Song of the chapter is
No Surprise by The Shacks

-07-
-Ahaan Jaiswal-
-Present-

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Paper Lantern
15 November, 2019
5:56 pm

I moved away and reached out to pull the door handle. The sound of the wind chime crackling softly reverberated into my eardrums as I stepped into the Paper Lantern.

"Welcome to the Paper Lan- Oh it's just you." Zizi yawned as her gaze flickered down to the journal at the counter. " How may I help you dingus?"

" I don't think that's how you treat customers but-"

She yawns even loudly to show her disinterest in my advice. I shake my head. "Right. I'll order some drumsticks, and a chocolate milkshake."

As she announced the price, I dug into the pocket of my blue jeans and fished out my wallet for paying and then made my way to the table.

Paper Lantern was an adequate sized diner located near the Calangute beach.It was one of the most successful cafés in Delmore.The exposed wooden ceiling , marble granite countertops, the teal coloured leather booths, dark wooden floors, the hanging lights were enough evidence of that.

Mrs. Rosario actually started the cafe along with her husband 11 years back. But then Mr. Rosario passed away in a terrible accident 5 years back. Since then, Mrs. Rosario manages the cafe along with Veronica.

As I approach our usual booth, my lips curve upwards at the sight of Veronica. She had her face pressed to the palm of her hand;her eyes silently gazing at the black coffee in front of her.

Beside her , dressed modestly in a white shirt was Himanshu. His eyes were trained on the raven haired girl sitting beside him, the one he was hopelessly in love with.

" Peaches, you're late." Veronica hummed recognising my presence.

I rolled my eyes at the reference of my nickname before slipping into the booth, beside her. " How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

" Aren't you more bitter than usual?" Siya chimed in.

" Aren't you more annoying than usual?"

Veronica rolled her eyes at our little banter. Himanshu contorted his face, and narrowed his eyes.
" Now, children." He paused and looked at Veronica, "Ronnie, you said you wanted to tell us something,right? So why don't you begin?"

" Yeah , right. So what I wanted to tell you guys was-"

Veronica opened her mouth to respond but her words quickly died in her throat as a certain waitress entered our peripheral. Adjusting her navy appron, Zizi placed my order on the table. Her irises flickered over to Siya. " Do you mind?"

Siya scooted to the side, closer to Himanshu. Zizi smiled and took a seat next to her.

"So what are you dinguses discussing ? Himanshu's Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Himanshu quirk an eyebrow. Veronica blinked profusely. Siya just looked puzzled.

" We're just discussing about extra-curriculars. Since, Alishka is...well.... there's an empty spot in the cheer squad. And  Siya wants to try out ." Veronica lied.

Siya raised a brow at her. " I do?"

Veronica gave her a stern glare and replied," Yes, you do."

Siya nodded , finally getting the hint. I swear to God, I still don't know how she manages to score high marks in school.

" Wait , but who's going to be cheer captain now that the crazy bitch is dead?" Zizi asked to no one in particular.

" Geez, Zoya. It's just been 24 hours since her death. Don't you have the slightest bit of remorse and sadness for her?" Himanshu asked, baffled by her nonchalant behaviour.

Zizi tilted her head to the side.
" Oh Himanshu, save the facade for someone else."

Himanshu sighed in defeat. It was almost impossible to win with Zizi. She smiled at her victory and turned to Siya,
" Anyways, if you wanna be a vixen, just let me know. I'll prep you. I've got some moves."

Siya just smiled and nodded.

" I'm sure that staph infection of a human will not leave any chance to humiliate you but...eh, what's the harm in trying out?"

Himanshu raised an eyebrow.
" Are you talking about Saina?"

" Who else , ozzy? I'm pretty sure that she's all up for being the next cheer captain now that her competition is off and about." Zizi rolled her eyes.

" Wait, Alishka was Saina's competition? I thought they were best friends." I asked to no one in particular.

" Oh you pre - pubescent man child, have you been living under a rock ? No one can be 'best friends' with the devil's incarnation." She chimed. I just pursed my lips and took a sip of my milkshake.

" Trust me , it wouldn't be a surprise if in a few weeks the headlines confirms her as the killer." Zizi stood up.

