Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Evyaan always manages to captivate everyone's attention whenever he's around. The moment he asked me to assist with his bag in front of my friends, the entire conversation shifted towards him—his eyes, hair, watch, and whatnot. I grew weary of the discussion when suddenly someone covered my eyes.
"Guess who?" she asked, adding an accent to make it stand out.
"Vani-Vanie?" I stuttered, at the surprise.
"Yeah! And haven't I told you to find me?" she pouted and scolded.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you in the restaurant," I stammered, unsure how to reply.
"Samayara, chill. I'm kidding!" she let out a laugh, and I relaxed a bit. I genuinely thought I disappointed her. She glanced over my shoulder and smiled at the others.
"Hi, I'm Vanie," she introduced herself, and everyone followed suit.
Vanie seemed to relish their company as they chatted for a long time. I attempted to fit in again, making an effort to communicate more, but I quickly grew tired.
Aakib came to my rescue. I excused myself from the girls, and Vanie warned me once more to find her, or she'd be upset.
"Hi, I'm Aakib, by the way," Aakib said as we made our way.
"Oh, I know," I replied.
"That's great, but you got to tell me your name. It'll be weird if I keep calling you Evyaan's seatmate," he said with a straight face, embarrassing me to the bones. Why couldn't I just say, 'Oh, I'm Samayara?' Why do I always have to be this awkward?
"I'm sorry, it's Samayara," I corrected myself, and he didn't reply but just nodded. We fetched Evyaan's bag and proceeded towards our buses.
"Samayara, tell Evyaan that Evaana will visit him," he said, handing me his bag outside the bus. It was quite heavy, but Aakib didn't even flinch after seeing me struggle and left.
I personally appreciated it—someone who doesn't meddle in others' affairs. I don't particularly enjoy receiving help.
"And yes, if I ask her, she'll definitely agree," I overheard Evyaan saying while boarding the bus. He was conversing with Laksh. And he seemed rather surprised to see me there, and I was equally surprised to see him so flustered. He quickly came over to retrieve his bag from me.
"Um, Samayara, what I was saying was, don't you think the upper chambers are better? They're more comfortable, and there will be less noise," he asked in a breath.
"Yeah, they sound great!" I replied liking the idea.
"So, do you mind exchanging seats and taking the one parallel to mine?" he blurted out the words before I could speak. So that's what he was discussing with Laksh.
"Yeah, the upper chambers sound cool," I agreed and he relieved a bit. He must have thought I might disagree, but upper seats are good, and being parallel with Evyaan is even better. He offered me the meds again, and I returned his AirPods.
