Shaurya
In my entire life, all I have ever wanted to do was to just run away.
Run away from my parents, who don't seem to get along anymore and now presume to have a divorce, separating ways. Run away from anything business-related, something that I don't want to pursue a career in because I have no interests whatsoever in becoming a businessman. Run away from this life, this college life that I've been maintaining, me being known as the popular, rich kid that gets all the girls, makes so many friends and has a nice background, yet on the inside he's not even genuinely happy. And run away from my father, who is so toxic to me, makes me want to be something that I have no interest in being, even if it were the last career on earth. He makes me feel worthless if I don't follow in his footsteps or make one goddamn mistake.
But the only person I don't want to run away from is Anika. Which is why I asked her to run away with me.
"What?" Anika breathes out, her expression completely changing. Just a few moments ago, we were engaged in a breath taking and mesmerizing make out session, possibly the best make out session I've ever had. And it wasn't the kissing that was so worthwhile and passionate... it was the girl I was doing it with.
When we kissed, my entire world exploded, in a good way. Fireworks burst, cheers erupted, my heart beat pulsated, my legs felt like jello, and all I wanted to was to stay here, with her... with Anika.
Part of me wants to just ignore everything I said, make Anika ignore everything I said because honestly, I thought about it from the top of my mind without even thinking of what I was about to blurt out. I've never honestly thought about this, but deep down I've always wanted to run away. And to add a cherry on top, run away with the correct person that understands and possibly feels the same way about my idea.
I expected Anika to jump with joy and smile and immediately feel great about my sudden idea, but instead all I saw was the complete opposite. Her lips curled into a straight line, when before it was smiling against my cheek, right after we pulled away from each other because we honestly needed a little breathing break from that intense make out session. Her eyes turned so neutral, when before I swear I saw stars dazzling in those beautiful brown eyes of hers that I could honestly delve into and never look back into this shitty reality otherwise known as life. I felt my heart plummeting to the ground especially when her arms loosened around my waist, which were held so tightly onto me, squeezing my back and running her fingers along my chest.
Why does she look so upset?
Well, maybe because you dropped a bombshell on her. Not many girls expect to hear that you want to run away with them after you guys first kissed.
...Touche.
"I..." my throat starts to clench up as I start to speak. Why is my heart beating so rapidly? I've never felt this nervous in my entire life. I take a deep breath and continue to speak. "I want you to run away with me."
Anika splutters, frustratingly pulling her wet hair back. "Shaurya... why?" she enunciates. "What made you think so randomly of that idea?"
"I don't know," I blurt out. "We were kissing and I guess I got excited and... I got this sudden idea. To run away with you."
"Okay, and how great do you think is that going to work out?" she crosses her arms in front of her chest. "First of all, we are seniors in college. We are about to finish our last year here! You can't just think to run away like that," she whispers. "We still have classes to complete, parties to enjoy and our plain, ordinary life here that we have to work through."
"That's the thing, Anika," I murmur. "I don't want to do all those things. I want to get away from this place. It's too much for me, I need to start fresh somewhere else."
"Where?" Anika interrogates. "Where do you want to go?"
"We..." I trail off. "We can go to Seattle, with my mom! Away from my father and from this place."
Anika looks down at the water, trailing her fingers through the waves, as they make small splashes. "No."
I scrunch my nose. "No? What do you mean by that?"
She takes a deep breath and then looks at me straight in the eyes. "There's no 'we' in this, Shaurya. I can't run away with you."
"W-why?" I stutter.
"Because!" she shrieks. "I already told you. You may want to leave, but I don't."
"Yes, you do!"
"Oh, really?" she raises her eyebrows. "Why do you think that?"
"I know you hate it here too, Anika," I gulp. "The past few weeks haven't been great for you. And how do I know that? Because you told me! We called each other, pour our heart out to each other... we trusted each other, most importantly of all," my voice cracks. "How can you say that? Life will be so much better for us, wherever we decide to go."
"No, it wouldn't, Shaurya," she argues, looking at me intensely. "You may feel relieved, but think about how horrible your friends are going to feel. Nathan, Emma, and even your parents! Your parents may not understand you, but they do love you," she finishes off. "And think about your college friends! You have so many. And you're doing great in all of your classes. College here is great."
"That's the thing," I mutter. "I don't want to go to college here anymore."
That thought has never came to my mind. I've never thought about leaving UCLA forever...
Then why did I suddenly think of it?
"What?!" Anika shrieks. "Shaurya, are you insane?"
"I might be," I clench my jaw. "But I'm genuinely not happy here. And if I left then the one person I would truly regret leaving is you. Not even Nathan, who is my best bud, because I know he would understand why I left. But you, Anika... even if you understood my reasons, I still can't bear losing you. That's why I want you to come with me. It'll be just us."
