Page 50 of Storm
I went on frustrated, “I can't remember this guy's name and I have not accepted his offer because...I just forget about it all the time!”
I almost cried in self-pity and I am sure, my cheeks turned pink in embarrassment.
Zee turned towards me sharply, making my head fall off the side of his knees and on to the grass.
“Ouch! What the hell Zee?” I pouted miffed.
He snapped coldly, unaffected by my outrage, “It will be a lot better if you forgot him once and for all.”
He then tried to appear calm, keeping his gaze fixed on the neighbourhood house, but his words felt biting all the same.
Thoroughly annoyed I tried to follow Umber who went inside the house, but Zee stopped me in a gentle tone interlinking our fingers, “What is it Sani?”
“The whispers have started Zee. I hate them.” I confided with a scared faraway look in my eyes.
Zee smiled grazing my hair with his fingers, messing them up, “About you being a, know-it-all in class? I thought we had agreed it’s just jealousy on your classmates’ part.”
“No, it’s not that...”
“So is it due to a guy? Your boyfriend?” Zee asked bitterly.
“Leave him alone.” I levelled him with a look.
And it came to me,
“Oh hey! Now that reminds me, his name is Sahil.”
Seeing a speculative, deep-in-thought kind of look on Zee's face, I added quickly, “And he is not my boyfriend.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Zee said warningly but his gaze softened and slightly tensed, as I sighed in resignation, “I'm not upset because of him anyway.”
Zee remained unnaturally quiet and when I glanced up, he had his gaze fixed on the neighbourhood house.
Realizing my eyes on him, he pulled me up with a grin, trailing me inside his house with useless chatter.
I understood he does not want to share what he was worried about. It did not bother me. I had enough complications in life any way. All in the burn of a grey eyed person who had me ignited with his every look.
13- A few things unveiled.
Aariz
I saw Sani with Zidaan's arm thrown around her as they walked inside the house. I kept watching and dying, every second until she disappeared from my sight. I took pain and pleasure in knowing that maybe on seeing this, my heart would finally stop chasing after her.
I had not lied to Zidaan about wishing to be friends with her, knowing her inside out and then hoping that one day...
But before any of that could happen, she captured me in her trance. My feelings and affection for her were too deep now and I believed she too felt something for me.
Now this sight made me think what I had doubted since that night of the party— Sani had feelings for Zidaan and I shuddered to believe he might be too.
It was fine. He was still my best friend. I could back out. Though somewhere inside me a voice kept saying, ‘this is not the case’. That my mind was jumping to wrong conclusions about Zidaan. Hence, I still held on to the hope, that he was not betraying me behind my back. After all, he was my best friend.
He wouldn’t do that to me, when he was the one who had given me hope and encouraged me towards her. Being the only person on this planet who knew where my heart lied for Sani. Being the only one to whom I had opened up about my deepest secret, who had seen me get over the most painful time of my life, craving for her warmth.
I still remembered that night from two years ago, clear as yesterday, when Zidaan had given me that heartbreaking news, and I had revealed to him everything inside me.
He had been the only link that had kept me in the loop about Sani's world for all these years.
I had called him late that evening—
