1.3 | Under The Pink Evening Sky | ✓

9 | the basketball match

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Sana watched as the boy she was always annoyed with, passed the ball to his best friend, who scored the goal. The whistle blew. Half-time break was announced. Her desk-mate clapped her hands excitedly.

Many of her 6th grade classmates had reunited, having been assigned to the same class in 9th grade. That included Vihan and Shrest, too. Over the three years, the trio had only gotten closer despite being in different classes.

Her desk-mate shoved a can of energy drink in her hands and gestured at Shrest. Sana stared at her.

"Give it to him, Sana! This is your chance!"

Sana continued staring. Her chance for what?

Her room-mate let out a sigh and motioned to something behind her. There was Meena, another one of her 6th classmates who had ended up in the same class as her again. She had in her hands an energy drink and was being nudged by her friends to give it to Shrest.

Sana blinked. What was this? A highschool Disney movie?

It was silly. Sana knew that. But it grated on her nerves for some inexplicable reason. She stood up and trudged over to where Shrest was rubbing off his sweat with a towel. All his team-mates were also gathered in that spot.

She had grown tall over the years, standing at 5'6 now. But he was even taller. He towered over her.

She reached out to tap his shoulder. He glanced at her and then the bottle in her hands.

"Is it poisoned?"

"It's a new, unopened can, you idiot. I couldn't possibly poison it, even if I wanted to."

"Huh." Shrest smirked and took it from her. "I didn't know you cared for me this much. You even bought me an energy drink."

"I didn't. My desk mate did. Then, she pestered me to give it to you."

Shrest glanced at her desk mate, giving her a short wave.

"I'll get going." Sana whirled around, her expression utterly bored.

"Wait. Let's play a little game."

"What game?" Sana asked, warily.

"Let's try to kick the ball into the goal. Rohit will be our goalkeeper. Whoever gets it in is the winner."

Sana blinked. "What do you hope to achieve by playing this game?"

Shrest shrugged. "Nothing much."

Sana eyed him. "So you want to show off."

He shrugged again.

His team-mates who had been watching the exchange began hooting and announcing to the audience that the two were going to face off against each other.

Sana, "..."

I haven't even agreed yet?

In the end, the two stood a few metres away from the goal. Sana was in her skirt and Shrest in his football jersey.

Sana gestured for Shrest to kick first. He moved back, ran towards the ball and kicked it but the goalkeeper caught it.

Sana watched as he grinned at the jeers of the crowd. She rolled her eyes, focusing on the ball in front of her.

She moved farther away and ran. Then, she kicked the ball. It landed square in the net. She smirked and moved towards him.

He looked down at her, as she moved in closer and whispered to him, "I will always beat your ass, Shrest. Don't try to humiliate yourself."

With a charming smile, she sauntered away. Shrest stared in her direction before turning to his team-mates with a helpless grin.

"My brother is teaching at our school." Shrest muttered as he sat in the tent with Sana.

"Vineet is back?"

Shrest nodded, his expression hardening. Sana took in his expression. Then, she turned forward.

"Give him a chance, won't you? He definitely didn't deliberately not want to talk to you. Circumstances were like that, yeah?"

Shrest stared forward, firmly.

"What? You hold a grudge against him?"

Shrest let out a breath. "No. But he's too perfect. It's irritating."

"So, I irritate you?"

Shrest, "...."

Just how highly did she think of herself?

He laughed, softly. "No, you don't irritate me."

"It's not possible for anyone to be perfect. Except maybe me. Everyone has their flaws. I'm sure your brother does too."

"Given how my mother sings his praises everyday, I doubt he has any flaws. He seems to do everything perfectly."

Sana clasped her hands and stared down at them. "If I had told you your brother had flaws back when we were in 1st grade, you would have raised hell. But now, you seem all too eager to see if he has any flaws."

Shrest's hard expression broke. It turned into a hurt one.

"I'm not eager to find out if he has any flaws. He's my brother, after all. I don't dislike him."

Sana met his eyes. "I should hope not."

The two descended the staircase. Shrest walked Sana to her apartment. He was about to proceed to his own apartment, before he caught sight of Vihan sporting an amused grin, conversing with Mani.

Sana was surprised to find him, too.

"Vihan? You're here?"

Vihan turned to them. "Sana, your sister is too entertaining."

Mani turned to her sister. "Please. Take him away from here, already."

Sana glanced between the two of them. "What happened between you two?"

"He asks so many questions. How do you even bear with him?" Mani flicked a finger in his direction.

"Little sister, am I that much of a burden to be around?" Vihan feigned a hurt expression, placing his hands against his chest. "My heart is completely broken."

"Your heart is on the other side."

He quickly switched sides.

Sana shook her head, amused. "What did you want, Vihan?"

"I left my pouch here the other day, didn't I? I wanted to take it back."

Sana nodded, disappearing into the room she and Mani shared. Shrest watched as Mani took several secret glances at Vihan. An inkling of something popped up in his head.

Shrest felt a small smile on his face. Huh.

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