LOVE OR FRIENDSHIP?

The Haunted Street

Salman's POV

                We continued ringing the bell and running away for most of the houses there. When we came almost towards the end of the lane and when Kaym rang the bell in a house, immediately an old man opened the door and for Olivia's bad she was the one standing by the door.

             Kaym, Edgar, Fred, Harry and Anna were in front, so the escaped. Omar, Aliza, Juliet and I were quite behind. We hid behind a tree watching at them. Thank God the man didn't see us. It was only Olivia who was struck up in the middle and it was her fate to get caught. Poor girl. I feel sorry for her though.

            Surely, Olivia wouldn't have expected the man to open the door. She stood there for a while, confused, not knowing what to do, and then she ran towards Kaym and the others. That idiotic child shouldn't have run. If she had just walked by the road pretending that she wasn't the one who rang the bell, she would've escaped. Or she should've pretended that she was searching for some house and she'd got the wrong address or something. She's dumb at times.

             This pissed the man off and he started screaming at her. Kaym and the rest stood like they were having a chat there and now when Olivia went and joined them, its obvious that it was a prank. Those people should've moved away.

           After the man had finished scolding them, Omar, Aliza, Juliet and I walked through the path pretending like we don't know the rest. After we had just passed the man I eyed them to leave the place and they immediately did.

           They rushed to the next lane and we followed them. I hope the man doesn't follow us. They've been standing at the beginning of the lane and waiting till we join them. Once we reached them, all ten of us laughed our butts off recalling what happened a while ago. 

           Not a single street light was lit in this street and it was pitch black. We could barely see each other. There are tiny houses here and there but they don't seem like they have any garden lights. It's a narrow pathway with trees on either sides. The road looks haunted and scary. It wasn't a moonlight night as well.

          The guys including myself started hooting and making wired noises just to make the girls freak out. Aliza is a brave girl as I noticed. She didn't seem like she's afraid of anything. She and Juliet were walking holding each other's hand tightly and so were Anna and Olivia.

          When Aliza was busy talking to Juliet, I was sure she wouldn't realize anything that's happening around her. So I tiptoed behind her, leaned closer to her left ear and hooted weirdly pulling back her hijab slightly. I expected her to scream in fear but surprisingly she turned saying,

"HaHa, I know its one of you guys"

I smirked and punched her in her upper arm playfully to which she fake winced in pain.

"You can't easily scare me off" she said putting her tongue out.

"Wait and watch" I replied laughing.  

             After sometime I thought of trying it on Juliet. I expected her to be same as her friend. I thought she wouldn't get afraid. I took Omar with me and quickly hurried in front of everyone without them noticing. We knew they wouldn't notice because it was dark. We hid behind a tree and waited till they come. 

             I couldn't see who exactly was coming towards us since, we could only see figures walking forth. Of course I knew it was Aliza and Juliet who were coming clinging on to each other.

           When they approached us, Omar and I bounced into them as we had planned. The girls screamed their throats off. Aliza moved away to the other edge of the street screaming while Juliet stood still in the same place covering her eyes by her palms.

           The both of them were shivering and were about to cry. Omar and I looked at each other astonished because we never expected them to get afraid this much. The others too stood there confused and didn't come towards us till we settle. Since I was quite near to Juliet and Omar was closer to Aliza, I gestured him to look into Allie and soothe her.

I went closer to Juliet and shook her by her shoulder,

"Hey Juliet"

             I had no words to tell her. I don't know how to soothe her, really. I was tensed up and ran my fingers through my hair trying to think of an idea.

               I tried once more "Hey!" This time without having any physical contacts. But No, it didn't work out. She stood in the same posture. 

              I moved even more close to her and hugged her sideways leaving no gap between our bodies. I could feel her freezing body against mine. I held her in my left arm and tried to move her hands away from her face by my right hand.

              I could easily move her hands away, but she was looking down so I couldn't get a proper view of her expressions. I lifted her head up and turned it towards my direction so that she can see me. It's damn comfortable when she's near me and especially when hugging her. I wish I can do more and more with her, literally everything.

              I didn't want to leave her so I remained in that position until she pushed me away slightly. I held both her upper arms and turned her facing me although she wasn't looking at me. Since I am taller, her gaze was parallel to my chest. I could hear her breathing heavily.

I lifted her head up again and apologized,

"I.. I am sorry Juliet. I never expected you to get afraid." I had no more words to say.

            She shook her head like as if though she wants to say it's alright and forced a smile. As I was about to ask her if she was okay, the others joined us and our moment alone, together was soon over. Thank God when they came I wasn't holding her.

Kaym patted on her shoulder and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I still can't recall what exactly happened... I need some time" She managed to reply.

             Aliza recovered sooner than Juliet. So she hugged her friend soothing her and after a while they were settled. We continued walking back to Harry's place and on our way we were recalling the adventure what happened a while ago and laughed.

I could see in Aliza's and Juliet's smile that they are embarrassed for the way they reacted. Anyway the best part was, I got a chance to hug her and that was like heaven for me. My lips eventually form a smile when I think about it.  

Hello!

I hope the chapter's interesting :) Salman/Juliet moments eh *wink* 

With love,

Emraiys.