BLOSSOM|| It Was Spring

[ 𝐈𝐈𝐈 ]

I must have gasped when I realized who had come to my rescue because she turned to me with a frown.

"Yes?" she asked, or more like spat out.

I barely managed to shake my head. "Nothing," I whispered.

"Come with me," she said, tugging my hand.

It took only two minutes to reach her group, but it felt like an eternity. She scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to me. "We'll talk later," she said, offering me a half-smile.

I nodded. Not bad—I went from sighing to nodding. This must be the 30th time I've nodded since morning.

After wasting a few more minutes locating my friends, I greeted them with, "Yo!"

"Where the hell were you? Lunch break's about to end!" Aneesha asked, annoyed.

I faked a laugh. "Had a run-in with Piyush. Manmeet saved me."

"Oh my God, wait, what?!" Souri exclaimed. "Manmeet? You mean *I-don't-give-a-damn-about-anyone* Manmeet?"

I flinched and looked down. "Yeah."

"Bro, do you know magic?" Sayandeep asked, looking equally shocked.

"I don't. And honestly, I have no idea why she did that," I replied, a bit frustrated. It must have been clear I wanted to change the topic because Aneesha clapped her hands, drawing attention."What's done is done. Let's move on already." And as if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break.

Despite the bell, I stayed seated while my friends got up. "I'll catch up with you all later," I said. They nodded and left. I pulled out the piece of paper Manmeet had given me. It had a number and a note: "Meet me after school." I scoffed. So much for a peaceful school life.

After school, I found myself waiting by the main gate. I wondered if Manmeet would actually show up. She's complicated—hard to figure out, even for those who know her. She rarely talks to anyone outside her group, and everyone knows not to mess with her.

Five minutes later, Manmeet arrived and started looking around, probably for me. To my surprise, she was alone. I leaned against the wall, waiting for her to notice me. She finally did and walked over to stand beside me.

"Your friends aren't here," she observed.

"I told them I had an extra class. What about you?"

"I told mine I'm going home with you today," she said as if it were the most normal thing."So..." I raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to talk?"

"We're going to a café. It's a date," she laughed.

I was too shocked to reply. This can't be happening. If anyone saw us together, it would either trash my reputation or give it an unnecessary boost—neither of which I wanted.

"Can we not?" I started, but her stare shut me up. "I mean, we could just talk here... right?"

Without saying a word, Manmeet turned and started walking. The smart move would have been to walk away and forget any of this happened. But me, being me, decided to follow her—probably just to stay on her good side.

***

I pulled my blazer tighter around me. It was colder than I expected, and the school uniform wasn't doing much to keep the chill out. Manmeet was talking to the waiter, probably placing our order. I wasn't paying attention; I was more concerned about what was going to happen next. I glanced out the window—though the sun had just set, it was already dark.

"Sanjana?"

I looked up, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Are you done thinking?"

"Oh, uh, yeah... sure?" I answered, not sounding convincing.

"So, I was thinking about how you can repay me for earlier," she said.

I stared at the table. "Oh..." I dragged the word, wondering what she could possibly want. It couldn't be that bad, right?

"Go out with me."

Startled, I snapped my head up so fast I felt a sharp pain shoot through my neck. "Ow, ow, ow," I muttered, rubbing the sore spot.

"Are you okay?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What did you just say?"

"Go out with me. Like, date me. But not for real."

I blinked at her, stunned. This was worse than I expected.

"I don't even know you," I managed to say.

"Do I know you, stranger?" she shot back, unfazed. "It'll be fake dating."
"But—"

"You owe me a favor."

I sighed. A deal with the devil, huh?

"Here's your order," the waiter said, placing two boba teas in front of us. Manmeet slid one towards me. "Think and drink," she added.

"Drink and think sounds better," I mumbled.

"Sure, if you prefer that more. So?"

I took a sip of the boba tea. It was either go along with this or deal with something worse.

"What exactly do I have to do?" I asked.

"I don't know? Whatever couples do, I guess."

I scoffed. "You're out of your mind. If you want me to repay the favor, I'll cover the drinks and anything else you want. Then we're even."

Manmeet stared at me for a moment before leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

 "Look, just help me out, okay?"

I looked away. "Helping a stranger isn't really the best idea..."

She opened her eyes, looking surprised. "Stranger?"

"Huh?"

"No, no..." she shook her head, frowning. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

For a moment, she looked... vulnerable. Or maybe it was just my imagination.

"Look, I just got out of a relationship. I can't deal with anything serious right now," I sighed.

Manmeet leaned back, sipping her boba. This was probably the longest conversation we'd ever had. I tilted my head slightly, observing her. Despite her tightly braided hair, a few loose strands gave her a casual, messy look. A piece of paper stuck out of her front pocket, and the first button of her shirt was undone despite the cold.

"Like what you see?" she teased.

"Are you seriously not cold?" I asked, taking another sip of my drink.

She didn't reply, and I didn't push. My mind was racing, weighing whether or not I should take her up on the deal.

"Why do you even want to do this?" I asked.

"To shut a few people up," she replied.

"And what do I get out of this?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm safer than your ex," she said, her already deep voice lowering.

"Why me?"

"It could have been anyone," she smirked, biting her straw.

Of course. It could have been anyone. Manmeet doesn't care about people, emotions, or anything. Was I making a terrible mistake?

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll fake-date you..."