The inner satisfaction that I felt as I stepped out of the campus was beyond words could describe. I was happy, ecstatic even when my result came out. I remember waking up like any other ordinary day and having Vaibhav standing near my bed with a grin across his face - my whole family was proud that I scored such good grades.

Since last week, all Nishant, Shanaya and I had been doing was come to campus for formalities to get into a good college and get a course we wanted. Shanaya and my result almost matched each other's but Nishant being the intellectual dork that he was, topped the entire batch in his school.

"Where to?" Nishant asked beside me.

"I am starving, how about having food before heading home?" I asked him and he nodded.

The most astonishing thing of all was when after all our efforts I ended up in the same college as my best friends. I almost shed the tears of joy when that happened.

"Where did Shanaya disappear?" I frowned and Nishant shrugged.

"I don't know, she said she'll be joining us in an hour." He informed me and I nodded.

Nishant and I made our way towards his car after which he drove us to Burger King, which was the only place we both could settle on. When we reached there Nishant placed the order as I found ourselves an empty table by the window. He came back with food in his hand and two coke.

"How are things between Zara and you going?" I asked him before taking the first bite of my burger.

He blushed at the mention of her name and I tried to hide my smile. Sometimes I honestly doubted who made him a guy, he blushed like a girl when talked about his girlfriend, but jokes apart - I always found it adorable.

"We are good, she's really sweet you know. The inner child in her always makes me happy, she can be a little immature at times but I love that she likes to be herself around me. Otherwise, girls mostly like to pretend something they are not in front of their boyfriends."

"Totally agreed. I am really happy that you finally found someone." I told him, giving out a genuine smile to my best friend.

"So am I." He grinned back. After a pause he continued, "Zara reminds of Rayhan, how was your date with him?"

I literally slammed my head against the window when Nishant called it a 'date', wasn't Rayhan enough of a torture that day?

"It was not a date, Nish." I told him in whining tone which obviously made him chuckle.

"Sure, how was it anyway?"

"The day was awesome, he took me to amusement park and trust me that was the most fun I had in last few years. Except, of course, we ended up arguing at the end of the day and he went back home annoyed." I laughed at the memory and Nishant looked at me with an amused smile on his face.

"What did you do to annoy him, may I ask?"

I giggled, "I did nothing, he was just annoyed about the fact that Krish is hotter than he is." 

"Krish, as in, that party guy?" He frowned and I nodded which made him question, "Where did he come from?"

I described the whole scene to Nishant where I was texting Krish earlier and then our encounter in grocery store and Rayhan's annoyance when he saw Krish and I, after which the party was mentioned. In the car, however, Rayhan and I ended up arguing about who's hotter and I obviously said Krish - because I was being honest or maybe I wanted to annoy him.

Nishant laughed at my silly story before speaking, "Why do I have a feeling this guy likes you?"

"Who? Krish?" No way.

"Nah, Rayhan is the one I am talking about." He said with a bemused expression and I almost choked on my burger.

"Are you kidding?"

"No, I am not. With whatever you just told me, I am being honest."

"That's not possible alright? I am one year elder to him, and we annoy each other all time - I see no signs of liking here." I argued, Nishant just thought too much into everything.

"Will you please stop bringing the age difference all the time? It isn't a big deal."

I scowled, "It may not to be one to you, but to me, it is." I said, dismissing the rest of the conversation.

"I was just saying, alright? No need to be mad at - "

"Hey guys!" Shanaya cut off in between Nishant's sentence as she hugged me from behind and I giggled. This girl was always excited for no reason at all.

"Hey baby! Where did you go?" I asked as she took a seat with us.

"I had to meet a cousin and give him some books that he needed." She said with a smile and I frowned.

"Where did this new cousin appear from?" I questioned.

"My dad's brother's son." She said in a nonchalant tone and I just nodded before letting it slip.

"I'll go get myself something." Shanaya announced before disappearing to give her order.

"Are you mad?" Nishant asked and I huffed.

"No, I can never stay mad at you Nish. But can we please just stop associating every guy's feelings towards me? Be it Krish or Rayhan?" Nishant didn't argue, instead he just nodded in understanding.

"So, who's excited for college?" Shanaya asked as she got back to the table.

I gave her a duh look, "Who isn't?"

She giggled, "Right! I can't believe I got into the course I always wanted, and so did you both. We grew up way too fast, didn't we?"

Nishant smiled at her, "We sure did."

