A Desire to Win Her | Ongoing

Chapter 3

Dev rummaged through his closet, frustration evident on his face as he tossed aside most of his tried-and-true shirts onto his bed. His once snug-fitting clothes now felt uncomfortably tight against his now-fluffy body, a stark reminder of the toll his sedentary lifestyle had taken on him due to his tight study schedule. With a sigh, he surveyed the mess he had created, shirts strewn haphazardly across the bed in a chaotic pile. Grabbing his maroon t-shirt, he disappeared into the bathroom, eager to see if it still fit or if he'd have to add it to the growing pile of clothes that no longer accommodated his expanding frame.

As Dev emerged from his walk-in closet, he couldn't help but snort at his reflection in the mirror. "I really look like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner now, so much like the dog in that English chapter," he muttered under his breath, his voice laced with self-deprecating humour due to his non-fitting clothes.

The sudden voice jolted Arvika out of her imagination and she turned at the sound of Dev's voice, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight before her. There stood a fluffy boy completely compressed in an oversized T-shirt, exactly mirroring the self-deprecating dialogue he had just uttered.

Unable to stifle her laughter, Arvika erupted into fits of giggles, her joyous peals echoing through the room. At that moment, she forgot the tension of being in an unknown territory, swept away by the fluffy potato in front of her who was tightly packed inside a maroon-coloured T-shirt.

Dev, startled by the sound of Arvika's laughter, turned towards her with a mixture of shock and curiosity. As his eyes landed on Arvika, who was doubled over in laughter at his current fashion mishap, he felt a peculiar sensation wash over him.

Instead of his usual brown orbs, his eyes seemed to sparkle with tiny heart icons, each one pulsating with the rhythm of his racing heart. The sight of Arvika's infectious laughter, coupled with the genuine warmth in her eyes, sent his heart into a frenzy, beating faster than ever before. It was as if time stood still in that moment, the world around them fading into the background as Dev found himself captivated by the young girl who had effortlessly brought him to a standstill.

"So beautiful," he had whispered to himself.

If it would've been someone else laughing at his bloated sausage kind of shape, he would have punched that person in the face already. But here he found himself inexplicably rooted to the spot, utterly captivated by the sight of the young teenage girl who had unwittingly entranced him. His usual machoism faltered in her presence, replaced by a sense of vulnerability and awe as he gawked at her with wide eyes.

And as realization dawned on Dev as if brick falling straight into his face, that Arvika's laughter was directed at his own comical appearance, a flush of embarrassment crept up his cheeks and deleted all the hearty icons he had in his eyes, replacing it with the embarrassed emoticons. "Shit!" he cursed and with a swift motion, he instinctively pulled a nearby towel in front of him, as if to shield his boyish boobs.

Arvika's hee-hawing also subsided, her laughter fading into the background as she took in Dev's embarrassed reaction. Despite her best efforts to compose herself, her eyes betrayed the lingering traces of amusement, now tinged with a hint of empathy. The corners of her lips turned downwards, a subtle indication of her understanding of the situation and her genuine concern for the fluffy boy's feelings.

And just how nature conspires that happy moments are followed by sorrowful times, an emotion of terror and dread surged within her after her laughter died.

Was he the Human potato Sakshi had mentioned to her just a while ago?

Was he the Buffalo in whose barn she was standing right now?