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Song of the Chapter: Daaru Desi, Cocktail
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The next morning was not a very pleasant one for the gang with Ayaana, Abir and Rhea, all having woken up with deadly hangovers, while Lavanya, Neil and Nirvaan were busy glaring at an oblivious Sid.
"Man, you guys are testing me. I cannot believe I'm lying to Nandini bua and Abhi chachu about having drunk teenagers in my house."
A pacing Shivaansh Singh Oberoi asserted, not liking the fact that he was being used as an excuse to hide last night's antics.
"Bas bua aur dad nahi, baakiyon ko bhi pata hai ki hum yahan hain."
Sid said with a grin, now having everyone glare at him, and not just the former three.
"We're really sorry, bhai. I don't know how, but we all got carried away. And you know whenever we drink, it's responsibly only, but iss baar zyaada ho gaya."
Ayaana explained with a guilty expression, as Nirvaan hid his smile at her words, while the others nodded in agreement.
Shivaansh shook his head. Of course he knew Ayaana wasn't lying, she never did. God, these kids would be the death of him.
"Okay, for now just....have something to eat. All of you. Kaka must've prepared breakfast, I'm getting late for a meeting."
He said, wanting to deal with this later, as Abir, Nirvaan and Sid's eyes twinkled, having successfully escaped his lectures.
"This does not mean I'm done with you all. We will be talking about this when I'm back."
Shiv asserted sternly, talking to the three specifically, while the others chuckled and shook their heads, before watching him leave with a gulp.
"This is all your fault!"
Rhea screeched at Sid, who widened his eyes, while Ayaana and Abir cringed at the noise, and Neil shook his head.
"Haan toh obviously na. You toh always think everything is my fault. Maine hi toh force kiya tha na tumhe to gulp down a whole bottle of beer, kyunki khud toh tum decisions le hi nahi sakti?"
Sid muttered sarcastically, making Nirvaan chuckle and Rhea glare at him, as the others had already made their way to the dining room, not wanting to get into pointless arguments.
"One evening I'm not with you guys, and three of you are hungover the next morning."
Neil commented with a wry smile as everyone sat down for breakfast, making Abir and Rhea give him death stares, Ayaana let out a slight chuckle and Nirvaan raise his eyebrows.
"Tu koi babysitter nahi hai. It was just a series of stupid decisions taken by all of us."
He defended the group, as Sid sent him a grateful smile, while Neil raised his hands up in mock surrender, telling everyone he didn't mean it that way.
Sid knew that everyone always thought he was the troublemaker, the one who messed up all the time.
While he never brought it up, it did bother him sometimes, not being seen as responsible enough like Neil, or dedicated enough like Abir.
"He's right. Aadhi drinks toh spiked thi, varna all of us can definitely handle our alcohol. Aakhir apne parents pe gaye hain."
Lavanya backed Nirvaan up, making everyone chuckle and nod their heads.
They weren't the wild, party going sort, but they all had the occasional drink, sometimes even with the family.
Their parents were all okay with it, as long as they drank responsibly and in the company of those they trusted.
"God yaar. Saala jisne bhi drinks spike ki na, bohot maarunga ussey kal. I cannot remember a single bloody thing about last night."
Abir muttered with an irritated expression, as Ayaana and Rhea nodded with understanding, while Nirvaan and Neil glanced at Lavanya, who suddenly seemed to tense up.
What was that all about?
"Same. I don't even remember who got me home."
Ayaana muttered, pressing her fingers to her forehead.
"That would be me, Juliet."
Nirvaan replied with a sarcastic smile, recalling Samar's nickname for her, as she looked at him confusedly.
"Tumhare new best friend Samar ne mujhe bulaaya tha, to drop you home."
He continued with a smirk, noticing how Ayaana's eyes widened in horror, choosing not to tell her about their conversation.
It was something he wanted to cherish alone for a while, he thought to himself.
"Samar? The understudy?"
