Hope of it all

17. Young love

Author's note

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Aastha's POV

Aarav's walking me to my room in the girls' wing of the resort. We are casually chatting about how we're planning to interview the native people tomorrow. We take a left and I immediately spot two very familiar people together. They're hugging each other, in an intimate way. The girl is wearing all black and her curls fall all over her cheeks as she laughs at something the guy in the blue hoodie said. Khushi and Tanmay, I realise, are the people who are now giggling looking at each other.

Aarav's eyes follow my gaze and he's as confused as me.

"Ye kya kar rhe hai?" "Ye kab hua?" We both whisper at the same time.

"Khushi?" I call her raising my eyebrows.

Her head snaps towards my direction and she pushes Tanmay away immediately.

Tanmay is about to protest but he senses our presence and shuts his mouth.

"What are you guys doing here alone?" I ask.

"What were you guys doing alone in the room?" She retorts with another question.

Well played.

"It's past curfew, let's return to our own rooms" I say walking towards Khushi.

I turn around to say goodbye to the boys but Aarav is already looking at me.

"See you guys tomorrow" he says, to me and Khushi. "Good night, Aastha" he adds, only for me.

I return his genuine smile "Good night Aarav"

Tanmay clears his throat smirking.

"Good night, Tanmay." I say rolling my eyes.

I can't help but notice how Khushi smiles at Tanmay twirling her hair with her finger, clearly blushing.

"You're gonna tell me everything in detail" I whisper to Khushi as we walk towards our room.

We enter the room and I shut the door.

"When? How? Did he do the chasing or did you? Was he-" I ask her the series of questions popping in my mind.

"Chill. I'll tell you everything. He followed me on social media when college first started. Slowly, he started liking and commenting on my stories, posts, and the poems I wrote. First, I thought he was being supportive but then he approached me during classes with excuses like 'I need notes' or 'do you have an extra pen'. And yeah, it was creepy at first. But I noticed how he never crossed my physical and emotional boundaries. During DJ night, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes". She says, red creeping up her cheeks.

"That's so out of a book. Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I ask

"Because I thought he was joking. I thought he was fooling around.. but he wasn't. He actually likes me." She says.