Chapter 19
Invincible
As you learn new alphabets and begin composing a new rhyme, you reach too far in the new direction that suddenly, the old learning appears to be vague.
*
"Hey babe!"
Khushi turned her head in the direction where the voice came from.
.
"Hey!"
She replied, waving her hand at Rebecca who had her million-dollar broad smile plastered on her face.
Khushi reciprocated the smile as she grabbed a chair and sat beside her on the same table at the college cafeteria.
The day had been excessively long today.
Back to back classes and nothing interesting.
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Nothing, apart from the theatrical, dramatic sequence that took place in the morning, when the devil and Khushi entered the college together, garnering raised eye brows from the crowds and of course, angry faces from most of the girls.
Khushi never knew anything like that was to come.
In a nutshell, all she wondered was only about Ree's reaction.
As in, how would she take it?
Being best friends since childhood, there had been hardly anything that they had kept from each other, and today suddenly she popped up with the most popular guy in the college out of the blue! It was totally unpredictable for Khushi to figure out what impact it would have on Rebecca.
.
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But to her surprise, she didn't feel shocked at all.
Instead, she was so happy about it, as she welcomed the new change in Khushi's life with open arms.
A faint smile took over her face, as she recalled the scene from the morning when she had confronted Ree for her 'not at all surprised'' reaction on learning her latest update.
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"..So you are not taken aback? Come on, give me a surprised reaction, Ree!"
Khushi had asked her this morning, slightly confused by her not-so-surprised look.
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"What do you expect Khushi? I'm your best friend and I already knew about it."
Rebecca had replied, grinning at Khushi.
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"Oh Really?"
Khushi had retorted, shrugging her shoulders while she shook her head defiantly.
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Rebecca continued to give her the 24x7 grin, when she finally spoke after a brief pause,
"..Khushi, it was just so evident. The dude hardly talks to anyone but he signed up for a Salsa dance' with you and it doesn't take a genius like ME to understand, what's cookin' on between two people, you see.. Told ya I'm smart!!"
She had winked at Khushi as she completed her sentence, gesturing quotes in the air with her fingers.
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Khushi had hit her playfully on her arm as she faked a groan in return, and immediately pulled her in a hug.
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Though Khushi never fancied too much sentimental moments, especially considering the fact that she was hardly ever good with words when it came to her loved ones, but today she felt so contended to be assured of the fact that her best friend was there to support her decision, to be there with her through thick and thin.
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"..So where's Kevin?"
She had asked her, finally pulling out from the hug.
"Well, he's at work. He is now the Senior Sub-Editor at Verman Times Association."
She had replied, the big smile not leaving her face.
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Words weren't enough to express how invaluable this moment stood for Khushi.
Ree, her effervescent best friend with that sparkling smile on her face.. And then, her.
Finally having a purpose in life.
A direction in life.
A hope in life, for real.
But a part of her knew that this wasn't going to be easy at all.
Considering the fact that the direction and destination both included the most unusual risks, which one could never even think of. And the icing on the cake being Aloysius' return.
It was hard to differentiate between her priorities this time.
But then she realized, she didn't need to.
If witchcraft was in her blood, she was destined to be a part of this life and death game.
But under any circumstance, she was Khushi first.
An 18 year old girl.
A person with emotions, feelings, family, and friends.
And nothing could change that.
No truth.
No lie.
Because there wasn't any truth bigger than the fact that her heart was pure and it craved for love and wanted to love just like any other being.
Because no lie was so big, that it could over shadow her identity.
Her life.
Yes, witchcraft had its limitations and at every step, she might have to face hindrances and failures, but that could lessen her ultimate power.
A joyous smile appeared on my face as she recalled suddenly that maybe she was way luckier than she thought, she just had to approach things with a different perspective.
She was indeed lucky.
Because despite belonging to a different, wicked world altogether, she still got to live a normal life, with normal people around till 18 years, which many others from her world couldn't even dream of.
She was lucky, because she had a doting mother, a caring sister, and larger than life best friends who could never leave her side, no matter how high the tide.
She was lucky, because despite her father not being physically present with her, she still got to feel the presence of him every day she drove his Chevrolet Impala.
