We Never Knew [ON HOLD]

Chapter : 17

Chapter : Seventeen  

"Ow!" Abhi yelped in a whisper.

"Cut the drama, I haven't even touched your knuckles yet," Kirti deadpanned.

"Fine," Abhi muttered, "But the thought is enough excruciating,"

Sighing at his amusing fear, Kirti averted her eyes back to Abhimanyu's hand. The knuckles had turned a fair shade of red and seemed to have swollen a bit. For a guy like Abhi, Kirti assumed already that he rarely got into fights. Otherwise who ends up hurting their own self while punching the rival?

The fight had been declared over back in the basketball court when Abhi had punched Rohan anyway. He well realized that he was outnumbered and thought better to leave. Meanwhile, Shruti looked too numb to react over all that happened. She excused herself from the group and walked back to the library to spend the rest of the break time in private. None of the friends objected since they wanted to give her time to sort out her thoughts.

Yash too left the group to enjoy some silence and headed for the soccer field which was usually devoid of any students during the break time unless any practice sessions would be going on. The remaining four –Abhi, Kirti, Jiya and Paras– decided to go back to the canteen.

"But here's a good news for Abhi," Jiya interrupted Abhimanyu's rant about how dreadful his hand looked.

"What?" Abhi asked, crinkling his nose already in anticipation of something bad.

"You injured your right hand," Jiya pointed, "that means you don't have to work on any assignments for the next few days in the least,"

Kirti expected Abhi to smile with excitement about the thought of having so much of free time now but his expression fairly surprised her. Abhi muttered some incoherent Malayalam words and knitted his eyebrows in frustration.

"I was looking forward to this year's Literature essay competition!" Abhi exclaimed, realization dawning over his face.

"And its deadline is two days away," Jiya added fuel to the fire, making Abhi panic out. Kirti took his wounded hand in hers and ran her fingers gently over the back of his hand, her fingertips brushing over Abhi's skin, making him look at her. She smiled at him in a comforting manner to tell him that it'll all work out one way or the other.

Abhi felt a weird feeling grow inside him at Kirti's mere touch. It was as if she cast some enchantment over him with her deep, chocolate brown eyes. Her dark lashes moved when she blinked once, making her face appear ethereal with that angelic smile playing on her rosy lips. He felt as if Kirti channelized her positivity into him, creating an aura he never knew before.

The moment was ruined by a shrill exclamation. "Oh, babe! I heard you were hurt in a fight with Rohan!"

Kirti instantly drew her hands out from Abhi's and turned her face away from him. Frowning at the sudden loss of Kirti's warm touch, it took Abhimanyu a moment to process the fact that Anika was standing beside him. Her face looked worry-stricken, a bit too much in Abhi's opinion that it almost appeared to be fake.

Pulling a chair, Anika settled down beside him, creating a barrier between Abhi and Kirti as she took his wounded hand in hers. The touch, however, didn't soothe or pacify his knuckles in any possible way this time. He wondered if it was because Kirti's hold was a genuine one while Anika's hold was... No, it couldn't be; Abhi almost immediately refused to agree to his inner thoughts and rejected the ideas immediately.

Anika was the one and only girl for him and she cared for him with all her heart. Otherwise why'd she come running to him when she acknowledged that he was hurt despite their row which had occurred the other day at their house? Abhi argued internally.