The Downsides Of Popularity ✓

Chapter 06

TOO MANY NOTIFICATIONS.

 'You've never been in a relationship?', I ask to confirm if my brain interpreted his voice correctly, coming from the blue headphones, connected via Bluetooth to the laptop sitting on my desk.

'Never,' Utkarsh says and tilts his head to the side, eyes blinking after long intervals. 'What about Kriti, I mean I did hear-', he cuts me off by saying, 'That was just a rumour. Nothing else.'

He repositions himself in his chair and sits up straight. 'Okay...', I say with a bit of uncertainty about whether he is telling me the truth or not 'cause his mouth is saying something but his body language says differently.

'What are we gonna do? We both don't know how it's supposed to work,' I say and look at the white ceiling. There are butterflies painted in pink, in the far right corner of the room on the ceiling. I like the pattern. 'We always have the Internet to bless us with its knowledge,' Utkarsh laughs while showing his phone.

'But it's just a place where millions of people share their information or ideas. How do we know if that can apply to our relationship?', I rest my chin on top of my palm with a confused look on my face.

'If any of us had any previous relationship, who said they would have been similar to this one?'

'True.'

'First thing I believe is important in a relationship is trust and open communication,' he says and I pay more attention than I pay at a History lecture.

'Now I believe, you interrogating me like a cop isn't going to help me communicate openly, to be honest,' Utkarsh says, chuckling and my mouth forms an O shape.

'I'm so sorry. I just want to know more about you since I know nothing about you nor do you about me,' I apologize and justify in the same sentence (Apologies in typical Shweta style). My brain grasps the word "nothing" and ponders on it for almost the entire day, even after our video call is over.

I sit with my diary- a ritual I always do whenever I start to overthink or when I'm in a confused state of mind. Taking out my favourite pen with lavender on the outside and black ink, I write down in big letters: "Why Do I Like Utkarsh?"

I jot down every point that comes to my mind and it only sums up to 5 points:

1. He's polite
2. Handsome
3. Talented
4. Charming
5. Goofy (can be?)

Scouring for more points I already feel exhausted. It's 5 pm right now so I decided to take a nap since I didn't get even an ounce of sleep last night because of the overexcitement of having a boyfriend- my first boyfriend and that too Utkarsh Sharma.

'Ms Walker?', I call out my Guardian Witch who appears instantaneously, a bright smile adorning her face as expected.

'Yes, dear?'