by Vaanya Singh
‘What I’m trying to say is that you should give him a second chance.’
That’s when I lost it.
‘A second chance! You’re asking me to give him a second chance! Have you forgotten what I went through? How...’ but I couldn’t complete the sentence. It was too painful.
I didn’t even know I was crying until Alex cupped my face and wiped the tears away.
‘Shh Don’t cry, kitten’ he said, hugging me.
Alex was correct. Vaibhav had changed. Maybe I could give him a chance. But I didn’t want my heart to be broken once again. It was too much of a pain to bear. I straightened up, announcing my decision.
‘Fine, I’ll give him a chance, but...’
‘If he breaks your heart, I’ll break his face,’ Alex completed for me. In any case, spending the day at the library was better than anything else that Vaibhav might have in mind for us.
He was waiting in the car. I went and sat up front.
But he didn’t turn on the ignition of the car right away. ‘Why aren’t we moving?’ I asked in annoyance.
‘Ummm ... I don’t know where the library is,’ he replied, embarrassed.
‘You’re telling me that in your seventeen years of existence, you’ve never been to the library!’
‘I know it’s embarrassing! But I never had to go. I didn’t need to,’ he whined.
I burst out laughing. I gave him directions and we reached there in ten minutes. Vaibhav looked at me with a lost expression.
‘You’re hopeless,’ I muttered before dragging him to the Physics section.
I gave him a list of books to look for and started hunting for some myself.
‘Hey, Faith!’ he yelled.
The old librarian shushed him.
‘What?’ I hissed.
‘I can’t find this particular book,’ he said, pointing at one of the title names I’d written down for him to find.
The author’s name was Leonard Mlodinow. I began looking for it; as it happens, it wasn’t in its correct place. I looked in the shelves around that area but I still couldn’t find it.
‘Look what I found instead,’ Vaibhav said, holding a bright pink-coloured book with the picture of an animated girl wearing skimpy clothes on the cover. Curiously, I asked, ‘What is it?’ He opened the book and started reading.
‘What’s a smart, attractive, young man like me doing without your number?’
‘What is your best non-sexual pick-up line? ... I brought my library card because I’m checking you out.’ ‘Those are some nice pants. Mind if I test the zipper?’
‘One time Daddy didn’t pull out fast enough.’
‘Is your name jingle bells, because you look like you go all the way!’
‘Are you a candle, because I’m going to blow you?’
‘Do you like bacon? Wanna strip?’
‘Are you butt dialing? Because I swear that ass is calling me!’ I doubled over in laughter at the last one. It was hilarious.
Vaibhav, too, was laughing. A book for pick-up lines! It was priceless.
‘Shhh...’ the librarian shushed us, angrily this time.
‘I need to buy a copy of this book,’ Vaibhav said, clicking a picture of the cover.
‘Absolutely. Get one for me, too,’ I replied grinning.
All of a sudden, Vaibhav turned towards me and started walking forward. He stopped once I was caged in his arms. He slowly leaned in and his lips brushed my jaw, my neck and then my ear.
What the hell was happening?
I sucked in a breath and bit my lip trying to trap the moan that was escaping from my lips. His hand rested on my hip as he reached for something behind me. His lips were near my ear the whole time. When he got whatever he was fetching, he whispered in a deep husky voice.
‘I found the book,’ he said before stepping away and standing beside me holding the book.
I was in a daze when Vaibhav waved his hand in front of me.
‘Faith? Are you alright?’ he asked while smirking. Cheeky asshole! ‘Ya, I’m fine. Let’s go,’ I quickly said before turning around.
But I lost my balance and while trying to save myself, I pulled him too, making us both fall on the shelves. I stared in horror as shelf after shelf came down tumbling to the ground like a domino effect.
‘Holy shit,’ Vaibhav whispered beside me.
The librarian’s face turned red with anger as she started yelling at us.
‘Wretched teenagers! Look what you’ve done! Kids like you should be ba...’ I never heard her finish the sentence as Vaibhav bolted out of the library dragging me along.
