Aaaaaand I'm back with another cutesy chapter, but this one goes a bit deep!
So as the story goes on, you'll realise I'm leaving quite a bit of hints here and there, about a recurring pattern in one of the characters. What and who, that you'll find out later, let's see if you can figure it out🤝
Song of the Chapter: Chedkhaaniyan, Bandish Bandits (LOVE this series!) 💖
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The music started playing, something very mellow and slow, yet not something that'll bore the audience to death, Abir noted with interest.
Nirvaan had Ayaana in a firm, yet soft grip, as she too forced herself to look right in his eyes.
"Just an audition. Just an audition Ana."
She kept repeating to herself in her mind as the two moved and waltzed around the stage, while Nirvaan kept chuckling silently, knowing full well that she was having a whole conversation in her thoughts itself.
The two didn't even realize when the song ended, with one lost in her thoughts and one in amusement.
Lavanya cleared her throat and
clapped loudly, making both of them snap out of it and spring apart, as Ayaana had bright red cheeks and Nirvaan kept his hands in his pocket, looking here and there.
"That was lovely! Well done, Ayaana! I can't really tell you what the final decision will be about the role, but you have really given us a lot to think with your audition!"
Miss Singh said with a wide smile and joyful expression as always, making Ayaana smile too.
"Oh and yes, thank you Nirvaan. I hope your acting audition tomorrow will be just as good as this one."
Miss Singh said to the floppy-haired boy on stage, who took a charming bow and nodded.
"Professor Wandell, you won't say anything?"
He asked cheekily, knowing of the old professor's immense dislike for him.
"You have certainly exceeded expectations, Mr. Malik."
The stern professor said with a shake of the head, making Nirvaan and Abir chuckle, as Lav and Ayaana giggled.
"And you were brilliant too, Miss Murthy."
He continued with a smile, mistakenly calling her Miss Murthy out of habit, he did love Nandini as a student too, after all.
"Miss Malhotra."
Nirvaan corrected with a twinkle in his eyes, before Ayaana could smile and accept Prof. Wandell's compliment.
"Never thought I'd see a Malik taking offense at Miss Murthy being called otherwise."
Wandell commented to himself, before rolling his eyes and moving out of the auditorium, a chuckling Miss Singh toeing behind him.
"You! Absolute idiot, irritating, asshole!"
Ayaana immediately yelled, swatting Nirvaan's arms as soon as the teachers left, making him both laugh loudly and curse as she hit him.
"You have a weird way of thanking me, Annie! Main nahi hota toh kya, akele dance karti tum slow song pe?"
He complained, wincing sarcastically as he cradled his arm.
"Main karleti iske saath. Zyaada hero banne ki zarurat nahi thi."
Lavanya commented with a smirk, coming to her best friend's defense as Ayaana smiled with narrowed eyes and Nirvaan glared at the two, he was outnumbered.
"Juliet is supposed to dance with Romeo, not another Juliet, Lav."
Abir yelled out from behind the three, jumping out from the window vent himself as Nirvaan chuckled, he was forgiven for pushing him now.
"Ye...ye mera audition tum logo ko DDLJ lag raha tha kya? Why the hell were you two hiding up there, watching me like creeps?"
Ayaana yelled out, now even more irritated as another boy had joined ranks with the one on stage.
"Please okay, ek toh we came to support you, then you're scolding us only?"
Nirvaan said with narrowed eyes, as Abir nodded and joined him on stage, while Lavanya gave him a look.
"Did she ask for your support? And were you supporting her when you made that stupid bet?"
Lavanya asked with a teasing glint in her eyes, making both the boys gulp.
Shit, Ana wasn't supposed to know about the bet.
"What bet?"
Ana asked suspiciously, already having an idea of what it could be, which was confirmed by the guilty look on the boys' faces.
"You absolute traitors! You bet on whether I'd audition or not, didn't you? God, that's disgusting and I hope neither of you won."
Ayaana shouted, before climbing down the stage as she shook her head.
See, this is why girls had confidence and self esteem issues, because of over-entitled guys like these.
"I won, just for your information!"
Nirvaan yelled at her retreating figure, making her stop in her tracks.
He bet on her auditioning? Why was he so sure she would when she herself wasn't?
"Yeah well I wish you didn't."
