Beyond Desire

19-The main character in a low-budget Bollywood movie.

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I froze mid-rant, my lips parted around the next sharp word I intended to throw at him. For a second, I thought I hadn't heard him right. But the silence between us stretched as he continued to stare at me as though such a situation was a normal occurrence for us.

"W.....what? Did you just...." The look on his face told me that he had, in fact, just complimented me. "That's random." I deadpanned, still struggling to understand why.

As if the embarrassment wasn't enough, I stole a glance at him again. He didn't flinch, didn't back down on his words. His gaze held mine steadily, unblinking, as if daring me to call him out. The sudden urge to fill the silence with small talk took over me.

"Uhm.... Yours are better. I mean... your eyes. They're even more..." I sounded like the main character in a low-budget Bollywood movie. That shut me up real quick.

"Relax, I didn't compliment you to get one in return." He sighed and looked away dismissively.

"No, I mean it. Your eyes are... stunning.." I responded a bit too quickly. "If I had them, I would probably make them my whole personality." I blurted, fuelled my nervousness. By the time I realized how it sounded and who I was speaking to, it was a bit too late to take it back, so I laughed uneasily, waiting for the backlash to come.

He turns his head slightly, catching me with the corner of his piercing blue eyes, and his lips twitch into a slight smile of amusement. "...Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"What?" I raised my hands questionably, confused.

"Who would go around making eye colour their personality?" He muttered to himself but loud enough for me to hear.

"Oh, that's not the worst. It's better than zodiac sign isn't it?"

"People still believe in that?"

"Believe is such a light word, trust me."

"That's....messed up."

"Social media is messed up."

"How does it even work?"

"Social media?"

"No, picking up something silly like a star signs and deciding that's going to be your whole identity."

"It depends on what silly thing you decide on." I shrugged. "The zodiac girlies would blame every bad decision on Mercury retrograde or something. There are others though, a handful of them."

"Like?" He slowly veered around to face me.

"Like the coffee lovers. Every post is "don't talk to me until I have had my coffee." or gym rat life. "Do I mention I lift? Because I lift." I rolled my eyes because someone very specific popped into my head. "Or maybe the mental health struggle aesthetic. Those repulse me the most, always romanticizing being unwell like it's cute or trendy." I scoffed

"And where do you fall?"

"Do you think I am that dumb?"

He stared at me blankly, like he was actually weighing the question. Then, with the faintest shake of his head, his gaze lingered on me.

"What?" I smiled, uneasily.

"How did you get that?" The way he could leap from one subject to another never failed to throw me off.

"What?" I stared around.

"The scar." He pointed toward the upper part of my nose.

"Oh..." the scar was so faint it's barely visible. People hardly notice it, unless you stare at me intensely. "I tried to open a soda with my teeth." The familiar story slipped out of my tongue with ease.