Shaurya
I watch my mom walk back to her car in agony. After the dreadful talk we just encountered, otherwise known as her breaking the news to me that her and my dad are getting a divorce and that she's going to Seattle and that I could come with her if I wanted to, we talked for a little outside after paying the bill. I told her that I had to study for an Economics test tomorrow, so she immediately proposed that she was going to leave so I could start studying as early as possible.
She steps into the Maserati and waves me goodbye. Then, all in slow motion, she reverses from the parking lot and zooms off into the road. For some reason, I don't get a sigh of relief. Instead, I get a sigh of stress.
What am I going to do?
I don't want my mom to leave us, going all the way to Seattle. And I want to go with her, but I can't just abandon my life here in Oakland. My friends, college life, Nathan, Anika...
I shake my head in despair. Flinging the car keys into my hand, I saunter over to my car and beep it thrice. The door opens up as I step inside of the car. Once the engine starts up, the voice recognition acknowledges that it is actually me who is inside of the car, which is pretty neat, and begins the system. Then, I reverse from the parking lot, turn the radio up, pull the windows down, and let the wind take me away.
For the entire car ride, the only thoughts that appear in my mind is my mom and her moving to Seattle due to the divorce her and my father are encountering. I actually thought they were doing so good, though. They rarely argue or do anything suspicious.
But then again, divorces don't just happen from arguments. As my mom had stated, things just weren't clicking between them. It was nothing aggressive or violent, it was just something that didn't fit in, like puzzle pieces.
I understand, though, unbelievably. I don't want my happiness to interact with theirs; this is their divorce.
The sun beats down on my forehead as I park into the parking lot in front of my apartment. It's gonna feel weird going back to my old house and comparing it to this small, yet amazing apartment. They're just on completely different sides of the spectrum.
I grab my bag sitting on the passenger seat and close the door behind me, locking the car. As the sunlight glares against the silver hood of my Mercedes, I walk to my apartment door. The key fits into the hole as I twist it open. Nathan is doing pull ups on top of the door frame, where the pull-up bar fits idly against the two corners of the upper door frame.
"21, 22, 23, 24..." he grunts to himself as his sweaty back faces me. I raise my eyebrows as Nathan struggles to get his chin to the bar. "25!" he breathes out. Then, he jumps to his feet and turns around to face me. He jumps a little, placing a hand on his chest. "Dude, you scared me."
"Sorry for scaring you," I mumble. "But 25 pull-ups? That's improvement."
"Thanks," he beams. "I've been trying to get into shape lately."
"Gee, I wonder why," I smirk, sitting down on the coach. He rolls his eyes as he comes up to me and smacks my cheek lightly. I wince as he enunciates to me, "I am working out for the liking of me and me only, okay?"
"Alright," I mumble. "So, are you saying that you're not working out for Emma?"
"Y-yes," he stutters, placing the white towel around his neck. Then, he takes a deep breath. "I haven't seen you working out for a long time."
I shrug. "I don't need to." A smile is placed on my lips as I flex my biceps.
Nathan rolls his eyes. "Yes, we get it. Shaurya Roy, freaking workout God and always get the girls. Blah, blah, blah, my hair's so luscious and blah, blah, blah, I have a melt-worthy smile, blah, blah, blah--"
"Okay, are you done?"
He takes a deep breath and scrunches his eyes at me. "It's just not fair! You just breathe and you have tons of girls on you like they're wasps to a freaking lamp."
"I mean, what can I say?" I mutter. "It's a natural talent."
"Well, do you mind passing that on to me?" he grumbles.
I chuckle to myself, patting him on the back. "I'll try, bro."
Nathan sighs to himself and takes a seat on the couch. He flings on a shirt that was laid askew on the sofa and puts his feet up on the coffee table. One thing Nathan and I completely disagree on is our organizational skills. For example, I can't stand it when someone leaves something out of the ordinary. On the other hand, Nathan lives like a freaking caveman.
