The Snarky Indian

Part 19(ii): Koala-ty time.

I was still freaking out when Viha threatened to tear my assignment at a minute before submission time if I didn't change into something date-appropriate. I grudgingly did so, forced to sit still while she made me look 'presentable' and not like the 'harridan' I usually looked like. With all her insulting, the only thing running through my mind was continual swearing. Mostly involving Viha's weird nose. I wasn't feeling all that charitable towards her. 

It was a huge relief when she stood back to admire her work. I looked at my reflection, narrowing my eyes to see exactly what she had done. "Minimalist makeup is the key!" She cheerfully yelled, gripping my arm and dragging me out. I blinked, "But you haven't done anything. You said I looked like a hobo an hour back." I folded my hands, looking at her with an annoyed expression. She merely shrugged, "I can't help it if you've got a bad eyesight." Rolling my eyes at her, I looked down at my watch. It was 8:45 p.m. 

15 more minutes.

I turned to Viha. "Don't even think." She sternly said, giving me a mean stare. I felt like shrinking under her gaze. Looking away, I said, "I didn't say anything." "But you were thinking it." I opened my mouth to deny it, but the doorbell rang and my nervousness made me restless. I began swaying on my feet, unwilling to move. Viha sighed and I felt a sort of relief that she would open the door, except the bitch just walked back into her room, leaving me standing in front of Krishi's bed. 

Surprised, I stared at her room door, still having hope that she would walk out and open the door. I gave up hope after the third bell, deciding to open it. I walked up to the door and yanked it open, finding Aryan standing and staring at his mobile screen. 

*ring* *ring* 

I took out my cell phone, feeling the vibrations in my back pocket. It was a text from Aryan, I frowned as I opened it. It was a meme. A picture of a koala bear with the words 'Ready for a little koala-ty time?'. I slowly looked up at his sheepish grin, sighing, I hit my head against the door. 

"Hey. That was a good pun." I hit my head against the door again. "You're just bitter 'cause you suck at making puns." Came the kiddish reply. I rolled my eyes at him, "Child, read it out loud. You'll realize just how shitty it is." He merely pooh-poohed me and motioned for me to get out of the room. Picking up the stuff I need, I walked out with him. 

At the bus stand, "You look nice." He said. I looked up at him, "Nice?" I was a bit annoyed that he considered 45 minutes worth of enduring Viha to give a 'nice result'. He backtracked quickly, "You look great." I scoffed at him, "Yeah yeah." That was the limit of our conversation even though we sat next to each other in the bus. I was pretty sure that the reason for all the awkwardness was me, but I was unable to shake it off. Besides I was a little irritated. I was wearing everyday-class-worthy clothes, jeans, a shirt, sneakers. So was he. It was a pizza date, not some fancy-shmancy thing. But he looked good. Yeah, he did. Period. 

Outside the pizza place, he stopped. I had to turn back to look at him questioningly. "What's wrong?" I blinked, "What's wrong?" I asked back. He sighed, "You've been acting so weird around me. And it has all started ever since I asked you out." I had no clue what to say to that. "Are you rethinking? I mean, what's going on in your mind?" He continued. I shook my head, and gave a shrug. He began staring at me, like an owl. After a minute or so, I got uncomfortable. "Who taught you that?" I asked indignantly. "Guess." "Viha?" "Bingo." "Why?" "She said I'd need it. Now I see why." I snorted. "Ana..." I looked up at him, "I'm not a photographer." I blinked, "I know." I was puzzled as to why he suddenly brought that up, until he continued it with, "But I can picture us together." I placed both my palms on my face, pulling my skin down with my fingers and groaning. He grinned, "Date time?" He asked, everything else forgotten. "Yeah." I replied, "Let's go have some koala-ty time." 

It went pretty well, surprisingly. With all my doubts forgotten, it was easy to have fun. We still had that friends vibe, but there were many more flirty puns. He sneaked in as many lines as he could. It was as though he had searched through the internet and made a list. Some of them were, "You know what my shirt is made of? Boyfriend material" and "Do you live in a cornfield? 'cause I'm stalking you." 

We were grinning by the time we were done. Maybe it was all the pizza we ate. Pizza does tend to give you a sense of satisfaction. 

"Same time, same place, next week?" "Hell yeah!" And so it was a done deal, we would 'get to know more about each other' by going on 'dates' every week. I wasn't used to the whole dating thing. Okay I was, except different people have different perceptions about it. In India, for many of us, there's no 'dating' in the let's-meet-and-understand-each-other-before-we-become-girlfriend-boyfriend way per say. It's friendship, asking out, and then you get into a relationship directly. There's no dating phase, not usually. And obviously amongst the older generation relationships are frowned upon, so no Indian couple ever really tells their parents. Unless of course, one of the two, usually the girl, is being forced to get married. 

Maybe that was the reason I was so uncomfortable? Or maybe it was because I wasn't over my ex? Or maybe I was just feeling guilty that I'm doing something against my parents wishes? I do like him, right? 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comment, vote, follow, and enjoy!

- QuirkyKatana