Rhea asked with a teasing smile, as Nirvaan chuckled and nodded, making Ayaana sink further and further in her chair out of embarrassment.
God knows what all she'd said to him.
She was drawn out of her thoughts by the sudden screech of cutlery being screeched on a plate, making her flinch.
She looked up to see Abir and Rhea glaring at Sid, who was busy cutting up his omelette too loudly to even notice, with Neil and Nirvaan shaking their heads in amusement.
Having finally felt the death glares coming his way, Sid looked up to meet Rhea's irritated eyes on him, making him furrow his eyebrows.
"You need something? Um, butter?"
He asked her with a confused expression, picking up a tray of butter with a knife alongside it and passing it to her.
"You really don't want to hand me a knife right now, Oberoi."
Rhea gritted out lowly, her hands nursing her forehead, making him widen his eyes fearfully, while the others chuckled.
Typical Rhea.
"Aur main kiske saath tha?"
Abir asked, pouring orange juice into his glass as he changed the subject after a minute of silence.
"Me. You were with me."
Lavanya replied quickly, making him jerk out of balance and spill all the OJ on his hands, as Nirvaan and Sid held their breaths, trying their hardest not to laugh.
Ayaana looked between a surprised Lavanya and a frantic Abir with twinkling eyes, her smile widening when Lav grabbed a couple of napkins and offered them to him, while he kept staring at her instead.
Shaking his head with a smile, Neil kicked Abir's feet under the table, causing him to wake up from his daydreams and quickly accept the napkins, leaving a flustered Lavanya behind.
Rhea chuckled at the scene in front of her. Life could never be boring when you had a family like hers.
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After texting all their parents at home so as to not worry them, the gang was now sitting in the old Jam Room, having accepted that there was no way they'd make it to school that day.
Neil was sitting with his headphones on, calmly working on rehearsal schedules and overwriting scenes for the Musical, while Sid was next to him, disturbing him from time to time.
Abir and Rhea had decided to catch up on their sleep, both of them sleeping in karate poses on the couch, with their feet and arms against each other, while Lavanya was completing her assignments, occasionally looking up to glance at Abir, before getting back to work.
It was one of the rare times that they were all together in silence.
Ayaana was busy painting, something she always did when she needed to clear her mind, bopping her head along to the song playing on her iPod, humming along the words, much to Nirvaan's amusement, who was pretending to learn his lines for the play.
Looking around, he decided it was the perfect time to approach her.
"Annie."
He called out, frowning as she didn't respond, before realising she had earphones on.
He patted her back fervently, making her jump with widened eyes.
"God, Vaan. You scared me."
She said softly, hitting his chest lightly, as he laughed.
"I'm bored."
He said matter of factly, making her look at him with an amused smile.
"And what am I? Some form of entertainment? Talk to Sid, he seems to be disturbing Neil anyway."
She advised with a soft giggle, as he he looked back to see Neil grit his teeth as Sid went on and on about something or the other, making him chuckle.
"Nah, I'd rather disturb you."
He said with a casual wink, as she grew flustered. He'd always been playful, but there was something different about it now.
"And why is that? Meri painting complete nahi dekhna chahte?"
She asked, clearing her throat to focus on her paintbrushes instead.
"Nope, because you disturbed the heck out of me last night."
Nirvaan replied with a boyish grin, which widened when he saw Ayaana widen her eyes. Man, she didn't remember a thing.
"What...what did I do?"
She asked nervously, but interrupted Nirvaan before he could open his mouth to respond.
"And don't be all Shahrukh from DDLJ and say I tried to kiss you or something. I'm hungover, not an idiot."
She made it crystal clear, as he laughed and nodded, having no intention of doing so.
He knew she was way too smart to fall for that.
"You spoke at length about names. Particularly how it was weird that you were named after my dad, and how you would've never spoken to me, had my name been Nandan."
