When a truth-and-dare question turns Chavi's life upside down and pushes her toward the only person whom she had pulled with herself, Garvit, in the turmoil.
dive in for some sour and sweet banters and most of all, teenage romance!
💌
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The storm was in full swing outside the window but the storm of turmoil inside felt bigger than that.
Garvit paced in his room inside anxiously, he couldn't stay in the house any longer, he wanted to go for a run to make his thoughts clear out but that didn't seem to be possible.
He could hear the mild waves of laughter and discussions going outside in the common room, his grandfather was visiting them and his father had taken a day off to spend some time with them after so many days. Even though he loved him to bits, he could not bring himself to go out and laugh along as if nothing was going wrong in their life.
he just can't
He rubbed his eyes in frustration, he didn't like the worrying glances the elder ones sent his way as if his father was not enough, as if he did not take enough care of them, and despite him saying nothing Garvit knew he wanted his son to remarry.
just like her
Garvit silently opened the door to his room and crossed the threshold when he realized the waves of laughter and murmurs had stopped somewhere in the way and he could hear the aged voice of his grandfather mutter something very slowly but his father's booming voice cut him off, "No Dad please, the kids are home, they would be very upset if they hear you say this".
His eyes widened in realization at the implied assumption but he showed no signs other than that as he crossed the distance of the common room and walked up to the refrigerator to get the watermelon juice he had stored for himself.
Taking two or three sips he swirled it inside his mouth to change the bland taste and closed the refrigerator door with a small thud, the room was silent, he could feel the eyes at the side of his head. He did not look back to meet their eyes, he knew it was not the time to share smiles and ask what they were up to and forget what the older men were actually discussing about.
A message buzzed on his phone, he opened the screen in hopes that somehow he get to be outside, someway, anyway.
A golden flower of hope bloomed in his chest and warmed his insides, he looked up and met his eyes who were already looking at him.
"Dad, I am going out to meet some friends", he didn't ask as he normally did because he wanted to leave with or without his confirmation and he knew his father would understand.
His father gave a solemn nod, understanding shined in his eyes and after giving him a last look, Garvit was outside the door in minutes.
.
He finally realized the situation he had gotten himself into when he stood at the threshold of Ashok's house. The person who had opened the door for him was not Ashok but Chavi.
All the memories from their recent encounter washed over him and a flush came over his dusky skin. He wondered what came over him, and concluded it to be the overwhelming feeling of inters, his grandfather visiting them, and all the anxiety that had gripped him. He shook his head and tried to act nonchalant as he met her honeyed brown eyes.
There she stood in her small frame, wearing the oddest color combinations of pastel pink three-quarter shorts and a solid sage green boxy t-shirt which was somehow working out for her plump frame, adorned with her beaded accessories and open hair.
He looked at his attire which he had randomly put on which comprised of an old t-shirt, basketball shorts, and of course, his Spongebob square pants-themed socks he wore with Crocs, it screamed fifty shades of embarrassment. He had received a message from the latter asking him to join for some new videogame he had bought but the masking tape and scissors in her hand explained otherwise.
.
Chavi had expected the tall boy when she had heard the doorbell and Ashok had asked her to get the door as he made coffee for everyone, but nonetheless, the moment stilled for a second when their eyes met as he realized who had opened the door.
She felt small in her tulip-inspired outfit, she wondered how he was judging her behind his scrutinizing stare so she tried to avoid them as she fidgeted with the tape in her hand and opened the door wider for him to enter.
When they both walked inside the spacious living room splashed with purple, orange, and yellow vintage retro-themed living room, they admired Ashok's mother's acquired taste from religiously following art magazines all these years.
Chavi could feel the disguised smirks and knowing looks they sent their way as if, her eyes met Devlina's sitting in the corner drawing out the corners using the black bold-tipped marker, one look and she knew, this was all planned.
these peanut brains!
This was the last thing she needed in her life, her friends supporting her pretended crush as her eyes fell on Jay who completed the soft draft for their group project on his laptop but looked at his phone once in a while with a small smile, permanently at the corner of his lips.
She went and sat with Devlina to help her by pasting the tape at the borders and Garvit who watched this all with an amused stare, walked towards the kitchenette.
He found Ashok hunched over the pot on the stove. The latter turned to look up from the coffee simmering in the pot and sent a smirk his way when he noticed the former walk up to him.
"It's okay you don't need to thank me, bros help each other", Ashok said with an air of superiority, a small smile tugged the corner of her lips upwards.
Garvit scoffed and replied, "I don't know what you are bluffing about but thanks for calling me out of my house", when he saw the glimmer in the latter eyes he indicated him to stop before he continued, "for a completely different reason", he concluded.
Ashok just ruffled the taller guy's short ends before he said, " Bros help each other", and went back to his task of making coffee.
a small formed on his lips
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
quite a filler of a chapter as I always do, writing about all these bickerings reminds me of Dev, Abhay, and Saloni from DISTANCES. Have you read that, it was one of my first books on this platform.
so how are you liking the journey so far? things don't look very out of place or do they?
I was going through my posts on Instagram dedicated to the publishing of this story and realized how it was meant to be a short and sweet read with a rough idea but I think I am getting where I want this story to head towards.
Did you feel this story was going off-track anywhere in the journey, lemme know <3