" Dude," Himanshu began.

" Oh , I forgot she was your cousin. Sorry.....eh...but not really."

She flipped the hair off her shoulder and went back to kitchen as Himanshu and Veronica exchanged annoyed glances.

" God, I forgot what I was about to tell you guys." Veronica finished her coffee.

" Why did you call us here Ronnie?" Himanshu asked.

" Oh yeah!" She scanned her surroundings to make sure no one was in hearshot . " I just... I kinda received a weird text today at school."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Siya stiffen a bit. She narrowed her eyes at Veronica.

" Text? What text ? From whom?" Himanshu asked.

" I don't know. It was from an unknown number. But...it was weird."

Siya nervously drummed her fingers on the table.

" Well, what did it say?" I asked.

Veronica paused to look at me before reaching for her phone in the pocket of her red and black flannel shirt . She scrolled through her phone and a soft gasp left her mouth as she reached the particular message. She licked her pomegranate dipped lips and extended the phone towards Himanshu.

He took it questioningly. But as his gaze landed on the infamous message, his lips threatened to tug downwards. Siya looked at the message from over his shoulder and stifled a gasp.

Himanshu slowly extended the phone towards me. I read the message to myself.

' If you only she could see how guilty you look.'

" But who would do such a thing?" Himanshu asked, puzzled.

" I don't know , Moose. Either this is a sick joke or...." Veronica began.

" Or someone knows about that night." Siya completed. The three of us looked at her questioningly.

" I got a message like this too."

Veronica's eyes widened as Siya pulled out her phone to show us the message. Hers read:

' All the good girls go to hell, S. Better watch your back.'

" Oh my god," Veronica gasped.

" But who would do this? And why? There's no chance of someone knowing about that night. We made a pact to never mention it , remember?" I said.
The trio looked at me and then at each other.

" Maybe this is some kind of joke." Himanshu said.

" Yeah , but who would do-"

The remainder of Siya's sentence fell deaf to my ears as my eyes distractedly fell on a certain boy that stepped in through the jingling door of the diner.

His sun kissed brown skin glistened with sweat as his cheek bones looked unbearably sharp underneath the lights in the diner.  A kaleidoscope of butterflies threatened to erupt from the depths of my stomach.

I watched as he made his way towards the booths, his ebony locks streaming over his hazel eyes like a saturated sunrise. Zizi met him half way, in front of our booth.

" Um..order for Fernandez?"

Zizi looked him up and down before replying, " I'll be with your order in a bit."

He smiled; a smile sweeter than strawberry jam and nodded. By then, my friends had stopped talking probably recognising the presence of this unknown stranger.

He suddenly turned towards our booth, nonchalantly and asked to no one in particular, " Hey, how are the onion rings here?"

Words failed to come out but I somehow blurted, " So good."

He smiled widely at me; a smile that had the ability to make me dizzy with euphoria.

" My dad and I just moved here." He said and looked at me again. "Do you guys go to Delmore High?"

"Yeah , actually. We are in 11th , all of us." Himanshu extended his hand towards him. "I'm Himanshu Arora."

"Daniel. Daniel Fernandez."

" Hi Daniel, I'm Veronica. " She shook his hand briefly and nudged Siya. "This is Siya Natekar."

She smiled politely at him.

"And this is..." Veronica began.

"Ahaan. Ahaan Jaiswal."

As his hands came in contact with mine, I felt a hundred butterflies erupting in my stomach. A sheepish smile graced my lips as translucent blossoms blossomed against my cheeks. His eyes softened at the corner as his lips threatened to curve upwards.

" Well, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. I'm joining Delmore High from tommorow so it's good that atleast I know some of the people there."

" You're 4 months late. School started in August." Veronica deadpanned.

" Uh..yeah actually, we had to move abruptly so. But anyways, my dad is a friend of the principal of the school. So it wasn't a problem."

"Oh, cool." Veronica pressed her lips into a thin line.

" Hey, do you wanna join us?  Maybe we can give you a tour or something." I said. I could feel the burning gazes of my friends on me but I didn't care.

He smiled, a knowing smile, and said, "My dad's kinda waiting for me at home but...to be continued maybe?"

I smiled shyly and nodded.

" To be continued."

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