Well, Shanaya, Nishant and I did get into the same college but we had different courses. I obviously went for Sociology, something that always perked up my interest while Shanaya opted Political Science and Nishant decided on B.Com.

"Where's Varnika these days?" I asked Shanaya, wanting to know the whereabouts of my other friend that was missing in action these days.

"She went on a trip to Goa with her cousins, but she's coming back tomorrow and we are all ready to throw a party." Shanaya responded with excitement dripping her tone.

"What about her college though?"

Shanaya rolled her eyes at my question, "She's a brat Tannu, we all were aware from the beginning she'll be going to a private university that costs five times more than our college does."

I nodded my head at her words, being totally aware of what she meant. Since last year Varnika became Miss Popular in our batch, and hence it took a toll on her studies.

"What about the party though, who's place?"

"No one's place, we're just planning to go to a lounge and chill. That way, no one ends up with a trashed living room." She informed me.

I turned to Nishant who was being a silent listener, "You'll be joining us too, right?"

"When is it?" He questioned us and I looked at Shanaya.

"This weekend."

Nishant thought for a second before shaking his head, "Sorry guys, I won't be able to."

I frowned, "Why?"

"I have plans with Zara."

"Oh, c'mon Nishant. You can bring your girl along, we promise we don't bite." Shanaya said and I gave out an amused smile.

"Fine, I'll come for an hour but then we'll leave, okay?" He tried to find a common ground and we both nodded our heads.

"We need to go to shopping!" Shanaya squealed besides me as she clapped her hands.

"I am out of it." Nishant raised his hands in surrender and I laughed at his actions. "No seriously, I am not joining you guys. Shanaya can drop you home later Tanvi." He said in a serious tone.

"Yeah, okay." I agreed.

I knew Nishant wasn't a big fan of shopping but the poor guy got a girlfriend who was a shopping freak. Time to change habits, I guess.

After Shanaya was done with her food we all left together and then Nishant parted his way while Shanaya and I went to mall.

"How much more time?" I knocked on the try room door.

"Two more minutes Tannu." She huffed from the other side and I frowned. How long does it take to try a dress on?

She had already tried three dresses while I still had to select one. When I wasn't in a mood of shopping, nothing ever caught my eye and I went back home empty handed.

Shanaya opened the door to try room and stepped aside to give me her full look. She tried on a yellow skinfit dress and damn, didn't she look amazing.

"You are buying it." Were the first words I said and she laughed.

"Sure babe, does it look okay?" She asked and I rolled my eyes.

"We both know you look beautiful."

She smiled, "Thank you! I'll be out in a minute and then we can go find you a dress."

After Shanaya was done with her own shopping, she helped me select a dress but unfortunately I couldn't decide on anything so we headed to next store where a dress caught her eye and she was determined for me to try it so that's what I did.

"Woah, royal blue really suits you!" Shanaya said I stepped out of the try room.

"I don't think so." I made a face at her and she pouted.

"You look hot, okay?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, sure I do."

The royal blue dress that I had currently tried on had nothing wrong with it, except it's cloth material was clingy, kissing each of my curve and ended one inch above my mid-thigh which left a lot to expose - hence making me uncomfortable. No, don't get me wrong, I wore shorts and stuff but this dress felt truly exposing but it also made me look attractive at the same time.

"Stop overthinking Tanvi! You look fabulous, we're buying it and leaving." The dismissive tone of Shanaya made me scowl.

"Do you have to rush somewhere?"

"No, actually we have to rush somewhere." She winked at me and I frowned.

This girl was unpredictable.

"Where do we have to rush, may I know?"

She clicked her tongue, "Ahan, nope! It's a surprise."

Those words were enough to make me narrow my eyes at her. Shanaya and Surprises never meant a good thing.

"What is it that you're hiding?" I asked, keeping my hands at my hips.

"Oh, sexy dress, dominant look, you really look attractive." She whistled and though I wanted to be mad at her, I ended up cracking a smile.

She laughed, "Go and change, we're getting late." She pushed me inside the try room and I giggled.

After changing and paying for my dress, we both left the mall and she started the engine to her car.

"Where are we going?" I tried to ask again.

She grunted her teeth, "Babe, be patient. I am not kidnapping you."

"I wouldn't doubt if you did."

She chuckled, "Neither would I."

After half an hour drive Shanaya parked in front of starbucks and I scowled at her.

"There was a starbucks even in that mall."

She turned towards me completely, keeping her hands at my shoulder, "Tanvi, this is important to me, okay? Whatever happens in another hour, I would like you not to freak out and be patient."

