When It Rained... (Part 2)

Hi, everyone! I'm back with the next part of "When It Rained..." I hope you'll like it, and will stick around to read the final part, which I will try to post later this week. Happy reading!

When we realized that it was never going to stop raining, we decided to go to the mall. 
After having had enough of pizza and pasta, burgers and coke, we
slumped back in our chairs lazily. Then someone suggested we play a
game of Truth or Dare. Vanessa generously spun her water bottle. 

And the stupid pointer HAD to turn to me, of course. And Vedant HAD to be the one at the other end. I chose to tell the truth, like I almost always do. (Better safe than sorry. Once I’d chosen a Dare and Riana had asked me to walk up to a girl sitting in a corner of the same Food Court, and to tell her that I was a lesbian and that I love her. Not that I did it, but I’ve never taken a dare ever since.)

“Who’s your latest crush?” asked Vedant.

Now this was NOT a question I’d expected from HIM. I blinked. I was so
taken aback that I said the first thing that came to my mind. “Mehul!”

Simultaneously, three heads turned in my direction and Shivam,
Vanessa and Riana went, “ Who’s Mehul?!!”

Then I remembered that among the four of them, it was only Vedant
who’d read my novel so far and therefore he was the only one who realized that I was talking about my fictitious hero. So, thankfully, the conversation turned to my novel and I soared about six feet in the air when Vedant profusely praised my writing skills.

However, my friends did not drop the stupid subject and they all
started pestering my again, Vedant included. for some incomprehensible
reason, I could hardly look into his eyes. Finally, I managed to say,
“You’ll all know once you read my entire novel.”

At this, everyone started badgering me again and somehow
–miraculously-  Vedant came to my rescue. “ She’s not going to tell us, guys. Let’s drop it,”he said.

The same question was posed to the rest of the group. I was hardly
paying attention until it was Vedant’s turn. I breathed a sigh of
relief when he said he’d only ever had a crush on his English teacher
in school- Naina Ma’am. Phew! God bless, Naina Ma’am!

When it was nearly time to leave, we decided to look around the mall
since we’d been sitting in the Food Court all along. When we went to
the ground floor, and everyone was preoccupied with window shopping, I
saw Vedant walk towards the huge Christmas tree. I followed him.

“ I have a lot to ask you about the how you liked the 2nd chapter,” I
smiled at him.

“It was really cute, and…I read the poem you wrote at the end of the
notebook.” He said,” It’s dedicated to God….right?”

“Of course,” I grinned, trying not to let it show that I knew he was wondering if I actually had dedicated the poem only to God and not to a 'person'..

He smiled. We walked in silence for a while, our arms brushing against
each other occasionally. I supposed the others were following us.
Neither of us turned back.

“Who’s your crush, Pooja?” he said suddenly, and very sweetly.

I couldn’t help but smile. But I didn’t answer his question. We kept
walking and I kept my eyes on the floor.

“Oh, come on. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it,” he
continued,” crushes only last for a day or two.”

I frowned at him. I’m not someone who has casual, day-old crushes, you
know,  I thought. I still didn’t say anything.

“You can tell me, I won’t tell anyone,” said Vedant.

“ I can’t tell you,” I said softly. Then I realized how that must have sounded. HOW
stupid can someone possibly be?!!!

 I couldn’t take back my words, but thankfully, our friends caught up
with us just then and we couldn’t carry forward the conversation.

We all walked to the bus stop, each of us happy with how the day had
turned out to be.

“Oh, I really don’t feel like going back home,” sighed Vanessa.

“ Well, we're going to hang out for at least an hour longer,’ joked
Vedant, “Aren’t we, Pooja?”

He beamed at me as he said that, his gorgeous eyes twinkling, and I
forgot how to breathe. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. 

(To be continued...)

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