Love That Fly Away

Interaction

"Open the door, Ahana! Are you done? What the hell! We don’t have the whole night, Ahana. I want you out in two minutes," I shouted at the door.

"Okay, okay! I’m coming," Ahana replied.

Aunty had told us to get ready for Sana's Haldi ceremony, but, as usual, Ahana—the beauty queen—was taking forever. Meanwhile, I hadn’t even started getting ready yet. After five minutes, she finally stepped out of the bathroom, looking flawless as usual. Dressed in a beautiful ethnic outfit, with matching jhumkas and bangles, her hair was straight and perfectly manageable. Not like mine—frizzy and wavy. Ugh, I hate my hair.

"Do I look good?" Ahana asked, checking herself in the mirror.

"You look great," I replied, but with my I’m-still-mad-at-you look.

"Okay, go! Hurry up now, we don’t have all week," she smirked and left the room.

I rushed into the bathroom and quickly changed into a peach-pink salwar kameez because, well, it’s an Indian wedding, and traditional attire was a must. I paired it with golden sandals and a matching clutch. The color suits me—maybe because I’m fair-skinned, or maybe just because I love this shade of pink. Thankfully, my hair wasn’t too frizzy today, so I decided to leave it open. My lips are my best feature, so I just put on some lip balm and was done. Decent and ready to go.

Down in the hall, everyone looked amazing—except me, of course, because I never know how to use those makeup products properly. Sana looked absolutely beautiful in her yellow sari and floral ornaments, surrounded by a crowd of aunties. I didn’t feel like going over there. And Ahana? She was nowhere to be seen—probably off taking selfies somewhere. Feeling a bit out of place, I decided to step outside.

The view was stunning. I found myself on the balcony, which, in my opinion, was the best part of this bungalow. Perched on the second floor, it offered a perfect view of the night sky. I’ve always loved watching the stars. A sky full of stars at night brings me peace. I could stare at it forever without getting bored. It’s my all-time favorite thing to do.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Ryan’s voice startled me.

"Nothing," I replied, turning toward him.

He smiled, then shifted his gaze back to the sky. We stood there in comfortable silence for a while, both just staring at the stars. Then he spoke.

"You know, I love the sky."

"Me too. I could watch it forever," I said, still gazing upward.

"One day, I’ll fly up there," he said confidently, as if it were a certainty.

I laughed, "You don’t have wings."

"I’ll think of something. Don’t make fun of me!" he pouted.

Aww, he looked so cute when he said that. I smiled at him. That’s when I noticed he was wearing trousers again, this time with a black T-shirt. His hair was messy, but in a good way. He looked hot.

"So, what do you do?" he asked, now looking at me.

"I’m still studying. I’ll be graduating soon with a degree in English Literature," I replied.

"That’s cool," he said with a smile.

"And what about you?" Ahana suddenly appeared out of nowhere, interrupting our conversation.

"Where were you? Mom’s been calling you. Come on, let’s go," she said, grabbing my hand.

Ryan gave me a quick goodbye smile before disappearing from sight.

The Haldi function turned out to be a lot of fun later on. There was music, and we even danced a little. Since it was a women-only function, I didn’t see Ryan again after our conversation on the balcony.