BLOSSOM|| It Was Spring

[ 𝐈𝐕 ]

Manmeet looked up startled, "You will?"

"Ah, maybe. But, not now. I just got out of a relationship,"

"Oh...." she hung her head backwards, looking towards the ceiling, "Oh-"

I nodded, "So, yeah. Give me some time. Also, you never told me why you want to fake date,"

"What is the fun in telling everything now?

I roll my eyes and bite my cheek to fight back the urge to say something incredibly rude. She just has to be rude, doesn't she? I wonder what fun she gets out of it. I gather my things as the waitress returns and puts the bill on the table. Manmeet was going to take it but I reached it before her. I took out the money, put it on the table and stood up. Brushing my skirt, I bowed slightly and turned to leave. Manmeet looked at me surprised.

"Wait, hang on, where are you-"

I didn't let her finish. Call it an impulse if you want to but I left and didn't say a single word.

It was late when I reached my house. My father saw me enter and slowly shook his head.

"Uhh, I'm home?" I said, opening my shoes and putting them in the cabinet. I regretted it as soon as the words escaped my lips. Not that anything happened or anybody replied to me, I kind of hated breaking the silence.

As soon as I reached my room, I let the bag I was carrying slip and fall onto the ground with a thud. Today was eventful. I took out my phone and started typing whatever happened to Piyush just like other days. I almost pressed send, when reality hit me hard. I can't do that anymore.

I flopped down on the bed. Everything suddenly seemed so..... vacant.... so..... empty... Was this bound to happen? Broken bits of memories from the past two years flashed before my mind. Us laughing, mostly. If only he didn't cheat, if only he cared about me the same way I did. I closed my eyes. 

When I opened my eyes, it was late. I yawned, tying my messed-up hair in a bun. There is no hairstyle easier than tying a bun. It takes hardly a few seconds. Nobody called me for dinner and since it was already eleven, I expected most of my family members to be asleep. I hoped my mother kept some food aside for me. Not that I wanted to eat but to maintain this figure, I need to eat something. Even though I never paid much attention to how I looked, I tried to maintain my figure so that I can at least look good when I need to.... if I ever need to. 

I climbed out of my bed and stood at its edge in front of the study table. Notes were scattered on it in front of the computer. I piled them up and put them aside making some space for me to at least move the mouse. Switching the computer on, I left the room.

I was glad to see that my mother has kept some food aside for me but the happiness was short-lived. The rotis had hardened. I sighed, at least I don't have to go hungry tonight, right? 

"Oh, you're up" a voice startled me. I turned to see my brother. I nodded, took the food and tried to go past him. "You were home late today. Father was asking about your whereabouts," he stated, blocking my way. 

"Move," I said, not wanting to talk. I did not hate my brother, more like, i felt nothing about him. But, then, I did not fee anything about my parents either. There was a time I loved them of course, like every child does. But, I grew up and I couldn't keep up with their expectations unlike my brother, so, I became the burden. 

My brother moved aside without a word, letting me go past him and go back to my room. 

***

I regretted waking up as soon as I woke up, next morning. First of all, I'm so not a morning person. Second of all, I did not want to face Manmeet and third of all, I was scared of running into Piyush. I ran a hand through my messed up hair as someone knocked on my door. 

"Coming," I mumbled, closing my eyes. The knocking did not stop.

"For pete's sake, the door is open, just... just come in if you are in a hurry,"I shouted. I expected someone to shout back at me but what I did not expect was to see Manmeet standing there. 

"This is a dream," I mumbled, dragging the bedsheets all over myself, curling up into a ball and trying to fall asleep - as in wake up from the dream - again. 

"It's fucking not," Manmeet rolled her eyes as she snatched the bedsheets away from me, "You left me in a couple's cafe!! The waitress thought we broke up and gave me a discount!! Do you know how embarassing that was?"

"At least you got a discount, get the hell out of my room, I'm half naked!!" I shouted back at her, "Don't you know you shouldn't look at a girl who is in her pjs unless you are her friend?"

"She's not your friend?" My mother's voice made me look at the doorway in surprise.

"She is, but we are not that close," I said in a hushed tone.

"Oh, breakfast is ready, thought I should tell you," she replied, leaving us alone. 

I facepalmed and climbed out of the bed, "What do you want?"

"To take you to school because I had a feeling, you will ignore me if I didn't try to talk to you myself. "

"And you were right," I mumbled, getting my pjs off and making my way to the washroom. 

"Did you just undress in front of me?" she asked, looking away. 

Realization dawned on me. After being in the swim team for years, undressing in front of other girls didn't embarres me anymore. But, undressing infront of a stranger was still a little bit embarrassing. "Forget it?" I asked tentatively, closing the door and getting ready for school. 

I joined the rest of my family and Manmeet exactly twenty minutes later for breakfast and left for school within five minutes after that. 

School started and finished like a normal day without Piyush popping up to disrupt my schedule till it was time to go back home. I had left my purse in the classroom and that is the reason I caught them red-handed in middle of the act. It shouldn't have hurt that much but it did. Probably because I went ahead and let myself trust Manmeet, who was now kissing Piyush. 

[ A/N : I made manmeet kiss piyush purely out of spite. Tyvm ]