3 | he's more than a friend.

unedited

・・・

"The sunlight's giving a good golden touch to his head, isn't it?"

The sudden voice near her ear had Sitara startling out of her revelation, stopping just short of a scream. She slowly turned around to glance at Agastya's amused smile. The kind of smile that made her stomach stoop and then jump up. The kind of smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"It's just you." She said, dismissively. Her heart shouldn't skip a beat and her stomach shouldn't be performing gymnastics.

"Ouch. That was cold." The playfulness in his voice hadn't diminished. "So, tell me."

A pause.

"Tell you what?"

"Spit it out. Tell me why you have been avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you." She said a little too quickly. She breathed quickly, when she realized it was a blunder to have not timed her response appropriately.

"Cut the crap, Tara." His tone grew serious.

"Just get back to your line. If the teacher catches you, you'll get a lecture."

"I've cut the line enough times for the teacher to not bother me anymore. Besides, this is the last day. Who gives a fuck?"

Sitara made no response. In front of her, Mina's shoulders were trembling. She gave a kick to Mina's legs, warning her to stop with all the giggling. Mina took one more glance at them and continued laughing.

"Is this funny to you?" Sitara leaned forward and hissed.

"Very. Watching two idiots dance around their feelings is quite the spectacle, actually. You'd enjoy it too, if you weren't one of the idiots."

"Shut up."

"What was that? Did I hear something about feelings?" Agastya sounded from behind her, curious. Sitara quickly straightened, "It's nothing."

For the rest of the day, the kids were locked up in their classroom under their teacher's lazy surveillance. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted but they couldn't step out of the classroom. The break time was the only relief they got.

It was currently lunch break.

"You're not gonna come out and eat with me today, either?"

Sitara shook her head. The scene was the same as yesterday. Agastya leaned against the door frame, while Sitara remained tucked in her seat.

"And you're not going to tell me what's up?"

"Nothing's up. I just want to spend some time with Mina."

"And you want to avoid me." Agastya observed. "Fine. Do what you want."

He left, his hands in his pocket and his shoulder slumped. Sitara knew he was hurt. He hated not knowing things.

Agastya was a fixer; a solver. He needed to find a solution to everything and most of the time, he did. She loved that about him. Perhaps, if her feelings could simply be fixed with some kind of reset button, she'd have confided in him, asking him to help her.

Unfortunately, emotions didn't work like that. Nor did her heart.

"He's gone?" Mina peeked into the classroom. When she found only Sitara seated, she released a sigh of relief, "I didn't want to mess up like yesterday."

Mina looked up at Sitara's silent gaze at the food she had brought, "You know that by doing this, you're only pushing yourself further into the hole you've dug, right? It would be better to spill out everything you're feeling. It'll make you feel better."

"It will also ruin my friendship with him." Sitara pointed out.

"That's something you can work through. It's just awkwardness that will remain."

Sitara sighed and bit into her cream puff.

Agastya didn't drop by her classroom to walk her to the bus. Nor did he sit next to her on the bus. She had to share her seat with a lively 2nd grader who had a lot to say about her flower paintings.

Suppressing her sadness, Sitara fixed a smile on her face and listened to the child, trying not to dwell on a situation she had created.

Sitara gazed up at the ceiling of her bed. She was supposed to study for her final exam but she didn't feel the energy to. She just had to get through a week of exams and then, she would run off to her grandma's.

She could safely escape from everything, even if the escape was only temporary.

Her phone rang through the stillness of the room. Sitara slowly picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. Then, she jumped up. Accepting the call, she hesitantly whispered, "Hello?"

"Come out."

A pause. "What?"

"Come out. I'm outside your house."

The phone cut.

Why in the world was Agastya outside her house? She scratched her head, before picking up her purse and trudging outside her room.

"Mom, I'm heading to the stationery store."

Anu glanced up at her daughter, "At this hour?"

"Yeah. I realized I didn't have enough blue pens."

"I see." Anu nodded, "Well, come back safely then."

"I will." A quick nod.

Sitara stepped out of the house, closing the door behind her. Agastya stood outside the gate, staring at the cycles passing by their quiet neighbourhood. When she opened the latch on the gate, he turned to her, revealing the basketball he had been holding onto.

"Why did you come here?"

"You didn't tell me you were heading to your grandmother's house for the summer break."

Sitara swallowed, "It was a sudden thing, you know. My mom was saying that my grandmother-"

"You could've told me today. We made plans for the summer break."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

The chillness of the spring breeze nipped her skin, creating a ripple of goosebumps. Sitara regretted not wearing her jacket.

"Tell me what's really wrong. Don't lie to me and say it's nothing."

Sitara closed her eyes momentarily, letting out a defeated sigh. She decided there was no point trying to avoid it. Instead, she needed to choose tactic B - be vague about it.

"I just looked into something more than I thought I should've. That's all."

"And what's that something?"

"I just read a sad book." Sitara shrugged. She had now resorted to tactic C - outright lying. What she had forgotten was, Agastya knew her too well.

"If you'd read a tragic book and you were feeling sad about it, you would have come to my house and began sobbing there. You wouldn't avoid me."

Sitara looked down at her feet, kicking imaginary pebbles. Tactic D - Keep silent.

Agastya ran a hand through his hair, completely frustrated. A sense of defeat crept into his words, "Why won't you just tell me what you're thinking? Am I not your best friend? Am I not your only confidant for the past 17 years-"

"I'm in love with you!" Sitara screamed, unable to stand the weight of her feelings and anger anymore. "I'm in love with you and there's nothing I can do about it and..." She sniffled. "I'm scared I will lose you."

Silence enveloped them. Sitara didn't dare to look up at his expression. Tears ran down her face. Somewhere in her heart, she felt relief as well as an impending sense of doom. Mina was right. Getting it all out felt good.

Agastya dropped his ball and grabbed her hand, "Come with me."

"Come where?" She sniffled, letting herself be dragged. Around the corner of her house, there was a spot covered by a large banyan tree. Agastya pulled her there and then turned around, pulling her closer.

When his cold hands grazed against her cheeks and then slowly settled on them, Sitara looked up at him, grievances written all over her face. Agastya smiled and pressed his lips onto hers.

Sitara's eyes widened. What was going on?

Agastya pulled back, "You adorable pufferfish, I love you too. Was that what you were struggling with this whole time?"

"What?"

"I love you too."

Sitara felt a little mischievous, "What was that? Say it again."

"I'm. In. Love. With. You. Now, will you come to the retail store with me? We'll buy some ice cream, okay?"

"Okay." Sitara let the giggle tumble out of her. "Okay."

"Come on." Agastya's fingers intertwined with hers as reality finally settled on her. Her feelings were requited. Agastya loved her too.

That was all she needed.

Vineet stared at the basketball in front of his house. He padded to the corner of the house and glanced at the two young figures seated by a bench, devouring their ice creams with their hands intertwined.

An involuntary smile crept on his face. He padded back home and announced, "Wife, I need some affection."

Anu, "...?"

・・・

a/n: the last and the final chapter will be in agastya's pov.