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» Love on Top by Beyonce
A/n: Another chapter in parts, but what can I do? I love you guys too much to make you go through what you went with chapter 9, lol.
Chapter Eleven:
"Saina," I blurted out. Six pairs of eyes turned to look at me. Their looks varied from shocked to unbelieving to suspicious to well, something else altogether. Yes, the last one was Manas.
"What?" Jai asked. Disbelief etched on his face. Kush looked at me incredulously.
"I said, I think it is Sa--" I began repeating, thinking he hadn't heard me.
He shushed me. "I know what you said. I heard it. I just don't think so."
Kush nodded. "We talked to her about it. Even had a fight. She promised not to do any such mischief ever again. Ever."
"Yes yes, but don't you see?" I asked, trying to validate my point. "There is no other option. Think of it. She already hates me enough. No motivation required there. She knows Naman enough to know why he went there. It all makes perfect sense!"
Naman cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "If that is what it is, then what grudge does Saina hold against me. Why me?"
"Oh, don't you know by now?" Lia mocked him. "Girls don't have a grudge against boys when they do things like these. They just need to hold one against the girl they're spreading the rumor about." She turned to look at me. "Isn't that what that girl from your previous school did?"
My eyes widened as I glared at Lia for having said that. Kush didn't know about any of it. I wanted it to stay that way.
"What girl did what and why am I only hearing about it now?" Manas asked. I looked at Lia with a 'what-now' look. She bit her lips in apology.
"You don't because you're a mean boy who always sits next to me when he returns with a bucket load of sweat on himself," I answered. It was all I could do to divert the topic.
"Riddhika," he warned me. "If you don't tell me now, then I will never talk to you again." That used to be my tactic! That bastard stole my tactic!
"Manas," I warned him instead. "I'll tell you only if you promise to always shower first and then return from your practice."
"Is that how you want to get your things done now?" he asked, squinting his eyes on the way. "By playing it dirty?"
"That's the condition as it is," I giggled. "The choice is yours."
"Fine," he agreed begrudgingly. "I promise, but it's your loss. You know I look sexy when I'm sweaty," he added with a wink.
"Ew, no!" I exclaimed. Isha, Lia and I shared a disgusted face while the guys merely grinned. "No one looks sexy when they're sweaty. That's just a notion Bollywood has built."
"All I'm telling you is you'll miss it," he responded half-singing and wiggling his eyebrows.
"Say whatever, but you aren't coming near me dressed like that anymore," I smirked.
"Yeah, yeah whatever," he rolled his eyes. "Now tell me what it was that I had to make a promise like this." He raised an eyebrow at me. I looked back at Lia. I had hoped this would divert his mind until I could think of something better. Apparently, I couldn't think. I looked at Lia for help, but she merely shrugged. What now?
I glanced at all the boys looking at me eagerly. "Why don't I tell you this later on? When we're free?"
Naman tutted. "And you made such a huge promise, Manas."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Stop tutting. You already know about this."
"I do?"
"He does?" Manas, Kush and Jai asked at the same moment.
"You remember the girl who told you that I am telling everyone that you've got a couple of girlfriends in my school?" I explained.
"Oh yeah, that was..." He trailed off as he looked at Kush. "Yeah, I don't remember who that girl was," he quickly added.
"Anybody care to tell me what's going on?" Manas asked begrudgingly.
"Fine." And so I narrated to him everything that happened back then, omitting Gaurika's name from the story. By the time I was done, he was in fits of laughter.
"Fine, what is it?" I finally asked, a little annoyed at his reaction. Perhaps, I was used to his sympathy. I liked it. So much that him making fun of the incident didn't go well with my mental appetite.
"I will never understand how girls even think of such stuff," he replied, still laughing.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyway," I said. "I believe it's Saina."
Ignoring me, Kush asked Naman, "Who was the girl who told you this?"
I shook my head. Naman shouldn't tell him that. However, before I could stop, Kush saw me. Uh-oh.
"I... I forgot," he repeated once again. At the same time, Kush asked, "What's going on?"
Finally, Naman took a deep breath and said, "Bro, I don't think you'll like the answer." He looked at me uneasily while I wondered what to do. Would it be okay to lie to Kush?
"I think I can handle whatever you'll have to say," Kush responded steadily.
"Gaurika," Naman answered.
"When you say Gaurika, do you mean my Gaurika?" Kush asked. He flipped between the two of us, and we had no option but to grimly nod.
"Who's his Gaurika?" a voice whispered in my ear. I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned around, only to find Manas staring at me with curiosity.
"What the hell? You almost scared me!" I exclaimed.
"Almost?" he mocked. I rolled my eyes. I do that a lot when I'm with him.
"She's his cousin," I whispered a moment later. "They're pretty close."
"Excuse me," Kush said as he got up from the table to leave. All of us watched him go. Naman started to go after him, but Jai stopped him. Kush needed some time alone, he said.
Silence passed for a few minutes until Jai finally broke it again.
"Now that I think of it," he began. "Saina can do this when prompted with the right motivation."
"You mean, give and take?" Naman asked. Jai nodded.
"Are the two of you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lia asked. Her eyes flipped between the two of them.
"What, what are you three thinking?" Manas asked eagerly.
"I think Saina and Gaurika worked together on this one," Jai whispered. Probably making sure that Kush didn't hear any of this.
"I thought Gaurika is hundreds of kilometers away," Manas pointed out.
"Distance is nothing for a desperate attention seeker," I remarked. He nodded.
"Boy! You people sure act like you're untangling one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s missions," he remarked, shaking his head. I rolled my eyes again, for probably the hundredth time that half hour.
"Anyway ladies and gentlemen," Manas said as he stood up from his chair, "and Riddhika." He grinned cheekily at me. "It was fun talking with you. But I believe it is time for me to depart."
"Yay!" I clapped my hands as I got up to take my exit, too.
"Oh and Riddhika?" he called after a moment. I turned around to look at a mischievous grin form on his face. Something was wrong. My brain sent me the red alert to run. However, before I could process that, Manas said, "You are a really great person." He, then, wiped his sweaty-not-so-sweaty-anymore hands on my school dress. I almost yelled for my safety.
"What is wrong with you, Manas?" I whined.
"Nothing," he shrugged. "I just figured that if this is the last time I'll be doing this, then I better finish it right." He chuckled as he left to take his much-needed shower, while I whined.
The bell rang and we left back to our classroom. That was when I noticed Isha silently walking behind all of us. Amongst all of this drama, I had completely forgotten about her. What was it that had happened to her? I resolved to find out.
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