Aaden and Ishil were waiting outside the college gate for Nidhi.
" Why don't you go with her? I will be like a third wheel between you two. It's awkward." Ishil said.
" No, you will not, I asked you first, didn't I?" Aaden replied.
" The least you could have done is tell me beforehand, I would have asked any of the girls at college to come with me...What about Vy? Is she free?" He asked.
" I don't know." Aaden looked at his watch." She should be home by now," he said.
" Why did she suddenly change college? I mean, what's wrong with continuing here?" He said.
Aaden got a lump in his throat. " The swimmer's programme in the other college was better. She thought that she would get a better opportunity. And she got a full scholarship there so, why not? Vy is planning to join VNS University which is known for its anthropology department. VNS junior college makes sense." This was a string of lies that he had conjured up to tell everyone at school.
" I am sure she must have thought about it thoroughly but it's the transfer she took suddenly that shocked me. Anyway, should I call her, at least I won't feel stuck between the two of you if she is there," he said.
" Yeah okay, the more the merrier. I guess," he said.
Aaden had casually asked Ishil if he wanted to go watch a movie after class but Nidhi had overheard them and self-invited herself. She had done this before, many times, whenever they had planned anything she was always a tag along. It was not that he didn't like her company but sometimes she got on his nerves. He had figured out that they had nothing in common. Most of their time together was her talking and him listening. So many times his mind wandered off or zoned out of the conversations.
After the meeting with the Seconds club, Aaden wondered whether his life would get any more meshed up. He had to handle many secrets, a secret of him being a genetic human-alien combination from his friends, hiding the truth of the Seconds club from his family, liking Neela but dating Nidhi. The herculean task of lying had weighed him down. Juggling everything will someday turn me into a clown he thought.
Ishil called and Vysna agreed to come. " Come directly to the theatre. We will meet you there." Ishil said and cut the call.
"Why is she taking so long?" Ishil was getting annoyed." Does it take this long to say goodbyes to her shimmy-girl gang?"
" Ishil..." Aaden was lost in his thoughts.
" Yeah." Ishil was now engrossed in his phone.
" I am thinking of breaking up with her," Aaden said.
" What... There is no need to break up over such a small issue," he said,
" if you tell her she will come on time."
" It's not just this, we have nothing in common. She's all perky and enthusiastic but most of the time when I am with her I am bored. I feel like I am wasting both of our time," he said, glumly.
" That's kind of true. The two of you look great together but are not great together. You understand what I am saying?" he said nodding his head.
" Do you even understand what you are saying?" Aaden raised an eyebrow at him.
" You can break up with her after the movie. Let us enjoy the movie first, okay."
Aaden shook his head and rolled his eyes.
" Hey so sorry, Kritika just invited me to her birthday party tomorrow. Her parties are legendary. I got both of us invited." Nidhi was prancing towards them with joy.
" Dude, you are fucked..." Ishil said under his breath.
" Nidhi, we need to talk." This was his only chance.
" We can talk on our way to the theatre. We are already late," she said.
" We were on time, you are late," Ishil said glowering at her.
" Whatever, come let's go," she started to pull Aaden's arm.
" No, Nidhi, wait we have to talk. It's not working-"
" What's not working? The new watch I gave you is not working. I shouldn't have bought it online. Fucking scammers."
" What! No." Aaden wiped his face with his palm and let out a sigh." No Nidhi, we are not working." In a grim voice.
" I will go ahead and meet you there," Ishil said and escaped from there.
" What do you mean?" She looked a little angry.
" What I mean is, we are not compatible. Don't you get bored when you are with me?"
"Did you find someone else? I know that Pari from section D always wanted to get in your pants."
" What No... Pants? Pari who?" He was exasperated.
Then she looked like something clicked in her head. She stared into space with wide eyes.
" Tell me honestly, do you truly like me?" He tried looking into her eyes but she looked lost in a distant thought.
Suddenly she snapped out of it.
" Yeah, it's true. You are kind of a dull bore sometimes," she said, " you are handsome and have an athletic physique but you don't have much of a good taste when it comes to clothes."
