Adronitis (n): The frustration with how long it takes to really know someone.
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The trio continued their trip after staying in Newport, Rhode Island for another day. New York City was the next destination and they were very excited. New York City is described as the world's cultural, financial and media hub as a global power city and has a major impact on the music, design, and fashion industries.
"The city that never sleeps. This is gonna be epic." Kyan said looking at his phone.
"You're checking Google just like Flynn, huh?" Skye questioned, throwing a glance at him.
She had taken the turn to drive and Flynn was sleeping in the back seat, snoring loudly.
"I'm nothing like Flynn. We're two very different individuals." Kyan said defensively. "I'm smart while he got the good looks."
"You say that, but you guys are kinda similar in some ways. And you gotta admit his dumb stuff is rubbing off on you too," Skye said casually.
"Well, what do you think of him?" Kyan asked nonchalantly.
"I think he's awesome, like he's the best friend anyone could ask for. He's been there for me anytime I needed him like he's there for everyone else. But you'd know that already." She gave him a smile.
"True, Flynn can see through people and would know what to say at the right time to make someone feel better. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a therapist or something because he's that good at listening and understanding," Kyan raved.
"I'm really glad I met you guys," Skye said, and her happiness shone through her smile.
Kyan had to admit to himself that Skye's smile was beautiful. Even if it was for a second, his heart skipped a beat. It surprised Kyan that he had never looked at her closely before. She had a unique smile that had the other person smiling as well. Kyan noticed that while Skye usually put on a poker face, when she did smile it was really genuine. It was a smile that brought a smile to his face.
He was close with the other girls in their circle as well, but somehow Skye had made a special place for herself in his life. He cared about her deeply and while he still didn't know a lot about her personal life or the life she had before moving, Kyan knew she was someone he could trust completely. He had long accepted that she was a very reserved person and didn't like talking about herself. Nevertheless, he liked to think she had been getting more and more comfortable sharing things with him over the past few months. Looking at her now, Kyan wondered how he had been so oblivious to her simple beauty all this time. She didn't try hard to look pretty, it just came naturally to her. She was one of those few people who could look effortlessly beautiful and be completely unaware of it. He leaned his head against the passenger side window and continued looking at her discreetly while she drove.
After sometime, Flynn woke up and since then the comfortable silence was broken by his activeness.
"Kyan, I got a text from Mark, he is New York too," Flynn said looking at his phone .
"Sweet, ask him if we could meet up?" Kyan turned around in his seat.
"I already did. I'm waiting for his reply." He was staring at his phone intensely enough to burn a hole through it. "Oh, he replied, he said that his cousin's place is available and we could come and hang out there. He'll come to meet up when we reach New York."
"That's great. I missed the guy and his gluttony episodes," Kyan said, feeling nostalgic.
"It feels like so long now. And it's so sad to think we'd never study together again," Flynn joined in.
"Guys, just stop being so depressing," Skye laughed.
****
When they reached New York, Mark was there to meet them as promised. They were glad that they didn't have to pay for a motel since Mark's cousin had offered to give them a place to stay for the two days they were staying in New York.
"Isn't this place amazing?" Mark said when they entered the house.
"Wow, this place is huge. You have been staying here the whole time?" Flynn asked, checking out the place.
"Yeah man, it's been so fun here. Every night's a blast with hot girls and parties, " Mark said with a grin.
"Dude, you're such a man whore," Kyan teased.
"At least I'm getting something while you guys are missing out." Mark laughed.
"I'm just waiting for the right one." Kyan said, his thoughts filling with Avery.
"You just thought about Avery right?" Mark blurted out.
"How did you do that?" Kyan gaped.
"You're such an idiot when it comes to girls. I think we all know that you like Avery. It's just you who think that you're so good at hiding your feelings." Mark teased.
***
They decided to grab something to eat and just look around. They were impressed and the wide variety of shops and other different types of places they were seeing. They decided to check out some stores and gaped at the prices on some of the items.