She was lucky because despite her grandmother, one of the greatest witches of all time, not being alive anymore, she still had her blessings, through her letter, her legacy, her books, her spells.
She was lucky, because despite sharing the same countenance with her wicked ancestor who was her great grandmother, she was nothing like her from her mind and soul. She was pure, and she was proud of that.
And finally, she was lucky, because despite all the turmoil, all the conflicts, all the links of wicked past, she had Arnav, who was madly in love with her, and in no time, had become her inner strength, besides her own faith and confidence.
And for all these reasons, she felt beyond contended, she felt invincible.
..
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She sipped her coffee as she looked around her, her mind finally travelling back to the present.
The chitter-chatter continued to echo in the huge cafeteria, when her eyes
suddenly settled on a spot, which only reflected the contrast in the atmosphere.
A weird tinge of guilt embarked upon her as she looked at Mason, busy with his laptop on one of the distant corners of the cafeteria, sitting alone at a table.
She didn't know what to call it. But was she responsible for his isolated attitude at this hour?
Was her decision so powerful to have such an effect on some one? And if so, then why?
It was hard to tell.
But all she knew was that she couldn't afford to see this sudden change in Mase.
At the same time, it didn't mean she wanted to give him a wrong indication when she already did have an estimation of his thoughts.
The past few instances, and gestures of Mason towards her had given her an inkling somewhere that maybe, maybe Mason was taking her rapport with him as something more than friendship.
And although some part of her would have managed to give that realization a serious thought at one point, as on today, she couldn't even think of it. Because now her life involved someone else too.
Arnav Sciarrone Ray.
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Khushi wanted to talk to him, but unfortunately nothing seemed good enough to even initiate a conversation.
Funny enough, that she needed an excuse to talk to one of her best friends, someone with whom she had shared the biggest comfort ever, and today, with one modification in her personal space, their equation changed drastically too.
But then, that was life.
You never knew how one moment could change so much, without any prior warning.
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The conflicting thoughts continued to float in her mind when suddenly Ree's words diverted her thoughts.
"Hey! So, I'm leaving now. Will catch ya in an hour."
She said to her, as she stood up, placing the chair back to its old position.
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"Sure."
Khushi smiled at her, as she waved her hand at her and Ree gleefully left for her music class.
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The boredom once again started to kill Khushi as she stared at the crazy people around her, her fingers tracing the chain of her necklace.
The chatting and noise continued at a non-stop pace in the cafeteria.
Letting out a deep sigh, she keenly observed everyone around her and to her relief, all of them were deeply engrossed in their own world, hence paving the way for Khushi to finally have a timeout from boredom and slightly explore her new world a little bit.
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Placing both her palms on the table, she slowly tapped her fingers, as her mind captured the vision of what she wanted to do.
'Okay Khushi. Now, focus.''
She motivated herself as she prepared her mind, pouring in her 100 percent concentration at the task in hand.
Drawing her imagination, mingling it with her new found power, her fingers drew imaginary patterns in the air, when she saw each and every imaginary pattern being freshly drawn on the white table cloth.
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Violet Roses
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Just the way, she had it in her vision.
It gave her goose bumps as she watched her mind's imaginary patterns being really drawn on the cloth.
The very same violet roses, just the way she had seen it in her dreams.
Just the way she had envisioned it.
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A big smile curved at her lips as she watched every minute detail of her imagination being resurfaced in front of her, so vividly.
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"So.. Exploring your new talent, huh?"
The abrupt intervention gave Khushi a jerk as she quickly withdrew her hands from the table, making everything go back to square one, shocked at the unexpected voice.
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Turning back, she finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the owner of that voice standing in front of her with a huge grin on her face.
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"Gosh! You scared me.."
Khushi spoke, placing a hand on her chest just to indicate how scared that sudden voice had actually gotten her.
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"Chill dear. It's just me."
Judith said merrily, with a smile etched on her face.
Khushi managed to smile back at her, as Judith occupied a chair next to hers.
.
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Though now everything was justified and Khushi had all her answers, still some part of her couldn't get over with the most obvious and common human emotion.
Jealousy.
