Destiny's Gamble

Devil, Not So Devilish

Manik's POV

"Do you smell that?" Angel asks, as I turn around with the water bottle glued to my lips to hide the smile that doesn't want to leave. She crinkles up her nose, sniffing. "Something's smelling charcoal black." She takes a step closer to me, sniffing the air near my chest. "Did you catch fire before coming? Or maybe you were burning up when I was talking to Sushant?" 

"Nonsense," I say dismissively. 

"Ah," Angel nods her head in realization. "Of course it's the heat that's making you burn up." Ignoring the child I'm forced to deal with, I sit back down on the bench. I watch Angel as she smiles as if she's in on a secret I'm not aware of and lowers herself onto the bench as well. But instead of sticking to me like glue - the way she was seated with Sushant - she chooses to plant her ass on the other end of the bench. There's so much distance between us that I could very well park a Hilux and still have space for a mini cooper. I don't have cooties and neither do I stink of sweat, so what's her problem? 

I glare at the space between us as if the distance between our bodies is all the bench's fault. I don't see bird shit on it either. 

"Frown any harder and I fear your face will freeze with that expression." Angel comments, smiling mischievously at me. I keep my lips sealed, my hand landing on the packet of candy floss beside me. I'm not going to give this to her. She doesn't deserve it. I watch children running around the open ground with balloons in their hands. A lady is yelling at her child, for no fault of his I'm sure. Lord, I can't take this anymore!

"How can you just start talking to strangers?" I ask, turning my body to face Angel's. "He could've been a murderer for all you know. I wasn't even here to protect you." 

"I thought you're going to throw a party if someone murders or kidnaps me," Angel says, still smiling. Why is she always wearing that expression? I'm seriously quite irritated at her right now. "I mean, you'd be a bachelor again." I continue to stare at her with a blank expression. I'm not finding this amusing one bit. "And anyways, Manik, remember the time when we went to get milk and a random girl approached you? Yeah, I don't think you considered her being a murderer because you took her number, remember? In fact, I can bet a million bucks that at least ten random girls give you their phone numbers everyday and you accept without thinking them to be murderers for even a second." 

My argument just collapsed on itself. 

"You know what? That girl's shrill yell that kept scissoring its way through my eardrums, I'm sure that was him too. I know men like this," I say. "They're all macho on the outside, but real whimps internally." 

Angel bursts out into a fit of giggles, slapping her thigh as she leans forwards, her shoulders shaking with mirth. The corners of my lips tug upwards as I watch her.

"Manik," Angel says, as she manages to control her giggling. "That girl - the one whose yell was hurting your ears - was actually yours." She buckles over with laughter once more, covering her mouth with her right hand as she continues to flash her smile as if she's in a Colgate advertisement.

"Fucking nonsense," I say, shaking my head. "I don't believe you. That most certainly couldn't have been me." Angel nods her head, calming herself down.

"I'm quite sure that was you, Manik. Especially considering you were right beside me and no one else was yelling through the entire experience." No, that couldn't have been me. I shake my head again. Could it? Hell no! I was a whuss in there, sure, but not such a big one. I do have a thread of self respect left...or maybe not? 

"Whatever happened in the haunted house stays in there," I say sternly. "You will not tell a soul about how I behaved or what happened while we were in there."