Back And Forth

~ten~

A/N:

This is my FAVOURITE chapter and I actually had to edit and re-edit this over five times to get it right!

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"Two dozen eggs, one packet of brown bread and two Hide and Seek biscuits. Anything else?" Vimal Uncle questioned, looking up from his little notepad.

"No that's all. How much is it?" Vedant queried.

"Ninety eight." The sound of the bill being torn was heard, as Vedant rummaged through his wallet for the money.

"Hi." Vedant looked up, and to his complete surprise saw Meera before him.

"Hey." He grinned, more than happy to have her greet him first.

She looked away immediately, no smile and no other expression on her face.

What was that all about?

"Two packets of brown bread..." she informed Vimal Uncle, who nodding curtly at the two went further into his shop to fetch the requirements.

Meera stared straight ahead, not even for once sparing him a glance. Strange.

Vimal Uncle arrived thereafter and took the hundred rupee note from Vedant along with Meera's payment. Vedant waited for her to be done. When she did receive all that she needed, she smiled at Vimal Uncle and left the shop without so much as a goodbye.

"What did you do?" Uncle asked warningly, his face stern.

"I don't know."

He jogged out of the store, his eyes scanning the road before him. And then he spotted her.

"Meera!" He called, when he found it impossible to catch up with her.

She stopped on her tracks, her back still facing him.

"God you walk fast." He panted, taking deep breaths for air. No reply.

"Hey is everything okay?"

Meera took a deep breath in, paused, and then let it out. Her eyes pressed together for a second, as though she were finding his mere existence annoying.

But it didn't make sense.

It had been two weeks since they'd last met, and in those two weeks he hadn't tried to contact her or impose himself on her. What then, could be the reason for her distaste?

Was she so annoyed that she couldn't even get herself to look him in the eye?

It was alarming, just how much this realization hurt him. It was alarming, because it felt like she'd just slapped him hard across his face. And the fact that this girl had such power to make him feel like crap without even uttering a word only made him realize how much he liked her.

"Yes. Everything's okay." She finally replied.

But her eyes told a different story.

Now this was the tricky part. It wasn't in his place to pry for more, but not knowing what was bothering her seemed to leave him restless.

Don't ask Vedant. Don't ask her anything.

"Okay." He sighed with defeat, and with a nod of finality made his way for his scooty.

He'd only taken about three steps when he heard,

"You came looking for me at Vimal Uncle's before didn't you?"

"Um yes."

"How did you know I buy supplies from this store?"

Vedant gulped, taken completely off guard.