We quickly reached his car, sat in and broke into laughter before he said, ‘That was epic!’
CHAPTER 11
If I had to choose between
loving you and breathing,
I would use my last breath
to say ‘I love you’.
FAITH
After the library incident, Vaibhav took us to the park. He’d planned it beforehand. He even had a basket ready. Surprisingly, I was actually having fun. Right now both of us were lying on the blanket looking at the clouds.
‘That one looks like a girl with three tits,’ Vaibhav said, pointing out to a cloud.
I rolled my eyes before replying, ‘You and your perverted imagination.’
‘Oh! You love it,’ he replied, wiggling his eyebrows. I burst out laughing.
After enjoying our little picnic, we decided to watch the movie Mike and Dave need Wedding Dates.
After buying the tickets, when we were entering the cinema hall, a group of girls gave Vaibhav some flirtatious looks. In return, he gave them the cold shoulder which was odd.
It was evening and the sun had set when we were heading for home. The day was well spent, though I would never admit that to Vaibhav. We were driving past an empty bridge when I saw something that gave me the creeps.
‘Stop the car!’ I yelled at Vaibhav.
‘What?’ he asked confusedly. ‘I said stop the bloody car!’ I yelled once again.
As soon as the car came to a halt, I bolted out. There was a figure standing on the railing, about to jump.
‘No! Stop,’ I yelled out.
Realisation dawned up on Vaibhav as he too started running towards the figure.
‘Don’t jump!’ Vaibhav shouted.
The person took a step forward and was almost off the railing when I pulled the person back by the hoodie.
The person fell on the pavement right next to me. I quickly scrambled back to my feet and kneeled next to her and Vaibhav pulled the hood down.
Blond hair fell over her face like a curtain. I removed them from her face only to discover it was Vidya with red puffy eyes and tears streaming down her face.
‘Vidya?’ I asked in pure confusion.
She curled into a foetal position and broke down. Vaibhav carefully picked her up and started walking towards the car. I followed them.
After placing her in the back seat, we drove back to my place. It was shocking to see someone like Vidya trying to commit suicide.
The girl had a good life, according to me. Her parents were loaded, she had a reputation in school and she was the head cheerleader, too. But I was no one to judge.
Vidya leaned on me for support as we walked to the front porch. Vaibhav rang the bell.
Damon came to the door. He opened his mouth to say something but the look I gave him shut him up.
I took Vidya to the living room and made her sit on one of the comfortable sofas. Vaibhav brought along a blanket and a glass of water.
The bell rang again. As Damon went and opened it, lively chatter filled the air as Alex, Cory and little Theo entered the house. Alex and Cory were stunned into silence once they saw Vidya. However, Theo, not having noticed Vidya, kept talking.
‘Best day ever!’ he exclaimed before jumping into my arms. I ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek, and that’s when he saw Vidya. A little frown took over his face as he looked at her state. ‘Who are you?�
�� he asked in his adorable voice.
Vidya whimpered and turned her head away. Cory got the message and stood up.
‘Hey, buddy! Want me to tell you a secret?’ she faked excitement.
‘Yes!’ Theo replied with actual excitement.
Cory whispered something and Theo, nodding enthusiastically, bolted up to my room.
There was tension in the living room before Vidya began to speak. ‘I’m really tired of this life. You know I never asked for any of this. I just want the life of an average teenage girl, like hanging out with friends—real friends—going out wearing comfortable clothes. I don’t want guys to look at me and think, “Oh, she’s easy; she could be a one-night stand.”’
She took a deep breath before continuing.
‘I don’t enjoy being a stuck-up bitch, nor do I like the title of a mean girl. I don’t want to impress anyone. I want people to take me seriously. For God’s sake, my own parents don’t take me seriously. I want to be a doctor. I know that sounds weird but whatever! When I told my parents this, they burst out laughing on my face.’
She stopped for a minute before continuing her rant. It was good for her to vent out everything.
