Something, Nothing

CHAPTER 10

a/n: yo, im so sorry - i literally forgot to update - i dont have any better reason. i honestly forgot. sorrryyyyyyy

FYI, this book is actually completely published on my bmac - so you can binge read by only paying 1$ and then it's up to you if you want to keep the subscription or no - it's honestly allll up to you 🤸🤸🤸

CHAPTER 10 — THE MORE, THE MERRIER

Ken does text me a few times after that, but he did not ask me to accompany him anywhere. It is a good thing, I know that, but still it does not really feel like a good thing.

By the time night falls, I feel like I might just call him myself if he didn't and so to not risk that stupidity, I get out of my room deciding to go for a short walk. Maybe the fresh air would be refreshing for my brain.

And it is. I almost don't remember what had me all strung up all day — almost.

"Aarvin," I hear a distinct voice calling out my name and I turn out and it's the guy from the party, "It is you," he exclaims, smiling widely.

I smile back, quickly racking my brain for his name but I cannot seem to remember. This is going to make me look like a dick. He clearly remembers my name and I totally forgot I even met him until now. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even have recognised him if he didn't call me. I've never really been with faces or names — it takes me a while to register a certain person.

He is walking towards me and not to seem rude, I take a few steps towards him as well, "Hey," I greet him, hoping I can get out of this meeting without having to reveal I have forgotten his name.

"Hey to you too," he then gestures at the person beside him, "This is Abby, my partner,"

"Hello. Nice to meet you,"

Abby simply raises an eyebrow in a perfect arch and I am instantly floored. No matter how much I have practised in front of the mirror, I can never do that — I always end up looking constipated or as if I had had a stroke.

"So, you're the famous Aarvin,"

Bewildered, I glance at the party guy whose name I haven't yet recalled, and he just lets out a small scoff, shaking his head. Famous? What is that supposed to mean?

"Ignore them," the party guy says, still shaking his head but this time directed at his partner, "They're just teasing you,"

"Pshaw," Abby lets out a snarky bark, "Oh no, I would never dream of teasing this poor baby," they click their tongue, "I'm teasing you, Sri and you know it," they finish with a smirk.

Sri — yes, that's his name! I know that's not his full name though, but it's fine I can find out his full name some other time.

On the other hand, Abby feels like a person whose face nor name I would ever forget. Honestly, I feel like I can look at Abby's face all day long and I would never ever get bored. There's just something about them that's absolutely riveting and it's more than just their looks. No offence to Sri at all, by the way. He too is easy on the eyes, but there's just something captivating about Abby.

Sri rolls his eyes, and turns to me, "I told Abby about you and now they're convinced I'm obsessed about you,"

That immediately grabs my attention.

"Because you wouldn't stop talking about him!" Abby replies without waiting.

"You know there's not a lot of Indian people in this college,"

"Hmm, yeah," Abby nods solemnly, "Especially Indian and-"

"So, Aarvin," Sri talks over his partner, widening his eyes at them in warning before turning to me, "What are you still doing here on your break?"

I so want to know what Abby has to say, but I'm not self-assured to call them out and so I just answer the question he posed to me.

"I'll be going back in a week or so. What about you?" I don't want them to pry more about it.

"Oh, it's Sri's birthday day tomorrow and we wanted to celebrate it together," they throw their arms around him and pull him and place a kiss on his cheek.

Points to Sri for trying to remain impasse but a smile wins over him anyway and he just shakes his head lightly.

"Oh, oh," Abby claps her hand together twice and the charms on her bracelet dancing and letting out a small tinkling noise, "You should come! It'll be fun,"

"I, um-,"

"Come," Sri of course agrees with his partner, and as if reading my mind he adds, "There's not going to be a lot of people, just me, Abby and a couple of our friends,"

When I imagined I'm going to be staying on campus for a week during break, I imagined that I'll be myself doing my own work, holed up in my room. Not freaking out over a certain brunet or being invited to party.

I don't really have a reason not to go, and Sri and Abby seem like nice people and so even though this is not how I imagined to be spending my alone time, I nod, agreeing.

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Tomorrow comes sooner than expected and I am dreading going to the party. I would have made up a reason and not gone if I did not run into Abby again this morning when I went out for jogging. The one day I decide to care for my physical fitness is the day it makes me regret my decision to do so.

Abby reconfirmed with me and I'm pretty sure they will seek me out and drag me to the party themself if I were to cancel on them at the last minute.

I hear a knock on my door as I'm picking out what to wear for the party. I check the time — I'm not late, am I? Have they really come to drag me?

But it's not them, it's Ken.

"Oh, hey," I say, opening the door further, so that he can come in.

I saw him not long ago; we had lunch together. It's not a big deal (or at least I'm convincing myself that it's not). I don't think he likes to eat alone and he keeps me from skipping my meals so it's all good.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ken asks me, eyeing the few decent shirts that I have arranged on my bed.

I shrug, scratching the back of my head, "Yeah, actually. I got invited to this birthday party,"

I can tell he's very much surprised by the way he raises his eyebrows and tilts his head a little, "A party,"

I nod.

"Oh, cool," and then glancing at the shirts on the bed and at me once again, he asks, "I'm guessing you're wearing this black jeans?" he gestures at the one I'm wearing at the moment.

I nod.

"Wear this green shirt, don't button it all the way up and don't tuck in. You'll look–,"

"Um, yeah, okay. Thanks," I do not need him to complete the sentence. I did not need him to choose my look for the party as well, but he took the liberty himself and I cannot be flustered from him since I have to save the little energy that I have for the party.

"No problem," he bops his head once, "Okay. I'll leave you to it then,"

"Wait, did you want anything?" I remember he didn't tell me why he came over.

He shrugs, "Nothing. I just thought we could hang out. I didn't realise you've already made plans,"

Something that Abby told me that morning comes back to me: Bring along your friends too if you want. We wouldn't mind. The more the merrier.

And so before my brain can think better and shut me up and my mouth runs its own course, "Hey, actually do you want to come along? It'd be fun,"

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