whispers in the halls [og novel]

16. crushes and classes

As Simran lay in bed, her mind swirling with thoughts of Ishan, she couldn't help but wonder where these newfound feelings had come from. She tossed and turned, her thoughts bouncing around like popcorn in a hot pan.

"Seriously, Simran, what's up with you?" she muttered to herself, throwing an arm over her eyes as if to shield herself from her own thoughts.

"Well, maybe it's because he looked ridiculously good tonight," another voice chimed in, her inner monologue taking on a mischievous tone.

Simran scoffed at the thought. "Ridiculously good? Please, Ishan's not some model from a magazine."

"But come on, Simran, you can't deny that he cleans up nicely," the voice persisted, a hint of amusement coloring its words.

Simran rolled her eyes, conceding defeat with a reluctant sigh. "Fine, fine. He did look... decent."

"Decent? That's the best you can come up with?" the voice teased, its playful tone earning an exasperated groan from Simran.

"Okay, okay, he looked... okay," she relented, unable to suppress a giggle at her own reluctance to admit the truth.

"Ah, there we go. Progress," the voice quipped, the sound of laughter echoing in Simran's mind.

Simran shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips despite her best efforts to maintain her composure. "Alright, fine, he looked more than okay. He looked... pretty darn good."

"Pretty darn good? Now we're getting somewhere," the voice teased, its playful banter coaxing a reluctant chuckle from Simran.

"Okay, okay, he looked hot," she admitted, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment at the confession.

"Hot? Hotter than the sun, you mean," the voice teased, its words punctuated by a chorus of laughter that echoed through Simran's mind.

Simran couldn't help but laugh along with her inner monologue, the tension of the moment melting away like ice cream on a hot summer day. 

"Alright, alright, enough about Ishan's looks. There is no term as hotter than the sun, but okay," she said, her voice filled with mock exasperation. "Let's focus on something else, shall we?"

As Simran drifted closer to sleep, her mind began to wander to other aspects of the evening. She couldn't shake off the memory of Ishan's dance moves during the party, his charm and wit lighting up the room as he twirled her around.

"Okay, okay, so he's not just a pretty face," she mused to herself, a smirk playing on her lips. "The man's got moves."

Her inner voice chimed in with a chuckle. "Yeah, who knew Ishan was hiding those dance skills under his calm exterior?"

Simran couldn't help but grin at the thought. "Definitely not me. But hey, I'm not complaining. Dancing with him was... unexpectedly fun."

"Unexpectedly fun? Sounds like you had a blast," her inner voice teased, its playful tone bringing a smile to Simran's lips.