Song of the Chapter is
Starboy by The Weekend ft. Daft Punk

-08-
-Avinash Mittal-
-Present-

__________________

Mittal Mansion
15 November, 2019
6:17 pm

Spending a consider amount of time in the Coney Island , drinking and drowning in liquor, was enough to subdue me into leaving a trail of kisses on the girl in front of me, from her lips to her neck.

A sudden flash of her face flooded in front of my eyes and I sat upright, pushing the girl off me.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" The girl inquired curiously before flipping her hair over her shoulder.

She sat in front of me , her hair brushing over her shoulder. She was dressed in a black satin top and ripped jeans; the top practically falling off her petite limbs. She ran her fingers through my hair and disheveled them. The waves falling of my forehead and into my eyes, covering, whatever lust I had in my eyes. The girl - I think Sara was her name? - was gorgeous.

A part of me wanted to grab her by her waist and kiss her until her lips were numb - until I was numb. But I couldn't bring myself up to do that.

The knock on the window of my white Audi acted as a messiah in the moment.

I turned to the door and found Kartik Malhotra's light eyes staring into mine.

He shot the girl beside me a look and she pushed herself off me , back onto the passenger seat.

I pretended to roll my eyes in annoyance at seeing Kartik for the girl's sake - not that I really cared.

" I'll see you around." I said to the stranger next to me. She pursed her lips before getting out of the car and into hers, driving away.

I lowered the car window.

" So you hook up in your driveway now, Avi?" Kartik asked nonchalantly.

I rolled my eyes again at his comment and got out of the car. Making my way to the door , I fumbled with the keys and finally finding the right one, opened the door. I pushed the door open and tilted my head inside, inviting him in.

He silently followed me up the mansion's wooden staircase to my room, where I flung myself onto my bed.

"What's up, K?" I asked coolly.

He closed the door behind him and rolled his eyes, " Seriously, Avi? I know how much you love your monday fucks but how can you act like this? Your girlfriend has been dead for like 24 hours."

I sat up straight, narrowing my eyes at the corner of his lips which clearly showcased a lipstick stain.

" Well, that cute stain on the corner of your lip doesn't seem to mind , does it?"

He touched his lips immediately and pursed his lips.

" So you still hung on Zizi?" I asked mockingly.

He rolled his eyes flipping me off. I chuckled slightly.

" But seriously K, what happened?"

He sunk into the couch opposite to the bed and closed his eyes.

" She says she doesn't wanna continue this... whatever this was. And I know that's because Al's dead. She just fooled around with me because she wanted to annoy Al."

I raise my eyebrows. " That's a very fucked up thing to do."

"Ya think?!" He asks sarcastically.

I breathed a sigh. " But I do get where she's coming from. I mean, Alishka did make her life a living hell with all the bullying. Her pettiness is almost acceptable."

He narrowed his eyes at me.
" Yeah, but what did I ever do to her? Why involve me in this mess?"

"Well," I began, " You don't get always get what you want directly. You gotta use your tricks and tips to accomplish something." He scrunched his face in annoyance.
"And as far as I know Zizi, she can go to any lengths to do that."

The expression on his face suddenly changed to a very solemn one. I could see a flicker of dread in his eyes.

" Do you," he began hesitantly,
" Do you think she....she did it?"

It took me moment to understand what he was talking about.

" What? You mean, killing Alishka? K , are you freaking serious? She's seventeen for Christ's sake. And to be honest, she doesn't look like she has the stomach for murdering someone in cold blood."

He nodded , almost unconvinced. I shook my head. These Malhotra twins sure had an abundance of arrogance and pride but failed to have a decent amount of brain.

" How is everything at home?" I asked. It was the only thing I could provide him right now. Comfort.

He laughs mechanically and inclined his head back. " How do you think everything at home is?" I sighed. " My mom is balling her eyes out and my dad's trying to be tough for her. In fact they are so involved in greiving their daughter that they probably have no idea that their son is missing since the past 5 hours."

" You can't blame them, Kartik. They lost their child. What do you expect them to do?"

" I know and I understand, okay? But... I just wish...they were a little compassionate about me too , you know. Two weeks have passed since they last talked to me. And then , Alishka went missing on that God forbidden night! And ever since that, all they can think about is her , her and her! It's like I'm invisible. They don't even know that I've spent the last couple of nights in your house."

I shrugged. I didn't really know how to comfort people to be honest.

"Anyways, I don't wanna talk about it." Said he after ranting about it for the past couple of minutes. " I want to take my mind off things. Tell me about you. Who was that chick you were screwing?"

I smirked a little, " Just some girl I met at Coney Island. Honestly, I don't even remember her name."

He rolled his eyes. " Dude, its still time, change your ways. You do know that you are the prime suspect right?"

" I am? "

" Yes, dumbass. You were her freaking boyfriend. And now you're giving them reasons to believe that you killed her. You, jumping from clubs to clubs, hooking up with random chicks. Who else do you think they'll suspect?"

" Well ," I began nonchalantly,
" too bad, I didn't do anything. So I've got nothing to worry about."

" You know that. They don't." He hesitated and narrowed his eyes at me. " All I'm saying is that we have to be careful. They're desperate to find suspects cause they don't have any evidence. They'll throw you in jail without thinking twice. "

And for the first time, my heart suddenly started beating uncontrollably. The reminder of that night ignited my guilt even more.

But I kept my composure and said in an indifferent tone, " We'll then , we're fucked."

He scoffed. " Nice choice of words , idiot. "

He stood up and took the pack of cigarettes on the nightstand. With a silver lighter , he lighted the cigarette that's trapped between his teeth and walked out to the balcony.

I stared at him until he was out of sight, concentrating on some strands of ebony hair move from side to side.

A soft sigh escaped my lips.

Just then, my iphone buzzed in the deep pits of my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a new notification added to my previously unopened ones. I click on it , thinking its probably the girl from the club.

But instead of a cherry sweet message, what I received baffled me to the zenith.

' Careful, careful Playboy! Better watch your back...or you'll be a dead bitch too. '

___________