Dear Destiny

13- Dear Seeker

*REET*

We girls sat together for the dinner, and I found myself next to Shanaya, who was practically glowing as she excitedly recounted every detail of her time with Manav, the guy she got paired with. She told me how close they had gotten, her eyes sparkling as she shared each moment. I listened with a gentle smile, but in truth, my mind was miles away-caught in a web of thoughts about Ariv. Today's encounter with him had left me shaken, and I couldn't quite understand what was happening to me.

I remembered the first time he touched me in the library. I cried myself to sleep that night, feeling overwhelmed and assaulted. But then there was that night when he sneaked into my room. I didn't cry, nor pushed him away. I just letted him do as he pleased, letted him taste my skin. And today, instead of resisting, I even hung my arms around his shoulders, as if-deep down-I too wanted it.

I couldn't concentrate on anything; my thoughts were a tangled mess. One moment, I felt like Atharv was my only weakness, the next, Ariv would enter my mind and the whole world seemed to crumble around him. What was going on with me?

"Hey, Reet", Shanaya called out, snapping me back to reality.

"Huh?"

"You're done, right? Let's go. The night games are about to start."

I nodded, and we headed towards the handwashing area before making our way to the hotel's big garden, where the night games had been arranged.

We sat on the grass in a circle, getting ready to start a game of Truth or Dare. I ended up sitting across from Shanaya, who was all smiling in excitement, but I was still lost in my thoughts. Then, out of nowhere, I heard someone call out, "Oh hey, Ariv and Atharv!" I turned around to see the two boys standing off in the distance. Atharv was casually smoking a cigarette. Bur how had he managed to get it in after those tight security checks? I wondered. Of course. They always had their ways. Then my eyes spotted Ariv who stood there as usual nonchalantly, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Come on, join us!" one of our classmates called to them.

They exchanged a quick glance, seeking each others approval. Atharv tossed away his cigarette and, after a moment, they both made their way over to us.

"Sit down, we're playing Truth or Dare," someone announced eagerly.

"This is childish, I'm not-" Atharv began, but Ariv cut him off with a smirk.

"We will," Ariv decided, leaving Atharv no choice but to comply.

With a sigh, Atharv reluctantly joined the circle, taking a seat in the empty space which was farthest from mine.

"Okay, let's start!" another classmate declared, spinning the bottle to kick off the game.

The game quickly turned intense, with people coming up with some pretty daring challenges. As the bottle spun around the circle, I found myself hoping that when my turn came, I'd only have to answer a truth. The dares were getting out of hand, from goofy challenges to some that were just plain uncomfortable.

A girl was asked to strip to her undergarments. Then a boy was dared to lick his guy best friend's nipples. Ahhhh that was hilarious. While everyone cheered I felt disgust. Ariv's eyes were always grooming with excitement whenever a guy had to face his dreadful dares. While Atharv, he remained indifferent and stern. It was no fun to him. No engagement from his side

Ariv, true to form, always chose dares. One time he had to kick someone on their ass to make them fall into the pool, another time he was dared to flirt with the PT teacher-he took it all in stride.

Atharv, however, was more strategic. When the bottle pointed to him, he picked the truth. They asked him how many times he'd had sex, and he hesitated before answering with a number-twelve-that seemed modest for him, yet still surprising. My eyes actually got wide, it was actually a huge number that too at this age.