《Short Recap》

"No, I understand." He said softly, running a hand through his hair, "I should go then. Good night Akira."

He walked out of the door, carefully closing it behind his back before I could say anything.

I mentally punched myself for letting my tongue run loose, staring at the door until I heard a hissing sound from the kitchen.

I quickly ran inside just in time to reduce the flame before more boiling water trickled out of pan and onto the stove.

Strike one.

●○●

"I feel so stupid about myself when I watch Tedx talks." Roshni stated to no one in particular as she painted my finger nails in a matte shade of nude pinkish colour.

Lara hummed in response, pausing to hold the hot straightening iron away from her hair, and nodded.

"They generally have a mixed effect on me, you know." She said thoughtfully, "Everyone who speaks is incredibly talented and well versed in their respective fields and I always get the feeling that if they can do it why can't I? And then of course it boils down to feeling justifiably stupid. Why are we watching Tedx again?"

"Because Akira wanted to listen to other overachievers like her and get even more inspired in life than she already is." Roshni groaned, accidentally painting the skin outside my nail in the process.

"I'm not forcing you to listen," I retorted, "Why is it even bothering you anyway? You're blasting Dynamite into one ear with your earphones. No one's stopping you from putting on the second one too!"

The college had decided to give all the students a half day because of the basketball final, since we were also hosting the match in our indoor court. This had evidently doubled everyone's excitement and given us time to prepare for our weekend in Goa.

And that's how I found myself getting ready with Roshni and Lara at my apartment. Roshni's dorm in the college hostel was too crowded and provided little to no privacy, while Lara's parents preferred to keep to themselves, so the two of them had brought their clothes and makeup over.

"Should I take my new navy blue bikini or my more conservative lemon yellow one piece?" Lara mused aloud, setting the two on my bed and studying them, "What do you think Akira?"

"New bikini." I shrugged, knowing that it was the answer she wanted to hear, "Ask Roshni though."

As if on cue Roshni pointed to the navy blue swimsuit before proceeding to put a second layer of nail colour on my fingernails so it wouldn't chip.

"By the way, I think I caught a glimpse of Vinay's jersey in that little bag you've kept on your study table. Are going to wear it?" Lara asked with a large grin.

"Akira's marking her territory!" Roshni sat up, eyes glittering with excitement, "Wow so you two are actually getting serious now."

She flung her arms around me in a tight hug, almost ripping over the bottle of nail colour that was balancing on the edge of my laptop.

"You're making me sound like a dog that goes around the neighbourhood peeing to mark it's territory." I felt my face flush, "I'm wearing it to keep up with the team spirit."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Roshni rolled her eyes, pulling out her earphones.

"Were you even listening to anything with those?" Lara asked Roshni, raising her brow, "Because you've been responding to almost everything."

"I was, ok." She huffed in response, "And that's beside the point right now. Do you realise that Akira needs our help here!"

"Yes!" Lara joined us on the bed, brimming with ardour.

I don't remember asking for help. Yikes, help!

The two of them shared a knowing glance, before shutting my laptop and setting it aside.

"Have you waxed recently?" Lara asked, inspecting my hands.

"Yeah, but..." I nodded, "I don't even get how it matters. Also, Vinay and I had a terrible misunderstanding yesterday so we aren't on the best terms."

"All the more reason for us to help you." Roshni asserted, jumping off my bed and heading towards my closet.

Before I knew it, Lara and Roshni were all over me, the Tedx talk I'd been listening to was long forgotten. My closet was literally ransacked, everything from the only pair of sunglasses I owned to my underwear. Within an hour and a half my bags for Goa were packed and my mind was saturated with an exorbitant amount of advice.

I thought I was lost before and had no idea what to do with Vinay. Now I was just as clueless, if not more and I think I lost a couple of neurons.

Poor me!

●○●

The air in the stadium felt almost alive with anticipation and electric fervour. It was already crowded an hour before the match and we were lucky to find a good seat on the bleachers.

The two teams were warming up in their respective halves of the basketball court, their faces already shining with sweat from the exertion. The captain of the rival team and Vinay exchanged putrid glances every now and then, and the audience that consisted primarily of students from our college would boo at the rival team every time it happened.

The players soon huddled up in a circle and roared over the noise as Vinay gave them a last minute pep talk, before the team dispersed and made their way to the locker room to get ready for their last match of the season.

"We should go wish them luck!" Lara jumped up zealously, pulling Roshni and me along.

"We'll lose our seats." I protested, not very keen on entering the boys locker room.

"Don't worry," Roshni replied, shooing us away, "I'll stay and hold them for you guys."

I sighed quietly.

I was wearing Vinay's jersey, the synthetic fabric of the humongous top pooling around my arms and waist. Roshni had made me tuck it into my jeans to make it look more presentable. His name and jersey number were emblazoned on my back, a loud cry that demanded everybody's attention in a way that I found a little uncomfortable.

A few boys hooted as we entered the locker rooms, one patting Vinay's shoulder and whispering something in his ear before chuckling to himself and going over to join another boy.

"Fuck off!" Vinay muttered under his breath before making his way to me.

Lara went in to find Neel while Vinay led me out.

"Hey." I grinned, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear, "I came to wish you luck."

Vinay smirked before pulling me into a hug and burying his face into my hair.

"I'm surprised you came," he admitted as he released me, "I was afraid you wouldn't after yesterday."

Shaking my head, I took his large hand into mine and intertwined my fingers with his and said, "I did promise I would come and you should know by now that I never go back on my word."

"Oh, so is that all it is?" Vinay raised his eyebrow.

"Yep," I nodded with a sly grin, "More or less."

