Nasaza

XXVIII

𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕜𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚

Sanskriti Chaturvedula. Hosting a small party.

Sounds scandalous.

I stared at the long list of names sprawled out on the table in front of me, feeling a growing sense of frustration. How was I supposed to decide who to invite when there were so many people I wanted to include?

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair as I tried to focus. I had been working on the guest list for my birthday party for days mentally, but the more I thought about it, the harder it seemed to make a decision.

"Why is this so difficult?" I muttered to myself, feeling a wave of irritation wash over me. I had always prided myself on being an organized and decisive person, but this decision seemed impossible.

The 'guest list problem' had been a source of stress for me for years. Every year, I would struggle to decide who among my many friends and acquaintances were worth inviting to my birthday party.

Every year, I would spend hours creating a detailed list, only to erase half of the names the next day and start over again. It was a never-ending cycle of decision-making and second-guessing until I finally settled on a guest list that seemed satisfactory. But this year, the process was feeling especially difficult.

Because this time, I had to invite guys so that Malhotra didn't feel awkward.

I groaned again, feeling a sense of resignation wash over me. I had been avoiding including boys on my guest list for years, preferring to keep my birthday parties as female-dominated events. But this year, I knew that things had to be different.

The last time I had invited people of both the genders, only two people with XY chromosomes had attended, which was nice.

But let's just say it led to a few broken friendships.

I felt a pang of guilt as I remembered the fallout from that party. It had been a mess of misplaced hormones and hurt feelings, and I had promised myself never to invite a mixed-gender group again.

I sighed, knowing that my parents' insistence on inviting Malhotra had complicated my guest list dilemma even further. I didn't want to create a situation where he felt like the only guy in a room full of girls.

And Angel Boy was already the subject of so many rumors. He would hang himself to death in a room full of girls, he already was that stupid.

Malhotra's apology a week ago had been a strange mix of sincerity and insanity. Who would apologize while freezing half to death? It was definitely one of the weirder things I had witnessed.

I shook my head, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. I couldn't let my memories of that night distract me now. I had a guest list to finalize, and I had to make sure that I included enough boys to avoid any social awkwardness.

My thoughts turned to Shreeansh, but I quickly dismissed the idea of inviting him alone. Two boys among twenty girls was not a good ratio at all, and I knew I would need to find more boys to balance the gender representation at the party.

I tapped my pen thoughtfully on the table, pondering who else I could invite. I didn't want to include too many boys and make the party feel male-dominated at all, but I also needed to make sure that Malhotra wouldn't feel like an outsider.

Not for the first time in my life, I wished I was Shreya.

Shreya's inability to effortlessly connect with anyone meant that she never had to worry about things like guest lists or gender ratios. She always had her guest lists short, and she didn't have to invite people she didn't want to.