My Summer Love Story | ✔️

ch. 20 ✰ relationship advice with Manav

The entire table remains quiet for what seems to be about five years but is actually five minutes. A random fork clatters against someone's plate, which is obviously the loudest noise existing in this area. I awkwardly bite my lip and look down at my plate as I hear someone clearing their throat. "So," Ali speaks up. "That was interesting."

There seemed to be no one to respond to Ali's sudden comment. Then, he speaks up again. "What just happened? I didn't know you and Ayushi were having issues."

I look over at Manav, who frustratingly massages his forehead. "We were having issues, and I was planning to fix it, but... turns out she got mad at me because I somehow made the situation worse."

"Yeah," Neha sighs. "Because you kept interrupting her."

"It's not like I was doing it on purpose!" he exclaims, grumbling to himself afterwards.

"It's okay," Akash surprisingly speaks up. "Things will get sorted out. After all, this is simply miscommunication."

Manav contemplates for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right, man. I just hope that she—"

He stops speaking when we all hear the door creak open. Seconds later, Ayushi trudges out to the kitchen, her short hair sprawled in different directions, her eyes redder than ever, and biting her lip down to the point where I think it is going to tear off. And what seems to be the weirdest thing of all is that she doesn't look at any of us, not even Manav. All she does is look at her plate filled with food, and she then simply takes a seat.

"So..." she speaks moments later. "Is everyone finished?"

"Uh," I take a deep breath. "I'm finished."

"Yeah, me too," Suhana murmurs.

Ayushi nods her head and gets up again, except she has her plate in her hand. Then, she dumps it in the sink, quickly washes her hands, and treads over to the room. The door slams loudly as I wince to myself. Yeesh.

A few awkward moments later, everyone started to get up. I wonder how everyone else feels about this situation and if they are extremely surprised or secretly knew that there was tension between Ayushi and Manav. Either ways, what is happening right now is that Ayushi is completely fuming, and Manav has no idea what he did that caused her to go ballistic.

I get up from my seat with my plate cradled in my hands, make my way over to the kitchen, and I place my dish in the sink. What to do now? Obviously, their issues are out in the open with everyone, so I don't really have to help them around in private. And obviously I want their problems to be resolved as soon as possible because not only will it not throw off everyone's vibe during vacation, but it will also procure further conflicts for Ayushi and Manav, and I don't want that to happen to either of them.

Manav suddenly appears behind me and sets his dishes in the sink, except he darts out of the kitchen and out by the backyard. The patio door closes shut behind him and another eerie silence fills the atmosphere. Everyone else is huddled beside me, even Akash, who has a pained expression set on his face. I close my eyes for a moment and open them up as I try to think about anything that may help resolve their conflict.

"Goddamn," Neha whistles lowly. "This shit's tense."

"Tell me about it," I murmur. "Guys, we have to do something about this."

"Of course," Akash speaks up, his deep voice booming. His eyes seem to twinkle indistinctively under the light, causing them to have a beautiful shimmer cast in them.

"Wait," Suhana speaks up. "Did you know about this?" She points towards Akash. He takes a deep breath and reluctantly turns towards me. "Actually," he declares, "We did."