I gulped at her words as I saw her pleading eyes, this definitely isn't going to end well, whatever she has planned in there. Shanaya being serious had to mean something.

We both left her car in parking and made our way to the starbucks, where Shanaya had the lead and I just followed her through.

The last time I visited this same place was when Krish and I met here before going to a party. As I was reminded of him, guilt took over my heart because I cancelled on him two days ago. I really wanted to go to the party with him that was today, but being busy with admission formalities just took a toll on me.

Though he sounded extremely hurt, we made a promise to hang out later sometime. In fact, he asked me on a proper date that night when we talked on phone and I sort of agreed.

My heart told me to think about this date thingy once more before giving him an actual response but my mind knew my heart was being moron as always. I had been living in the past from almost an year now, and even though I didn't want to, I knew it was time to move on.

Krish wasn't a bad guy, he was attractive and we got along really well, but he yet had to form a special place in my life.

As I was lost in the thoughts of Krish, I ended up bumping my head at Shanaya's back, who turned to give me a warning look with her wide eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Nothing, why?" I asked, trying to put on an innocent look. She just huffed and turned towards the table.

A guy was already sitting there, observing our encounter. He seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put a finger on where had I seen him.

"Take a seat." Shanaya motioned her hand for me to sit.

"Isn't the table already occupied?" I questioned her, knocking some sense into her mind.

"Tannu, just take a seat."

The tone behind her voice only shouted nervousness so I did as she said and she copied my actions, sitting next to the familiar yet the strange guy as I sat across him.

"Uh, Tanvi, I was with him when I disappeared for an hour." Shanaya told me, trying not to meet my eyes as she spoke.

"Oh, so that's your cousin. Hey, I am Tanvi." I extended my hand for him to shake with a smile on my face.

He shook my hand with a tight lipped smile as he introduced himself, "Aarav Patel."

I turned towards Shanaya who was fiddling with her fingers as she eyed me. "Actually Tanvi, he's not my cousin. We've been dating for a while." She said, gulping as she waited for my reaction.

"Excuse me?" My mouth dropped open.

"You heard me Tannu, he's my boyfriend." She said, closing her eyes for a second.

I looked back at the guy who was waiting for me to burst out just like Shanaya was, both eying me like I was a ghost.

"Wow. Congratulations!" Surprise laced my tone but I didn't even try to hide it.

Along with surprise, came disappointment when it hit me that all this while both of my best friends had been hiding things from me.

I looked at Aarav, and as Shanaya's words registered my head, I thought of where I had seen him last.

Some party?

Holy shit. Yes.

"Aren't you the same guy who was there with Shanaya at Arjun and Viren's party?" I asked, trying to connect things mentally.

He gave out a pleasant smile, "Yeah."

With that smile came another reminder. When I was here in starbucks last time with Krish, I had seen Aarav with another girl.

"How long have you been seeing each other?" I questioned.

"A month and half." Shanaya answered for both of them and I gulped.

That party was a month ago, so definitely there's something going on. The only reason behind me being suspicious about Aarav and that girl is because they just didn't look like friends. Their hands were tangled on the top of the table, and me being the observant person I was, I saw it.

"Aarav, can you excuse us for like five minutes?" I asked him politely and though he frowned at the request, he nodded as he went to place our orders in the meantime.

"Are you mad?" Shanaya asked.

"No. Suprised and disappointed. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I just- I couldn't Tanvi. I know how you feel about relationships, and I felt the same before I met Aarav at that party. We just connected, you know? That night at the party, we exchanged numbers and started hanging out a lot after that. I wanted to tell you long ago, but I wanted you to meet him first." She explained, leaving me speechless.

I had never seen Shanaya talking about a guy like this, ever. Aarav had to be special to her, which is why she provided me with an explanation.

"Are you sure he's not the bad guy type, like he wouldn't hurt you, right?" I questioned and she smiled.

"Trust me, he won't. We really like each other."

"Shanny, I know this isn't really the last time to say this but I saw him last month here with some girl, and they looked pretty close." My eyes wandered to Shanaya's, waiting for her response.

"Here as in? In starbucks?" She had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Um, yeah."

"Did you see her face?" She looked worried.

"No, her back was to me and they sat somewhere near the window." I informed her.

Shanaya narrowed her eyes at me, "That was me, you dumbhead! How couldn't you recognise me from my back?"

"What? Are you kidding me? I should've recognised you! It would've been awesome catching you red handed."

Shanaya gave me a look before cracking a smile, "So, all good between us?"

