TO THE STARS THAT LISTEN

CHAPTER 18: Secrets

Ahaan

"What's going on, folks?" I asked as I settled myself on the bench. I made an effort to sit a little away from her; it was necessary. She was truly wonderful, but after what happened on the dance floor, I just couldn't breathe near her. I had two left feet when it came to dancing. It was probably the only thing I was bad at, except for cooking, of course. But the way she led me through that entire song, it didn't feel like I hated it. In fact, I was actually enjoying it, especially when I was looking into her eyes. Those eyes had something magical, of that, I was sure. They were like portals to a realm of enchantment, drawing me into a world of wonder with every gaze. They possessed a celestial sparkle as if they carried the light of a thousand stars within them. Her eyes held untold secrets, like a hidden oasis in a desert of the ordinary.

"Your best friend likes pizza with pineapples!! Yuck," Vaani exclaimed in utter disgust.

"Yeah, I was never a fan of his choices," I replied with a smirk.

"You shouldn't be talking about choices," Aarav said defensively.

"Matlab?" Ira spoke softly beside me. Oh no, he was going to spill my secrets.
(What do you mean?)

"Kuch nahi," I replied, looking at him with a warning glare, silently asking him not to reveal my embarrassing past.
(Nothing)

Aarav smirked and chose violence. He looked at her, "We were in the same college, in Bangalore, Ira. The hostel had organized a costume party, and everyone was dressed up in extravagant outfits." Oh no, the costume party story. I covered my face with my hands, and groaned, bracing for impact. "Ahaan had a particularly elaborate pirate costume. As the night went on and the drinks flowed, Ahaan got into character a bit too much and started acting like a true pirate, complete with a sword and a loud, booming voice. Unfortunately, he got a little too carried away and accidentally knocked over a table of drinks, causing minor chaos. He became known as 'Captain Clumsy' for the rest of his college years." He finished, and I felt everyone's gaze on me amidst the laughter.

I raised my hands slightly to peek and saw Ira looking at me with a cute smile.

God, this woman!

"Okay, can we move on from this topic?" I said, utterly embarrassed, yet hiding my emotions with a straight face.

"Sure, Captain Clumsy," Bhai commented, and everyone burst into another fit of laughter.

Aarav will pay for this.

"So, bhabhi? Where's Aariv?" I was soo grateful to Ira for changing the topic.

"He got a bit cranky," She was interrupted by Vaani and Aarav's resumed banter growing louder.

Ira folded her hand and stared at them, her gaze drilling holes into them. Everyone else turned silent making the snarky duo look around."Is your drama going to have an intermission, or should I grab some popcorn now?" Ira came back with an edgy comeback, and everyone else hooted while those two shut their mouths. This woman was feisty too. She turned back to Bhabhi and spoke in her sweet voice again, "You were saying?"

Bhabhi took a second to control her laughter before replying, "Um...yeah, he got a bit cranky downstairs, so I fed him, and he dozed off. He's sleeping downstairs with the nanny. That's why we came upstairs in the first place. Then I thought, why not call the others too? I mean, it's so crowded downstairs."

"Oh! Though, I must say, you chose a really nice name for him. It's beautiful." She said with a smile.

Her smile. The one that makes her eyes crease.

"The credit goes to your fiancé, actually. He suggested the name."

"Ohh..." She turned her gaze to me with an appreciative look. "So, Captain Clumsy doesn't have such bad choices, huh?" She spoke low enough for just me to hear and smirked.