A Few Hundred Poppies

22. The Kreep House

The rose gold choker necklace glinted in the orange glow of the lamp overhead. I picked it up from the dresser and inspected the glinting set of the choker and jhumkas, perfectly matching my simple yellow saree with pink floral pattern on its sheer organza surface which came with a lovely onion pink blouse. Fariah had gifted me the saree in exchange for helping her come out to Khammi as bi, and a small smile appeared on my face at the remembrance.

Quickly slipping them on, I took a few seconds to appreciate my cat eyeliner, rich pink lipstick and painstakingly perfected hair.

Let's forget all the crazy things happening, just for tonight.

A loud knock at the front door managed to make my heart stop for a split second. "Coming!" I yelled loudly, and slipped my phone inside the hidden pocket on the underside of my blouse. The Taryn Rose heels fit my feet like Cinderella's slippers. As was the rule, I kicked the pleats of my saree when I descended down the stairs and into the foyer.

"What's an ugly girl like you doing in a gorgeous saree like this?" West blurted out as soon as I swung the door open, as if he'd been practicing it. He wore a form-fitting onion pink kurta (I suspected Fariah had let him onto wearing the same colour) and a white salwar, while his hair was gelled and parted in the middle. Damn, who knew a middle part could look half this sexy?

"The same thing your disgusting face is doing in a hot as hell kurta," I retorted, pulling the door shut and jamming the key into the keyhole.

"On a totally false note, you look beautiful," he nervously said from behind me, his fruity cologne faint. Turning around, I stuck out my tongue at him, aware of the heat gracing my cheeks.

"You're delusional, even in your lies. Oh wait, crap, I think I just roasted myself. Let's just go!"

West held the car door open for me as I slipped into the backseat, charmed at his sudden chivalry. "Hi Shuan, I haven't seen you around for quite a while. How you doin'?" I asked as West shut the door, eyeing the briefcase beside Shuan thoughtfully. Austere as ever, Shuan's reflection nodded stiffly at me in the rear-view mirror. A second later, West entered the car and our Mercedes whirred off for Edelweiss Academy.

Feeling a persistent gaze on my face, I tilted my face away from the Halloween decor outside to West's, my lips quirking upward when he didn't even flinch before continuing to stare at my face.

"What're you looking at, asshole?" I quipped, afraid that the fact that the fact that I was pleased was showing. He allowed me a smile instead of the smirk I half-expected.

"I kinda meant it when I said that you look beautiful tonight," he breathed sheepishly, his hand travelling to his neck and scratching it.

My eyes subconsciously darted away from his as I muttered a 'thanks', a weird mixture of content and demureness making my face heat up like a beach at 3 o' clock in summer. Um, confident flirty me, where did you vanish?

In the spur of the moment, tearing away across a nameless British suburb, West made me realise another weird fact about confidence : giving up trying to be confident actually ends up generating confidence. Because when he scooted closer to me and interlaced his fingers into mine, I didn't have to think once about whether I was hot enough to be with him before making my fingers wind around his firmer.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that our flamboyant traditional wear immediately stood out against the swarm of gowns and tuxes, or the fact that the two of us were not expected to be gliding across the gym hand-in-hand, but people were staring.

"Is there something on my face?" I said to West, noting the considerable drop in friendly banter in the hall as we walked.

"Yeah, and it's quite off-putting," he replied casually, making my shoulders square in alarm. Angling his mouth near my ears, West grinned, "I think they call it gorgeousness," he pressed his lips gently to my cheek in a soft kiss. Gah, just kiss my lips already.