𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER 51

The painful silence continued between us and through my peripheral vision, my stare remained unwavering at him. Logic said I should be the one to apologize because all of this mess was first started by me, but the fear of declaring our relationship continued to grip me mercilessly. There was no way my classmates weren't loose-lipped, and the news of my new boyfriend would spread like wildfire and eventually, reach Jai. God, only knew he would embarrass me to such an extent that, college would become a living hell for me.

That's it. My concerns and worries were justifiable and he had no right to cry foul over me. If anything, he should try to understand me and be supportive. Instead, he was egging me on with jealousy by talking about Lily. My eyes flicked to his, demanding an apology. Sadly, it wasn't there. With a single raise of his brow, he had made it clear, he wasn't going to back down first. He still believed I was the culprit and being irrational. So I should be the one to put down the red flag between us.

As if. That would never happen.

"Haider, can you drop me at home?" Livi asked. Her voice was partly a request and more of a demand, like she thought, she owned him and all the boys in the class.

My lips remained sealed and my heart clenched. Why was Livi hell-bent on torturing me, today? Apart from other days, she was focusing more on Haider, today. Did she like him? Was she somehow trying to get his attention? Will she confess her feelings to Haider? She had a boyfriend, right? Why does she never ask him to help her?

"Did you have a breakup?" I spilt out— before Haider could reply— unable to keep the venom out of my voice.

"What? Of course not!" She answered back in a slightly higher voice, making her irritation over the topic, clear to me.

Though my mouth didn't utter any rude comebacks, my eyes seemed to portray with their icy glare that, 'it's high time that you go and ask him, instead.'

Her clueless look was proof that she wasn't good at reading my expressions. But there was a snicker beside me, which indicated that there was indeed someone, who understood the message directed at her and considered it to be funny. My gaze swung to the amused black eyes, and a mixture of mockery, anger and hurt swirled behind them.

He wouldn't go against me this time, would he?

"Oh, c'mon, drama queen. If you don't like your hairstyle, you could always get bald. It would look more good on you, that way," Luce laughed, slapping the bench hard, and my shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. That boy had the talent to make anyone laugh.

"What did you say, you bastard?" she hissed and punched him in the shoulder. It was equivalent to an ant punching an elephant, but Luce managed to give an expression of hurt, for her sake. "I'm so done with your insults. I would not go with you anymore. Our deal is over. I would go with Haider, from today onwards. So, you and your stupid car can go to hell!" She was towering over Luce, from her seat, and the girls in front of us kept sneaking glances, to watch the drama unfold.

"Oh thank God. Good riddance! You're as bad as lettuce," Luce snickered to fuel her anger even more, and for a moment, I could envision smoke coming out of her ears.

I looked at Haider, hoping he would decline, but the same amount of expectation from me was etched on his face. If his pride was so enormous that he was willing to lose everything, because of a stupid fight, then so be it.

"Then. I. Will. Be. Livi's replacement, Luce," I emphasized each word, to make it clear that, I was the eye of the storm they had created and without hurting, every one of them, the tornado of emotions within me wouldn't be satisfied.

"Fine!" Haider replied, entering into this argument for the first time. And it didn't escape my notice that he had chosen to reply to me, that he too was willing to let it all go.