Birds Of Different Feathers (Vahana Vamsathaar series #2.5)

Chapter 3

"Akka, I was going to compliment you about your glowing looks but I think I'll stay quiet for now," he answered back innocently and Annapoorani rolled her eyes.

"But really, Narain, I'm worried about you. Did you even sleep last night? You look terrible!" she said looking concerned.

Narain looked away.
"Couldn't sleep. Had to study for an exam," he muttered with a shrug as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Oh really? I didn't know studying involved hickeys on your neck but that's fine we'll go with your own reasoning," she said nonchalantly as Narain panicked and saw that his collar had dipped down to reveal the bruise. His sister was too damn perceptive for her own good!

"I- uh..."

"Who is it?" she asked casually, studying her nails like she didn't care but Narain knew better.

"Uh... My roommate.."

"Kishore? I thought he liked girls judging by the way he flirts with me whenever I call him," she wondered aloud.

"He does like girls. We just fool around when we get bored," Narain explained reluctantly. When Narain came out to his friend last year, Kishore had been quite interested with the concept of anal sex. They'd been having sex these last four months ever since Kishore walked in on him riding a dildo. Things had been awkward for awhile before Kishore just blurted out his proposition.

"You're friends with benefits," she stated flatly, not sounding in the least bit impressed.

Narain shrugged not willing to share anymore with her.

"What about Santosh?" she asked suddenly.

Narain's mood plummeted.
"What about him? He has a girlfriend who just happens to my friend, Nikitha. Last night he was defending her honour against a group of boys," Narain said bitterly. Annapoorani looked surprised.

"Girlfriend? He never told me anything about a girlfriend," she said more to herself.
"So you saw him yesterday? With this girl?" she asked again.

Narain nodded glumly. He really shouldn't be this upset. It had been months since their break up and it seemed Santosh was back to being straight again. Good for him!

"Annapoorani! You look lovely today!" a smooth voice greeted from behind him and Narain had this urge to run.

"Thank you, Santosh. Come and join us," Annapoorani called out and Narain glared a hole into the table as Santosh sat beside him. He could almost feel the heat radiating off of his body by how close Santosh was sitting.

"It's great to see you again, Narain," Santosh said in a slightly hesitant tone.

Narain glanced up sharply to see his hopeful expression. When Narain failed to respond, his expression dropped and he sighed. Santosh was about to say something when Arjun sat down in the chair across from them and he clammed up. Narain snorted when he realised that Santosh hadn't come clean to the elder brother he adored so much. Santosh shot him a look which he ignored and focused on the food that Arjun had bought for them.

They ended up talking about their lives as they had lunch. Arjun was talking about his new book and Santosh was telling them about the exciting surgeries he's seen and helped with. Apparently he'd been here at the college for over three weeks. Narain wondered how he'd missed seeing him. Even Anita hadn't talked his ear off about Santosh. After all,  Santosh was her close friend and it was only with his help that she was able to study medicine in the first place. Now that he thought about it, he did remember her gossiping about a hot PG student in surgery, but Narain didn't really spend much time listening to her steady rambling.

"Narain, why are you so quiet today? You never mentioned what was bothering you last night?" Arjun suddenly asked interrupting Narain's thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, everything's fine," he retorted and went back to eating. He could feel the looks pointed his way and resisted the urge to squirm in his seat.

"Santosh, why didn't you tell Narain that you'd joined his college? It appears he only found out yesterday," Arjun pointed out.

"Our schedules don't really sync and I was planning on surprising him soon. It's been quite hectic and I was having a tough time managing it all," Santosh explained.
'Hectic, my ass!' thought Narain. It wasn't too busy for him to find a girlfriend in midst of all that chaos he thought bitterly.

"What is this about a new girlfriend Narain told me about? I'm disappointed you didn't tell me anything about her, Santosh," Annapoorani asked sweetly but watched him carefully.

"G- girlfriend?" Santosh squeaked before clearing his throat.

"Santosh, what are you hiding? Are you finally going to admit that you have feelings for Anita?" Arjun asked amused.

Santosh made an incoherent noise while Narain couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh out loud at the wild assumption. If Anita heard this, she'd have a field day. Although the college rumour mill seemed to suspect that Anita was dating Narain. Why they would think so was beyond him? They spent most of their time bickering whenever they were in the nearby vicinity.

"No, he's dating my friend, Nikitha," Narain said nonchalantly as he dug into his meal. He could feel the way Santosh stiffened at his tone and feel his gaze on him. Santosh then gently pressed his thigh against his. Narain drew his leg back and glared at Santosh who just looked conflicted. He noticed how his sister was watching their interactions like a damn hawk.

Arjun then began peppering Santosh with questions about his new girlfriend and Narain tuned them out. Annapoorani gave him a concerned look before she changed the topic.

"Santosh, there you are! I've been looking all over the college for you!" Nikitha walked quickly towards their table with a harried expression on her face. She looked as beautiful as ever with her hair floating freely behind her. Narain frowned at the way she shashayed her way to Santosh and was taken aback by the way she planted a big fat kiss right on Santosh's lips. He knew from personal experience that they the most luscious pair of lips known to mankind.

Annapoorani's eyes widened in surprise while Arjun looked highly intrigued by the turn of events. Narain quickly got up from his seat, startling the happy couple.

"I've got a class to get to. See you guys later," he said without meeting anyone's gaze and left.

Why did Santosh have to rub his relationship in his face?
Why did Narain fall for that dickface?
He's made too many mistakes in his life so far and he was only 21.

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Tamil Glossary:
Akka - Elder sister