‘My own mother said that I wasn’t doctor-material. She told me to pursue a career in modeling. I just want someone to understand what I’m going through. When people look at me, they think that my life is perfect; but it’s not. I don’t have friends; I’ll never have a serious relationship; I have no career goals; my life is a clichéd teenage drama!’
She emphasised on the last bit with a sarcastic chuckle.
‘I tried to start over but it didn’t work out. Do you know how difficult it is to maintain this damn figure? So bloody difficult! So, the only way I thought to get a fresh start was to end this pathetic excuse of a life,’ she finished.
We all stared at her in awe.
Vaibhav asked a question which was on all of our minds. ‘So, when did you start becoming so...’ he trailed off not knowing what word to use. ‘Bitchy,’ Damon said with a shrug. ‘Damon!’ Cory said, hitting him in the arm. She had managed to put Theo to sleep in my bedroom and had joined us.
Vidya chuckled before answering. ‘Vaibhav, you should know this,’ she said.
Vaibhav frowned in confusion. She continued, ‘It was during our junior year when I started dating your elder brother, Malhaar. Even though he was almost out of college, I thought it was magical. He was the perfect boyfriend ever. He took me out on dates and treated me like royalty. I thought I was in love. It’s pathetic, I know. I had my firsts of everything with him, you know. But once we’d done the deed, he broke up with me. Later I came to know that he was in the relationship only for sex. Once he’d got what he wanted, he scrammed. I was heartbroken. That’s when I learned that being the shy, sweet girl would bring me nothing but more heartbreaks, so I transformed.’
It seemed like I could relate to Vidya. We were so different, yet so similar. Both of us had been to hell and back. I understood her better now.
‘Well, you have us now. So you don’t have to worry about a thing. First things first, we’ll get you a large extra cheese pizza!’ Cory said, hugging her. That made Vidya laugh.
‘You guys aren’t so bad,’ she said with a smile. ‘We try not to be,’ Vaibhav replied, returning the smile.
‘Do you want to stay the night?’ Alex asked. ‘I’d love to, if you don’t mind,’ she said shyly. It was odd to see her shy.
‘Of course, we don’t. Don’t you want to inform your parents?’ Alex asked her.
‘Nah, they won’t care if I’m home or not,’ she said so casually as if it was a normal thing.
Anger surged through me. What kind of parents were they? How could they not care if their only daughter didn’t come home at night? Before I could say anything, Theo came running downstairs.
He looked so adorable in an oversized formal jacket which looked like Alex’s and a cute bow tie. His hair was ruffled. He was clutching a red rose in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.
He climbed onto Vidya’s lap who looked at him with affection. He gave her the rose and the paper. Vidya literally ‘awwed’ at whatever was written on it.
‘Thank you. I’m Vidya,’ she said, kissing Theo’s cheek and introducing herself.
Theo turned a deep red before running away. This time it was my turn to ‘aww’ ... seemed like someone had a crush!
‘What’s written on the paper?’ Damon asked curiously.
Vidya flipped over the sheet for us to see. In blue crayon, scribbled inside a big red heart were the words ‘YOU ARE PEWTY AND PEWTY GIRLS DON’T CRY!’
CHAPTER 12
We should love, not fall in
love because everything
that falls, breaks.
FAITH
The next day in school, Vanessa, the girl who had saved the day for me when Vidya had ripped off my dress before the auction, was shocked when I told her about what Vidya had shared with us. She had even apologised for ruining my dress. But when I told Vanessa about what had happened this morning, she started laughing.
Everyone had decided to stay over at my place the previous night and this morning, Vidya had woken up before the others so she decided to make waffles as a ‘thank you’ present. Only that she ended up burning all of it! Damon had to rush in with a fire extinguisher; it was hilarious! Vidya couldn’t cook to save her life. Eventually, Cory had made us breakfast.
As soon as Vanessa met Vidya, they instantly clicked. Vidya had an excellent fashion sense and Vanessa wanted to be a fashion designer.
It was our lunch break and we were sitting at our usual table when Vidya entered the cafeteria. She was dressed in ripped jeans and a white tank top and she was wearing Converse as well. It was the total opposite of what she usually wore.
