Stars | completed

21. To Us

"Nandu! Kanna! What a pleasant surprise," she came ahead almost jogging as Nandini fell into her arms and then so did Abhimanyu and Mukti as we all stared. It was like three kids running to an ice cream vendor, competing to see who got there first. "Thank god y'all have come!" She said, "I had a feeling I am going to die tonight."

Mukti rolled her eyes and Nandini glared at Amms. Abhi laughed, "Amms, you get this feeling atleast thrice in a week."

Everyone giggled, and the introduction round began. And then the never ending parade of my favourite south indian food.

It must be around 8 A.M. when we all gathered in the backyard. Nandini had set up a small bonfire. It was still morning blues here, which meant the Sun was hardly up, it was twilight; and being on a hill station, it was colder. We were wrapped in mufflers and jackets, circled around the bonfire.

"I'm so sleepy," Aryamman yawned and Aliya kept her head on his shoulder sleepily, wrapping her hand around his arms.

"I am the one who hasn't slept all night, and you are the one who's sleepy?" I taunted and he shrugged.

"So if everyone's sleepy, why not sleep?" Nandini yawned too. See, my girl's so sensible!

"Exactly, what's the play?" Cabir asked.

"Your rooms are ready," she informed, "Y'all can go catch a good nap. We can assemble right here later for lunch."

"Lunch? I'm sleeping till evening. Do not wake me up!" I said. I love sleep. And I love food. And in times like this, I get confused about which to choose. But... sleep comes first. Sleep above everyone else.

"Then let's meet here at 7 sharp!" Cabir proposed and everyone agreed. I was just about to taunt how he would sleep for eleven hours straight when I saw Nandini staring somewhere distant.

I was about to say something when she herself shouted, "Dhruv!" And got up as she paced ahead and hugged him. Who the fuck was this gay now?

They got into indistinct chatter and Cabir looked at me with amused eyes. "Manik, you don't have superpowers you know," I heard someone whisper beside me. I turned to see Ostrich.

I glared at him. "No, I mean, if you thought you had superpowers then let me be the one to tell you that you don't. Your eyes can't kill Dhruv the way you're expecting them to," he laughed and I frowned. What did Nandini even see in him?

"Oh!" He added, laughing, "And Dhruv has six pack abs. Which you don't."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I hissed.

Abhi made an innocent face, "No no! I am with you on this. I don't like Dhruv either. He had a crush on Nandini since seventh grade, and never left a chance to hit on her. They even dated for a while before Nandini came to Mumbai. And now that she's back, he wouldn't leave her."

My face paled. "And Nandini? Does-- does she still like him?" I asked.

He shrugged as he murmured, "I don't know. Who cares though? It's not like you like her, right?"

"Right," I barely whispered back.

"I-- I think I should sleep now!" I declared getting up, taking everyone's attention, "Nandini, do you mind showing me my room?"

My eyes gazed from her to Dhruv who stood behind her. Huh? What's wrong with Nandini's choice? This guy looked gay.

"Manik!" Nandini bobbled her head, "I'm meeting Dhruv after such a long time. I'll ask Kaaka to escort you to your room." And in a minute, she called the servant and asked him to escort everyone to their rooms. I glared at that guy.