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Chapter 28

It was Sunday.

After a late breakfast, Lakshya was on his stomach on the bed with an open manga. His eyes were slit as he tried to take in the gruesome drawings. He had one month left. He wasn't even half way through.

Shreya was getting ready for a date with Neha.

Lakshya shut the book.

He walked into Shreya's room and sat on the bed facing the dresser.

"Shreya."

Shreya looked up and saw his face in the mirror. He was sporting a small indiscernible pout.

"Yeah?"

"Your manga." He put the book on the bed.

"Okay."

"I didn't finish it."

Shreya nodded.

He thought she would at least remember the bet.

"You win."

"Yeah."

So she remembered. But her responses were off. They were too noncommittal.

"Is everything okay?"

Without a pause, she said, "Yeah."

"So what do you want me to do? I said I would do anything."

"Buy another ice cream when you come back from work next week."

Lakshya stared at her through the mirror in silence. She was slowly brushing her hair. When he took the manga, when he made the bet, his intention was in one hope. A hope he hid deep in his heart.

He hoped they could resolve past things.

He wanted to know where she stood about all of that before he apologised.

Knowing her for the past few months, he did not have high hopes though, especially since she did not seem to know how to get upset with him. But like she had asked a couple of times, she could ask him again to break up. Half of his thoughts did not make much sense to himself.

But her response felt unbelievable.

"I said I would do anything you say."

Shreya was almost done getting ready. She did not understand what he was saying. She turned around, smiled and said, "Then... Do you want to go out together someday?"

"If I had won, I'd have told you to go hungry for a week." He stood up and left the room.

Lakshya waited with no expression on his face. He held his bike keys and their house keys. When Shreya told him about her girl date, he said he would drop her at their meeting place, an anime con. Utpal had messaged in their friend's group about the upcoming convention and a couple of scores they could perform. But neither Lakshya nor Deepak responded. After a day's wait, Utpal messaged him personally. Lakshya was not going to reply, yet he opened the chat to let him know this was on purpose. Utpal deliberately invited Moksha. Lakshya had told him that he was bringing Shreya. The underlying message was not to talk too much. If he is going to be such a dimwit, Lakshya might have to just drop him.

Shreya movements slowed down. She really did not understand why he would say such a thing. They had been getting along so well recently.

Or was it all in her head? Perhaps nothing changed? She hoped not. In fact, she felt so happy for so long, that it felt undeserving. That feeling was especially strong that day.

As they walked to his bike, she reached out for his hand.

When she felt his warmth though, he snatched his hand away. The way he looked at her made it clear that he did not like it.