Tumse Hi Tumse... ( Unedited)

Do you like him?

"The party is today, not a week after," Kushal's voice sliced through the silence, dragging me back from my thoughts.

Kushal, my baby brother, is synonymous with irritating, annoying, and everything related. He had come back from the US to spend his holidays irritating me.

"You are not wearing that," I said sternly, looking at his blue sweatshirt, baggy black sweatpants, and black headphones circling his neck. It was his deliberate attempt to avoid the party.

He feels he is too cool for this boring event.

I get his point, though. All people do there is flash their sophisticated smiles against the backdrop of plain, boring music.

"What? I can't hear you," he said, sliding his headphones on, his eyes daring me to protest.

I knew he was doing all this to avoid the party and stay at home playing video games.

But living in the US, I think he had forgotten who he was messing with-his big sister.

"Okay. Stay in the house. I'll be back by 10," I said, acting defeated as I looked for my purse.

In the mirror, I saw a victory smile dancing on his lips.

"You'll need time to pack your bags. I'll drop you tomorrow at Ravi uncle's house," I added.

And his smile dropped.

Because Ravi uncle's house meant waking up at 5 in the morning, no internet, and a curfew at 7 pm.

I hid my evil laugh on his expression.

Exactly 5 minutes later, there he was, in the passenger seat, wearing a navy blue shirt and black trousers, looking like a sweet boy he is not,

And I drove the car to the party destination.

*

Looking at the lavish entrance, I sighed.

Why do I always agree to these things? I thought.

But Mr. Mathur had insisted, and I couldn't say no to him-he had been so kind during his grandmother's recovery when I treated her.

'Besides,' I reminded myself, 'it's just one evening. What could go wrong?'

On entering the hall, the first person I saw was Tanya, who along with Adarsh were chatting with Mr. Mathur.
Just then, Mr.Mathur's gaze spotted me, making the other two turn, to look at me.

On seeing me, Tanya circled her hands around Adarsh's arm, making Adarsh snap in her direction. Tanya retorted with a soft smile to his questioning gaze.

There was some tension between me and Tanya since our first meeting.
All one sided though.

Mr. Mathur swiftly came towards us and greeted me and my brother with a hug, catching both of us off guard.

From a distance, I could see Tanya's expression turn bitter while Adarsh's face showed confusion and surprise.

Throughout the evening,Mr. Mathur hovered around me and Kush, persistently asking,

"Are you enjoying the party?

Do you need anything?

Try this, try that."

We were too annoyed to reply in words, so were just responding with mere 'hmmms.'

Adarsh and I exchanged several glances during the party. His eyes were brimming with questions, and I could sense his curiosity.