You Are Beautiful

You are beautiful Part II

First, I want to take this moment to thank all the people who took their time to read the first part. I was seriously overwhelmed because I had posted it thinking no one would really read it. But thank you everyone, esp Akita, Susmita and Rohit for thinking my story was worthy enough to be shared on facebook. :)

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Sumi couldn't help smiling remembering the way Sagun said 'Hey' and smiled at her yesterday as she went to school the next day. But she tried not to be happy too much about it as she kept reminding herself that Sagun probably mistook her for someone else because she found it impossible to believe that she was noticed by none other than Sagun, aka the guy every girl had a crush on. But the same thing happened again in school. Sagun greeted her good morning in the hallway and Sumi finally dared to believe that she wasn't mistaken for another girl after all. So this time miraculously Sumi was able to nod back. She didn't relay that incident to Pratima of course because she was still not talking with her properly. During lunch period, Sumi asked her friend, "Hey, are you mad at me?"

"I'm not..." Then after a moment, "Do you like Sagun?" Pratima asked not making eye contact. Sumi didn't know what to say but she knew she couldn't tell the truth. "Of course I don't. I would've told you otherwise. Sagun talking to me yesterday was out of nowhere. " Her heart was beating fast because she had just lied to her friend. Pratima relaxed a little and smiled at her. "I know, right? You were so lucky." Her voice still held a hint of envy.

After the final period finished, Sumi was waiting for Pratima in the hallway who'd gone to the wash room. Someone tapped her shoulder. When she turned around, Sagun was there, with his hands in his pockets, smiling his 'amazing' smile at her. "Hey...so I was wondering if you could come to my house tomorrow. I'm having this party in my house. There are going to be lots of people and food. I think you should come." Sumi couldn't believe her ears. Did he just invite her to a party in his house?? Her first instinct was to refuse the invitation because she immediately thought of Pratima, going off like a red alert in her mind. And also because she had never gone to a party before other than the usual family gatherings. But somehow, she heard herself saying, "Okay" to Sagun. "Awesome. Here's my address. " Sagun gave her a paper with his address and phone number. "The party starts at 1. So...I'll see you there. I really hope you will come." He said while walking backwards and then turned and went downstairs. Just after a minute, Pratima joined her in the hallway. "Let's go." On the way home, Sumi contemplated telling Pratima about the party. But in the end as Pratima said goodbye to her, all Sumi did was wave back.

It was 11 p.m. and Sumi still couldn't fall asleep. She was still surprised at herself for saying okay to Sagun, that she was actually brave enough to speak with him. Part of her was feeling scared about going to a party for the first time in her life. Also she hadn't yet decided what she was going to tell her mom tomorrow. Part of her was feeling nervous thinking about going to Sagun's house and seeing him again. Part of her also felt guilty about not telling Pratima about the party but she knew that if she had, Pratima would not have wanted her to go since she wasn't invited. And she really wanted to go because most part of her was really excited about tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, she could be as bold and pretty as those 10th grade girls.

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It was 11 o'clock in the morning. She already told her mom that she was going to a friend's birthday party. She used Palistha's name because her mom didn't really know her. To her relief, her mom didn't ask her a lot of questions either. Her mom gave her permission to go and Sumi felt guilty lying to another important person in her life.

She started getting ready at 11.30. She'd already decided last night what she was going to wear, her brand new jeans and a red t-shirt that her uncle had brought from Hongkong which was the most fanciest of all that she had in her closet. After dressing up, she snuck to her parents' room and opened her mom's make up kit. She had never used make up before but she'd seen her mom use it. She tried her best with it and as she looked in the mirror, she decided it wasn't that bad for a first timer. She'd previously decided to wear her sneakers but now she somehow felt more confident so she opened her mom's closet and chose the red heels that she'd always wanted to wear. Even though the shoes didn't quite fit her (her feet were huge for a 13 year old), she had never felt so pretty before. It was already 12.30 pm. Now all she had to do was sneak her way out of the house since she didn't want to have to deal with her mom's probing questions about the make-up and heels. It was just her luck when she heard her mom go to the bathroom. She made a run for it towards the door, shouting "Bye Mom!!" on the way. "Return home by 5!" Her mom shouted from inside the bathroom.

Sagun's house was in a walking distance from her home. He really didn't need to give her the address because she knew where he lived. Pratima pointed it out to her once several years ago. Thinking about Pratima just made her feel guilty but she didn't dwell on it longer because she finally reached Sagun's house. It was one of the nicest houses in the neighbourhood. And then all her confidence evaporated. She was suddenly really nervous. What was she doing coming at a party 15 minutes early? Maybe she should wait out here. But then she heard noises coming from within the house. Maybe the party started early? She went through the gate and inside the house. There were lots of people inside. And all of them were seniors. She suddenly wanted to run away. She felt stupid to  even have accepted the invitation in the first place. She didn't feel so confident anymore. 

Then Nina appeared by her side. "Hey... You're here. Were you looking for Sagun??" She said smiling at Sumi. She was wearing a beautiful yellow sundress, with her hair all straight and shiny, wearing a pair of silver high heels and managed to look even prettier than before. Sumi felt she didn't belong here. But she went with Nina anyway when she took her to Sagun because she really did want to see him. Sagun was in the balcony talking with another 10th grade boy. The boy saw her first. "I can't believe it! You actually came!" The boy seemed shocked to see her. Sagun turned around and smiled at Sumi. "Hey...I knew you'd come. By the way, you look really good today." Then suddenly they were left alone in the balcony. "I'm glad you came." Sagun said to her. Sumi became flustered. Why was it so hard to speak with him? Just when she was about to thank him for inviting, Sagun leaned in close and kissed her in the cheek. Saying she was shocked was an understatement. She felt a mix of emotions, and surprisingly none of them was happiness. That kiss felt wrong and that was even more confirmed when Sumi heard laughter coming from behind. The boy who was shocked before said to Sagun, "Man, you really can do anything. Damn, my money!" Sagun laughed. "Sorry, dude!" When he saw Sumi's confused face, he chuckled and said, "Thanks for coming, Sumi. You really made my day." The other guys around him laughed along. Sumi wanted to run away as far as possible from this place. But she stood frozen. 

One of the guys said, "Uh... no, she's gonna cry, dude." Somehow Sumi made her legs move and she ran away as fast as she could from them. Then she met Nina on the way. "Aww...you poor thing. You really shouldn't have come. We didn't think you'd come to the party but you surprised us. Wait, you didn't really think he liked you, did you?" Nina sneered at her. "Because if it weren't for me, he wouldn't have even known you existed. But in the end, you got a kiss you've always dreamed of and Sagun got the money like he wished for." It felt like she'd slapped her. Nina continued, "It was all just a bet. Guys do it all the time. You just happened to be the victim this time. Thanks to me of course. " And then she smiled. How in the world could Sumi have ever thought that smile was anywhere near being friendly?? Then Nina poured the drink from her glass onto Sumi's shirt. "Oops... well, it was a disgusting t-shirt anyway." Some of the girls were giving Sumi pitiful looks while others just laughed at her. And Sumi just let them.

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Your thoughts on the second part of this story is always welcome! I will be posting the third and final part of this story very soon. I want to thank you again for reading my story(even though you are probably sick of hearing it again and again. Will this girl ever stop??) and tolerating numerous grammatical errors in the story. But seriously, Thank you!! (Yes I know you're rolling your eyes right now.)

Love,

Shreeka