She replied with narrowed eyes, as Abir patted a wide-eyed Nirvaan's back with a chuckle and Lavanya shot her an impressed smile.
"Well good, too bad all your wishes can't come true!"
Nirvaan shot back, equally frustrated.
Kya yaar, ek toh pocket money lagao, phir taunts suno.
"Okay, good!"
"Good!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
Abir and Lavanya kept on looking from Nirvaan to Ayaana as they yelled, like a tennis match was going on.
"Jaa rahi hoon main!"
"Haan toh jaao na, I'm not stopping you."
Ayaana stomped her feet in anger and walked off, with Lav laughing at Abir's stumped expression and following her.
"Arey, ye toh....chali gayi? HELLO, ARGUMENT TOH FINISH KARKE JAAO!"
Nirvaan yelled as he also jumped off stage to run behind the girls.
Abir rolled his eyes and facepalmed, asking himself why he had to deal with this everyday.
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"Boys are stupid."
Ayaana announced with a tone of finality as she sat down on her living room couch, with Nandini giving her an amused smile and Manik looking offended.
"Oh hello! I didn't raise you so you could call me stupid one day, yaar. Mujhe pehle hi pata tha, we should've had a son too, Nandini."
He complained loudly, making her chuckle, typical Manik Malhotra.
"God not you, dad. Aap boy thodi ho?"
Ayaana said irritatedly, but quickly corrected herself before Manik's glare got deathlier.
"I meant....you're a man na. I'm talking about high school boys. They're so insensitive. And mean. And stupid."
Ayaana ranted, her nose scrunched up as her parents looked at her curiously.
"What boy? What did this boy do?"
Manik asked, the protective and possessive father in him awakening, making Nandini roll her eyes.
"Can you let her speak? Ya phir problem bhi tum hi bataoge aur phir solution bhi khud hi doge?"
She muttered to him, as he narrowed his eyes at her, but nodded nevertheless, making Ayaana smile and shake her head.
"Nirvaan and Abir placed a bet on whether I'd audition for Juliet or not. And they SPIED on me to see who would win."
She explained loudly, as Nandini smirked to look at Manik, who was sheepishly looking down now.
It would be hypocritical of him to criticize them, after all.
Manik, Rehaan and Cabir used to place bets on any and everything, ranging from sports to real life. They'd even bet on whether Nandini was pregnant with a girl or a boy, with Cabir having to pay Rehaan and Manik a huge sum of money when the reports of a girl came back.
"So are you more mad about the bet, or about the spying?"
Nandini asked Ayaana, her eyes calculative.
"I don't know. Both? I mean, you know na mom how conflicted I was about the audition? It was so difficult for me to do it and then I find out that my decision was a silly game for them. Upar se mera pura audition bhi dekhliya, koi free ki movie thodi hai."
Ayaana complained, her voice raising by the end of her rant, much to Manik's amusement.
"So Abir bet that you'd audition, and Nirvaan bet that you wouldn't?"
He asked, trying to figure the problem out.
"No, the opposite. And what's weird is, Nirvaan had placed his bet in the morning itself, jab even I wasn't sure if I'd audition or not. And then he gave me that book also.."
Ayaana started to say but then stopped, she didn't want to discuss EVERYTHING with her parents, especially not Manik.
Seeing her red cheeks, Nandini smiled secretly, while Manik cursed inwardly. Why did she have to grow up?
"Forget it, I'm going to Sid's, to meet Shiv Bhai. Be back by dinner."
Ayaana suddenly said, standing up abruptly to hug Nandini goodbye.
"Take the biryani wala tiffin from the fridge, I made it especially for him."
Nandini reminded her, as she nodded and went on to kiss Manik on the cheeks, making him smile as the couple waved at her retreating figure.
"I didn't mind naming her Ayaana. But I swear to god, Nandini, her surname better not be Malik. My only daughter will NOT be called Ayaana Malik."
Manik said with gritted teeth, before shaking his head and leaving, as Nandini burst out into laughter, trailing behind him with teasing grins and jokes.
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"Toh you need my help in pacifying my little sister after you idiots placed bets on her?"
Shivaansh said with pointed glares at both Abir and Nirvaan, who sheepishly nodded, while Neil rolled his eyes.