Though, I wouldn't call myself OCD nor would I call Nathan a lazy piece of ass. It's just how we live around the house: I deal with Nathan's caveman living while he deals with my possessive cleaning every five minutes.
Like, I swear I'm not OCD.
He looks at me contemplatively and sighs. "Hey, dude. Can I talk to you about something? You probably have like a shit ton of homework, but I just want someone to talk to about... something."
I wave my hand at him dismissively and sit across from him on the floor. I hug my knees to my chest and shake my head. "Nah, it's okay. Talk to me."
He takes a deep breath. "Well... Emma and I have been talking a lot lately and I think I'm gonna... well, go for it."
My eyes widen as I look at him in complete surprise. "Wait, what!?" I shriek, immediately shooting up to my feet. He stands up as well and looks at me excitedly, nodding his head rapidly like a five year old who was just asked if he'd like ice cream. "You're... you're gonna ask out Emma Abbott?!"
"Yup..." he takes a deep breath. "I'm. Gonna. Ask. Out. Emma. Freaking. Abbott!" Nathan dances along to the beat, flinging his arms around in wild ways. I burst out in laughter, running to him and smacking his shoulder obsessively. "Dude, look at you!"
"I know!" he yelps. "How... how am I gonna ask her though?" He calms down, thinking to himself.
I think about it, wincing. "We'll figure it out. But right now, let's just celebrate!"
"Hell yes! I'll go grab the champagne!"
I nod my head, pumping my fist into the air. But as I do, an idea approaches my mind.
An amazing idea.
Anika
"So, how are we gonna do this?" Emily pleads, tapping my shoulder repeatedly. I sigh, pushing her hand back as she frowns. "Em, I don't even know," I whisper. "We still got to figure out a plan that won't backfire on us."
"But how, though?" She groans to herself, pushing her hair back.
"We'llâ we'll figure something out," I stutter.
"But Ani," she moans, throwing her head back in exasperation. "It's been a day since we saw Ty making out with, well, a dude that's definitely not James," she raises her eyebrows.
"I know," I mutter. "But we can't figure anything out in a rush. Besides, we have plenty of time to figure this out."
She thinks for a little and then sighs in defeat. "Okay. Fine."
I smile. "Good."
It's been a whole day since we saw Ty cheating on James, and Em and I had just discussed how we plan to 'get back' at James. Although, I feel as if our plan won't be necessary because this has not been the first time Ty has cheated on a guy. Like, the only reason I'm going with this plan is all because of Em, since she's so determined to get back at him.
It's a nice warm day here in Oakland as Em and I walk onto campus. Literature starts in an hour, so that means I'm going to be seeing Shaurya.
We didn't end up FaceTiming last night, and I shall admit that I am a tad bit disappointed. He didn't call me and I didn't wanna seem desperate by asking him. I know it's a stereotypical topic, having the guy be the one to make the moves on the girl, but I've watched so many cliche movies where the guy makes the move on the girl and they fall in love that I just utterly expect that to happen for me as well.
I just thought to myself that maybe he was busy. We did have a crap load of literature homework and an essay that's due basically today. And to add more, his entire family is basically famous, so I do have to cut him some slack there.
The trees sway against the light wind as the sun beats down on us. I sip some of my Starbucks coffee that Em and I got along the way. If it wasn't for this coffee, I'd barely be able to keep my eyes open since I was up all night working on my bio presentation due today as well.
Students are perched by the benches, trying to cram in some last minute studying. And I swear one of the girls over there was having a mental breakdown as she FaceTimed her mom.
Welcome to college.
"Shall we part ways here?" Em asks, her icy blue eyes boring into mine's.
"Sure," I nod my head. "I should probably study for this literature exam I have tomorrow," I roll my eyes.
Em scrunches her eyebrows. "What's it on?"
"Well, it's basically about this novella we've been reading the past few days and it basically takes up 50% of our grade," I wince.
"Yikes," Em chuckles, patting my back. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it," I exhale.
