CHAPTER 1
Shravan POV:
She sat across from me excitedly scrolling through a shopping website looking for the perfect dress for prom. I chuckled to myself who would have thought that Suman and I would’ve become such close friends...actually, best friends...in a span of 12 months.
“Shravan! How does this one look?” I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my attention to her,
“I like this one! Red looks good on you! You’ll look like the candy Twizzlers!” Usually, my jokes are only funny to me.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Whatever...what are you going to wear? It has to match with my dress so we look perfect!”
“Uh...no I don’t wear red...it’s not my color” To be honest I initially was not planning on going to prom but Suman insisted and I could not say no to her.
“Okay...then what are you planning on wearing?” I pointed down at my clothes: sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. “Oh no...please...you are NOT showing up like that! I’m sure you have nice clothes.” She got up and started digging through my closet.
“Since when do you care about clothes and looking nice? Besides I look nice in whatever I wear.”
“Wait! I found it!” She pulled out a button down collared red shirt followed by a suit jacket and pants. “See! I knew you had nice clothes. I don’t know why you always dress like that. If you pair this with a tie and some nice dress shoes, you are going to look so amazing!” Even though I wasn’t excited for prom, seeing her this happy makes it worth going. I knew that she never acted excited about these things in front of her army friends because they would judge her for getting excited over silly civilian things but she knew that I would never judge or mock her.
“Okay! Fine! I’ll wear this. Should we practice some dance moves? What’s the point of going to a dance if you don’t have any smooth moves” I stood up and started scrolling through songs on my phone. Time to irritate Sumo! Irritating her is one of my favorite pastimes and she looks cute when she’s angry. The song “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson blared through my bluetooth speakers and I started doing the moonwalk. While I was enjoying my dance, I was hit by a pillow in my face out of nowhere but I was half-expecting it.
“You’re kidding, right? You really think they will play this at prom?” Seeing her flare her nose in anger, I started laughing controllable which further fueled her anger. She snatched my phone from my hand and started looking for a new song. “I swear you are so annoying sometimes...actually all the time. Why am I even friends with you? You don’t have a single good song on your stupid phone.”
“Here, let me look for one and I promise I won’t joke around anymore.” As I scrolled through, I came across a type of song she was looking for but just thinking of Suman and I slow-dancing together made my heart race. She looked over my shoulder and pressed play.
“This song is perfect!” The song, “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri softly started playing through the speakers. My mind stopped working all of sudden and it seemed like I had no control over myself as I outstretched my shaky arm towards her.
I nervously asked, “Care for a dance?” She looked at me with her big eyes as she placed her hand in mine and the other hand on my shoulder. I slightly hesitated but eventually put my hand on her waist. I am going to sound crazy but I suddenly felt as if time got slower and only Suman and I existed in this world. I broke eye contact with her and looked away. I was afraid that if she looked into my eyes, she would know how I truly felt about her. She placed two fingers on my jaw and made me look towards her again. The music kept playing softly and the sound of the loud rain pattering on the windows spiraled me into what seemed like a dream as we moved closer. I gently placed my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. Her hand on my shoulder tightened. I knew she only saw me as a friend but if I kept my feelings inside me any longer, I would go crazy. I gently exhaled,“I have to tell you something...I’ve been trying to say it for a while…”
“Shh...don’t say anything right now.” I opened my eyes to see that her eyes were also closed and she had a serene smile on her face.
“But I have to tell you...it’s really important.” Her eyes opened and she looked directly into my eyes and I slightly moved away. Her face became confused.
“Okay...go on...what do you have to tell me?” Her stare always unnerved me. Her stare was enough to shatter the confidence of the cool and fearless Shravan in a mere second. Suddenly I felt like I forgot how to talk and started stammering.
“I...I have always...since...we...you...you...YOUR PHONE IS RINGING!” I pointed towards her buzzing phone on the table. She made a weird face at me.
“Oh? That’s what you wanted to tell me? Thanks, I guess.” She rolled her eyes and turned to pick up her phone. I facepalmed myself. Idiot. Clown. Moron. Why am I so stupid? Seriously? Why is it that my confidence goes down the drain in front of her?
I suddenly heard a loud thud and looked up to see Suman’s phone on the floor. Her back was towards me but I could see shoulder her shaking and suddenly it seemed as if her knees gave out and she started falling. I ran and caught her in time. I would never let her fall. She slid into my arms as we sat on the floor. She was hyperventilating and had a hysterical look in her eyes. “Sumo! Breathe! Breathe” I moved my hand up and down on her back. I was afraid that she was going to run out of oxygen and lose consciousness. I was confused. She was fine a minute ago and got a phone call...what happened all of a sudden? I had never seen Sumo like this as she’s always so calm and collected. I reached for my water bottle and handed it to her to but she moved my hand away and almost knocked the bottle out my hand. Something was wrong...very wrong. “Sumo! Look at me! What’s wrong? What happened? Tell me!” I gently shook her shoulders. She broke out in a cry and buried her face in my chest. I hugged her and held her like a child as she continued to cry. My shirt was damp with her tears. I brought the water to her lips and made her drink. I asked again softly,”What happened? Who called you? What did they say?” Her eyes were red and blotchy. She opened her mouth to talk but she started sobbing again. She tried getting up but almost fell again.
“I...need to go home.” She said while sobbing. I helped her up and we went down the stairs. My mother saw her but I motioned her not to say anything. I held Sumo’s hand and walked with her to her house. I saw Sanjay, Vijay Uncle’s Junior, outside the house and Sumo ran towards him. He said something to her but I couldn’t hear them as they were both softly crying. Then Sumo ran into her house. I tried following her inside but Sanjay stopped me and told me to go back home and to leave the Tiwaris alone for now. I had a bad feeling and was hoping that what I was thinking was not true.
“Sanjay Bhaiyya...Is everything okay? Where is Vijay Uncle?” He bent his head down and closed his eyes.
“Go home Shravan.” My mind was racing but I listened to Sanjay and went back home only to be further confused and scared. My father was back home but he was sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands and tears flowing from his eyes. He kept repeating short sentences over and over again to himself, “It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do it. I never wanted all this to happen.” My mother was frantically shaking him and screaming at him asking what happened. A few minutes ago, my life was so serene and peaceful and now all of a sudden my world was spinning and turning upside down. Little did I know, that my life would never be the same ever again after this night.
A/N: Please like and comment! Tell me what you think!
Edited by alina.b - 4 years ago
DO NOT COPY THIS POST AS THIS IS EXCLUSIVE TO INDIA FORUMS
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