The very next second I said those words, she immediately pulled out and gave me the deadliest glare. The tears had stopped by now, leaving dry streaks behind. It gave me an odd feeling of relief. Something about those drops of tears, made me dangerously vulnerable.
"You know what? It's my fault! It's my fault for crying in front of you. I knew there was something odd about your consolation. After all, why would THE Vihaan Khatri--"
That did it. A deep rumble of laughter erupted from inside me. It felt almost rusty at first, laughing this hard and real since a while. When I looked back up, the look of fury reflected from her face made me double back in fits of laughter even more. Couldn't blame her; I probably look like a maniac right now.
I watched as she opened her mouth to say something and then close it again in despair.
"You are impossible," she finally spat out, gathering her belongings.
"Hey guess what?" I called out before she exited the door. "I think we're friends now."
"Hey guess what? I don't want to be."
"Check your phone once."
She obeyed cautiously, her eyes widening at the notification on her phone screen.
"For real this time. Accept the request Jiya. I have a plan on how to quiet down these rumors."
Jiya
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I left him on seen, my anger rising each moment. How could he just do that?! First, he took a picture of me -- secretly! Then, puts that on his story with the caption "hi friend @jiya_agarwal915". And finally, swarms my inbox with a bunch of follow requests!
I assessed my chats, flooded with questions and comments. With every passing second, I could feel the slight buzz in my hand with each new notification. This is not what I came here for. This isn't what I had planned.
I tossed my phone aside, irritated by the constant noise it was making. Reaching over, I grabbed my sketching pad and a pencil, trying to get my mind off of the whirlwind that I just went through today.
Buzz.
How was that Instagram story supposed to help? It seems as if matters are only getting worse. Vihaan, what are you doing?!
Vihaan
Of course that wasn't an actual plan. It was simply just a brilliant attempt to get her to approve my request -- which she did. Laying on bed, I considered twice before opening up her page. There weren't a lot of posts; some pictures of charcoal sketches, others of textbook pages, and more random pictures of writing. My eyes hooked onto one, the only picture of her. Wearing a pink dress with curls of long hair adorned and slight makeup, she gave different vibes than her usual plain look.
@jiya_agarwal915
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An idea bloomed in my head, but before I could think twice, my fingers went on ahead. I double tapped the photo, making sure to wait a good minute or two. Then I undid the action until the heart was white once more. Holding back a smile, I laid there in the dark letting out a breath of air. A slight vibration pulled my attention back and there was her message: STOP STALKING ME!
This time, I didn't put any effort to suppress the faint curve on my lips.