"I..." her lips curl into a frown as she frustratingly scratches her head. "How do you even plan to do this? When do you plan to run away? Where to? For what reason?"
"I can get that planned out," I nod my head. "I can buy a car that isn't licensed to my parents' name so they can't track me."
"How are you going to buy a car that easily?"
I glare at her, as if she should know the answer. Her cheeks turn red. "Oh. I completely forgot you're rich."
"Not me, my parents," I shrug. "Which is why I'm going to steal some of their money."
"What?!" Anika yelps. "You're crazy!" She starts to storm off into the other direction as I follow behind her. "Wait, Anika! Don't leave!" I grab her arm, pulling her close to me. Butterflies swarm around in my stomach as her torso slams against my chest, her bright, innocent eyes looking up at me. Her body feels so warm and so... right against mine. Memories of our kiss start to flood back into my mind, her hot mouth connecting with mine, her whispering into my ear, her cuddling with me... I need her to come with me.
"Just listen," I breathe out. "My dad has a safe which only me and my mother know the code to. He has a shit load of money in there, so I can stash that money into a duffel bag of mine, which would also be secured. Also, I plan to leave by next weekend." Anika gasps and starts to say something, but I interrupt her by saying, "Please listen.
"Anyways, I have to leave by this weekend because I just can't handle it here anymore. I need to venture out, find a place to live with my own money, get a job as well."
"How..." Anika bites her lip. "How long do you plan to stay?"
"It depends," I huff. "Possibly forever, who knows? As long as I want, I guess." There's a pause as Anika nods her head, indicating that I can continue on explaining. "Also, I know that my mom won't be leaving to go to Seattle for at least a month, once the divorce gets settled. Which is another reason for me to leave hurriedly, so I can enjoy Seattle, be alone and enjoy life to the fullest."
"But, Shaurya... you can do that here, too," Anika places her hand on my shoulder, lightly squeezing it. Electricity shoots inside of my veins as a small smile grows on my lips. "I know. But I don't want to live here anymore, I genuinely don't. And look, I won't even be able to have fun here. I don't want to be a businessman and living with this pressure my family has been throwing at me ever since I was born, I just can't handle it anymore."
"I understand that," she reassures me. "But try talking to your father about what you really want to pursue, which is art!"
"He won't get it, though," I groan. "He's just gonna be more up my ass than he is now."
"It's going to take a little bit of persuading, trust me," she nods her head.
"I don't know," I sigh. "I'll think about it. But I'm very adamant in leaving this place. And you should come with me."
"I'll..." Anika's intense eyes meet up with mine. "I'll think about it right now. But right now, please don't make any sudden decisions. Think it through before you may do something you might regret later on."
"Okay," I nod my head. "Thanks for listening to me. I know all of this sounds really absurd but I swear there's some sense involved in my decision, or that I'm not completely insane."
She laughs, throwing her head back. Her bright teeth flash against the sun, the side of her lips pressing into her cheeks. "Don't worry, I know you're not completely insane, but there's some part of you that still is."
"Hey!" I whine, grinning. She starts to laugh, and once the laughter dies down, she sighs to herself, looking over at the small crowd in the distance. I was so delved into Anika and what we were doing in the water, playing around and eventually kissing at the end, that I didn't even notice the sun almost set by now. The sky started off at the ends sunset orange, and towards the center the sky soon turned a darkish blue.
"Do you think we should go back?" Anika meekly asks me. I contemplate for a second and sigh. "Yeah, I guess we should. If not, then people might think a shark attacked us."
"Don't say that!" Anika shrieks. "We're in the goddamn water right now!"
I chuckle as Anika grabs my arm, lugging me forward and out of this water with her. As I laugh and as she laughs along, I think to myself how I possibly have found the most gorgeous and amazing girl on this entire planet. I mean, she fits my exact standards. She's smart, she's mature, she's fun at the same time, and she's just so beautiful, inside and out. She teaches me to be the best version of myself and to never let others or even myself down.
That's why I want her to come with me so badly.
Part of me completely looks down upon my absurd idea of running away all of a sudden. It is possibly the most stupidest thing I have ever came up with, like how can I possibly think of this? Anika's right: I have college to finish here. I have friends here. And I can talk to my parents if what they're doing is bothering me so much.
But the other part of me completely agrees with my idea. I have every right to run away: I mean, I'm a 21 year old man! There was no point in forcing a possible life here in Oakland, I had to get away from this place, start fresh, find myself, get a job, be genuinely happy with myself and my life, and be anyone but Neil Roy's son.
