A/N: ⚠SENSITIVE PEEPS DO NOT SEE THE IMAGE ATTACHED ABOVE⚠
Every passing day goes pretty well, with me and Nikhil officially together now, the biology presentation turning out to be pretty good, my academics was also making improvements—slowly, but an improvement nonetheless—and ever since Nikhil and I have become official, my friends have started rubbing it on DQ's face and honestly?
I felt bad.
Once when Mia got too obnoxious, I had to physically shout at Mia to stop after I saw DQ rush away—I swear I even saw her eyes glisten with unshed tears—since I felt really, really, bad about it.
Ved talks to me, but not like before. He always has this sad undertone in his voice and a slight gloom on his face while conversing with me and knowing that I'm the reason is weighing on me.
Now we're standing in front of our first period subject teacher, who's sitting in front of a half empty class since many were participating in the exhibition for various subjects, asking for permission to go to the science lab so we could do our presentation.
Actually, we just wanna get outta this shithole and start jamming with the songs in my phone that I had snuck in today.
The teacher dismissed us nonchalantly and right after we went out of the classroom, we hissed many 'yes' and fist bumped the air.
Since it was the exhibition presentation, DQ is also with us, quietly trailing behind us.
We reach the biology lab and see that the tables are empty except for one or two.
We take an empty table and settle with our stationeries, and while doing so Harsh nudges me a few times which I avoid since I was holding so many things in my hands.
He elbows me hard as I finish placing everything on the table and I turn to him with a glare.
"What the fuck do you want douche?" I snap.
He pouts at my colorful vocabulary but then points out towards a preserved skeleton in a glass display shelf in the corner of the lab and gestures to DQ subtly.
Getting what he's insinuating I stifle a laugh and settle on grinning instead.
But right when I turn back to DQ, all hells break lose and I start laughing, Harsh joining with me, obviously knowing why I was laughing, while Darsh, Mia and DQ just look at us funnily.
Gasping after my laughter dies down, I calm down while Harsh leans over and places his head on my shoulder, still trying to control his profuse laughter, which I can tell from the way his body vibrates occasionally with every chuckle he lets out.
DQ excuses herself to the restroom and right when she goes out of earshot Mia turns to us.
"What was all that crap about?"
"We were just comparing some similar figures is all." Harsh says, while I elaborate on the skeleton-and-DQ-similarity concept.
Once we finish explaining, Mia bursts out laughing and we all join in, Harsh almost falling off his seat while laughing so hard.
DQ comes back in and we all share a knowing look before starting on our work.
Harsh started tugging on my sleeve after some time making me turn to him and mouth 'what?'
He gestures for my phone and I give it to him, then he opens the music app.
He types something in it, probably searching for a song while I whisper to him, "'The Hype' by twenty one pilots, please?"
He abruptly stops whatever he was typing and slowly turned the phone's screen towards me with wide eyes and a shit-eating grin.
There, in the search bar was typed 'The Hype by tøp'.
We look at each other with mirroring grins when he suddenly asks me, "Are you sure Darsh is my twin and not you?"
"As much as I'd love for that to happen, no." I reply, patting his back sympathetically.
"Meh, then we'll declare ourselves twins unofficially." He shrugs, holding out a hand.
"Deal." I take his hand, sealing the deal.
"If you're done flirting, can you please start working on this?" DQ interrupts harshly.
"Flirting?" I ask confused.
DQ snorts in return, gesturing between me and Harsh with raised eyebrow as she says, "I wonder how Nikhil will feel once he gets to know this".
"He'll feel nothing out of the blue since he knows what kind of relationship Harsh and I share—"
"We'll see that when he knows." She dismisses me and starts her work.
I grit my teeth as I imagine every possible way to kill her and how creative I can get with the murder.
"It's okay. She's just fucking up your mind." Mia whispers to me as she gives me a side-hug.
Sighing, I lean on her while she rubs my shoulder comfortingly.
After calming down, we all get back to our tasks and the music from my phone helps me to try to ignore the fact that DQ's here with us.
Once we were done, we discuss about the slots and DQ is selected for Friday along with the other students chosen by the same biology teacher as us who'll be on Friday too while Mia, HD twins and I take up the Saturday slot.