The boys were all at Sid's place today, playing FIFA as usual.
"God, you guys are just hopeless. Meri behen pe bet kaise lagaayi tum logon ne? Siddharth Vardhan Oberoi ki behen pe?"
Sid exaggeratedly asked, making Abir widen his eyes and Nirvaan narrow his.
"Oh hello! Bet lagaane ka idea na, tera hi tha. Zyaada naatak mat kar Shiv ke saamne."
Abir said matter-of-factly, as Sid nodded fervently, making Shiv shake his head in disappointment.
"Haan, and that reminds me, tere 100 pound Lav se leliye maine."
Nirvaan teased Sid, making Shiv swat his hand away.
"Give it back to him, and you also take your money back. Meri behen ka audition tha, IPL nahi ki seedha Kohli ki team pe bet lagaadoge."
He said with an amused shake of his head, as the three boys sighed, but nodded.
"So that's what you were doing in school today? Stalking Ana? Instead of going to the cafeteria, bunking math or......going to pee."
Neil asked flatly, as Abir hid his chuckle while Sid rubbed the nape of his head and Nirvaan shook his head negatively.
"Lav ne kya bola? Is she really mad?"
Sid asked Abir, who nodded a 'yes'.
"We should just pray that she doesn't tell Sir Malhotra. Woh aajayenge varna apna guitar lekar, phir humaari hospital durations pe bets lagengi."
He said, shivering by the end of his sentence, as Sid grew white while Shivaansh, Nirvaan and Neil chuckled.
"Of course you guys are here."
They heard a narrow voice, and turned to see Ayaana at the door with a tiffin in her hand and a frown on her face.
"Finally! Got time to meet the big brother?"
Shivaansh said with a smile as he got up to hug Ayaana, while she quickly turned her frown upside down to greet him, making Neil and Nirvaan smile as well.
"Ye, mom ne bheja. Special Murthy Biryani."
She said with a grin, passing him the tiffin, which he accepted gratefully, while both Sid and Abir eyed it greedily.
"Bhaiya aagaye toh mujhe tiffin nahi milega?"
Sid complained with a pout, as Ayaana smiled back at him sarcastically.
"Of course milega! Why don't you place one more bet with these two, whoever wins, lelena."
She taunted with narrowed eyes, making Neil and Shivaansh grin, while the three boys in question looked down, disappointed.
"FIFA?"
Neil asked, passing her the console, trying to diffuse the tension, while she smiled and nodded.
"Excuse me."
She cleared her throat to get Nirvaan, who was sitting besides Neil to move, which he ignored and looked here and there.
"EXCUSE ME?"
She yelled louder, making him flinch, and Neil shake his head in amusement, while the others simply chuckled.
"Oh...oh acha matlab tum mujhse baat kar rahi ho? I'm not invisible? Good to know."
Nirvaan taunted, making Ayaana gasp and the others facepalm. Vaise hi upset hai, aur kardega ye.
"Seriously Vaan? Like seriously? Tum MUJHE taunt kar rahe ho?"
She asked, offended, as she smacked the console on the bed, making Sid gasp and snatch it, embracing it protectively.
It cost him 6 months' worth of pocket money man.
"Haan, haan I'm taunting you. Because I'm not understanding why you're soooo mad at me? I had faith in you, I knew you'd audition, and I just wanted to prove it. Is that so bad?"
Nirvaan asked, his finger pointed at her, as the others now turned off the game to watch the two instead, they were more entertaining.
"You didn't place that bet because you wanted to prove anything, you placed it to satisfy your ego. Abir and Sid have the mental capacities of 5 year olds, so I don't expect much from them, but I thought that even if you didn't really care about my feelings, at least you wouldn't deliberately try to hurt them. Clearly I was wrong."
Ayaana yelled, leaving the room in anger, as Nirvaan stood there stumped.
He didn't care? How could she think he didn't care?
Abir and Shivaansh exchanged knowing stares, before moving out to follow her, while Sid was still patting his console with love, and Neil just looked at Nirvaan with an impassive expression.
Clearly, there was more to the picture than what met the eye.
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And that's a wrap! Whose side are you on, Nirvaan or Ayaana?
Let me know which part was your favourite, in the comments!
Until next time, keep voting, commenting and sharing the love! 💕