RAVI (formerly Indie-America)

42

(((Edited•)))

  "Aaand here we are," Luca announces as he pulls over in front of my house. I'm still reeling from the feeling that the last events gave me and some part of me even feels like this is a dream, so I only smile at Luca warmly and start opening the door when he pulls me back.

"Hey hey, no goodnight kiss? What's wrong with you? You look pale," he tilts his head to peer at my face more closely but I swat him away.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking of something," I admit.

"What is it?" He inquires but I hesitate, tonight has been beautiful, and bringing the bet up would only produce sour moods. Still, I want to know, if Luca and I are going to have anything solid then I have to eliminate all chances that he made the bet.

"It's about the bet," I begin and his face darkens a bit but I continue, "I want to know who made the bet, you didn't tell me before but I think you should now," I finish.

  He remains silent for a while and every second my heart clenches a little more, what am I gonna do if it turns out to be him?

"I would love to tell you, Ravi, to clear the plate finally but the thing is, I made a promise to this dude that I wouldn't say anything, he has to be the one who tells you," he really looks downcast about it and I believe him, I believe he didn't do it.

"Fine then, give me a hint," I offer and his eyes instinctively look to the left towards Teddy's house but immediately come back to me, it happens so fast for a moment I think I'm imagining it, but I know I'm not.

"Ravi–" he starts to plead but I interrupt him with a quick kiss on the lips, then I open the door the moment I break it off.

"Goodnight Luca," I say. He tries to get to me but I close the door and run to my house, where I can sit down and concentrate on my hunch.

*****
"Look who it is!" Kendall yells from the living room when I come in. She's sitting on the sofa, Mara lying next to her. Simmi and Raman are on opposite sides of the couch and all their eyes are trained on me.

"Why do you look so...worked up?" As usual, Raman's the first to notice something off but I ignore his question and collapse next to Simmi.

"Where are our parents?" I ask instead.

"Everyone went out for dinner, including grandma. We're all alone until late in the night." Mara informs me. That's wonderful to hear.

"So how was the party RV? I bet Luca couldn't take his eyes off my smoky eyeliner," Ken praises and I roll my eyes,

"More like the glossy lip gloss," Simmi corrects and I punch her.

"You guys are jobless, though the answer is yes, he couldn't take his eyes off my face." I twirl my hair for effect.

"Why didn't he come inside?" Mara asks.

"He has to go home to be with his sister, now is there food in this house or not?" I stand up and enter the kitchen where I explore the possible mixtures I can eat. I'm bad at cooking so I don't attempt to make another meal, seeing as they ate all the spaghetti with the sauce too. I grab a cereal from the cupboard, the freshly baked bread mum bought earlier today, jam, butter, and some cabbage just to douse the guilt, and head to the dining table.

As I'm spreading the jam on the bread Ken silently comes to sit beside me.

"Hey," she says cautiously. At first, I wonder why but then I remember our disagreement and I stop spreading the jam.

"I think Princeton would be a great place for you," I blurt. Her brows are furrowed in confusion for a moment but then she understands what I'm trying to say and she leans in to hug me.

"You're the best," she murmurs.

"What exactly are you gonna be studying?" I ask, feeling dumb for not asking earlier.

"I'm aiming for cosmetology but I could manage anything beauty related,"

"That would be nice, so when you make your own lipstick I'll be getting free samples,"

"I highly doubt that but sure go ahead and dream," we share a low and short laugh and I resume spreading my jam. She folds her arm and watches me for a moment, quiet until she gives up and speaks her mind.

"Ravi, won't you tell me what happened tonight? It's so obvious something happened, did Luca do something?"

"Yes, in fact, he did," I fight the smile playing on my lips so that Ken doesn't see it.

"Really? Tell me what he did? Did he break up with you?" She lowers her voice at the final part and that's when I release my full-blown smile.

"He kissed me, for real this time!" I whisper shout and her worried face transforms immediately into a grin,

"Seriously? How did that happen?" She asks and I go into a detailed narration of the events that occurred at the party, skipping some parts to shorten the longevity of the entire story, and by the time I'm done Ken has a wry smile on her face.

"My makeup did wonders Ravi dear," she cups my face in her hands and I roll my eyes.

"But there is a problem Ken," I say, turning dead serious.

"What is it?" She asks.

"The thing is, Luca wouldn't tell me who made the bet but he unwittingly gave me a hint. And now I think it's..." I trail off but Ken prods me on.

"Who do you think it is?" She asks.

"I think it's Teddy."

***
Ah, I can smell the ending near. I have been making a huge effort to update as regularly as possible and I hope you can appreciate that. I just wanted to let you know that I have an Insta account now (🤓) that is dedicated solely to my books. My username is Silk__words and you can message me there cause I am more active there. Thank you✔