|Chapter Eleven|

The district library is snuggling underneath a quilt of eerie silence, a stark contrast to the rest of the city of Mumbai which is fast-paced and wide awake at all times. Their little footsteps reverberate into loud thuds all around as Aisha and Vivek navigate through the deserted aisles.

"Are you sure?" Aisha asks as she eyes the books over the shelves, clad with a thick layer of dust.

"Of course," Vivek says, leading the way. "Most students don't know that this aisle is a goldmine of good guide books. They judge these shelves on the basis of the spider-webs and dust and miss out on some really good books," he adds, scanning the shelves like a hawk on the prowl.

"Okay," Aisha mumbles, glancing over the shelves in case she spots a spider.

"You're not scared of spiders, are you?" Vivek asks, peering at her with amusement.

"No way," Aisha shakes her head adamantly.

Grinning, Vivek shrugs. "If you say so," he says before resuming to looking for books.

"Is this one any good?" Aisha asks, pulling out a thick chemistry guide book.

"You can take that one but I think there was a 2017 edition in here which is a really refined one," Vivek says, skimming through the stacks of books.

Nodding, Aisha lets the hazel-eyed boy to continue with his search. Leaning against the shelf behind her, she wonders about the peace this place is laced with. Back at home, it's either Nitya making a mess or Veer throwing a tantrum over something, meaning there's hardly any time left for silence to descend.

"Aisha," Vivek says, glancing somewhere behind her with wide eyes.

"What?" she asks, while furrowing her brows with anxiety.

"There's a spider behind you."

Yelping like a wounded pup, the raven-haired girl jumps off the shelf, hopping like a madwoman and all the while chanting, "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off of me!"

"Easy there!" Vivek laughs, pulling her into a hug to stop her from all the jumping. Holding her in his arms, he's still chuckling uncontrollably while Aisha buries her face into her hands, praying that the insect is no longer on her.

"Is it gone?" she asks, still encased in his arms.

"I clearly remember saying there's a spider behind you, not on you," Vivek whispers, his voice lacing hilarity.

Realizing her folly, Aisha wonders on how to react. Should she be angry on herself, or on him? She chooses the latter option. Dropping her hands from her face, Aisha shoves the hazel-eyed boy away before turning to hunt for those damned guide books.

"Is Miss Medhi angry?" Vivek asks, chuckling at the end.

"Very much," she admits it morosely.

"But angry on whom?" Vivek asks, grinning. "Me or that spider?"

"You know what? I'm just gonna go and find myself some good guide books on my own," Aisha snaps, turning on her heel heatedly.

"Okay, okay!" Vivek speaks quickly. "I'm sorry." Reaching out, he grasps her wrist, pulling her back to the old aisles.

The duo then begins browsing through the bookshelves rather seriously. A few minutes more into the search and Vivek's found all the books for Aisha. Handing the last paperback to the caramel-eyed girl, he smiles at her.

"That's pretty much all you will need," Vivek says, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Hey, Vi," Aisha mumbles, tapping her foot guiltily.

"Yeah?" Vivek responds.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you," she mumbles, tracing the inscribed words over the cover in her hands.

"Oh, meri drama queen, (Oh, my drama queen,)" Vivek says with a grin, pressing the tip of Aisha's nose like a little button. "That's not even a thing to be apologetic about."

"Whatever," Aisha sighs, swatting his finger off her face with a smile.

"Did you plan on the whole hairstyling competition thing then?" Vivek asks, leaning against a shelf to his right.

"I researched a little about it last night," Aisha tells him. "It's being organised by L'Oreal so it's something big. Moreover the event is being hosted somewhere in Bandra East so it'll be easy to accommodate."

"That's good," Vivek says.

"But the timing's a problem," Aisha sighs. "The prelims start at nine and it's on a weekday."

"So that means you gotta skip school that day," Vivek points out.

"Exactly," Aisha responds with a nod. "And my parents can't find out, so that means I can't rely on them to take me to the contest."

"Why don't you tell them already?" Vivek asks. "I'm sure they'd be thrilled to know how talented their daughter is."

Smiling, Aisha peers at him. "Thanks, Vi. But the fact that hairstyling has never been a popular profession makes my parents think that it's something very capricious and unstable."

"Fair enough," Vivek nods. "But you gotta tell them at some point of time."

"Yeah," Aisha agrees to it. She then glances down at the floors when her eyes take notice of Vivek's sneakers. They are red with white shoelaces and appear worn out, but neat. The ones which Veer had once put on and which had led to a debacle between the twins.

"Hey, Vi," she calls.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you adore these shoes so much?" Aisha asks, gesturing a hand at them.

"Oh, these," Vivek says, tapping his sneakers over the floors. "A year back, I had bought these. I had given the trials for the school sprinter's position wearing these and, that day, Ayan had beaten me to the position."

"Oh," Aisha listens with rapt attention, watching the smile over Vivek's face as he peers at those shoes.

"That day I made a promise to myself that I'm gonna bounce back and show Ayan what I'm capable of. Wearing these shoes everyday keeps me motivated, reminding me of that last lap when I screwed up my chances of winning," Vivek says. When Aisha doesn't speak, he peers up to find her smiling at him warmly.

"What?" Vivek asks her.

"I'm proud of you, Vi," she says. "It doesn't matter if you make it as a sprinter or not, but to me, the effort is what matters. And you've given this dream your everything."

"Thanks," Vivek smiles back. "Let's get these borrowed now." He gestures at the books in her hands.

"Sure-" Aisha speaks when she pauses. "Oh, um...Vi...?"

"Yeah?" he asks, glancing at her.

"Um...there's a...a spider...behind you..."