She takes a deep breath. "Well, I should get going. Bye, Ani! See ya at lunch while we discuss how to get back at Ty," she winks.
"Definitely!" I nod my head as Em is already running off to the other side of campus.
As it is just me, standing alone on the side walk, I take a deep breath as I start walking to the English/Literature building. My backpack is perched on my back as I hold the straps tightly with my hands. This morning, I didn't feel like dressing up so all I wore was a Simply Southern shirt with ripped jeans at the bottom. My hair is a bit wavy, since I didn't bother brushing it today, so I straighten it out a little to make it seem at least a little bit presentable.
After a couple of minutes passed by, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. My eyes wavered to very familiar soothing brown eyes and full lips.
"Hey, Anika!" Shaurya chirped, a bright smile on his face. The first thing I notice is that his hair is incredibly messy today, but in a good way. Then the second thing I notice is that he's wearing a Vans black shirt with khaki shorts. How come he looks good with everything he wears? It's just so not fair!
"Hi," I smile, waving at him. He catches up to my pace and smiles back. "You ready to turn in this essay?"
I chuckle to myself. "Hah, nope."
He laughs, tiny dimples appearing by his lips. "Same! I swear I spent all night working on that shit."
I nod my head in agreement as I shyly push some strands of hair behind my ear. He tilts his head a little to the right as his eyes study my face. Isâ is he staring at me?
Then, a smile is placed on his lips again as he sighs. "The weather is really nice, huh?"
"Definitely," I presume. "It's not like we get warm days like here in Oakland."
"Exactly," he raises his eyebrows. "Instead, we get hot days here, and it sucks."
I laugh as Shaurya joins in as well. After a couple of seconds later, we both stop laughing as Shaurya adds, "But, I do have something to tell you, though."
"What is it?" I question.
He fidgets with his books as he looks at the ground. Is he nervous?
"Well..." he trails off. "I, um..." he takes a deep breath. "I'm having a beach party this weekend," he looks at me. "Saturday, 6 o clock. We can watch the sun set, eat, drink, have fun," he nervously chuckles.
"That seems fun," I smile. "Who's coming, though?"
"Ah, just a whole bunch of people from our college," he shrugs. "And my friends as well. You can even invite your friends too!"
"I'm sure they'd like to go to a party," I add. "But..."
"But, what?" He nervously asks.
"Well, I mean... I don't know," I answer. "I want to comeâ I really do! But, my dad..."
Shaurya immediately nods his head, placing his hand on my shoulder. I notice that he's not that much taller than me, as my forehead reaches his house. I wouldn't call myself I midget, since I am 5'5, so that means he's probably 5'9 to 5'10.
"I understand," he solemnly replies. "But try to come, okay? It'll be fun!" He smiles.
"I know it will, but I'll let you know if I can or can't come."
"Good," he smiles.
I notice the reassuring smile on his face, and how it makes my insides turn to mush. But, suddenly, his smile has disappeared off of his face and is now replaced with a frown and frantic eyes. His cheeks turn red, and I notice that his eyes are not focused on me, but somewhere behind me.
"I-is everything alright?" I stutter. I look to where he's looking as I lay eyes on a curvy blonde girl making out with a tall, wide-shouldered and muscled guy with dark hair. And not just making out... more like about to get into each other's pants kind of making out.
I look back at Shaurya, who's eyes have now wavered to the ground. As we continue to walk to literature, he suddenly shakes his head. "N-no. I mean, yeah, I guess. Sure."
I raise my eyebrows as he looks at me with uncertainty. "O-okay, well," he stutters, "Youâyou see that blonde girl?" I nod my head and he clears his throat. "Well, that's... that's my ex."
"Your ex?" I furrow my brows. I'm honestly not surprised he had a girlfriend, or possibly even girlfriends. I mean, have you seen the guy?
"Yeah," he breathes out. "The break up was... very nasty."
"Dang," I mutter. "Did you break up with her or--"
"I broke up with her," he clarifies. "She was just getting very hard to deal with and I just didn't have feelings for her anymore. So I just..." he sighs, "I broke up with her."
