High School Romance Revisited

Chapter 24 - The Post

I had turned more into a beetroot, not tomato, not cherry, neither strawberry but a beetroot. This was the colour that often highlights the contour lines of my face when I blush, get embarrassed and get irritated, all together. And only my drama queen friends are capable of getting that expression out of me.

Presently I was squeezed between Rai and Chitra while Mahen had given up. Accepting defeat he had occupied the passenger seat pretending to sleep with eyes closed and hands folded over his chest. Koushik, who was selected to drive after asking his chauffeur to leave with his car, kept suppressing his laughter as Chitra went on passing the most embarrassing, no scratch that, annoying comments on our patch-up. Rai was giggling non-stop but Koushik didn't laugh at all. He tried to show that he was too angry with us.

"So were you two really planning to do it on the open?" Chitra asked then went on to answer her own question. "Though it wouldn't have been a bad idea. I would call it an adventure. But how would you two feel with grasses poking on your back? I think Deepa, you would be bothered the most if I assume Mahen would be on top. However doing on the grass is absolutely unhygienic, it would have been so much better if you guys did it inside the car!"

"Ya, ya but you didn't give us the chance right?" Mahen annoyingly asked. I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"Oh! Don't be silly, we saved you guys from getting caught by the police or worst getting bitten my mosquitoes!"

"Chitra, please shut up!" Mahen said gritting his teeth.

"How could you even ask me to shut up?" Chitra gasped. "I have to make up for ten-fucking years! Have you forgotten how you kept on appearing between my romantic moments with Koushik? You, Mahendra Ganguly, are the reason why I am still a virgin!"

"Chitra!" Mahen, Koushik, Rai and I yelled together.

"Sometimes you forget that there's a thing called filter!" Rai shouted.

"Used for water purification!" Chitra said scratching her ear.

"Used for words as well!" I pinched her.

 "Ouch! Go apply these techniques on your boyfriend, not me!" she said rubbing her arm where I pinched her hard.

"On a serious note, I can't believe you too were really making out in the open, that too Maidan, out of all the places!" Rai rolled her eyes still trying to control her laughter.

"Listen Mukherjee, you better not start again or else I swear I am going to kill you!" Mahen shouted.

"Suddenly found your guts to threaten me, Ganguly?" Rai said wiggling her eyebrows.

Well, that shut him up. Nobody had the guts to mess with Rai.

Koushik dropped us at my place and left with Mahen. The poor man was looking with a sad expression towards me. I knew he wanted to kiss me goodnight but that was a distant dream when our friends were around. He was about to pull down the window to say something but Koushik drove off while Rai and Chitra laughed hugging me.

As their home was completely off the route I asked them to stay at my place. I know it was a bad idea because they would keep on annoying me the entire night. They had taken my phone as well so that I couldn't speak to Mahen while they slept. However surprisingly they teased me once and drifted off to sleep. Probably saving the comments for coming days.

No one knew them better than I did; they never exhausted all ideas at once. They were like those daily soaps that loved dropping cliffhangers and kept the audience hooked for the next episode.