I desperately hoped anyone would walk through the door into the stupid empty hall that I sat in right now. I just needed a friend right now and not Karan. Then a bunch of guys walked in. Arya and Jay! Jay looked over and smiled and then Karan went and joined them too. There were some other guys in the group too and they were all talking excitedly, so I awkwardly walked back, slammed into the wall and mentally cursed myself for being an idiot and kept my head down and walked over to my mother who was signing certificates (she was the Vice President of the club that organised this event). Anyways, mum told me she was only in this club cos they respected her and elected her Vice President, because in all honesty, she would rather have stayed home, but secretly, I think she did enjoy this environment!
Then I say Jay out of the corner of my eye! He gave me a small smile and I nodded my head, before sitting awkwardly by myself at a table. Before I could even think again, a group of people surrounded me sitting at the same table! Arya, Jay, Karan, Lav and some of their friends joined me. I was so glad, they were sweet enough to give me company when I was a loner. Arya then stole my phone and started looking through my photos and called me white, ugh that boy I swear. Then I found an old photo of Jay on my phone and everyone came over to look, even the guys I didn't know. They were all so sweet, except for Karan, who stayed put in his corner of the table while I rolled my eyes and chilled with the other guys. That's when Rhea entered. Her gorgeous ombré hair pulled back into a ponytail and an orange salwar covered up by a modest black cardigan. She was so pretty, even when she didn't try and there I was, looking like a loser in my red salwar. The self consciousness came back but I noticed, even though Rhea entered ,Karan was still intently looking at me. I shrugged it off, he was probably thinking of a way to overthrow my popularity.
Suddenly, while we were all talking, a short uncle with a curled moustache, came over and called all the boys to his side and they discussed something. Then the boys turned around and said bye to me and I wished them all luck for their performance. Karan walked off without saying anything, but I chatted to all of the guys before I let them go. Arya quickly gave me his bowtie and phone before he went and Rhea and I sat at the table. Halfway during the performances, a big family came and swallowed up the entire table and Rhea and I were stuck there. Finally, they announced food and so Rhea and I got up and joined the line. After getting food, we all went and found another table and originally, only Jay, Lav, Arya, Rhea and I sat at the table, but then slowly other kids came and we all decided to move and squeeze each other in. Then Karan came and we all offered to move up but he said no and sat at another table and Lav tried to include him in our conversations but to vain, when he also gave up and started juggling two conversations. Arya was being an idiot and started mixing drinks, it started off harmlessly, with rose milk and rasam then, he added channa (chole) and yoghurt rice and eventually, he started to feel sick and I told him to stop, but he told me that he could do it. Just then after all this, I noticed Karan was missing, but didn't think too much of it. I went and sat with Jay. We cracked jokes and it just felt like old times again. Then slowly, everyone cleared out and the party died down, but only Rhea, Karan, Jay, Lav, Arya and I were left. Lav's mum gave us a pack of cards and we played bluff. Karan was stone faced. Rhea kept cracking up, Jay had the dodgiest face, Lav was so innocent and Arya just lied everytime, but I ended up winning.
During pack up, I helped load things into Jay's car and it was nice and cool outside, the breeze blew softly and so I leaned against his car and sighed. He came and stood next to me.
'We're great aren't we?' He whispered.
'Pardon,' I responded confused.
'Us, U, Karan, Rhea, Arya and I,' he clarified.
'Yeah, we make a great team,' I said
'Yeah I mean Karan is generally really quiet with girls, but he seems to really like you,' Jay winked
'Come on man, we've known each other since birth,' I said frowning and lightly pushing him.
'Well whatever it is, we're cool,' he concluded, before my dad called us back in to help load the car.
Yeah... I said to no one in particular, but Jay was right, we were great, there was no awkwardness (apart from Karan) but we got along great and I didn't even notice the pain when I was with them. Six hours and I was pain free! I mean, there were butter knives and forks on the table, I even had hairpins and safety pins, but I didn't care. I frowned lightly to myself and adjusted my watch and tugged my jacked sleeve down further. That was better.
My dad told me to go and sit in the car. I took one step outside the hall when suddenly, it started raining heavily and I could get anywhere, but I decided to make a run for it and covering my head, I ran, when suddenly someone grabbed my wrist and the rain stopped. I looked up at the sky, only to see an umbrella. Karan had saved me from the rain. He was looking at me sadly..
'Sorry,' he whispered silently into my hair.
I just shook my head and smiled and it seemed to reassure him as he smiled back. I must have winced when he caught my wrist. The rain only got heavier and Karan's car was further away and so after I got into my car, I pulled him in with me and he smiled, his wet hair glistening on his forehead. I started to laugh and so did he, we both must have looked stupid. But suddenly, I started to see slightly, what the other girls saw. But I shook it off Karan was my friend and we both sat silently in the car until his car drove up behind mine and he merely nodded his head as a sign of goodbye and drove off.
