The Dating Charade ✔️

Chapter-17

At 7 PM sharp, all the youngsters were gathered in the main hall, waiting for Shivaay to show up. He seemed to be taking his own sweet time getting ready, and had been locked inside his room for the past hour. It made the four juniors- Om, Rudra, Prinku and Saumya- surprised, yet not displeased,  to see that their big brother was acting so teenager-ish all of a sudden.

"Honestly, though," Rudra said, checking his watch for the millionth time, "this is starting to get annoying. Bhaiya always chided us for not being punctual, and here we're going to be late because of him! I'll go and break down his door now!" Saying so, he was starting to sprint upstairs, but Om held him back by the forearm.

"You'll do no such thing," Om said authoritatively, and Rudra pouted. Saumya rolled her eyes at that.

"Cry baby, why are you after my Bade bhaiya? It's only natural he'll try to look good for Annika didi!" She and Prinku giggled at that.

"Oh, please," Rudra said arrogantly, "Annika didi will never find Shivaay bhaiya more handsome than me, so he should stop trying." He earned a smack on the head from Om at that, while Saumya only snickered.

"What's up, guys?" Shivaay said as he finally descended the stairs. The girls could definitely see he had put in extra attention to his appearance today, and looked more dashing than usual in his casual black jacket, paired with a white shirt and black pants. His hair was gelled up perfectly and he smelled divine; not to mention, of course, the boyish smile on his face made him look so much younger.

"Wow, bhaiya," Prinku said with admiration, "you look amazing!" Saumya too nodded in agreement.

Shivaay hugged his two sisters with affection.

"Thankyou, girls. Anyway, shouldn't we get going? We're getting late!"

"Are we?" Rudra said sarcastically, "I hadn't realized."

Shivaay ignored the sardonic comment and gestured everyone to follow him; his heart was beating fast at the prospect of seeing Annika, and he couldn't wait a minute longer. Almost sprinting, he made his way towards the car, everyone else jogging to keep up. It was a 15 minute ride to the cinema, and in the black SUV, the four of them couldn't stop chattering while Shivaay listened in silence. His mind was too preoccupied by something, or some one else, to be distracted. Right now, he was wondering how he would be able to get a seat next to her in the hall, seeing as both his brothers, and sisters, were equally possessive of her, and wanted her attention all the time. Shivaay smiled at the thought- leave it up to Annika to be everyone's favorite!

They arrived at the hall and after getting their tickets, waited in the lounge for Annika. Shivaay, however, noticed an extra ticket in Rudra's hand.

"Who is this for?" he asked with a frown "I thought Sahil wasn't coming?"

"Oh, he's not. Annika didi wanted to bring a friend of hers, and I of course said she could." Rudra replied. 

Shivaay guessed that she was probably bringing Chanda, her best friend, and thought with a scowl that he would have to share her with one more person tonight. But the thought of her trying to pacify him with her cute antics had him brightening again.

"I can't keep smiling!" Shivaay chided himself mentally, trying to keep his face straight. "I have to appear angry in front of her!" 

He was lost in these thoughts when he noticed his companions suddenly getting excitedly. There was a small crowd in front of him so he couldn't see the gate, but the charging of air and every other change around him associated with his Annika radar told him that she had arrived. Moving around the people to get a look at her, his breath caught in his throat.