𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER 13

Have you ever felt that you smiled so much and your cheeks started to hurt?

For me I wasn't beaming with happiness, rather I faked a smile at random people, to keep myself busy. It had seemed easy at first, but the amount of repeated questions about my grades, made me want to jump off a cliff. Why do relatives have to always ask about my marks? It was like they were obsessed over comparing my GPAs with older and younger, cousins for absolutely, no reason. Another elderly woman asked if there were any backlogs for me, and I almost wanted to scream in her face. But I couldn't. My manners didn't allow me to do so.

Being the good girl sucked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure move. It was Haider and he was filling out his round, white plate from the caterers. Several mouth-watering starters like panipuri, American corn, chicken tikka, and paneer tikka, made my stomach grumble but I forced myself to look away. It wasn't like I couldn't eat at my function but having no one to give me company, made it awkward for me to eat alone.

However, it seemed like Haider wasn't bothered by the fact that he would be the only one eating while sitting in a lone corner. If only he had asked me if I was hungry or wanted to eat something, then we would have been happily satisfying our stomachs by now. Hoping anything from Haider was so much fun. I rolled my eyes at the ironic thought.

Honestly, I was confused right now. Haider's action had played out much differently than what I had imagined. I had expected him to ignore me, or even make an excuse for not coming here. Yet, the moment I saw him in our parking lot, it was equivalent to seeing a ghost for the first time. My eyes couldn't believe that he was real, because I certainly, wasn't expecting him to see him tonight at my party. That too dressed in formals. It felt like he wasn't even acting himself.

Then again, how well did I know him?

The number of times, he had ignored me had given me a headache. My ignorance of him was justifiable, because it was awkward for me, to start speaking for the first time. The fear of being judged or being tagged as desperate had kept me, from socializing with unknowns. Moreover, there was no reason to make Jai feel insecure, by having too many male friends. He didn't have a problem with Luce but I doubt he would be happy if that friends's list kept growing.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Jai, because his popularity meant he had to constantly interact with everyone. Sometimes, I would get jealous when he would talk with girls the same way, he did with me. Then I had to console myself after our fights that he loved me.

He would never go behind my back.

Haider was so different from Jai. When on the first day, Jai was hell-bent on accusing me of ruining his show. On the other side, Haider had regarded me with a simple glance. Neither as an enemy nor as a friend. The way Haider avoided me like a plague, made me want to strangle myself. It wasn't a healthy reaction but the thought of him ignoring me for one more second, was unbearable.

I wished I had the guts to ask him in the face what his problem was.

A mouth-watering aroma hit my nostrils. I took a long breath to inhale it as much as possible. In my search for who was eating biryani, my eyes landed on Haider. Of course, he would sit at a table near me as if to tempt me further with food. I lingered near his chair but didn't go further because of two reasons. First, the proximity between us, mixed with the silence would drive me up a wall. Secondly, everyone around would misunderstand us, as a couple.

I snorted at the hilarious thought.

Our neighbours came to greet me, and I caught a glimpse of Haider, about to take the first bite of the mushroom curry. Instantly, he started to get dry coughs and my attention zeroed in on him. I dismissed the guests and took a step towards him. Teary, red eyes met with mine and I held his gaze.