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Maybe it was all pretense, but her human memory couldn't undo the scenes where she had seen the devil and the blonde together.
She couldn't believe that despite the change of dynamics, she still referred to Judith as the blonde, and very dearly so, Arnav, as the devil.
She knew that everything was done on a purpose and nothing of that mattered to her now when Arnav had told her all of the truth himself. When he had confessed to her about everything.
His past flings didn't matter to her, as long as she knew his present and future was only hers.
In this case, Judith wasn't even a fling in his life, but just pretense.
For the sake of serving the sole purpose which they all had.
To destroy Aloysius.
Like Arnav had told her, the Verman Cult, which comprised of warlocks and witches, spread across the town of Verman Hills, also including the Sciarrones, had their goals set on destroying the Avizhas. However, every member that was chosen as a part of the cult had to be testified that their true motives were set on to eradicate the Avizhas from the planet, and not anything else.
Judith had been with the Sciarrones for over five years now, and over the years, she had developed a deep rapport with Arnav. Though he couldn't put himself to care so much for anyone much after his parents were killed, Judith still managed to find in him a company that could give her some peace of mind after her own family had abandoned her for reasons unknown to her, when she was barely 12 years old.
When they had enrolled themselves in SEV, Judith came to know her ex, who had dumped her mercilessly only a month ago, was a senior student of Psychology in the same college, she had begged Arnav to pretend play as her boyfriend, just to give it back to her ex.
Arnav was in no mood to play, but had suddenly agreed for it on the first day of college.
Although to Judith, it was a baffling happening because she didn't expect him at all to agree for it, little did she know that Arnav had his own reasons to play the faade, since he had come to know that Khushi too was going to be in the same college, and unknowingly, something had pricked him, and more than that bugged him without any reason.
Hating the fact she was affecting him so much, especially when he had thought she was all just like Meredith, he wanted to hurt her bad, and directly or indirectly, he made Judith his leverage.
And rest was history.
Khushi sighed as she recalled all that and giving it all away, concentrated only on one thing.
Everybody knew about her and him now, and there was no pretend play. None at all.
So, perhaps it was high time, she let go of her petty insecurities over an affair which wasn't even for real in the first place, she thought.
.
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"Make sure nobody sees you doing all that abra-cadabra."
Judith grinned at Khushi while Khushi looked at her and smiled wide.
"Yeah. Umm.. You are right. I was just getting bored."
She replied, chuckling at her antics to practice magic in such a public place.
But well, that was Khushi.
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"No, it's okay. Just that you need to be a little more careful."
Judith spoke, playing with a tendril of her hair.
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Never did Khushi think she would be sharing such a comfort level with her while talking.
But now that their worlds were the same, everything was capable of having a fresh start.
For now, there was nothing better than knowing about this new world. And anyway, she had to kill time until Arnav returned from his History class.
Clearing her throat, Khushi finally asked Judith,
"..When did you learn.. that you were a ..?
Judith looked at her, a smile tugging at her lips as she replied,
"..I was.. I was ten.."
"It was all different and weird you know. Like all those horror flicks, but it was good."
Khushi nodded her head, analysing each of her words as they came her way.
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"..I just got to know some days back. Well, I'm glad I came to know that after I turned 18, you know, became an adult officially."
Khushi spoke nonchalantly, while Judith chuckled at her humour.
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"You know Khushi. You are just lucky."
She said.
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"Why do you say so?"
Khushi asked her with a smile, because somewhere she did agree that she was indeed lucky.
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"At least you got a normal life until then. You didn't have to feel the pressure of learning the Do's and Don't's of Witchcraft and struggle with its merits and demerits."
Judith spoke without a pause.
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Her words triggered a new discovery in Khushi.
All this while, she had been oblivious to this part of the universe which she had only considered to a part of books and myths.
But it was way too real, and she wasn't alone in this.
There were many like her.
However, if not anything else, she wanted to thank her grandmother though who made it sure that she didn't come across any part of it until she was 18.
Although she did mention that no matter how much she tried, this part of the world would take her in, but she was glad that she didn't lose her childhood because of this curse, the way Arnav, Judith, and others did.