We even have our lunch in the lab—of course, DQ wasn't invited and thankfully, she left us—and never return to class the entire day. Instead, we goof around the lab for some time before going to the school's ground and starting a cricket match of boys vs. girls with Mia and me on a team against the twins.
The pant keeps me from running fast while I run to deliver the ball, so I roll it up to just above my knees. The game goes pretty well for the twins with Mia and me in desperate need for a wicket.
My turn to bowl comes after an over of Mia's bowling and Darsh still hasn't lost his wicket. First ball goes as a single run and the second ball is a six and I was getting frustrated by how this guy just stays rooted without losing his wicket.
Frustrated, I go for a fast ball, running towards the imaginary stumps on the bowler's side with my hands ready to propel the ball while suddenly, Darsh shows up a hand in a gesture of the batsman not being ready, making me skid to stop the ball from going towards him.
In the process, I skid too sharp, making my body to go forward as the gravity pulls me.
Never fall for gravity, it is nothing but attractive.
But fall I do.
I put my hands and knees forward—to avoid my face from absorbing the impact—and I land on them, the ball rolling away from me without pitching too high.
The others come running towards me yelling, 'are you okay's as I catch my breath before getting up.
Pushing myself up I stand, but stumble and would have fallen down again if not for Darsh catching me by my shoulders.
Everyone was looking somewhere down and I follow their sight only to look at my bleeding knees.
Shit, the pants were rolled up.
Yeah, thanks for the heads up.
Not the time for sarcasm, bitch.
"Let us take you to the nurse." Mia says from my other side as Harsh kneels and examines the injury with Darsh still standing how he was when I leaned on him.
I assure everyone that I'm okay and that I'd go to the nurse by myself and start walking away, only to stumble again with my knees burning in pain.
I grit my teeth and am about to take another step when a pair of hands lift me bridal-style, making me yelp in surprise and throw my arms around their neck, and the person starts to hurry towards the nurse's office.
"How did you..." I trail away looking at his concentrated face confusedly as he carries me.
"I was playing football around there and saw your fall." He says calmly, but a bit of panic was still on his face.
"Ved, you really didn't have to—"
"Just stop! Let me do this okay?" Ved says, his frustrated tone shutting me up.
He goes to the nurse's office and gently places me on a bed—one of his hands still on my shoulders—and the nurse comes rushing and frowns upon seeing my knees.
"What happened dear?" She asks while treating my knees, probably trying to distract me from the pain.
But what she doesn't know is that I'm not pain intolerant. Perks of growing up with boys.
"I was playing cricket, went for a fast spin, my friend—the batsman—gave the not-ready and I fell down while stopping the delivery." I add a shrug whilst gritting my teeth as she wipes my bloody knees.
She is almost done with my knees while she asks, "Did you hurt anywhere else?"
"Just some small scrapes in my palm. Nothing big."
Sighing she tells me to wait while she gets up and goes somewhere.
Ved grabs my wrists and looks at my palms, letting out a humorless chuckle but the worry was evident in his eyes.
"Only you can consider such an injury as 'nothing big'." He shakes his head.
I chuckle with him but then start saying, "Ved, I'm really sorry. I was just confused with my feelings and I didn't admit that I used to like you because I was still in a limbo. Also, I didn't want to lose your friendship—"
"You won't lose me in any way. Besides, who'll carry your clumsy ass up here if you pull another stunt like this?" He says, trying to lift up the somber mood, but I can clearly see the broodiness.
Keeping up with it, I poke my tongue out and turn back to the nurse who comes back and is asking—no, demanding—me to show my palms so she could take care of those injuries.
"Why can't you just stay put without getting yourself into trouble like the others?" The nurse mumbles.
I settle for a sheepish smile while muttering "Mia was there with me too.", but Ved clearly has something else in his mind.
Gazing straight into my eyes with so much of intensity and seriousness that almost frighten me, he speaks, directing the words at the nurse but his eyes never leave mine.
"She isn't like all the other girls."
Cliché much?
I almost immediately avert my eyes away from his intense ones after his statement and observe the nurse but we're interrupted by a voice that always warms me up practically sort of growling at this moment.
"Yeah, and that's because she's my girl."
A/N: Thoughts? Vote and comment, please and thank you!