You return like autumn and I fall all the time

Chapter 14

The flashback of it all appeared out of nowhere, I totally forgot I was in school with Dakshith and Anjali and it's been two years since it all happened.

"Are you okay?" Anjali's voice cut through my thoughts, pulling me back to the present.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, trying to shake off the sudden rush of memories.

Anjali's curiosity peaked. "What were you thinking about?"

"Just... nothing much, just..." I trailed off, 

not wanting to delve into the depths of my thoughts.

"Hey, ladies" A sudden voice shattered the silence, and I felt an arm on my shoulder, nearly causing me to stumble.

Looking up, I found Vaani Tyagi, one of the few seniors I actually like. She's older than us and has this effortless Gen-Z vibe. We've been friends since forever. We often see each other as she lives near my house.

"Hey," Anjali and I chimed in unison, greeting Vaani with smiles.

"How are you doing, girls?" Vaani inquired, her easygoing demeanour putting us at ease."Pretty good," I replied, though the truth was far from it.

"Well, that's great! Anyway, my parents are out of town today, and remember the guy I told you about? He wants to meet today, so I'm thinking of throwing a party at my house and inviting him over. What do you say?"

I couldn't help but smirk. "That cool-looking mean brat you made out with on your first meeting?"

Vaani playfully punched me in the stomach. "Shh, yeah, him. And you and Anjali are also invited! You can bring guys if you want; I don't mind!"

Anjali scoffed. "What guy would we bring? We barely have male friends, and the ones we do won't be interested in coming over."

Vaani turned to me with a mischievous glint in her eye. "What about you, Sanjh?"

I shrugged, feeling a bit awkward. "Huh? What? I don't have any guy to bring either."

"Are you sure about that?" Vaani teased, gesturing behind me. "Because there's this guy right behind you who's been staring the shit out of me since I punched you in the stomach. He looks quite handsome. You can ask him."

I turned around to find Dakshith standing there, as Vaani had said, staring at us intently. The way his gaze lingered on me sent shivers down my spine.

"That's Dakshith," Anjali informed Vaani, pointing towards him.

"Hey, Dakshith, come over here!" Vaani called out, and I silently prayed he would refuse.

As he approached, standing right beside me, my heart raced, and I couldn't help but steal a glance at him. Why does this keep happening to me, I need to avoid this guy.

"What?" Dakshith's voice snapped me back to reality.

Vaani wasted no time. "Are you free tonight?"

"No," Dakshith replied curtly, as I had expected.

Vaani's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "If you can spare some time, please come over to my house. I'm throwing a party."

"Why would I come to your party? I don't even know who you are," Dakshith retorted, his arrogance on full display.

Vaani leaned towards me, whispering, "Oh god, this bastard."

Summoning all her bravado, Vaani continued, "Look, I'm Vaani, Sanjh's friend, and your senior. Sanjh is coming to the party too. You have to come as Sanjh's date."

My heart skipped a beat at her words. Sanjh's date? Oh god, Vaani, are you nuts? How could she just ask Dakshith to be my date?

"Wait, no—" I started to protest, but before I could finish,

 Dakshith interjected, "Okay"

"Okay"?

My jaw dropped in disbelief. He's actually coming to the party? As my date?