After roaming around the busy streets in New York for a few hours, everyone went back to the house. There was a little crowd as they prepared to play a game.
"Are we having a party or something?" Skye asked curiously, watching Mark pull out some beers and various kind of alcoholic beverages from the mini bar.
"Just a little something." He winked.
The crowd consisted of the trio, Mark, his cousin, and his girlfriend. There was also another couple who was friends with Mark's cousin.
They all settled down in the huge living room in a circle and the drinks were placed in the middle. Each one was given a small shotglass and Skye still had no idea what was happening around her.
She leaned closer to Flynn and spoke softly.
"What exactly are we doing?"
Flynn laughed softly and gave her a small pat on the head. " You'll know once we start."
Kyan didn't miss the small interaction between them. After all, he was now keeping a close eye on them. Those innocent moments between them made Kyan want to observe their behavior even more to see if there was something between them.
"Okay, we are gathered here to enjoy-"
"Piss off with the dramatic speech Mark and let's get started with the game," Quinn, who was Mark's cousin, interrupted with a laugh.
"So, I will start, never have I ever fainted," Quinn said, smirked at Mark.
"You jackass. I knew you'd do something like that." Mark glared at him in annoyance and grabbed his glass filled with alcohol and took a sip. There were two others who joined Mark and drank.
"Tell us the details of the fainting episode." Quinn said smugly.
"Nope, I'm never telling anyone about it ever again. I regret telling you about it the first time."
"Aw come on." Flynn said.
Mark glared at Quinn and let out a heavy sigh.
"When I was around 14, I had a huge crush on this girl. And one day I decided to confess to her so I went to see her at her house. But I was so nervous that before I could confess, I fainted in front of her. And on top of it, after I woke up and managed to stammer my undying love for her, she rejected me saying that I was like family to her."
"Is that all she said?" Quin wiggled his eyebrows.
Mark mumbled something incoherent and Quinn leaned forward with a wicked grin on his face. "I didn't quite catch that, can you say it a bit louder?"
Mark glared at him and flipped the bird before answering. "She said I was like the sister she never had," he finished with a heavy sigh.
The crowd burst out laughing as Mark glared at each one of them in annoyance.
"That's so funny. Who would have thought? The great Playboy had an incident like that," Kyan said in between laughs.
It took them a while to settle down and listen to others' stories and each one of them had a funny incident to share. They played around and some of them had to continuously take shots since they had done something.
"Okay, never have I ever had sex," Kyan said when it was his turn. He was the only person who had been safe the entire time and he wanted to keep it that way.
Everyone except Kyan took a shot. Flynn and Kyan whipped their heads towards Skye to see her emptying her glass. They both had their own reasons for thinking that she was an innocent one, so this was huge surprise for them.
"So tell me Skye, how did it happen?" Mark wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"I'm not gonna go into details. It was just a one night stand." Skye shrugged, brushing the topic of casually.
"Never have I ever been in love." Mark said, trying to get back at Quin.
Quin took a sip and his girlfriend did the same and both looked at each other lovingly. Kyan and Skye also took a sip and surprise was evident on Kyan and Flynn's faces as they were taken aback yet again.
Skye's answers to the questions were vague and she managed to answer them without really answering. She wasn't exactly comfortable about sharing it with a bunch of people she had just met. Maybe if it was just Kyan and Flynn with her, she would've been more open.
The night went on with the game and after many rounds most of them were drunk except for Kyan and Skye. Flynn was also down after several shots and was sprawled all over the sofa. The others left to their rooms and Skye stood up to get to her room to sleep.
"There are still a lot of things I don't know about you. You surprised me tonight," Kyan said in a barely audible voice.
"Nobody asked me about it and if you didn't know already, I'm a very private person." Skye smiled lightly.
"That's true," Kyan returned the smile. He looked like he wanted to say more but held himself back.
They both said goodnight and each went to their respective rooms with heavy thoughts in their minds.
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A/N
It's been a long time and I have been held up with a lot of things but still here is another update. And I hope you all love it. 😁