Take Me Away

Chapter 15

At breakfast, it was just the girls. Rina sat cross-legged and took a sip of piping hot tea. She then looked at her friend and asked her a question she'd been meaning to ask. She knew the answer, of course.

"Heer, do you like Ishaan?"

Heer paused for a second. She then asked quietly, "Why do you ask?"

Rina observed her friend before responding, "I don't know...vibe."

Heer rolled her eyes and said, "That's such a teenage thing to say."

"OF course it isn't."

"You've been saying this since school, Rina!"

Rina laughed and said, "And how often have I been wrong?"

Heer kept quiet. It was rare for her best friend to not know who she liked. She would eventually succumb and tell her she was right.

Rina smirked and said, "Thought as much."

Heer stopped her and said, "But there's no point to all of this."

Rina frowned and asked, "What? Why?"

"I can't do this again."

"Wait. What do you mean again?"

Heer sighed and said, "It's a long story. But I don't want to...start something I can't keep up with. I live too far away."

Rina opened her mouth to protest further when Ishaan walked up to the table. She kept quiet and smiled at him. Just as he sat down, Heer got up.

He asked, "Hey, where are you off to?"

"Room, shower, late."

As she turned around again, Ishaan caught her hand, looked up at her and said simply, "Stay. Please?"

Heer looked at him and then looked at her hand in his grasp. It would have so much easier to just sit down. It would take them 20 minutes to finish.

But she couldn't. Not again. Not this path again.

So she looked at him, slipped her hand into his and squeezed it lightly and said, "I have to go. Sorry. Uh we'll get late otherwise. Bye."

With that, she left his hand and walked away from the table. She willed herself to not look at the table again.

Author's Note: :)