Addicted to you

Chapter Five

After much pleading and making sure she could walk back home without any help that Khushi managed to have Lavanya off her back. While her friend had threatened with all the things ranging from calling her brother to pick her up to accompanying herself, Khushi felt a tug of happiness to have such wonderful person as her friend and in future, if things work out the way it promised to be at the moment, her brother's life partner.

Smiling as the thought of Rohan and Lavanya being a couple, Khushi made her way out of the school premises and turned around the corner of the lane when she heard the one voice she had been avoiding for days now.

"Does it hurt?"

Khushi stopped dead in her tracks as she felt his footsteps nearing her. She looked up and found his eyes as easily as he did. There was no laughter in his voice nor teasing glint in his eyes that she was used to detect in the months of their acquaintance. Instead, there was genuine concern.

She stepped away, keeping as much distance between them as she could. The boy was bad news. From the time she met him on the first day, she had been blessed with nothing but restlessness and impoliteness. Her mother had caught her using words that she never used before. And her brother had asked her, more than anyone else, about the reasons for her disliking towards the boy who was nothing but polite towards everyone. The truth was, however, her brother had met Arnav thrice in the past four months, every time either in the library or at one of the faculty's cabin discussing about subjects – the best way anyone would have enrolled their names in her brother's good-book-list.

However, Khushi knew better than anyone else. He was anything but polite. He had, in all his life, visited libraries to read books that were of no use to his academics.

She rolled her eyes as she snapped. "Don't worry, Raizada. I'm not going to complain. Your girlfriend is safe."

Arnav looked at her, his eyes having that teasing glint again. "If I didn't know better, I would have thought that you are actually jealous of Sheetal." He teased, the corner of his mouth curved into that lopsided smile girls were so crazy about, "though she is not my girlfriend."

She held her hand, pointing a finger at him. "I'll never have a boyfriend who is insensitive and egoist."

She heard him chuckling lightly as he nodded. "Guess I'm lucky then."

She shook her head. "Look," she said sharply, "I'm fine. Thanks for asking. As you are being understanding soul few minutes ago, can I expect the same and take the trouble of repeating myself for the millionth time to leave me alone?"

Arnav looked at her, his eyes turning serious as they captivated hers. Immediately, Khushi felt a pang of guilt. The boy had always been overtly friendly but never had he behaved in such a way that could be termed as ill. But with him around, Khushi was not the girl she always was. She would turn to this fierce, insensitive and talkative girl who failed to think before speaking her heart out – someone Khushi failed to recognize. Whether it was a good change or bad, she was yet to decide.

She cleared her throat. "Arnav..." she called out only to be interrupted by his laughter.

"To tell you the truth," Arnav said, the careless laughter subduing into serious smile, "no puedo estarlejos de ti."

"What?" Khushi tried to understand the words.

She watched him as Arnav stepped closer. "Te amo," he whispered with a small smile.

"What the hell?" Khushi snapped back, pushing him away. "Mr. Arnav Miguel Raizada! Salazar! Whatever. How many times do I need to ask you to speak with me in a language that I can understand?"