"Hah, nice try miss," Vivek grins.

"No, I'm serious!" Aisha whisper-shouts, widening her eyes for emphasis.

Vivek blinks at her shadily. Turning, he glances behind him just to make sure that there's no spider. Smirking, Aisha swiftly drops the paper which she had crumbled into a tiny ball into Vivek's shirt the moment he looks away.

"Shit," he murmurs when something crawls down his back, making a creepy sensation trail up his spine.

"Oh shoot," Aisha says, feigning some concern. "I think it crawled down into your shirt!"

"What?" Vivek asks, ruffling his shirt in an attempt to get the apparent spider off his back. "This is the third freaking time this happened," he mutters exasperatedly.

When a paper ball slips out of his shirt and lands over the floors, Vivek gapes at it for a brief moment, wondering where the hell this came from. Sighing, he attempts and glares at the raven-haired girl who's already waiting for him at the end of the aisle, smirking at him.

"I clearly remember saying that I thought the spider crawled into your shirt, it wasn't a definite statement!" Aisha states with a giggle before rushing down the stairs.

__________

The low buzz of usual conversations of students reaches Aisha and Veer who are arranging the Editor's cabin at the recess time. Vivek's busy attending a sports discussion at the gymnasium while Payal's at home, suffering a cold.

"Done!" Aisha rejoices, grinning at the neatly arranged bookrack.

"Thanks, Ash," Veer smiles. His eyes focused on the newly submitted articles. "With Payal absent, this clean-up would've got delayed for over a week again."

"Don't bother mentioning," Aisha smirks. "Teddy."

Veer scowls at the nickname, earning a giggle from Aisha.

"Anyway, can you get me the articles from the letterbox please?" he tells her.

"Sure," Aisha says before heading out of the room. Turning to the right side of the doorway, she unlocks the little letterbox hung over the wall. Pulling the door open, she finds about five articles stapled separately and three letters.

Glancing at the letters which are neatly sealed, Aisha's eyes widen at the words scribbled on them. "Oh my god! Veer, Veer, Veer!" she chants excitedly while rushing back into the cabin.

"What happened?" Veer asks, his eyes wide with worry. "Don't tell me it's Ayan coming to hit me."

"No," Aisha shakes her head, dumping all the papers on the table in front of Veer. "Look at these letters!" she squeals, handing the envelopes to him.

It puzzles Aisha when all Veer reacts with is distaste at the sight of them. "Yeah," he mumbles before placing the letters back on the table, pushing them aside. Reaching for the articles, he skims them as if nothing out of the blue happened.

"What...?" Aisha mutters, confused. "They are freaking love letters, for you!"

"I know," Veer says with a shrug, his eyes never leaving the article in his hands.

"Veer," Aisha speaks with much confusion than ever before. When he doesn't respond, she decides to tear the letters open and read them by herself.

"Just throw them in the trash can, Ash," he tells her with a sigh, only to be ignored by Aisha.

"This one is from Anaya," Aisha reads the name. "She's written a little poem for you and has placed rose petals within the envelope too, aw!"

Veer only throws her a look that says, 'Do I look like I care?'

"Do you want me to read you the poem?" Aisha asks, enjoying the annoyance dearly.

"How sweet of you," Veer retorts with a sarcastic smile. "Nope."

"The next one is from Shabana," Aisha reads the next letter. "Whoa," she gapes at the length of the content. "Dude, this girl literally wrote an essay about you!"

"Aisha," Veer sighs.

"Okay fine," she giggles. "Just let me take a look at the last letter and I'll be done."

Picking up the final envelope, she examines it on the outside. Unlike the previous two which have been extravagantly decorated with all sorts of glitters and paper cut-outs, this one is rather simple and blank. Tearing it open, Aisha pulls out a little note, cleanly folded. It's nothing fancy but the slanted handwriting does catch her eye.

"Impressive," she mumbles to herself before skipping to the end to read the name. Her eyes widen and a giggle escapes her lips when she processes the name.

"What?" Veer asks, curious about her sudden snort.

"This one is from Jayden!" Aisha tells him, a glint in her eyes. "You are getting love letters from guys too!"

"What?" Veer blinks at her. "Jayden Spears? The boy from tenth grade?"

"You'd know him better," Aisha shrugs, handing the letter out to him with a grin. Veer skims through the page silently, his face a blank canvas. Once he's finished, a smirk graces his lips.

"The boy has just written good stuff about me," Veer says, placing the letter back on the desk. "He says that I'm quite an inspiration and have been a good leader so far in whatever things I've taken an initiative in."

"Ugh," Aisha groans with frustration. "Seriously, Veer, aren't you gonna be interested in anyone?"

"Why are you so worried about my rotten love life?" Veer laughs at her sullen face.

"Because you deserve to be behaving like some lovesick pup!" Aisha exclaims. "You've got looks, a good personality, overall average brains and are a charmer, so why not?"

"Average brains?" Veer asks. "I am so very offended."

"Fine," Aisha rolls her eyes. "A brain that's brilliantly encasing prodigious potential-"

"Okay, okay!" he raises his hands in surrender. "You win; I don't fancy listening about how awesome my brain is."

"Smart choice," she grins at him.

________________

Author's Note:

Like our Veer, how many here are sitting single and so-not-ready to mingle?

Count me into this list! XD

No, really do. :P

Anyway, a very Merry Christmas guys!!! Thanks for giving 'The Difference' so much love!! It's already ranking #1 in Northeast, #2 in Styling and #432 in Reality out of 27.1k stories!!!

Oh, and we crossed 100 votes!! Yay!

See y'all at the next update!!! <3
Enjoy the holidays XOXO