ALMOST THERE

CHAPTER 31: Chole Bhature

I Love You, I'm Sorry -  Graice Abrams
💌🧸♥️🌝

"Raahat. Moved in. Next door. You've got to be kidding me."

Tejal sat on my bed, wide-eyed and shaking her head, like she couldn't believe what I had just told her.

I shrugged, sitting cross-legged across from her. "Yep. The same cold-blooded statue of a human now lives right next to us. How exciting."

She scoffed, throwing her hands up. "That's insane, man. Out of all people? Raahat? The guy who looks like he's plotting a heist every time you see him?"

"Yup. And to make things weirder, my mom, of all people, invited him over for dinner last night. Like, she, who has a no boys allowed policy in this house, rolls out the red carpet for him." I paused, leaning in slightly. "And get this. He was...nice. Like, talking and laughing with my parents. Full-on charm mode."

Tejal blinked at me, processing. "Wait hold on, wasn't he downstairs chopping vegetables with aunty when I came?"

"Yes he was." I let out a breath. "He's always over every now and then, and mom doesn't say a word! I can't put my finger on it, but something feels...off."

Tejal shook her head. "Yeah, no. That's strange. But, in case he starts slaughtering goats in your backyard, you know whom to call."

"Duh, bitch. My mom's acting weird, my dad's acting weird, and now I've got a mysterious neighbor who's suddenly the ladla of my parents? Like they'll disown me, who's supposed to be their ladli, and adopt him any second. Totally normal."

We shared a look of mutual disbelief before falling into a brief silence. I stared at the floor, my thoughts drifting like they always did these days—to Shahaan.

I hated how he kept creeping into my mind, especially when I was supposed to be focusing on other things. But there it was—his birthday was coming up, and we hadn't really talked much lately.

"Yo." Tejal waved her hand in front of my face, snapping me out of it. "Awaz aa rahi hai, behn??"

I blinked, sighing heavily. "Shahaan." His name escaped my lips in an almost inaudible whisper, before I could think better of it. Probably because it was all my brain could think about.

Tejal's eyes narrowed slightly. "Still?"

"Yeah," I said, almost embarrassed.
"I miss him, Tej, I badly do. It's like...ugh, I don't even know. I hate that he still means so much to me. I hate how he's out there hanging out with someone else while my panties are getting wet just at the sight of him."

Tejal leaned back, crossing her arms. "Girl, you backed off, wanting to be the bigger person giving them space. He didn't ditch you for her. You need to stop overthinking everything."

She looked over at me, a disgusted frown crossing her face, "And next time, maybe keep your arousal within you, or you're gonna flood the place with cu--"

"Shut up..." I threw a pillow at her face to make her stop.

Dang, she was right though.