"In that case I shan't ask you what I planned to." He shrugged, crossing his hands in front of his chest.

Ah those biceps!

Don't ogle you idiot!

"What..." I asked, slightly flustered when I saw him smirk, "I'm curious now. Tell me."

"Nah," Vinay twisted his mouth, "Maybe later. I should probably go prep my team up now. Match starts in fifteen minutes."

Before he could turn around and walk away, I grasped his shoulder firmly and deadpanned, "You better tell me now, Mister. Or..."

"Would you like to be my girlfriend, Akira?" he cut me off midsentence.

Taking both my hands into his, he tugged me gently so that our chests were almost touching and searched my eyes.

"Yes." I grinned bashfully, and I leaned in to peck his cheek.

"Oh come on!" he muttered in annoyance, "I deserve a proper kiss at least, Akira."

"Go lead your team to victory first," I said, wriggling out of Vinay's hold and patting his shoulder, "They're counting on you. The kiss can wait."

"Well, you better keep your word then." He chuckled, before turning around and calling out over his shoulder, "I love you!"

And without a moment of hesitation I replied, "I love you too!"

My lips seemed to be sewn in a wide upward curve after that. Whatever I tried to suppress my incessant grinning didn't work and after a point I decided to just leave it at that.

"Someone's practically glowing." Roshni teased when I got back.

I ignored her and trained my eyes on the court where the players were now taking their positions. Lara had returned to her place before me and had bought a bottle of coca cola on her way back for us to share.

The entire court watched quietly as the two captains acknowledged each other and the referee raised the ball for a tip off. Deadly quiet.

The large orange ball flew into the air and Vinay leapt up and tapped it before dribbling across the court, weaving his path between the rival players before passing it to Neel who shot it directly into the basket.

Everyone roared in unison as we got the first basket of the game.

1 - 0

It was an intense back and forth game after that. A foul here, a basket there- air tasting metallic with the tension weighing down on us. I watched with rapt attention, my hands clasped in front of me and resting on my knees.

Suddenly, a boy named Ali on our team pushed a rival player to the floor by mistake while fighting for the ball.

The referee sounded his whistle and the opposite team got three free throws.

Vinay cursed loudly, aggravating the rival captain who charged towards him. A verbal fight ensued until the referee's whistle pierced the air again. The two captains walked away from each other, scowling.

I held my breath as the first free throw skirted the edge of the ring and somehow tipped in, my fingers pressing together into a tight fist reflexively.

"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath.

The second throw missed the ring by a hair's breadth, it hit the board and fell down, drawing a relieved cheer.

The third shot landed perfectly into the ring, not even touching the ring as it flew right in.

"Now the points are tied!" I grunted.

48 - 48

Our team intercepted the ball within no time, eager to score early as only six minutes remained.

Neel dribbled across the court before passing to Vinay who threw the ball to Ali. He faked a right and continued from his left side, passing the ball to Vinay who was now standing near the ring.

One minute and twenty eight seconds remained, the match time now blinking with each passing second.

Vinay readied himself into a shooting stance and leapt into the air when an opponent player jumped too and tapped the ball away, pushing him down in the process.

Vinay landed flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him as he sent a shower of sweat around him on impact. I gasped.

"Oh my God!" I clutched Roshni's arm in worry, "He can't breathe."

"It's evidently a foul." She hissed, before screaming, "Stop crowding around him, you numbskulls!"

Vinay sat up after some time and a relief spray was sprayed onto his back.

Our team was awarded three free throws. Only about a minute left so if we scored we would win. The only problem was that Vinay needed to be able to score them now.

"Do you think he can do it?" I breathed out.

"He has to!" Lara stood up to get a better view of the court below.

The crowd began to boo at the opponents, an action that made me uneasy. A girl a few rows behind us screamed, "Cheaters!"

"He's up!" another voice shouted and everyone cheered loudly.

I jumped up in relief, Vinay readying himself for the free throws.

The first one hit the board and bounced back to him and I gulped. Come on you idiot!

The second one flew right into the ring but tipped out at the last moment causing another uproar in the audience.

I clenched my fists and sent up a short prayer as the third shot flew in a perfect projectile, hit the black square and went right through the basket. A textbook shot.

"We fucking won!" Roshni leapt onto the plastic seat and punched the air, the people around us joining in on the cheering.

I hugged both Roshni and Lara before needling my way out of the crowd and followed Vinay who was hobbling towards the locker rooms.

"Vinay!" I called out, my tone giddy with emotion.

I charged into him and flung my arms around his neck, burying my face into his chest.

"Ew, you stink!" I remarked against his chest.

"And you smell like a fruit." He chuckled, "Is it...?"

I cut him off by smashing my mouth against his. I'd never ever initiated a kiss and I thought it was a little sloppy at first but Vinay didn't seem to mind. He realised that I was at sea and took control, angling my face correctly with his warm hands.

"If the coach sees this he's going to have a fit." Vinay flashed me a lopsided grin, pulling away.

"Later, then." I laughed nervously.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I'll meet you in the parking lot then."

As he turned around, he winced visibly. He let out a pained whimper.

"I'm fine." He said before I could say anything, "Parking lot in ten minutes."

Frowning, I made my way to my friends to find Lara and Neel embracing, and Roshni huffing at their blatant PDA. But I guess I just lost my right to say anything.

Everyone was absolutely charged with zeal. Excited students scurried around us, most of them patting Neel's back and congratulating him before going back to chattering about their plans for Goa.

Everything seemed perfect.

●○●

I'm very excited to write about Goa! Literally dancing inside my head!

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QOTD: What did you learn in the lockdown?
I learnt how to cook. At least I'll never ever starve now :)