The Lustre [On Hold]

chapter twelve

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chapter twelve • a celestial atmosphere
Z A R A A U R O R A O U D H

𖤹 𖤹 𖤹 𖤹 𖤹

I couldn't say thank you.

I couldn't thank him for giving me a ride. I didn't know why I couldn't. I was never like this.

It's because I hate him.

"Why isn't Mom joining us, Didi?"

"Her spa schedule varies, sweetheart," I reply with cucumbers on my eyelids. I'm honestly having the time of my life.

"I totally forgot."

"By the way, how was the ride?" I hear Jia's voice.

"What ride?"

"The ride with Raj."

"Fucking hell, Jia! That sounds so fucking wrong."

"Well, it's not my fault your mind's in the gutter. You know I wasn't indicating something dirty."

I cringe. Why would she say it like that when there are so many ways of saying it? "It was nothing."

"You guys didn't talk at all?"

"Um... we did. But just a few words."

"And what're those few words?"

"I asked him why he wasn't talking."

"What?" I hear her voice raise. "You? The Zara Oudh? Did you start a conversation? And that too by asking the other person why they weren't talking? I must say, I'm genuinely surprised."

"I have to agree." I heard Anya's voice this time.

I decide to ignore that. "Well, surprise surprise! I'm a grown adult who knows how to talk!"

"Says the one who cries watching an animated dog dying."

I smack my lips. "Do you wanna know what happened or not?"

"Okay, fine, sorry. Please, tell us what happened."

"So, I asked him that and he said he would gladly talk to me but it wasn't necessary because my presence was more than enough."

"That's so damn romantic??" Anya comments.

"Okay, was there a nickname?" Jia investigates.

"Yes. He called me princess."

"There's something about this nickname that hits so much harder than babe." The seventeen-year-old comments again. I swear this child reads too many novels.

"I would have to agree with her," Jia says. "Then?"

I remove my cucumbers. "And then I got confused, so I went "huh" then he said I was sitting so close to him and it's enough because he used to see me from afar thinking he could never breathe the same air as I do."