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11. Champagne Under the Stars
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A Few Hundred Poppies 12. Punishment
The first time Lee and I had gotten in trouble because of the boys had been when they'd sneaked porn magazines into the school and hid one in each of our bags. And I never thought that I'd say this, but this time's punishment was worse than watching Miss Flaxen and Mr. Gonzales flirt in detention everyday for a month.On Thursday, the six of us uncomfortably shuffled out from the Principal's office. Troy was the first to groan. "I don't believe this.""I literally know nothing about planning something this big," West huffed, violently shoving his hands into his trouser pockets and leaning defeatedly against the wall. I realised that the corridor in front of Principal Sen's office always had a limey scent about it."You're worried about the planning? I can't believe that they're cheating us out of our prom night," Lee cried, on the verge of tears. I slung my arm around her waist (I had a tough time reaching her shoulders)."I've been dreaming about a senior prom for forever. And why th
A Few Hundred Poppies 13. Best Friends Girlfriend
Okay. This is getting ridiculous.Holding the blue sticky note in my hand, I banged my forehead against the locker door. In the familiar neat cursive, the words 'I'd prefer your kisses to the sun's, even in the bleakest winter' were written on the paper."If you're trying to cause concussion, check out jumping from a cliff. It'd be more efficient," West's deep voice chimed in and I almost smiled at his sarcasm. Almost. I turned to face West, now casually leaning against the locker beside me with a hand shoved in the pocket of his green school trousers, the thumb sticking out."Hi to you too," I grumbled, making a vain attempt to rub the tiredness from my eyes with a finger. As we made eye contact, the warmth of his brown eyes had a chamomile-tea effect on my mood."Ever and Lee broke up," he stated calmly, studying me as if he were trying to figure something out."I know. It sucks," I shut the locker door with a thud, leaning on it like him.He raised an eyebrow at me. "You're really
A Few Hundred Poppies 14. Rani
I trudged down the steps to find Troy, Art and West sitting lazily on the kitchen chairs, eyes glued to their phones. "Is Ever still out back?" I asked, and West nodded, accompanied by a best-of-luck-don't-die-out-there look. Taking a breath to recompose myself, I walked out."Ever, what the hell?!" Clearly, inhaling to calm oneself down is overrated. He turned around - the characteristic tranquility in his eyes had vanished and a hint of frenzy swirled in them. Poor thing."Hey, Adi, will you go to the dance with me?" he pleaded, and I placed a hand on my hip, pursing my lips. "Shut up. You said that you and Lee have been fighting over petty things, but that's not true, is it?" I accused. Ever's gaze flickered from mine to the side from guilt."That's irrelevant. Can't we start it over? You and I? Please, Aditi," he insisted, stepping closer.I groaned, smacking my hand to my forehead. "Noooo, Ever! The hell's wrong with you?!""I think I love you," he softly stated, stepping back a
A Few Hundred Poppies 15. Crop Top, Hair Gel
"This shit's gotta be celebrated," Troy stated, grinning from ear to ear. He stood up and proceeded to clamber onto the bench, knocking Art's soda bottle off the table. "In honour of Fridays and Ever and Lee's patch up, we're gonna play...PAINTBALL!" He punched the air with his fist, and when we didn't react, he looked down at us with the disappointment of a brown dad whose kid can't solve a math problem. "You guys are on a different level of buzzkilling," he sulked, sliding down to his seat."My bad, should've thrown up some confetti - the shiny kind," I drawled, rolling my eyes. "Seriously, though, it's good to have you guys back together.""It's great and all, but the exams literally start next week, we should be studying," Art asserted, delicately pushing a fry into her mouth."I'm just gonna tell Ma that we're gonna group study. If she hears about paintball, I'll get my ass whooped," I said, taking a sip of my soda with a short slurp. From beside me, West poked my arm with his i
A Few Hundred Poppies 16. A First Date
"Oh god, West, you asshole! Not here, not here, not here!" I whisper-screamed as West yanked me down by the sleeve of the olive HazMat suit. The protective gear was padded with a scratchy material on the inside, and I could barely resist the urge to squirm in it. Allah knew when these were last washed, if they'd ever been cleaned. "Shut up, midget! I know what I'm doing!" he hissed back."This is so fucking stupid, they're gonna see us any moment!" I said, voice even more hushed this time by the realisation of the proximity of our faces. Granted, there were two fat, ugly, worn out helmets between them, but his face was still deliciously close, enough for me to see the minutest ridges along his eyelids as his gaze darted around the field. My friends may have thought that they were being clever by tricking West into teaming up with me, but I was having a very hard time concentrating on the game with his tense arms and shoulders constantly bumping against mine. Nevertheless, with Troy
A Few Hundred Poppies 17. A Murder
Having had enough, I meandered through the crowd, not apologising when I stepped on people's shoes or pushed them. When I made it to the front, my blood ran cold. I staggered backwards in surprise, and would've fallen if West hadn't caught me by the waist.After the waves of shock had passed, a storm of sadness suddenly built up in my chest and I started sobbing, turning around and burying my face in West's chest without much thought. I forced my eyes shut. Sharmaji's dead body on the floor and his blood drying on the bullet wounds remained charred to my sight. "Aditi!" The woman who'd been shrieking and wailing in a heartbreaking tune called out, making me swivel and rub the tears off my eyes. "Ah! No more new sweets, no more free sweets for you! The halwai is gone, they've taken my halwai, oh lord!" she yelled, and fell unconscious on the gravel road in a miserable heap. Some people rushed forward to help, but I didn't have the strength to.I looked to the sky, feeling several drop
A Few Hundred Poppies 18. Sixteen Going On Seventeen
"I literally don't know why the hell he hasn't asked you out yet," Lee complained, stowing the folded clothes delicately inside the closet. I was grateful for her intervention, but it was a reluctant gratitude. I liked my room like I liked myself - messed up. "I know, right? I'm getting tired of his shameless flirting," Art said, lowering her feet from my desk and swiveling on my chair to face me. I squirmed under their gazes."Why're you guys looking at me like it's my fault? It's really not. Or maybe it is, I dunno," I swung my feet, resting limply on the bed, to the soft texture of the green carpet. It caressed the soles of of feet as I drew patterns on it with my toe. The carpet became a darker green when swiped my toe forward and lighter when I moved it backwards, and this phenomenon seemed considerably more engaging than our conversation."Hey," Art leaned closer to me conspiratorially. "What if you ask him out?""I was kinda thinking the same thing," pleased, I muttered, cover
A Few Hundred Poppies 19. The Heartbreak Party
see the soul under the skinArt scowled at West's retreating figure like a connoisseur of art would at a hippie who'd graffitied a penis on Mona Lisa's head, and patted my shoulder with her soft hand. "Hey, fuck boys, right? Give it a whirl, girl! Nothing gets you over a guy like dancing."And so we danced. We danced until my feet hurt in the Everlane heels borrowed from Lee, and then I took off the heels and danced some more. Once it no longer mattered that who was watching and judging, I had nothing to fear.When we cut the huge two-tier cake, I grinned despite the word spreading like wildfire that Ruby and West had made out during a particularly passionate round of seven minutes in heaven. Ramming a piece of chocolate cake all over Ever's face while pretending to feed him, I made a wave of laughter reverberate across the room, my own sounding the loudest. Ever reached for me with a fistful of cake, but I ducked and he smeared the cake on Lee's collarbone instead. Art, Troy and I ca
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