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"What are you thinking?"
Judith asked, breaking Khushi's reverie.
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She thought for a while and after a period of brief silence, finally spoke,
"..Nothing. Just that it would have been so much better if we had a choice, isn't it? To accept it or let it go."
"If we had a choice, then majority wouldn't deem Witchcraft to be a curse Khushi, isn't it?"
Her reply activated the gear of reality once again, as they both smiled at each other, knowing that it was indeed the hard truth of their lives.
.
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"Yeah you are right! Here I thought that the mystery of the world was only limited to the Illuminati, The last supper, The Bermuda Triangle, etc. But bamm! My delusional glass world breaks and Tada! Here's Witchcraft, Voodoo and Hoodoo all the way with their own set of legends and lore."
Khushi spoke at one breath, while Judith burst into a huge laughter hearing her words.
"..You know what? Arnav was right.. You are so different.. So good.."
She spoke between her laughs, while the mention of the devil's name got Khushi grounded once again.
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"Really? What did he say?"
She inquired, suddenly curious to know what the devil had poured into her mind long before.
.
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"..Nothing Specific Khushi. But trust me, I was so apprehensive about you initially.
It felt Meredith was alive when I saw you first. The urge in me to kill you was so much visible, but then.."
She took a deep breath as she continued,
"Arnav was sure you weren't her. It took a long time for us to believe that you were really someone different despite being her descendant, but then Arnav made sure we realized it and finally Ezra stepped in and cleared the air further."
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Khushi stared at her as she honestly confessed everything that had only created spirals of confusion earlier and made her, her invisible foe.
But today, she was happy as she realized the contrast between then and now.
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"I am sorry Khushi. I never intended to hurt you but just that even the thought of Meredith creates an infinite rage in me."
She spoke softly in an apologetic tone, the genuine regret evident in her voice.
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"You don't need to be sorry, Judith. I understand."
Khushi assured her, as she recalled Arnav's words from their night of confession where he had mentioned about Judith's close cousin being assassinated by the Avizhas.
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She smiled back at her, the uneasiness between them all gone now as they suddenly emerged as pals after this heart to heart conversation.
"And anyway, your crazy lover wouldn't have let me hurt you no matter how hard I tried."
She told her mockingly while Khushi looked at her with a perplexed expression.
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She didn't have to ask her anything further as she continued on her own,
"He loved you since the beginning Khushi. Maybe from first sight. Though he tried hard to keep himself in denial, clouding his attraction towards you with hate, but I have been his friend since long and it couldn't remain hidden from me. I knew it."
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Judith's words played a re telecast of the event that took place earlier this morning, when Khushi had the conversation of confession with her best friend Rebecca.
Here, only the characters were switched.
It was ironical how no one else was surprised at the fact that she was dating Arnav, when she herself was often shocked with that realisation.
Maybe, she indeed was weird, she thought.
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With a steady voice, Judith continued,
"Though he tried hating you, but-"
"But Hate is a strong emotion and cannot be fully executed without love in the play."
Khushi completed her sentence while Judith nodded in agreement with a smile of surprise on her face.
.
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"He warned me to stay away from you. Even on that day when he saw me talking to you, he thought I would end up hurting you and threatened me literally to be miles away from you."
She further added.
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'So my guess was right. The devil had indeed asked the blonde to stay away from me. But now I know the reasons, the valid reasons.''
Khushi thought.
"Yes, I wanted to hurt you that time. But only because I didn't know the truth about you. But now I do, and I'm genuinely sorry about my prior intentions."
Judith said, once again sorry about the past.
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"Judith, past is past. We must let go of it and kick start life with happiness. Don't worry, I trust you."
Khushi said to her with a smile and she seemed to be more than happy to hear her assuring words.
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"Aww! This is a million-dollar moment! I need a glass of Tequila!!"
She exclaimed in joy as she clapped her hands together in excitement, for a second making Khushi feel as if she was a carbon copy of Ree.
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The joy of the hour made her elated after a long time. New bonds were acquiring her and she couldn't be more thankful for this sheer piece of joy that was bestowed upon her.
The new phase, the new life, gave her a new hope, a fresh ray of light as her insides felt contended with this new era.
