The Downsides Of Popularity ✓

Chapter 05

I LIKE IT.
(FROM HIM)

 THE shuttlecock lands on the ground beside me and I wipe off the beads of sweat from my forehead. Meera and I had gotten ourselves entangled in an unintentional yet intense 10-minute badminton match in which the former finally won. People cluster around her, congratulating her and I slip away to the bathrooms to freshen up. My whole face is red as a tomato, which has always happened after a strenuous activity since I was a child. I splash water over my face and neck and wipe it gently with my handkerchief.

I step out of the bathroom to see Sreyansh standing a few feet away from me. 'You okay? You left right after the match so I thought you were sad or something...', he trails off and examines me from head to toe. 'I'm fine. Just tired. I went away to freshen up 'cause it was a pretty heated match,' I say and brush my fingers through my hair.

'Everyone's asking where you've been, you know. The match attracted a lot of attention,' Sreyansh says and leans against the concrete wall.

I still haven't figured out whether I like the attention or not so I just shrug at him and head back to our picnic spot. The call for lunch is announced so everyone immediately rushes to the counters and I see Meera approaching in my direction, her hand shading her eyes from the sunlight. 'Hey, where did you run off to? You okay?', she asks and I reassure her that everything's fine. She asks Sreyansh and me to reserve a chair for her and we nod.

In the Chinese food section, they are serving fried rice, Manchurian and noodles. The Vegetarian section consists of just rice and paneer while for the Non-Vegetarians there is chicken and fish. I go for the Vegetarian options and add 2 balls of Manchurian to my plate. I join our group who have settled down under the shade of a tree and we chatter as we eat.

After lunch, the Sun starts to lower in the sky and our picnic spot gets some shade from the nearby trees so I take out my Bluetooth speaker and connect it to Ankita's phone. Music starts to play and we start to dance along to the beats.

Some of our classmates also join our little dance party. Few start to show off their dance skills while the rest of us-amateurs- sway to the music. I didn't even notice when Utkarsh joined us and started dancing with me and Meera. The latter sneakily slips away so that it's just the two of us. He leans in and whispers in my ear, 'Follow me. I have to tell you something,' and starts walking away from the whole cluster of students dancing and singing.

I follow him to the road where all the buses that brought us here are standing still. Utkarsh gets up on the bus which we were on six hours ago and gives me a hand. I take his hand and grab onto the rail to help myself up. He doesn't let go until we sit down at the very back of the bus, side-by-side. My cheeks start to burn due to how close we are sitting. He tilts his head back and rests it on the seat, catching his breath before saying, 'I didn't know you're such an amazing dancer.'

'I-uh thanks,' I smile at him, a bit nervous. Utkarsh gets up from his seat and gets down on one knee in front of me. I don't even know how I didn't just faint on the spot from what he said next.