Poles Apart

Chapter Five

I walked around the Sangeet hall with Avni, greeting guests. I finally got around to socialising. I didn't think I'd be able to avoid it much longer anyway.

Gayatri Aunty, Arjun's mother, smiles warmly when she sees me. "You danced wonderfully, Arvi," she says.

I try to smile at her. "Um... thank you, Aunty," I fumble out. It's a shame I can't take a compliment as gracefully as it has been delivered. "You were amazing on-stage," I compliment her. She was truly amazing up there, I even heard someone say she was a classical dancer.

She smiles pleasantly. "Thank you, Arvi," she accepts gracefully. Her eyes scan the room before zeroing in on me again. "If you find Arjun or Savitri anywhere, will you please tell them to come and find me?"

I nod quickly, uncomfortable about how she stresses on the, please. Rude people are easier to deal with. Polite people, like the woman in front of me? Not very. Polite people, please-s, thank you-s and compliments, stress me out like nothing else.

"I will," I assure her.

The smile on her face remains constant throughout our conversation. Gayatri Aunty is the kind of woman that you will instantly grow a liking to, it's because of how she handles herself; with grace, respect, poise and warmth. A warm aura surrounds her at all times, making her companions feel instantly comfortable.

I walk over to where most of my cousins are. All of them had been dispersed through the hall, being businessmen with acumen. After the planned performances were over, the floor had been open to anyone who wanted to dance, and there were quite a few of the like.

I find Aryan, Rohan, Avni and Prithvi together. "Why aren't you out there?" I ask them, tilting my head to the dance floor.

"It's a couple's song," Rohan says, while the others simply shrug and nod in agreement.

I want to ask him why he can't ask someone to dance, but I assume it has to do with being afraid of girls' fathers. Well, Prithvi shouldn't be afraid of that.

"Why aren't you dancing?" I nudge Prithvi.

He shrugs in a bored manner. "Don't feel like it," he says monotonously.

I roll my eyes at him and turn to look at Avni. "Why aren't you dancing?" I ask her.

She pouts and complains, "No one asked me."

Prithvi turns to look at her with a warning glare, but she smartly dodges it by looking at me. I chuckle at that. "Don't stand beside Prithvi, then. He looks like he's going to throw literal daggers at anyone who might come this way."

"Oh, yeah?" Prithvi challenges, narrowing his eyes at me. "Why aren't you dancing, then?" he asks. Rohan and Aryan smartly move away from a possible argument.

"Because," I say and shrug carelessly.

"That isn't even a proper answer," he says. His face is grim, bordering on angry.

"What's happened, Prithvi?" I ask, placing a comforting hand on his forearm. "Is something wrong?"

He looks at me contemplatively for a moment, and then the grim look descends on his face again. He shrugs my hand off. "Why are you acting like everything is alright?" he asks.

I frown. "Because everything is?" What is wrong about anything? "What is up with you?" I ask him.

Surprise marks face. "You don't know," he says conclusively, more to himself than to me.

"About what, Prithvi?" I ask exasperatedly. What is with speaking in riddles like this, anyway?

Suddenly, he looks relieved. He passes me a smile and cocks his head to the side, at the girl in Pink who had been throwing glances at him for a while now. "I'm going to go ask her to dance," he says and strides off before I can say anything.