Anika
Did Shaurya really just ask me to run away with him?
The kiss we shared was surprising enough. But him having the audacity to just randomly bring up the idea of us running away together? To a different state? Stealing money from his parents? Leaving by next weekend? With no looking back?
I take a deep breath, looking over at Shaurya. But honestly, part of me wants to run away with him. He was right: life does suck for me here, especially because of my father. I actually have no intentions of living here in this crappy place anymore, but yet I just don't have the guts to leave Em, Ty, and this place behind to live in Seattle with a boy I have hardcore feelings for.
God... he looks so stunning from this angle, from any angle, in fact. Memories of his arms around my waist, his mouth pressed against mine, and his presence near me flooded into my mind. He was my first kiss, and the best kiss yet. There is no denying that I have feelings for him, and I bet he has feelings for me too. But I don't like him so much to the point where I would drop everything I have established here and run away with him in the risk of starting off fresh.
And that's not even it, but this is my senior year of high school! I have finally stepped out of my bubble and made new friends, and even met an unbelievably handsome guy like Shaurya. I know I'm still gonna have him, if we run away together, but it would still be risky. The thought of it creates a giant pang in my stomach, my head throbbing with these futuristic possibilities.
We reach the small circle that is gathered around the campfire. I sit down at the towel Shaurya and I shared, as he sits right beside me. I notice that it is starting to get dark--
Oh, no! It's dark!
I look at my watch and notice that it's already almost 9 o clock. My dad's going to be home in an hour! I cannot afford to get another lecture or even worse...
I need to leave now!
"Hey, um... Shaurya?" I gulp. He looks over at me confusingly. His soft brown eyes look at me with concern, as he leans towards me, giving me a good view of his chest. His chest which I placed my daring hands on, ran my fingers across them...
Get a grip, Anika!
"Yeah, what's up?" he asks.
"Well, uh... it's almost 9," I mutter. "So?" he frowns. "The party doesn't end until next morning."
"Yeah, that's the thing," I wince. "I kind of have to be back home before my dad comes which is... approximately in an hour."
"Oh?" Shaurya looks confused. Then, once he starts to realize what I meant by that, his eyes widen, shooting straight up. "Oh! You have to leave now?"
"Yeah, otherwise if I don't... let's just say you may never see me again," I sigh.
"Okay," he nods his head. "Do you want me to walk you out? Or I can drop you off?"
"No, it's okay," I shrug off. "I came here with Em and Ty."
"Okay, that's great," he smiles. I nod my head, and as I'm about to get up, Shaurya pulls me down with a quick swift of his hand plunging onto my arm. I immediately sit back down as his hands encircle around my waist, placing his mouth very close to my ear.
"I just have one question for you," he whispers, his deep and dangerous voice vibrating into my ear, sending sweet notions into my body.
"What is it?" I whisper back to him, turning my head to his.
He sighs, a smile growing on his lips. "You know that you're my girlfriend now, right?"
My cheeks immediately turn red as an uneasy grin grows on my mouth. "Wait... are you serious?"
"Of course," he immediately replies. "Why wouldn't I be? We've had the best moments together the past month, we've gotten to know each other and we just kissed. I have extreme feelings for you, Anika." Shaurya nervously bites his lip. "What do you say?"
I think to myself for a second. This is a... huge step. Shaurya being my first kiss and possibly my first boyfriend? It's a scary thought, not gonna lie. Then, I take a deep breath and look deeply into his eyes. My right hand lies under his jawline as I pull my face towards his. I place a soft kiss right in the center of his cheek, holding my lips there for a few seconds. Afterwards, my lips travel to his ear as I whisper, "I would love to be your girlfriend."
Before I can even see his reaction, I jump up to my feet and escape from his wrath. I want to leave him hanging, my touch lingering on his skin and my words replaying in his mind. But from the corner of my eye, I see Shaurya looking down at his feet as a grin creeps up on his lips.
I sigh to myself, taking note of what happened in the past hour: Shaurya kissing me, Shaurya asking me to run away with him to Seattle, and Shaurya asking me to be his girlfriend.
What a crazy month it's been.
*
A/N:
I completely agree with Anika up there. It HAS been a crazy month.
Also WHOA let's discuss the different bombs Shaurya dropped on Anika:
1) THEY KISSED
2) Shaurya asked Anika to run away with him and Anika is shocked! WHAAAT
3) And Shaurya and Anika are dating now, apparently??? DOUBLE WHAAAAT
Although, all I can say now is stay tuned for the next chapter as Anika reminisces on Shaurya's life changing question for Anika, and as Shaurya finds ways to become his true self.
-Ru <3