Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Uno, Jenga, Cards, Monopoly, Lego; I had everything. I picked up all the games and exited my room. Surbhi was with Tanya, Divya and Rashi, so I decided not to disturb her. I would have asked the other girls to join me if we were not on bad terms.

I walked downstairs and made my way outside on the lawn where most of the students were lying around chatting, playing on their phones, or just reading.

There were a lot of tables and chairs with large umbrellas overhead spread across the garden, most of them having a few occupants. I searched for my target, and a huge smile graced my lips when I spotted him.

I hopped towards him with my bag in hands and stopped in front of him. Priyaank was sitting on the small wall of the corridor, a book in his hand. He was wearing reading glasses, and I just stared at him in admiration for a minute.

"Hi, Priyaank," I announced my presence.

He turned his head towards me and shot me a big smile. "Hey, Sandhya. Wassup?"

I gave him my biggest smile in return. "Wanna play with me?" I shook the bag in front of him.

"What's that?" he asked and raised his eyebrows in surprise when I showed him all the indoor games.

"Would you like to join me?" I asked politely.

"Of course. I was already tired of reading the book as it is." He motioned towards the book; The Fault In Our Stars.

So, he liked reading romance novels, huh? Interesting.

He got up from his spot, and I motioned towards a big empty table with long benches. He nodded in agreement, and we started walking toward it. Midway, his phone rang, and he took the device out of his jeans pocket.

He sighed and stared at his phone screen. I looked at him in confusion when he didn't pick up the call as his phone kept ringing incessantly. I moved my head a little to see who had called him for him to make such a sad face.

I read the caller ID. Shona (Sweetheart) was written with a small red heart in front of it.

My eyes widened, and I rechecked if I read it wrong or not. It was still the same.

Shona♥️

That little heart pierced my heart like an arrow. I glanced at Priyaank, and he finally picked up the call before it got silent.

"Please excuse me for a minute, I am really sorry," he said and walked away.

I just stood there dumbstruck with background music running in my mind; sad violins, piano, and a really heart-wrenching voice accompanied with the cold wind blowing in my face.

🎼 'Tadap Tadapke Is Dil Se
Aah Nikalti Rahi
Mujhko Saza Di Pyaar Ki
Aisa Kya Gunaah Kiya
To Loot Gaye Haan Loot Gaye
To Loot Gaye Hum Teri Mohabbat Mein
Tadap Tadapke Is Dil Se
Aah Nikalti-' 🎼

(Translation:-
Pining pining, from this heart
A sigh releases
I am getting punished for falling in love
What sin have I committed?
Then, I have lost everything, yes, lost everything in your love
Pining pining, from this heart
A sigh-)

What the fuck was was I doing?

I shunned off my annoying inner voice which was busy playing sad songs like a music program. I tried not to feel sad, but I couldn't erase that image from my mind.

Shona♥️

I was agitated. I wondered who this 'Shona' was to get a heart from my crush. I felt like crying; I felt so unfortunate.

Was my two day crush going to end like this? Without any progress? Why me? This was unfair!

I stomped towards the table and put my bag down on it forcefully. I looked over my shoulder in Priyaank's direction, and he was talking on his phone with his back turned towards me.

I pouted and slumped down on the vacant bench. I took out a game from the bag slowly and laid it down on the wooden surface. After throwing a glance at Priyaank, I decided to play by myself; my whole mood was ruined.

I was sulking while playing Snakes and Ladders, feeling more bad whenever I lost and the other player which was also me kept winning. I was sure I was loosing my senses.

Is this how heartbreak feels like? I am sure it feels worse than this.

(Snakes and Ladders👆)

"What is my Angel doing here all alone?" Karthik said as he sat down on the table's left edge.

"Dying," I replied as my game chip got swallowed up by a snake and came back down to 7.

"I won't let you die. Give me the dice." He took the dice from me and threw it after shaking it in his right hand.

He got six! Then another six and a five!

He smirked when he saw my surprised expression and after a few minutes, he helped me to win the match. But it was useless. We were the only ones playing; I lost and won at the same time.

"Want to have another round?" he asked, and I nodded enthusiastically.

We chose our colours: Red for me as it was my favourite and Green for Karthik. I forgot what I was worrying about after a few rounds in the game. We played Rummy and then moved to Jenga.

(Jenga👆)

"You will definitely make it fall," I tried to distract him as he judged from which angle he could take out a wooden block without causing any damage to the huge building we had built.

"Don't disturb me," he complained, his eyebrows knitted in concentration.

I relaxed back and gave him a boastful smile. If he couldn't do it, I would win three times in a row earning a hat-trick. He shot me a glare when I made weird faces to ruin his game.

He examined all the sides and smiled brightly when he found his chance. He moved quickly over the table, on my side and turned his head towards me. He winked at me when he saw my panicked expression and pulled out the wooden block with precision.

He waved it in front of my face in mockery, and I gave him a challenging look. Our faces were really close, and I could see the sparks of amusement flying in his turquoise eyes; it reminded me of the time when I had tried to flirt with him to help Tanya.

Suddenly, a hand appeared on his forehead, and he was pushed back in a flash. I followed the forearm, and a very pissed off face came into view.

"No trespassing," Ved said in a warning tone as he fixed his eyes on Karthik.

