Tenth Grade was Fun!

12. MISSION LIKE LIKE

"I don't got this."

I voice out my thoughts shakily, turning to look at Mia who was standing beside me.

"Oh my God! Did my soliloquy go in vain?!" She exclaims, throwing up her hands.

"It's not a soliloquy technically, 'cause you didn't exactly prepare it and all y'know." I say.

"Do I look like I need vocabulary lessons here? You're here to talk to him. I don't care. 'Mission like like' is a go and you're sure as fuck gonna accomplish it." She said and mumbling 'screw this!' under her breath she pushed me towards...where you ask?

We are standing by the main gate of my apartment and Nikhil is waiting in our usual bike parking spot.

After the pep talk, Mia had called Nikhil and made me invite him to my house to talk—because we might want to, and I quote, 'sit and talk'—before I could change my mind about talking to him and to my utter bewilderment, Nikhil agreed without questioning me.

And Mia dropped me home today since she wanted to make sure I don't bail out in the last minute.

Her push catches me off-guard and to avoid falling down, I do a little jump and jog towards the direction in which she pushed me.

This movement catches Nikhil's attentions and he looks at me with a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

There's no backing away now.

I walk towards him, take a deep breath, and greet him.

"Hi."

He surprises me by pulling me to a hug and my heart went haywire at his touch which I missed a lot.

Though his hug was a bit unsure, maybe because of the confusion between us, I cherish it since it has been weeks since we even talked.

Once we pull away, I look around awkwardly and decide to go to my house instead of standing here.

Gesturing him to follow, I go to my house, unlock it and go to my room.

I keep my bag on the desk and free my hair from its ponytail, running my hands through it.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I turn to see Nikhil walking into my room.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" He asks, clearly knowing the answer.

"About...us?" I speak out as a question, walking to the edge of my bed and sitting on it.

Nodding, he comes and sits beside me. Neither of us speaks for a while and I finally decide to break the silence with the truth.

"I don't regret it."

"Regret what?" He asks, a bit confused.

"The kiss...that day..." I trail away.

He gives a nod and taking a deep breath spoke out something that surprised and relieved me.

"Neither do I."

A tiny smile graces my lips at his words and I turn to look at him as he takes my hands in his.

I never noticed before, but they fit perfectly.

Looking up at his eyes, my heart skips a beat at their intensity.

"I lo— like you very much Ritu. More than you can even think. More than just a friend or a best friend and as you would say it, I like like you."

His words bring a warm feeling inside me.

"Since when?" I ask curiously after a few beats.

"Since when I was five and I saw a girl about my age standing on the stage during our school's Annual Day Celebration and singing in the most beautiful voice I've ever heard, completely immersed into the song without caring about anyone or anything.