Nirvaan elucidated with a smirk, trying to hold back his laughter as he saw Ayaana shake her head and drown in embarrassment, now having given up on completing her painting for the time being.
"Like seriously? Nandan?"
She asked, cringing as he held her head in her hands.
"Arey mera toh chodo, I still don't know what went on with you and Sameer, you kept saying his skin was too smooth."
Nirvaan said, trying to get in words between his laughter, taking in Ana's mortified expressions as he continued.
"His SKIN? Sameer's-eugh I mean SAMAR'S SKIN? How did I know his skin was smooth, for God's sake?"
She cried out, shaking her head as she refused to look at Nirvaan, hiding her face instead, much to his amusement.
"Heck if I know. He didn't seem to mind too much, though."
He replied in a teasing tone, and this time Ana had to look up at him to give him a glare, making him grin and chuckle even more.
"He's probably thinking I'm insane, poor boy."
She said, more to herself, as she shook her head with a self depreciating smile.
"Annie, if a boy thinks you're insane, then you're better off without him. He's the stupid one."
Nirvaan commented with a soft smile, as Ayaana looked up at him in surprise.
Before she could say something, her head started aching terribly, making her raise her hand to hold her head, alarming Nirvaan.
"Annie?"
He asked in a concerned tone, as she nodded, letting him know she was okay.
"Are you fine? Should I call someone? Do you need water? Wait I'll get you water-"
Ayaana interrupted Nirvaan's rambling by holding his hand and nodding, her eyes still closed, reassuring him she was fine.
"No, no I'm fine. Just the hangover acting up. I had lemonade and all, maybe I'm finally remembering stuff from last night, hearing you talk all about it."
She explained with a chuckle, opening her eyes to check why he hadn't responded, only to watch him a bit frozen, staring at their hands.
She followed his gaze and quickly removed her hand from his, an apologetic smile on her face, making him shake his head and glance up at her.
He didn't mean to make her nervous, he'd finally gotten her to loosen up for a while.
Ayaana was the best friend anyone could have, she was. She was a great listener, and gave incredible advice.
But compared to the otherwise outgoing and talkative gang, she was slightly more sensitive and guarded, it took her a while to open up to people, even her own parents.
Nirvaan knew that better than anyone, and so, watching her give him that smile, he didn't like it at all.
He didn't like that he made her feel as if she had to apologise.
"You know what else we spoke about last night?"
He asked with a twinkle in his eyes, making Ayaana look at him hesitantly.
"Lav and Bir. You've been seeing them since this morning right?"
He asked, as she widened her eyes and nodded fervently, as if bursting with secrets.
He chuckled, welcome back Annie.
"I thought I was the ONLY ONE! Did you see the whole orange juice thing? Pehle toh bas Abir usse stare karta tha, but ab even Lav keeps on giving him looks!"
She said excitedly, making him grin and nod his head in agreement.
"I'm totally talking to Lav about it. I think he said something to her last night. Obviously he doesn't remember it, but she definitely does. You talk to Bir though, see if he recalls anything at all."
She said, and Nirvaan gave her a mock-salute before nodding, making her chuckle as he got up to go wake up Abir.
She turned back to her painting, as Nirvaan turned around to look at her with a secretive smirk.
"Hey Annie?"
He asked, and she hummed in question, with her back still towards him.
"Could you give me a kiss?"
He asked with an innocent smile, as she quickly jumped and turned around with widened eyes, her brush falling out of her hands, much to his delight.
"A what?!?"
She asked hurriedly, making him chuckle.
"A kiss."
He repeated, pointing towards the table on which Ana's paints and palette laid, making her follow his gaze in confusion before finally rolling her eyes as she spotted a packet of Hershey's Kisses lying on it as well.
"Seriously?"
She asked with no humor in her eyes as she passed Nirvaan the packet, watching his eyes twinkle with mischief and his trademark smirk grace his features, before winking at her and going to wake up Abir.
This boy was never upto any good.
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