She scanned the cafeteria for a seat. Her eyes lingered at the cheerleader table for a second but she made her way to ours. She smiled as she sat down. Rumours and whispers instantly started in the cafeteria. Phones were out; messages were being sent.
‘Ignore them,’ I whispered, squeezing her hand. She nodded meekly. ‘You know what we can do today? We can go shopping!’ Cory said in excitement.
‘Oh! Oh! And we can go right now and ditch the rest of the school day!’ Vanessa added.
That surely lifted Vidya’s damp spirits. The girls started talking about all the shops in the mall that we were going to go to.
‘My hand hurts!’ I announced for the millionth time.
‘Oh! Stop being such a Debbie Downer. We’ve only been to two shops till now,’ Vanessa said.
‘You mean ... we raided two shops,’ I muttered.
It was true. We already had four bags full of clothes and lingerie.
‘Let’s go to H & M,’ Vidya suggested.
‘Yes!’ Cory yelled before running to the shop. This was followed by visits to Forever 21, Gap, Guess, Zara, Nike and Benetton before I finally exclaimed ‘That’s it! I can’t hold any more bags!’
The girls seemed to think over it but finally agreed. A little light bulb went up in Cory’s head. She asked us to sit on a nearby bench while she went aside and made a call.
‘Who did you call?’ I asked curiously when she came back and sat with us.
A few minutes later, Alex and Vaibhav came along. When they saw all the bags they were required to carry, their eyes widened. Alex took out his phone and called someone.
‘Boys, I need back up.’
Soon, Damon, Ron and Samrat came strolling in but they too stopped in their tracks when they saw the number of bags.
‘I don’t want to be rude or anything but what are you guys doing here?’ Vanessa asked as politely she could.
‘We all were going to Damon’s place when Cory called saying that she needed us to carry some bags. We didn’t know that there was a truckload of them,’ Samrat explained, muttering the last part to himself, but loud enough for all of us to hear.
The boys managed to load all the bags
in their car but didn’t leave like we expected them to. Everyone was hungry so we decided to eat first.
In the middle, my dad called up informing me that they would be back in the next four days. Once everyone had got their food, we sat at a booth at the far end.
Everyone at the table except Vaibhav was in a jolly mood.
We left the mall around five in the evening. Alex decided to spend the night at Damon’s place and the girls went back to their respective homes. Vidya, too, decided to go back to her parents. So it was going to be Vaibhav, Aditya and me at home.
‘Looks like it’s just you and me for the night,’ Vaibhav said, wiggling his eyebrows.
‘Shut up,’ I replied, rolling my eyes.
Vaibhav helped me carry my bags to the house. I could hear a lot of commotion as we went nearer to the main door.
‘What the...’ but Vaibhav never got to finish the sentence as Aditya opened the door with a panicked look.
‘Faith, I promise I meant to tell you but somehow it slipped my mind.’
‘What are you trying to say, Aditya?’ I asked, entering the house. Somewhere in the distance, I heard glass break.
‘It’s a holiday tomorrow at my school. So I thought it would be fun to have a sleepover with some friends...’
‘You what?’ I practically yelled. Aditya continued his little rant. ‘So I invited my friends over. However, word got out so more people showed up. But isn’t more the merrier?!’ he finished with a nervous chuckle.
‘How many?’ I asked. ‘How many, what?’ Aditya asked in confusion.
‘How many people, Aditya?’ ‘Umm ... sixteen. All boys,’ he replied sheepishly.
‘You’re telling me that I have sixteen teenage boys running around in my house and that I’m the only girl?’ I yelled at him.
‘Yes,’ he answered nervously. ‘I’m so bloody screwed!’
CHAPTER 13
When I text you, it means
I miss you.
When I don’t text you,
it means I’m waiting for you
to miss me.
FAITH
This was a perfect recipe for disaster: eighteen guys, including Vaibhav and Aditya!
I was still standing in the hallway in shock when Vaibhav nudged me. ‘Psst. Faith,’ he whispered. That brought me out of my trance.