Coloured Me Grey (Book Two)

Chapter 18

Okay, this chapter was going to be HUGE, so I decided to break it up into three chapters to save you guys some trouble. I swear I get angry at tedious chapter lengths even in good books. Not saying that this is particularly a good book (smirks to hide the pain) but hey, smol chapters rock my world! Anyway, read on and enjoy!

The first semester was over. It was the winter break when one day Divya called me up to ask if I would like to join the rest of the group for a party over the weekend.

A booze party.

"You could catch a break from your brooding self, you know."

"I don't think I can," I replied. I could not bring Zara to a booze party. And I was definitely the outsider in their group. Let's face it, nobody really wanted me around except Tuhin, Ishan and Divya. With two of them absent, I'd be a sorry charity case. "It would be really awkward."

"Alright, I won't pressurize you into anything," Divya said over the phone. "The offer still stands though, okay? If you ever change your mind."

"Why are you guys bringing liquor to your place? Won't your mom be around?"

"She is visiting her parents for the weekend. I am pretty sure she has an idea of what I'll be up to when she is gone, but she doesn't mind as long as I don't let things get out of hand. It will be fine, I promise." She gave me the location of her place and I noted it down half-heartedly. I did not like the idea at all.

Yash was away on a trip with his family to some remote location where there was a bare minimum of net connection. I could not text or call him up either as frequently as I would have liked to.

I short, I was having a hard time filling my days of inactivity with occasionally interesting pirated versions of TV series and taking Zara to the park.

Bore I could protest, Zara threw my hoodie at my chest and demanded I take her to the park as she had planned on playing hide and seek with Rohan. I felt bad for Romila the elder sister, who had to take him out from time to time to meet my sister's demands while preparing for her Boards exams which were about three months from now.

"So how are your preps going?" I asked as we sat down on a bench together once the children had run off in search of hiding places in an open park (LOGIC 101, haha).

"I suck," Romila threw her hands up in the air out of exasperation.

"I'm sorry about Zara insisting you bring Rohan everyday to the park, you are probably missing out on precious time for revising."

"Are you kidding me?" She gasped dramatically. "Don't worry about it," she waved me off. "This is the only time I get to relax. At home, my parents make sure Rohan stays away from me in order to not let me be distracted ," Romila was evidently was evidently mocking them. "But that just frustrates me more. It's just not ... fair!"

"Alright, alright, we'll not talk about your studies anymore, okay?"

"Thanks," she muttered. "What are you doing now? I mean artsy stuff? I really want to see your work, if you don't mind."

"Sure, but it's not that great. Don't expect too much." I showed her a few of my wood carvings, clay models on my phone.

"I don't understand artsy stuff but these are amazing!" 

She squinted as I swiped to the next picture. "Who's that? That's not you, is it?"

"A friend in college," it was one of the many pictures I had taken of Yash as his official stalker, when he had been absorbed in thought in front of his canvas. Some days, he did nothing, did not even pick up a brush, and just stood there in front of the riot of colors, lost in his own dream world. I would watch his twitches and winces as he -

"Wow! You do artsy stuff with artsy people, that's so cool!" Romila interrupted my train of thoughts. Her face soon contorted in a sort of confusion. "But this angle .." she mused. "Did you climb ..." Oh. Shit.fuck.  "... on a bunk or something? That's kind of a high-angle shot. Don't tell me," her eyes widened, "you were at his window! You were stalking him?"

"Well," I had started to sweat on a cool winter morning. "Kind of. That's how we became friends, in a nutshell. He is fine with it now, these photos were taken after he knew about me at the window," I added as an afterthought. 

"Woah, that's borderline criminal. But if he's okay with it, then I guess you're good." My phone buzzed in her hand with incoming text messages. "That's a girl texting you!" She squealed quietly. "You have a girlfriend, wow!"

I chuckled. "Home arrest before exams must be taking a toll on you. You're finding everything more exciting than they actually are." I took my phone from her. "And no, I don't have any girlfriends ... or boyfriends for that matter. Sorry."

"Did you just ..." I watched in amusement as her eyes grew even bigger, if that was possible, the tip of her nose red. "Did you just come out? Holy hell, fucking yes!"

"Pipe down! The kids will hear you cussing," I snorted.

"But you - what the fuck," she whispered excitedly. "Oh. My. God. You like him , don't you? Fuck, you like that boy in front of the canvas! That's why -" she gasped for breath. "That's so friggin cute!"

"Calm down, it's nothing like that. He's the only friend I have in college."

"That's sad," she pouted. "But fuck no, that's even cuter!"

"Alright, alright," I giggled. "Take your time, calm down."

Meanwhile, I checked who had texted me. Since Romila mentioned a girl, I was certain that it was Divya. But I was wrong. 

It was Divya's girlfriend, Nisha, inviting me once again for their party that involved staying the night at Divya's place. Divya's mother's place, specifically. I really did want to have this wild experience but -

Romila broke into my reverie once again. "What is it? You look ... troubled?"

"My friends from school. They have invited me to a booze party, I really want to go. But ... actually I became friends with them almost at the end of school and with - let's say, it'd be really awkward. They're a close-knit group and the friends I was originally close with, they will not be there. Some of the others are cool, I even feel bad for turning them down when a part of me does want to go. "

"Booze can help you bond, maybe? You probably should take the chance. This is your college life after all. Have fun while you still can. When I'm going to college, I'll make sure I am reckless and the friggin time of my life, "she said determinedly. "I will be invited to each and every party, you just wait and watch."

I smiled. "As long as you don't kill your liver."

"Yeah, but first tell me about the boy. What's his name?"

I answered all her questions as nonchalantly as I could, she even demanded to show her more pictures of Yash, profile, half-bust, full-figure, portrait and surprisingly, I had enough pictures from each angle and in each posture.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Yep, yep," she sat up straight. "He is cute."

"You interested? I won't mind dropping in a few words in your favor next time I see him."

"Are you out of your mind? I know who's going after him and it's certainly not me."

"You have more confidence in myself than I do." I laughed. "So, what's your status? Seeing someone?"

"Looking everywhere. Watching everyone. Seeing nobody. I have a sad, lonely life. Can't wait for college, ugh!"

"College might sound like a bunch of sunshine and rainbows now, but once you get in, your life is not much different. You'll be very excited for the first two months but then -"

"Shush, don't say it! Come on, stop shattering my rose-tinted glasses!" She looked alarmed as Rohan tumbled down face-first into the grass, but he immediately stood up and started to laugh along with Zara who helped him dust his bottom. Romila sighed in assurance and said, "Now let your friend know that you'll be going for the party."

***