Hues Of Dusk

Chapter 41. Rant-a-tant

(🚨 Long chapter ahead 🚨)

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This day was turning worse by each passing second. I thought I had already used up all of my bad luck, but no. I was on a mission to annoy everyone who was coming in my way today.

First of all, I pissed off Surbhi when she found out that I was spying on Mahek. I had already covered up yesterday's incident but what made her angry now? Well, I wasn't just keeping an eye on Mahek in college but outside too.

Yes, you heard it right. I followed her after school hours but I didn't know that I was being followed too. Unfortunately, Mahek was just going to her dance classes and I thought she must be going to meet one of her boyfriends. So after waiting for her to do something that I could use against her, I gave up. She just went to her home after that. Nothing more.

But, I spotted Karthik while returning which meant Nikhil must be around somewhere too. So, I started following Karthik instead. Now you must be thinking, didn't I have other important things to take care of?

Yes, I didn't have anything else to do. I wasn't worried about the exams or assignments. Everything was done and I had a lot of free time on my hands.

So why not play my favourite game of spying on others? I knew it was unethical but meh. I was doing it for my friends and no matter how wrong my methods seemed-to others-I wasn't going to give up so easily.

I followed Karthik for about fifteen minutes and reached a shady area. What could he be doing here? He looked totally out of place. He stopped in front of a small house whose walls needed a new coat of painting. The roof was made of tin and rest of the houses and shops were also built like that.

Where was I?

I acted like buying something from a shop when he snapped his head in my direction. He waited for sometime and knocked the door. After few seconds, the door creaked open a bit and a man popped his head out.

After asking him about something like a password, he let Karthik in. I couldn't hear them from where I was standing but I read Karthik's lips.

The shopkeeper asked me if I really wanted to buy something or was just wasting his time. He was really irritated since I was just picking up things and putting them back. Other people eyed me suspiciously and I pulled my cap more down to cover my face.

As I was adjusting my goggles, a familiar figure went past me. Nikhil glanced around him and followed the same procedure as Karthik. But this time, he didn't get in. Instead the man inside that house, went away for few minutes and came back. He handed few brown and white packets to him and closed the door.

Nikhil put the packets in his cargo's pockets and took out his phone. He dialled something and started walking back. I was still standing at my spot, ignoring other customers' complaints. I turned my back as Nikhil went past me. He was talking to someone and I heard him saying that he had the package and now they could go to the party.

Now I was confused whether to go inside that house or follow Nikhil to wherever he was going. I must have looked like an idiot as I was taking a step forward towards that little shady house, then retreating it and taking a step in the opposite direction and again taking a step back.

It was like my mind couldn't decide which way to go. So I bought a Snickers from the shop, making that shopkeeper finally happy and sat down on the footpath thinking about what should I do. I guess my brain wasn't working properly since I was hungry. I had almost finished my bar when someone snatched it away from me.