I grinned at her, "Not until you make white sauce pasta for me." I sticked out my tongue and she giggled.

Shanaya cooked really well and I was the biggest fan of her white sauce pasta, so to make up for the disappointment part, I wanted pasta in return.

"Done." Shanaya exclaimed and I smiled.

Shanaya, Aarav and I spent another hour in the Starbucks as we talked about each other. Apparently, Aarav was one year older than us and was doing bachelors in literature, which may I add, surprised me to bits.

"I think I need to go home now, I have to rush somewhere with Vaibhav." I told Shanaya which made both Aarav and her to whine.

"You guys came late, I literally waited for half an hour." Aarav frowned.

I smirked, "Guess who took that half an hour trying on dresses?"

Shanaya swatted my arm and Aarav chuckled before speaking, "Jokes apart, that yellow dress suited you best." He winked at Shanaya who blushed.

"I know, right?" I said, smiling at the couple in front of me before something striked me, "Hey, how do you know about that dress?" I gave him a baffled look.

"I, uh - " Aarav was cut off by Shanaya.

"I sent him pictures of the dresses I was trying." Shanaya admitted, colour rising to her cheek.

I gave out a laugh at that, "Now I understand where that half an hour went to." I pinched her sides, teasingly and she shrieked.

"Guys, we're in public." Aarav laughed at us.

"So, are you coming to the party?" I questioned him.

"She didn't invite me." He pouted and Shanaya narrowed her eyes.

"Are you serious? I'm inviting you, you have to come, okay?" I gaped at him and he sticked his tongue out at Shanaya.

"See, your best  friend invited me and I'm coming." He smirked at her and she shot daggers at me.

"Why don't you want him to come?" I questioned her and she frowned.

"Just like that."

"If you're worried about every other person judging you for finally getting into a relationship while you were against the idea of it your whole life, don't be. No one's got the right to judge you Shanny, it's your life and you don't have to explain anything to anyone." I told her, looking straight into her brown orbs and she gave out the most genuine smile.

"I guess you're right! You can come Aarav." She told him who just gave a similar smile to me as she did minutes ago.

"Thank you for knocking some sense into her. I'm glad at least one of you is sensible, otherwise two dumb best friends would've been a disaster." He said, sarcasm dripping his tone and I laughed like a maniac as I saw Shanaya's mouth going wide open at his words.

"You didn't just call me dumb,did you?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I wouldn't dare baby, I just called your best friend sensible." He chuckled and I joined in while my best friend scowled at us.

"Enough of this. We should really go! Vaibhav will kill me otherwise." I told Shanaya and she got up as well after which we left, but not before the couple made me feel like a third wheel by kissing in the parking lot.

When we were in the car Shanaya spoke up, "So, what do you think of him?"

"I think he really likes you and you really like him too." I told her with all honesty. I had never seen this girl blush for a guy and when she did today, I was glad it was for a guy who deserved it.

"Yes, I really do like him. I hope things remain good without me ending up with a broken heart." She frowned and I slapped her shoulder.

"Shh.. don't even mention the devil."

After Shanaya dropped me home I went straight to Vaibhav's room who was literally not talking to me because I was late for our brother-sister shopping date. Well, that didn't stop him from tagging me along to the mall with him. This bro-sis date was actually an excuse because he wanted to buy gifts for Ananya and since I was a girl,he needed my help with it. Such an amazing brother I have.

"So,when do you both plan on getting married?" I asked him as he drove back home in silence.

"What? We're too young to even mention that stuff." He scowled at me and I did the same.

"You guys have been dating for years now, one of you must've mentioned and then discussed all that marriage planning and having kids shit." I smirked at him and he cringed.

"Geez, stop right there! I guess someone needs to be reminded who's the elder one here." He ruffled my hair and I pouted like a baby. He needs to stop messing with my hair all the time really, I ain't a kid anymore.

The rest of the day and the following week passed in a blink of an eye and soon it was time for weekend party. Nishant insisted on driving me there but I told him I didn't want to feel like a third wheel between Zara and him. Plus, they would be leaving sooner or later so it didn't make sense to drive with them.

After doing my make up, no, not just eye make up but full make up and straightening my hair I took a look at myself. With the make up on,and my hair longer than before my face looked a lot more mature. I didn't look like a fifteen-year-old-girl anymore, which I wasn't and for the first time I felt and looked eighteen.

The only thing missing was my dress and heels so I quickly changed into my dress and stepped into my heels. Once I was fully dressed I turned around to have a full look of myself in mirror and damn boy, I felt like whistling at myself.

