes. You have a horrible temper and you hit people-"
She felt her eye twitch as he counted off her flaws with his fingers.
"-You're bossy and a nerd."
"She wanted to smack him now but that would just prove that whatever he said about her was correct.
"You're not like the rest."
Okay, screw politics. She was going to hit him.
"You're better."
Wait, what? She blinked.
"You're smart, a great friend,...and cute." Sid expressed all this without looking at her, clenching and unclenching his fists while her mouth formed an o' shape. She looked like she wanted to say something. Instead, she deflates him with a simple, "Shut up" and put her walls back up as she returned her attention back to her book. She couldn't forget the skip in her heartbeat as she grazed over the words processing nothing of what she read.
"Oh come on, I just said something totally cool right now and that's all I get?"
"Too bad."
"Hey, I really meant that!"
Siyali closes her eyes, holding her breath. "You did?"
Sid contemplates for a second before responding, "Nah, I was just kidding."
He totally deserved that incoming slap.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Sid slit his eyes at Siyali as he rubbed his cheek. "Kamini."
Siyali dangerously held up her new hardcover in response signaling a threat.
"Kya kaha?"
Sid may have been a reckless troublemaker but he was smart enough to recognize the danger of that. "K..kuch nahi," he nervously replied.
They fell into comfortable silence after that. That was something she liked about Sid. He knew when to stay quiet. Sometimes he would play like a nonstop recorder but during times like this, he knew when to tone it down and just stay put.
"So, there's really no one?" Sid inquired.
"Hmn?"
"No one you like?"
"No, Sid."
"How do you feel about Ayaz? I mean, he seems to be in your good books."
"No! Are you insane! Ugh! No! Never!"
Sid chuckled at the nasty expression on her face.
"Utkarsh?"
"I told you, he's my family, my best friend. Why would I be here with you if I had feelings for him?"
"Why would you?"
"..."
Regaining composure, Sid coughed into his hand wanting to clear the awkwardness that had now formed between them. He didn't want her to shut him out just yet. Another guy came to his mind who actually had potential. It made him scowl when he realized this guy had a lot of potential. He needed to carefully monitor her reaction for this one.
"Parth?" Sid clenched and unclenched his jaw as he nervously waited for her response.
Siyali was still embarrassed when she admitted, "N..no, he's a good friend. We're not close but we respect each other a lot."
Sid exhaled in relief as he leaned back against the bench.
He looked at his watch becoming anxious as he realized he had only a few minutes left. He had to go direct.
"Is it me then?" He asked hopefully, holding his breath as he waited for her response.
"Nooo!"-she flat out denied-"How can you even think that? I...I don't like you!l Why would I like you?"
"P..pagal I don't..." Sid zoned her out when she began to mutter incoherently. His face lightened up at her nervous reaction. He was no fool. He may not have been an intellectual person but he knew people. And when someone like Siyali who was usually calm, composed and a tough nut to crack suddenly becomes nervous and chattery, it meant that they were hiding something.
"Liar," he provoked, pressing to get it out of her. "It is me, isn't it?"
"It's not, really! Now, back off!" Siyali shoves her shoulder into his in order to make her point. Sid just looks at her in amusement. "Don't worry, I don't like you either," he scoffs shoving her back. Soon both are glaring and pushing each against other in an effort to outdo one another. Sid eventually pushes her enough to have her halfway falling off the bench. He grins at her wincing face as she yanks on his arm to keep from falling.
"Relax, I won't let you fall...maybe." He teases her by dropping her a little more before pulling her towards him and sliding back to his spot. "You're gonna go in debt if you want me, Siyali. I'm expensive and I pack a punch. You know that, don't you?"
He grins as he faces her.
"Hey, I'm offering you a good deal here. Ditch with me one more time and I'm all yours."
Siyai fixes her jacket and glares at him, raising her index finger.
Mr. Siddharth Rajput, number 1, we've skipped once already-"
"For a completely different reason!-"
"-And number 2, she continues, pointing her finger at him angrily, I think I've had enough of your bakwaas offers for today!" Siyali huffs as as she turns around, facing forward. She closes her eyes to calm down the increased thumping in heart. She thought he was being serious for a second. She almost fell for it and made herself look like a fool. It had been already been difficult to be just friends with Sid. Trying to be something more than that would be wrong in so many ways.
"No, Siyali that's not how it goes," Sid insists. Repeat after me, Siddhart Rajput.'"
"Siddharth Rajput." Siyali repeats, playing along.
"Will you go out with me because you're so cool and extremely hot-"
"I am not saying that!"
"Say it and you got yourself a date."
"No thanks! Get off your high horse, Sid. You're not even cool."
"You're not denying the last part," he cleverly pointed out.
"Bakwaas." Siyali stood up wondering at the sight of the empty road.
"Fine," Sid sighed. "Ek simple sa, 'will you go out with me Sid?', chalega."
"Will you go out with me, Sid?" Siyali echoes nonchalantly as she continued surveying the road for any sign of a bus.
Sid's eyes relax and lit up in determination as he stood up behind her. He slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulder, pulling her towards him.
"Sure, what took you so long, Siyali."
Her body immediately froze. She felt her face heat up at the extreme proximity. This game was going way too far. She slowly turned around locking eyes with him and staring deeply into his jubilant, chocolate brown orbs, his hands now draped around her. She mustered a stern, "Stop."
Sid held her hard stare. The last thing he wanted was her thinking he had been joking all along. "I'm not kidding," he replied sincerely. He slowly wrapped one hand around her neck and one around her waist as he pulled her towards him again.
"R..ruko, what does that mean, you're not joki-"
"It means that I like you, idiot." His smile widened as she paused her struggle to break free from his grasp.
"You like me?" Her voice fades into a whisper as Krissan's words briefly came to her mind.
"He likes someone else. I know it!"
" ...Yeah," he whispers back.
"Since when?" she asked, curious.
"A while now..maybe a few months, maybe a little more," he revealed, burying his nose in her hair to hide his embarrassment at disclosing such a lame thing to her. He didn't think he'd be the one to come out with it first. But his plans never worked out accordingly with Siyali.
Siyali couldn't believe this was happening. Sid liked her? Why? There were only heated exchanges and friendly banters between them. She couldn't think of one thing that would lead him to feel this way. They had a rocky start but ever since they became friends, he had actually always been there for her and helped her, albeit in his own way. He eventually became important to her. She never accepted these feelings because she didn't take him seriously. She couldn't. He was always wearing a smirk on his face and carrying his motto that was basically, "Life is a joke. And so is everything else." Then again, she was pretty conflicted herself. She thought she had seen a change in Sid during the past year and a half that she known him. She realizes now that Sid didn't change. She did and so did her view of him. She looked at him differently now. And she wanted to embrace that.
"Sid, I"-She slowly relaxed in Sid's arms, moving her hands upward to embrace him when she felt herself being jerked away.
"Siyali, tu!"
Her eyes widened at the person who had grabbed her.
"Utkarsh?"
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Health and Fitness