Karthik moved Ved's hand from his face and wiggled his eyebrows. Ved settled down beside me, and soon, Parth and Shreyas also arrived and plopped down around the table; Parth on my right and Shreyas across from me.

"You both having fun without us? Not fair," Parth complained and took out Ludo from my bag.

Meanwhile, Shreyas pushed the Jenga building I and Karthik had made with so much efforts; he didn't even look guilty. He put all the blocks back in its container, ignoring Karthik's protests.

Parth laid down the Ludo on the table and placed the various coloured chips beside it. "Choose your colours," he announced.

(Basic Ludo👆)

I quickly moved my hand and snatched the red one before anyone else could grab it. But my hand got engulfed in a fairly bigger hand, and I snapped my eyes at the arrogant person beside me.

"Mine," I growled.

"Not so fast, Sandy Pandy. Red is mine," Ved fought back.

I moved my hand towards me, but Ved pulled it towards him. "Leave it," I complained. Ved tightened his grip on my hand and shook his head. I wanted to ignore it, but his hand felt really warm.

Does he have a natural heater built inside him?

"Guys, we are waiting~" Parth said while tapping his fingers on the table.

Everyone was content with the colours they had chosen, but I wasn't letting go so easily. Moreover, we were five in total; there was an extra player here. "Ved, give me my chip. Only four can play this game," I lied.

(Ludo for 8 players👆)

I had brought up an advanced version of the game also which could be played by maximum eight people. But I wasn't going to tell them that. One of us needed to back out and by the looks of it, it would be either me or Ved.

It wasn't going to be me for sure.

"You have another one, don't you?" Ved accused.

"I don't!" I yelled.

"She has," Parth said as he took out the game. I directed my murderous glare on him.

"Let's start already," Karthik groaned.

"Are you going to let go or not?" Ved asked.

When I shook my head vigorously in response, he sighed. Just like me, Red was his favourite colour too. We had gotten in a lot of fights over such a simple thing back in our childhood; none of us giving up no matter what.

After a few minutes, Ved let go. "You can have it." He moved his hand away from mine and told Parth to give another one of a random hue.

"Black." Ved smiled as he laid out his chips on the game. "My favourite."

Was I dreaming? Did Ved actually let me have it? Was this the same person who acted rude last night?

"You are really weird," I grumbled.

"Same to you," he replied, and we started the game.

In between I kept stealing glances at him, trying to read what was going on in his mind. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything. It felt like he was a professional at hiding his true feelings behind his smile.

"Focus on the game, Sandhya. You are losing," Ved informed as he glanced at me.

"So what? You are winning, why do you care?" I questioned, waiting for his reply.

He didn't say anything and just stared at me, his gaze gliding over my face. I saw his pupils dilate a bit, but he quickly looked away. He played his chance and after that, he turned towards me and flicked me on the forehead.

"Stop saying useless things." He flicked me again.

I hit him on his arm, and he gave me a flat look. "Is that all you got? I thought you had gotten strong, but you are still so weak. I should tell Rajeev bhaiyya to stop wasting time on you," he teased and pulled my cheek.

That was it!

I punched him on the shoulder, a loud cracking sound forming as a result. I quickly moved my hand away as I felt the pain traveling through my knuckles to my skull, my eyes widening in the process.

"You asshole!" I cursed loudly.

I swatted Ved's hand away when he moved it towards me. "It hurts," I cried. "Are you carrying stones inside you?"

Parth and Karthik burst out laughing, and Shreyas was looking at us with a smile reaching his ears. Ved shook his head at my comment and grabbed my left wrist in a swift motion. He checked if I had broken any bones, and I kept blaming him for my own mistake.

"Everything's fine, stop overreacting," Ved scolded as he rubbed my knuckles with his fingers. "Drama queen."

"Like you are the one to say. You forgot how you reacted when I had hit you accidentally when we were in second grade-"

Ved applied a little pressure on my hand, and I shut my mouth. He gave me a warning glare, and I twisted my lips at him. He kept my arm in his hold until the end of the match as a safety precaution- not for himself, but for my own sake.

I was lucky I didn't get my fingers broken after hitting him. Or else I would have surely murdered him. I wondered how he got so strong. He was improving day by day, making it more difficult for me to catch up.

But why in the hell was I competing with him? He was a boy, and I accepted that he was stronger than me in physical aspects. Was he that good mentally too?

"Sandy Pandy?" Ved asked without looking at me.

"What?"

"Focus on the game."

"I am doing it," I retorted as I moved my eyes away from his face.

"You should stop lying to me. I know you better than you do yourself." He held my stare.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Wh-what did y-you just say?"

Did I just stutter right now?!

"Focus on the game." He smirked, and I moved my left hand to smack him.

But, I couldn't do it. He laughed at me when I couldn't get my hand out of his grasp and kept provoking me.

"We are also here." Karthik pouted. "My Angel isn't paying attention to me."

"As if they care," Parth added.

"True," Shreyas agreed.

I glanced at all of them and noticed that I was way behind the game. Three of my chips were in the Red house while Ved had three of his in the Victory room. I cursed at my luck and wished to exchange the tints; I was losing.

But most importantly, when did Black became Ved's favourite hue?