Quantum Potente

7. An annoying fly

                                    Music Recommendation: 'Star Boy' by The Weeknd 

Shakti washed her hands while Cian Houston stood beside her and watched her with a fascinated expression. His expression irked Rian in a way he couldn't explain.

"Whenever I see you, I feel like I see a bit of new you", said Cian while leaning on the wall beside him. Shakti dried her hand in the handkerchief and glanced at him with an amused expression.

'Man, she is fucking washing her hands, not solving a world problem. What with that expression?', Rian thought in his mind.

"It's good, isn't it? Being an enigma to someone? It will make things more interesting.", Shakti said with a small smile but hid with a cough. Rian's eyes narrowed at the exchange taking place between Shakti and Cian. He could see the way interesting things would unfold in the future, and it made him clench his jaw.

He heard Houston laugh at Shakti's words. He rolled his eyes and sipped his cold drink, though his ears gave full attention to the conversation going on at the end of the cafeteria. Obviously, he didn't care about what Shakti did or with whom she associated herself. But the sight of her smiling at other boys made him feel weird.

Was he interested in her? 'Impossible', he dismissed the idea as the most impossible and nonsense stuff. He was merely interested in her snarky responses to his comments. And there was nothing wrong to sometimes bending his trait of not getting involved in other's business. But his thoughts were questionable to himself as well.

'It is because Cian doesn't seem like a good guy and will eventually cause problems. Not that I cared about her hopes or expectations. I am just tensed that it can adversely affect her mood and destroy my chances of getting a satisfying reaction from her at my quirks.', thought Rian while crushing the cold drink cup in his hand with much more force than required.

'Yes, it more convenient to blame others than accepting your flaws.', said a malicious inner voice.

He had muted the looks of disapproval shot in his direction earlier when Shakti left the table early. But now their look has that disturbing look of knowing something superior.

Rian gave a death stare in their direction and stood up to leave. Others stood up to retire to their beds as well. Before Mark could question him about his questionable look in the direction of a certain girl and boy, Rian walked away from them with his long strides and head held high. His jaw muscles were ticking while he shoved his hand inside his jeans pocket to extract his phone and scrolled through it. He was passing Shakti and Houston who were engaged in a back-and-forth subtle flirting. His eyes darkened in annoyance and his hand twitched subtly, perhaps to choke Cian for disrupting his banters with Shakti.

'Cool down. Cool down. This is not what you are supposed to think', Rian chanted in his mind which was divided into two ways. One, directed him to stop whatever he was doing as this was not going to be healthy for him. Shakti is trouble. While the other way screamed, 'Loosen up and screw your senses.'

He glanced at them from the corner of his eye and walked out of the cafeteria. The scene from earlier flooded into his mind. The first conversation Shakti and Houston had, in the field. He was not at all eavesdropping; he happened to walk nearby and heard their whole conversation.

Pure coincidence.

"What are your views on our new friendship?", Houston asked with an underlying excitement and obvious interest.

"We are still not officially friends. I still need time to ponder over it. But your over-enthusiasm is suspicious.", Shakti said with a little smirk, while her eyes found Houston's.