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Aarohi's POV:

I was completely clueless about what Rahul was saying. His expression said that he was expecting me to speak and on the other hand I kept looking at him blankly. What should I do now? My chain of thought was broken when I saw him waving his hand in front of my face. He was successful in gaining my attention.

“Will you come with me for lunch?” he asked, making me tongue-tied. Oh, so he was asking me for a lunch date. I was confused, I didn't know what to answer him. Rahul was looking at me with hopeful eyes whereas I again gave him my blank expression. You've got to reply somehow, come on Aarohi. Gaining some courage, I tried to answer him but before I could do that I was pulled away and was being dragged to god knows where. I looked at who was manhandling me. Turns out to be a woman handler. Riya, my best friend.  Apeksha was on my other side but was busy with her phone. 

“Why were you looking at him blankly?” She asked in a whisper as we continued to walk from there. The moment her question hit my ears, I felt like dancing in joy. Having friends who help you escape from awkward situations is a blessing and Riya just proved it to me again. 

“Rahul asked me to come with him for lunch and I don't know what to do,” I replied.

“You mean a date, huh?” Apeksha teased, causing me to glare at her in return.

“You should definitely go. Rahul is a nice guy. He really likes you and yet you are the one who is crazy for that player,” said Riya.

Well, his mention was enough for me to search for him. My eyes began to scan for him, but he was nowhere to be seen, I guess my friends got what I was looking for and shouted in unison,

“Aarohi!” I just smiled sheepishly at them. I turned to look at Rahul, I didn't want to leave him without a reply, so I walked towards him.

“I will let you know about this after some time. Sorry!” I said with a smile. He just nodded and smiled back.

We reached the cafeteria and ordered our food. While waiting for our meal I was wondering about Rahul and why I'm not giving any chance to him. He is the good kind of boy, who's smart, loyal, fun and respects girls. Everything you would want in a guy. Then why can't I develop feelings for him?

“Because your eyes are always glued at that player,” Apeksha said and then I realised I was reading my thoughts loudly.

This is the only thing my friends call him, A PLAYER. We have known each other since I was in sixth standard, but we never talked with each other and I seriously don't know why I like him a lot. I mean I know what he is, all his flaws and everything but still, my heart has never formed an ounce of dislike or hatred towards him. You might call me crazy but I still remember when he had an accident and got a leg injury. I literally cried on the spot when I saw him with a fracture on his leg. I was still wondering where he must be, my eyes were dying to see him again.

After finishing our food we decided to hang out on the college campus as my friends were not having any books because they were supposed to go for a movie.

We were busy teasing Riya about her boyfriend when I bumped into a hard chest, I felt like I was going to fall and so I took hold of the person in front of me. The cologne was so strong but sweet that I literally closed my eyes, enjoying its sweet fragrance. I felt my hands go around his shoulder, while the person's hand wrapped around my waist, steadying both of us. My face rested on his chest. Oh, no. I immediately moved away from that person. My hair almost covered my eyes but somehow I managed to look at the person in front of me and once our eyes met I was stunned.

I kept staring at the person in front of me with wide eyes. It was hard for me to believe that the person in front of me was HIM, the boy I admired from afar, Aaryan! I was not able to function what really happened to me. I bumped into someone and that someone had to be Aaryan.

Never in a million years, I thought of this. 

I was so mesmerized by his dark brown eyes that I kept looking at them and his silky black hair, only I know how badly I wanted to run my hands through them to feel its softness. I was still looking into his eyes when he extended his hand to tuck my loose hair lock behind my ear. 

Thank you, they were disturbing me, now I can see you without any hindrance.

I was so shocked by his gesture however it was nothing in front of what he did after that. He made me steady on the floor, winked and left from there. Did he really just wink at me?

Apeksha grabbed my hand and took me with them because they knew that if they don't, I will not move from there, thinking about what happened and simply blushing.

"Will you please stop blushing?” Riya asked almost in an annoyed voice, however, I was helpless. I was not able to take that scene out of my mind. The way he tucked my hair, the way he winked at me, the way he was holding me, everything was continuously running in my mind.

“Oh, you red tomato will you please stop blushing?” Apeksha said angrily and this time I got annoyed. 

“What is your problem guys, what do you want now?” I asked. 

“We don't want anything, just stop blushing and forget about him, he is a player and what he did now, means nothing to him,” said Riya. 

All my thoughts faded away because whatever she said was right and it's 100% true. I felt sad from inside. 

“I'm sorry guys but you both know I like him since 6th grade. I even know how he is but my heart can't ever deny those feelings. I just love him and only him. Today's incident was like a dream come true. I'm unable to take it out of my mind.” I replied. 

“You are impossible, girl,” they both said at the same time. 

After that, we were just hanging on the college campus gossiping. My time flows very fast when I'm with them. I just love them and think about what I would have done without them in my life.

After some time we all went to our respected home. When I reached home I saw Kavya di, my maternal cousin preparing some very delicious snacks. She is the one who is really the better cook amongst both of us, whereas I hardly know how to make something. I went to the kitchen to see what she was preparing and saw her cooking my favourite sandwiches. A good day it is!

“I love you so much,” I said, kissing her cheek and went to my room to get freshened up.

She then came to my room and served me my sandwiches. She knows me very well, we have done all sorts of crazy things together. We both know each other's deepest secrets. She also knows about my childhood crush over Aaryan and is also pretty disappointed with me for that reason. She's well acquainted with him as they were both classmates, but she never talked with him as she knew what kind of guy he is. Her choice for a prompt boyfriend was far from what Aaryan was and hence she always stayed away from him. While I was always the one that liked a bad boy. I was still thinking about him when she caught me blushing and asked.

“Who is the boy making you blush so hard, huh?”

“You know the same boy,” I replied immediately.

She just glared at me and gave me I'm-not-interested-to-know-about-him look. I just smiled at her. I was dying to tell her everything about the incident however she was not asking me anything. I waited for a few more minutes but still, there was the same silence. I was getting irritated. So without thinking much I spoke. 

“Di you know what happened today?” I asked, hoping she would reply nicely. 

“Yeah yeah, he must have looked at you for 2 seconds, and that made you soo happy, right?” Di asked. 

Well, it was not her fault, I'm the one who becomes happy even if he just looks at me. I know I am childish that I literally feel like dancing whenever he looks at me, even if it is for two seconds. 

“Stop teasing me. This time something different happened,” I said and she just gave me

a 'what happened' look.

“Today I was just roaming around the campus when I bumped into someone and you know who he was?”

Again she gave me a bored look. So I just pushed her shoulder lightly. She smiled and asked,

“So you bumped into that stupid boy?”

I hate when someone calls him like that. I just threw the pillow towards her.

Then I told her about the incident very excitedly but the only reply I got was, 

“Okay.” 

Man, I was expecting more.

I looked at her indicating her to say something, so she started but then again it was opposite of what I expected. 

“I know you like him a lot, but he is not good for you, it is better for you to forget him before things get worse. I love you and don't want to see you getting hurt. That's the only reason why I'm saying this. Please forget about him.” She said. 

I know she was saying the truth but what she said hurts. Bitter truth I guess. 

“Ok,” I replied sadly. 

“Now don't be sad and eat those sandwiches.” She said and left my room. Whereas I kept thinking about what she just said.

How will I forget him? Will I ever be able to move on from him?

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