Colors

seven

I jumped at the sound of the pot hitting the floor.

Thankfully, it didn't fall on my foot like it usually would.

I bent down in panic to ensure that the pot wasn't dented, and, just my luck, there was a small dent in it at the side, and that dent would look enormous to my dramatic mother.

I was gonna be in deep shit.

I stood up again, still in shock at the sight of the stranger in front of me.

Well, he wasn't exactly a stranger.

"Oh, look. It's Clumsy. Why are you here?" Jai asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

"This is my house, hotshot. Why else would I be carrying a pot and opening the front door? Why the hell are you here?"

"We just moved in. My parents told me to come here. There's an aunty and uncle at my house, and they told me that their kids live here. My siblings came here to hang out with their kid, and since my thing got canceled, I went to grab some groceries."

"Yeah, yeah, great story... so, why are you here?"

Jai gave me a grim smile. "I'm definitely at the wrong house. Bye, Laila."

"Peace, Jai."

He gave me a little salute and turned around, walking down the little path that led to my driveway.

And then, it hit me.

Jai Patel.

Dhruv and Ruhani Patel.

Patel.

Patel.

"We just moved in."

Oh shit.

"Jai!" I called out, "Wait!"

Jai turned around, looking confused. "What do you want?"

"You're at the right house..." I grumbled. Jai jogged back up to the door.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"I have hearing loss, what's your excuse?" I muttered, mostly to myself.

Jai gave me that heartstopping grin. His dimples made my brain stop working. "Shut up. What did you say?"

"You're at the right house, hotshot. Come on in."

**

"Your house is nice," Jai commented as I closed the front door behind him, "I like how there isn't tons of stuff everywhere. My parents are suckers for cluttering the house with any decor they can find."

"Oh, trust me, bro. We have our share of random items that definitely do not qualify as decor. Like, what the hell is this?" I gestured to a painting of a wobbly face. "This thing gave me nightmares for 2 weeks straight when I was younger."

Jai burst into laughter as I patted the cheek of the wobbly face.

I jumped at the sound of his laughter.

When we were outside, my brain was so occupied with being embarrassed with falling and God knows what else that I hadn't really focused on his laughter. I had been so concerned about myself that I hadn't felt the wholesome feeling in the air.

I hadn't noticed how precious his laughter was. It was the kind that required good breath support, as odd as that sounded. He actually laughed like "HAHAHAHA," and it was so adorable. People didn't laugh like that anymore.

I laughed at the mere sound of it, and that just made him laugh harder. I thought he couldn't breathe for a second, but then I realized that he was still laughing.