"Wow," I breathe out. "What's her name?"
"Alexandria, but she goes by Lexie," Shaurya replies, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you see the guy she's making out with?" I nod my head. "Well, that's Brayden," he grits through his teeth. "The football player and a complete di--" he notices me looking at him confusingly as he takes a deep breath. "Sorry. Me and him are just not on good terms."
"I can tell," I chuckle. "But you don't like her anymore... right?" Man, I sure hope he doesn't.
He smiles to himself, shaking his head. "Nah, I despise her." I laugh as he chuckles to himself. "Why else would I break up with her, ya know? Besides, I could care less if she dated Brayden."
"That's good," I nod my head.
He nods his head back, biting his lip as he looks at me. Once we finished our conversation, we noticed that we were standing exactly adjacent to the entrance of our lecture hall. He sighs to himself, opening the door. A boyish smile breaks out on his face as he gestures for me to go ahead. "Ladies first."
I nod my head, letting myself go inside. "Thank you," I mutter. He smiles at me as he follows right behind him, his breath fanning my hair. This brings back the memories from that night, his body pressed onto my back as we danced together. My heart skips a beat as he places his hand on the small of my back, just to 'move aside.'
Shaurya and I walk to our seats. There are a few hundreds of people here, mostly to go over their essays and to study for this darn exam tomorrow. Shaurya takes a seat beside me as I take my books and my papers and lay them out in front of me. I look at them depressingly, as if I have no motivation to go through them, which I really don't.
"Don't feel like studying, eh?" Shaurya raises his eyebrows at me as I scrunch my nose. "Of course not," I mutter.
"Same," he chuckles. Then, he scoots towards me, placing his books beside me. "Well, will you have motivation if we study together?"
I feel my cheeks turning red as I slowly nod my head. "S-sure," I stutter, placing a few strands of hair behind my ear. "I'd like that."
"Great," he nods his head. His soft brown eyes look at me with prominence. "I'd like that too," he whispers. My eyes are locked with his as his lips slowly curl into my smile, and I swear I was restraining myself with all of my power from kissing him.
Our staring is suddenly cut off as Professor Watts spoke into the microphone. "Welcome, guys. Your essay is due today, so would you please pass them forward?"
Professor Watts is weird in many ways, but one way she is weird is by making us turn in our assignments physically. Most professors nowadays would make us turn in our assignments online, like normal professors would do in 2019. But Professor Watts is completely opposite, as she gave us a whole lecture about how 'technology is ruining our generation' and how it's 'frying our brain cells' and how it also 'is very unrealistic.'
Shaurya and I pass our essays forward. I feel somewhat of a weight coming off of my shoulders as Shaurya leans back against his chair. "Well, this is gonna be a long ass lecture."
"Tell me about it," I murmur. He smiles to himself and looks at me intently. And I swear at that moment I felt my heart flutter as his eyes traveled from my eyes all the way down to my torso. Why is this giving me vibes from that night? When he picked me up from my misery and danced with me, making me forget about all of my troubles with his intoxicating presence.
But it's not gonna happen, Anika, I think to myself. He's way out of your league. Don't even think about it.
The professor begins her lecture as I start to jot down some notes. I felt from the corner of my eye that his eyes wavered to me, as I felt my cheeks warming up. I tried to jot down notes, tried to listen to Watts' lecture, or tried to focus on anything but him... but it just wasn't working out.
Well, looks like Shaurya Roy was right. This was going to be a long ass lecture.
*
A/N:
Hope you guys liked chapter nine :)
And ooooh, how do you think the beach party is gonna go? And Lexie and Brenden... what is up with that...?
Also, Shaurya and Anika seem to be getting closer as each day passes by. And as each day passes by, I feel myself falling in love with him ;)
Stay tuned for the next chapter, as we find out how Ani and Em plan to get back at Ty, and how Shaurya plans to plan for this beach PARTAYY!
-Ru <3