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"By the way.. Who else are there in this Verman Cult of you guys?"
Khushi asked, right after their little celebration of the newly discovered friendship.
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"Well, apart from me and the Sciarrones, there are ten more."
"Some are old, but from the younger lot, there's Amy, Emannuel, Saraa, Zenith, Victor, Graham and-.."
"Well, umm, yeah, those are only the young ones. Like us."
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The sudden hesitation at her last statement raised Khushi's doubts, as she looked at her keenly with anticipation-filled eyes.
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"Hey! You can tell me.. I won't-"
She tried to convince her, when Judith broke her sentence midway and said,
"It was Andrew, Khushi."
"But, now he's no more a part of the cult."
"Arnav made him leave."
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As her words escaped her mouth, Khushi's innate mind presented the scenario behind it.
Her powers led her through the way as she connected the dots and finally came to know what was it all about.
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"The Dragon-tattooed guy."
"..That was Andrew?"
'The one who trapped me in that parallel world and made the unnatural things happen in an attempt to kill me?''
Khushi inquired with shock, awaiting Judith's approval to her already confirmed notion.
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"Yes."
"Arnav removed him from the cult after he misled you and trapped you in that parallel reality."
"He couldn't take chance with anyone who had even a tiny urge to kill you or hurt you, come what may."
She confessed.
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So much had happened and Khushi had remained unaware of most of them. Though some part of her cherished the fact that now she knew things, but she only failed to estimate the height of the devil's strength.
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"I told you, right? He's a crazy lover. Now deal with him."
Judith grinned at Khushi as she wavered with her eyes at the opposite direction, making it clear to her that her topic of teasing Khushi was already here.
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Taking a deep breath, Khushi turned around as she saw him standing mere inches away from her, dressed in his casual jeans-tee attire, still managing to captivate everyone's attention effortlessly.
Placing both the hands in his jeans' pockets he looked at her with a small smile, as he said,
"Seems like I missed a long interactive session, eh?"
Khushi chuckled at that remark, while Judith spoke,
"Yeah, just a small rendezvous. Girly talk, you see."
Arnav arched one of his eye brows at her statement while Khushi continued to look at him, admiring every aspect of this celestial being, this angel, who she still loved to call Her Devil.
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"Okay enough, lovebirds! Now you both please excuse me."
Judith said, as she assembled her stuff in her bag and waved her hand at them and finally left the cafeteria, grinning at the sight of the new couple.
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For a moment Khushi didn't know what she wanted to do next when she suddenly saw his trademark smirk appear on his face.
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"..W..What?"
She asked him, confused regarding the cause of that smirk.
The crooked smile still adorned his face as he slowly lifted his hand and his thumb stroked her right cheek.
His feathery touch ignited thousands of unknown feelings in her, as she felt weak in the knees and butterflies attacked her stomach making her extremely fragile, as she felt all vulnerable about to lose her senses.
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"It's red."
He finally said, in that irresistible husky voice, making her drown in a pool of desires as she learnt the fact that her cheeks were burning red as a result of profuse blushing, as an outcome of his presence and touch.
"It's cold. The, umm, weather."
She uttered coyly yet confidently, making his smirk deepen seeing how she tried to pretend to be courageous, when he very well knew she was losing herself to him every second that passed by. But since he knew they were amidst a room full of people, he needed to control himself.
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"Let's go for the dance rehearsals then?"
He finally asked her, reluctantly withdrawing his hand from her face, while his eyes remained fixed on her and he softly pecked her forehead.
"..Hmm.. Yeah!"
She nodded in agreement as he held her hand and ushered her through the doorway of the cafeteria and she matched her steps with him as they proceeded together.
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The new alphabets had already started helping her create new rhymes as she welcomed this new change with a dynamic mind and open arms.
But in this flow, she felt some part of her childhood learning- Her first A, B, C, D, drift away from her, as she watched Mason's crestfallen face, staring at them, shooting melancholy in the atmosphere while he still sat in that distant corner of the cafeteria.
And that disappointed Khushi to infinity and beyond.
**
Edited by Simi1711 - 8 years ago
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