You're (Cute) When Embarrassed

You're (Cute) When Embarrased

Annika Trivedi glared openly at the young, blue-eyed boy who was smirking insolently at her, hating him even though he had yet to speak a single word to her. Shivaay Singh Oberoi; pft, even his name sounded stupid, just like him! And so what if he was her brother's best mate? And so what if her cousin Mallika found him 'to die for gorgeous'? Thirteen year old Annika knew that he was just an arrogant, annoying, and altogether stubborn bane upon her existence. Her brows had drawn down together with her thoughts, and now Oberoi was chuckling softly at her. The hotheaded girl felt her blood-pressure rise and fought to keep her temper in check, but when her brother Viren elbowed her hard in the ribs, and asked why she had such a sour-puss face, Annika lost control.

"Your stupid friend has been staring at me since we pulled out of the damn station, and it's getting on my bloody nerves!" she shouted, throwing her dark hair off her shoulders even as her brown eyes blackened with her rage. "And I don't like him," she added, eyes narrowing as she glared back at the boy, who had forgone the grin from before, but whose dark blue gaze still mocked her.

"For one, we never asked you to sit with us," Viren retorted hotly, coming to the defence of his best mate even if it went against his sister. "And two, you've been doing nothing but sulking and giving Shiv dirty looks since we pulled out of the station!"

"You know what mom said before we left! I bloody have to sit with you, you arse," Annika snapped back. She pointed looked out the window, forcing deafness to her brother's spluttering, but in the reflective glare of the window's glass, she could still see Shivaay smirking at her with his eyes. Annika clamped her jaw and focused on the rough and tumble scenery, glaring out the window until it darkened and they pulled up to Ooty Station.

Viren had gone ahead to catch up with some other School friends, but Shivaay had dropped his suitcase from the rack while pulling it down, and so lagged behind to tidy the spilled contents. Annika bit her lip; to have Shivaay effing Oberoi see her so embarrassingly climb up on the seat to retrieve her luggage (God how she hated being so damned short!), or wait for the other youth to finish his slow-as-molasses repacking and possibly not get off the train before it started to pull away.

Well, there was no use possibly not getting off, so she set her mouth in a hard line and lifted herself sprightly up onto the seat with one leg, reaching well above her head for her suitcase. She tugged and the suitcase slid easily across the metal bars toward her, but as she lowered herself to step down, her suitcase came all too fast after her. She would have fallen, the heavy suitcase crushing her certainly, but suddenly a long-fingered, pale hand had thrust the suitcase back up onto the rack and another long arm had wrapped itself low around her waist to steady her.

"Are you mental? Just ask for help next time, Trivedi! What if I hadn't been here?" Shivaay's deep voice was reproving, but his eyes still mocked her, seeming to tell her, 'Silly little girl can't even get down her own suitcase!'

"Then I reckon I'd have been smashed. Either way, you can let go now." The boy's dark gaze questioned for half a heartbeat, and then he seemed to realize that he was still cradling her against his body, and his arm dropped away. "Thank you," Annika said primly, pushing her flaming locks off her bright red face, and then, hearing the conductor's last call, added quickly, "now can you get the damned suitcase down? ...Please?"

Shivaay laughed at her and her eyes narrowed dangerously, but he easily swung the suitcase down for her and gestured for her to leave the compartment ahead of him. Annika put her chin up defiantly and made to sweep out imperiously, but just before she sailed over the threshold, luggage in tow, the boy murmured, "You know, you're damn cute when you're embarrassed." Her cheeks flamed anew, but her sensible head told her to leave it, and not look back, but she'd be damned if she ever let Shivaay Singh Oberoi have the upper hand on her again.