Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 15: You Can Learn Anywhere

"Huh... interesting," I trail off, my gaze looming upstairs.

"Whatcha staring at?" Sam nudges me playfully before she puts some milk into her oatmeal and heats it in the microwave.

"Eh, nothing. It's funny that he wakes up really late. So do I," I begin before she starts giggling a bit. I guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought I was.

"Prashanth's a massive night owl. He can pull an all-nighter if he needs to, but if you make him wake up before noon, impossible," she clarifies with a chuckle.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I've sometimes seen him awake at, like, 2am on a run. I could never."

"Ohh, cool," I respond before turning my gaze away from upstairs.

"You know what? Since you've been at home these past 3 days, we should take you out somewhere. You've already been around the neighborhood, but the city is even better," she suggests excitedly, loud enough for Vinnie to hear.

"I heard there's a new Thai restaurant that opened in the Paradise building. My teammate went there with her friends and said it was really nice. I would love to go there for dinner," she beams. Sam's eyes light up suddenly, and she smirks before tapping Tusharika on the shoulder.

"Do you want to go out tonight?" she asks her, and Tusharika widens her eyes before nodding with an ecstatic look on her face.

"Wait, what's going on?" Vaibhav enters the conversation. "Oh, I was just telling Sarvani that we should go out tonight. Like downtown," Sam clears up.

"Oh, ok. I haven't been downtown in a while, actually. I think it'll be really fun to show you around," Vaibhav agrees before Sam smiles in victory and tries to get Abhi's attention.

"Abhi! Abhi!" she yells a couple of times before he finally looks up at where we're standing. "Yeah?" he asks enthusiastically, his eyes twinkling as he looks at his mate.

"Do you want to go downtown today?" she drawls, using her charms to convince him. "I mean, I don't know. You know that I have a lot of homework," he denies but she starts pouting.

"Please? Come on, you never spend any time with me! Don't you like going out with me?" she cajoles, walking closer to him and giving him a lazy smile. His mouth does an "O" shape as he facepalms a bit, his mouth coiling into an "I give up" smile.

But just as I assumed what would happen...

"I'm sorry, Sammy, but no matter how much your puppy eyes convince me most of the time, I have a lot of work," he refuses, making her do a sad face.

"Fine, ok. You're no fun, anyway," she walks away slowly as Abhi's face instantly turns to a surprised look.

"Not fun? Hey, I'm fun, get back here!" Abhi gets up off the sofa and chases her as she speeds up the stairs and back to her room.

"Well, that sounds like a no," Tusharika laughs as we hear Sam's loud giggles echoing across the hall.

"I think going out is a great idea! Maybe you, Vinnie, Sam, Vaibhav, Prashanth, and I can go. I think the adults need the house to themselves," she gestures to Naishal and Divya, who look on in confusion.

"What? Oh, yeah. I have a lot of work stuff to deal with. Sonata is breathing down my neck trying to take this project from me, and I am NOT letting that happen," Naishal seethes while Divya playfully tells him to calm down.

"Who's Sonata?" I wonder as he gives me an "I-give-up" smile.

"She's this girl who's also a part of my internship. She's so competitive that it gives me a headache," he gripes while I start laughing.