All Over Again (ON HOLD)

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 

‘’He’s rehearsing for a play!’’ Ashton and I blurted out the same instant.

Okay, now that was rehearsed.

I wasn’t one who could lie and get away with it. I pretty much suck at it. And I was getting the feeling that Ashton was on the same page as me.

Deciding against lying I started, ‘’I mean…’’, then deciding against that I continued, ‘’yeah…’’, I ended lamely.

This  is ridiculous.

‘’Okay…’’, Mom said, looking at us suspiciously, an eyebrow raised. Nobody, I repeat, nobody can pull off that look better than mom. Which brings us to our conclusion: Screwed.

Please buy it. Please.

‘’Anyway, we decided to go out for a while, check out this place you know. So, we’re leaving…’’ Ashton said, looking at me questioningly when he said leaving.

‘’Yes, yes! We’re leaving.’’ I said, smiling. Ashton put his arm around Arjun casually and walked him out. Smart move, gotta say.

‘’Bye! Don’t wait up for us!’’ I said, taking one copy of the keys kept at the table near the front door and putting on my flats. I waved and shut the door before they could bombard us with questions.

I walked down to the street; Ashton was waiting there with Arjun leaning on him.

‘’Good save in there.’’ I told Ashton, my thumb hooked in the direction of my house.

‘’Yeah… Where to now?’’ He asked, Arjun’s arm slung over him for support. 

‘’We could go to this nearby café to kill time. We’re looking at a minimum of two hours because I’m positive they won’t sleep before that.’’ I said.

He just shrugged in agreement and we walked down the street. It was around ten in the night, making it pretty dark. And since it was a weekday people had called it a night throughout the street except for a few rooms lit up. But all in all, it was eerily silent giving it that whole creepy lonely feeling. Except that I wasn’t alone. I looked sideways to Arjun and Ashton. One could tell they were brothers despite the differences. I couldn’t see properly but I think I saw a ghost of a scar on Arjun’s nape with a tattoo half above it; almost like it was meant to cover the scar. That gave me a feeling there was some serious incident behind that scar. I didn’t think it right to ask though seeing as we were pretty much strangers to each other. Maybe I could ask him some other time, if we got around to talking. For some reason - I’m betting on the drunken state- Arjun was smiling like a kid into the darkness. He looked so innocent and cute I wanted to reach out and pinch his cheeks but refrained from doing so.

‘’So, which school do you go to?’’ Ashton asked me suddenly, breaking the silence.

‘’St. Xavier’s.’’ I responded with a smile.

Looking towards the road and smirking he asked, ‘’and that boyfriend of yours?’’

‘’I have a boyfriend?’’ I asked him with raised eyebrows. It was intriguing to know that I had a boyfriend I didn’t know of.

He looked at me and I don’t know for sure because of the dark but I thought I saw panic cross his features for a millisecond. Regaining to his normal self he said, ‘’Oh? I must’ve confused you with someone else. Oh, I know. I confused you with Anchal. She’s this friend from India. No big deal. Sorry.’’