Cigarettes & Peonies

22

" 'N'..... your turn!!!" the girls cried inside the bus.
"Can we stop playing this shitty game??? I'm so done with this!!!" Luv said irritated. Maahi sat quietly in the middle row. If maahi knew one thing excellently then it would be reading books, she wasn't very great when it came to singing songs. Karanvir sat leaning against the window, eyes fixed on her uneasy figure.
"Hell no!!! You are saying this on purpose because you have ran out of songs!!!" vaishali shouted on top of her lungs. Luv looked sullen.
"C'mon vaishali stop it....no one is interested in playing 'Antakshari' for goodness sakes." Karanvir told her coolly, looking at maahi's disengaged frame. Vaishali fumed.
"I'm interested and nobody asked for your opinion dork!!!" she hissed vehemently at him. Karanvir smirked as he gulped down some red bull.
"Too bad, no one shall play if I say no. Try it out if you wish." said Karanvir uninterested. Vaishali's cheeks looked flushed with anger.
"You....."
"Vaishu please......relax." maahi began pacifying her friend. Karanvir's eyes twinkled.
"Yes vaishu relax!!" manish (one of the college jerk) cackled. Maahi lowered down her eyes, ashamed. Karanvir's fists balled and in a swift second he had turned back and punched the jerk right on his nose. The boy squealed in pain, clutching his red nose. Maahi gasped on finding manish crying in pain and Karanvir smirking evily.
"What the hell Karanvir!!!" manish yelled at him but then instantly regretted after looking into karanvir's unforgiving eyes. The bus had abruptly fallen into silence and where few minutes before were laughter and jests there now ruled terror and quietness. Maahi clasped vaishali's hand tightly out of his fear.
"Did you say something knucklehead??" karanvir intoned vindictively. Manish gulped and quickly shook his head.
"Do you guys have to spoil the fun everytime?? Karanvir you are seriously impossible.....I mean, what's your problem man!!!" vaishali stood up and shouted bossily at him. Karanvir turned towards her angrily. He surely would've murdered her had he not seen maahi's scared figure cowering into the window. A sigh escaped his lips as he realised he had actually put a full stop on the fun they were having. There was no way out there he wanted to ruin her trip.
"Sorry." he said grumpily and sat facing the window. Everybody had their eyes popped out of their sockets. Karanvir Roy has said sorry. It may not look like a big thing but to them it was something really hard to digest. Vaishali was stunned and although she might've had few speculations going on in her head still she refrained from saying anything. He apologized, that's it.
"Should we play dumb charades??" akhil offered just to ease the situation. Boys and girls shouted in joy and once again the bus was jam packed with noise and liveliness.

The bus drew up in front of a hotel. The driver killed the engine and one by one the students started climbing down the bus. Maahi was behind vaishali and behind her was some girl. Karanvir quickly hauled the girl behind and himself took her place. Maahi's toes curled on feeling him behind her. She could smell his strong masculine cologne and feel the distinct warmth of his body on her back. She gulped and quietly climbed down the bus while he stalked her from behind. Once they were on the ground she ran to her friend vaishali who was clicking pictures.
"Vaishu my bags are heavy, let's go in already." maahi complained while vaishali was busy in taking pictures of herself.
"Can I help you with your bags??" maahi heard a husky voice from behind her. She swung round and gasped. Before her stood the creepy Karanvir, offering her his sweetest smile.
"No...." she said softly. The wind blew in their direction and her silky, brown hairs flew gently behind her back. Karanvir's dark eyes admired her. Her cute innocent face, her small eyes watching him in fear and those little pink lips quivering as she talked to him; he was totally mesmerized by her. He pouted.
"I can help you I promise. These bags are a bit too heavy for your little figure and I just don't want to see you getting a muscle pull or something while carrying these up. So please let me help." said Karanvir earnestly. Maahi still shook her head.
"No thank you. I'll manage." one of her bags fell thudding on the ground as soon as she said that. She looked up innocently at his big figure as he bite down a chuckle. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her little frame struggling with the bags.
"I know you don't like me but I promise I can do this little thing for you. It's just a little token of friendship..... What say??" his voice sank into a whisper. The freezing cold winds howled across the entire Kodaikanal. Maahi threw the bags and wrapped her arms around herself.
"We're not friends." she said flatly. A look of hurt flashed across his handsome face.
"But we can try to be friends, can't we??" he said hopefully. She frowned.
"There's no reason to befriend you. You are my brothers senior and I have nothing to do with you. I don't see any reason to be friends with you."
"Not everything has to have a reason. Sometimes things just happen without no reason." he cut in and she was shocked. For a minute they both kept looking into each other's eyes saying nothing. Later she quickly withdrew her eyes and looked around.
"It's cold out here." she whispered, looking at the imposing hills rising all around them. Suddenly, something soft hugged the skin of her shoulders and she experienced a sudden warmth seeping into her cold body. She gasped and looked beside her.
"Shhh!! You say nothing unless you wish to piss me off." he declared before picking up her luggage and striding towards the hotel. She gasped and ran behind him, his warm jacket bouncing over her shoulders.
"You don't need to do this....I've my brothers....they will help me." she said, catching up with him. He rolled his eyes.
"Brothers.... Those two who are busy in shooting Instagram reels??" he jeered insolently, gesturing towards her brothers who were busy in their phones. She looked down sadly. He looked at her and sighed.
"Your brothers love you but they are careless which is why your father is too harsh on them" he said trying to cheer her up. She walked beside him nervously.
"My father doesn't like you as well." she said flatly, looking down at her feet. Karanvir stopped short.
"That's a nice insult." he muttered to himself before entering inside the foyer of the hotel.