For the first time in a very long period I was pleased as I looked at myself. Shanaya's choice of dress and colour really paid off well. My dress clinged to each of my curves and my black heels went with the dress perfectly. For once I felt the need to carry clutch with myself because, well, lack of pockets in dresses.

So after putting my cell and the needed money in my clutch, I was ready to leave. The drive to the selected lounge wasn't too much,it was just thirty minutes drive but I didn't mind. Driving soothed me the most along with the songs playing in the background, it was one of my favourites things to do.

When I reached there I was met with few of the ex-classmates at the entrance itself but my friends were no where to be seen. After I entered my eyes roamed around the place and I was surpised that it was larger than I thought it would be. There were round tables all around with couches that looked way too comfortable and one side of the place was only meant for dance.

For once I was glad that no loud music was buzzing in this lounge rather soft tunes played in the background.

"Tanvi!" I heard my name being shouted and I turned around to find my group of people occupying the biggest table in the corner and I smiled.

Varnika waved for me to come over and that's what I did. I was surprised to see Arjun there as well, but I didn't mind. Varnika and Shanaya both hugged me at the same time and I giggled as my girlfriends took in my appearance.

"I hate to say this, but for once I think your dress and make up looks better than mine." Varnika complimented,something I would totally expect her to say but trust me, this statement coming from her was a lot.

"I chose that dress but my my, you look absolutely stunning." Shanaya hugged me once again and I smiled at them.

"Thank you my ladies."

After I was done meeting my girlfriends I turned to others and waved at them,all at once. But someone didn't appreciate that and got up to meet me. Guess who? Yes, Nishant and Zara. They hugged me one at a time but Zara went first since she was always too excited.

"My god! You look so hot." Zara shamelessly checked me out like a guy until Nishant cleared his throat. "What?" She smirked at him and I laughed as Nishant shook his head with an amused smile on his face.

"I agree with her though." He said.

"Thank you." I smiled at them.

I turned to others and a genuine smile took over my face as I saw Aarav. "I'm so happy that you're here." I told him and I was. Shanaya and Aarav together made one of the cutest couple and it made me so happy to see my best friend happy.

However,half of the people on this table were those whom I talked to only once in my life but Varnika knew them so I was okay with that.

I was just about to take a seat when someone grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

"Woah!" He said, taking in my appearance slowly,from tip to toe, "You look really.. beautiful and.. different." His mouth was wide open and it looked as if he was short of words.

"What are you doing here?" I asked through gritted teeth.

That made him finally look into my eyes rather than just search my face. Rayhan Roy knew exactly when and where to pop up in my life without as much as a slight warning.

"Well, your best friend just happened to invite me." He smirked and I looked over at Varnika who just shrugged at me.

"Wow! How about you don't talk to me for the rest of the evening since you were supposed to be mad at me?" I cocked an eyebrow and he tried to look deep in thought.

"Yeah, good for me. But hey, you really do look good." He poked my cheek and I couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks."

"Ohh, too much make-up I see." He said as he observed his finger that had actually no make up on it.

"Why are you always so over dramatic?" I scowled and he chuckled.

"You look adorable when you make that face though."

"Which face?"

"The one where you're actually pouting with a cringed nose." He smiled at me and I frowned at him, again!

"Whatever you said didn't even make sense."

"Sure."

"Are you guys gonna take a seat or argue for the rest of the evening?" Varnika asked me from her seat and I laughed at the thought of Rayhan and I arguing the whole evening. Well, that wasn't so impossible, it can definitely happen.

"You go first." I told Rayhan who just gave me a look before stepping ahead of me.

I felt some people arriving behind me and I thought of letting them go before me as well, I needed as much distance between Rayhan and I as possible.

Just as I turned around I was met with a face that I never thought would encouter again in my life. He was standing just two feet away from me and the look on his face was of pure surpise. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He took one step forward and unconsciously I felt msyelf taking one back and bumping into the table, almost tripping until an arm snaked around my waist, securing me in the place. I looked up to see Rayhan looking straight into my eyes with a frown.

"Tanvi, are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" He tried to joke but I wish that was the case.

Rather than answering him I stood up straight with a blank face and looked into the eyes that always had an impact on me, the gaze that melted me right under it and the face that I once yearned to see.

Oh, how I wish Rayhan's words were true and I had seen a ghost, because the fear of that would've been much more bearable than the pain of encountering Karan Malhotra.

x-x

-

Vote and comment, please? :)