Aaden's mouth fell open, he looked down at his clothes. " What's wrong with these?" he asked her.
" Meh,"
He threw up his hands in frustration.
" Yes it's true, we don't work well together," she said.
He didn't know whether to get angry or to be relieved.
" But we are still going to the movie together, right? I badly wanted to watch it and the money will go to waste," she said, looking as perky as ever.
He chuckled," What? Okay yes... We'll go." And they started walking towards the road.
She stopped suddenly." And, and... You are coming with me to the party tomorrow, right? Please, please...I don't want to miss it." She pleaded.
" But we are not together, it won't be appropriate." He said.
She looked like she was contemplating something. " I have an offer for you. Come with me to the party tomorrow and we will officially break up there, we will fight. We will make a big show of it."
He was shocked, " why the hell do you want to do that?"
" Because I don't want to be known as the girl who got dumped." She said, sulking.
" We don't have to make a show. I will tell everyone that you dumped me. Will that do?" He said, bending down to look in her eyes.
She nodded." I guess..."
" You are a sweet girl. But I am not the guy for you. Why should you waste your time with someone who won't be able to make you happy or genuinely appreciate your sense of fashion and style ... We can still be friends but only if you want to," he said.
" I would like that. You are a nice guy too. Apart from your basic fashion sense, there is nothing wrong with you." She said and smiled.
He opened his mouth to say something but knew that it was fruitless reasoning with her. They started towards the parking lot.
" But be aware of that Pari from section D. She is a witch."
" Okay, I will." He stifled a laugh. She truly lived in a world of her own, the queen of her perky kingdom he thought. They got on the bike and rode to the theatre.
Vysna reached the theatre almost on time. They were waiting for her at the entrance of the screening hall.
" I am so sorry, I was caught up in traffic," Vysna said.
" No worries, you didn't miss the beginning," Ishil said.
" Hi Vysna, how are you?" Nidhi asked as she held her hand." Hey, nice hoodie where did you get it from?"
" Oh err..." she looked down and her colour flushed. " It belongs to my friend." She said, warily.
" Friend? Whom?" Aaden asked.
" I will tell you later. Come now I don't want to miss the beginning." She said. Her eyes were pleading for a change of subject. He didn't persuade her.
Nidhi pulled her hand and they entered. They had got good seats and the movie was entertaining but Vyana had fallen asleep halfway through the movie. An entire week had passed since she had joined the new school and the new job. He wondered what kind of work they had put her to. Was it so exhausting that she had fallen asleep right in the middle of a live theatre? The loud sound nor the light from the screen had bothered her. He thought if he had been in her place what would he do?
Ishil woke Vysna up after the movie was over and they started towards the parking lot. Ishil pulled him back and Nidhi and Vysna were walking ahead of them.
" How is she still with you? She convinced you not to break up, didn't she?" Ishil asked Aaden in a low voice.
" She tried to convince me... But no, we are officially broken up. She agreed that we are not compatible" Aaden confirmed.
"Then what is she doing here?" he asked.
On their way to the theatre, he had asked her the true reason for her insisting him to come to the party with her and break up in front of everyone. He couldn't understand why she wanted everyone to see that they were not together anymore.
She said that she had started to enjoy the kind of attention and popularity she had got when she was hanging out with him. And the perks of being his girlfriend were that she would get invitations to many parties.
" That cannot be the only reason." he stopped the bike." Tell me the truth," he said, taking his helmet off.
" To tell you the truth, I was a little selfish too, I wanted to be popular. So, I asked you." she hesitated,
"The guys I dated before treated me as if I was some kind of a toy, asked for favours. They thought that because I was friendly with them, I was easy... and that I would be ready to sl..." she couldn't continue.
" I understand, you don't have to say further." He looked at her." You have all the right to be what you want to be, and do what you want to do. But what would be the use if you lose yourself in the process? ' We are the choices that we make ' That's what my mom says. So, it's up to you what you choose to do."
" I will remember that, thank you," she said.
" Let's go, we will be late." He wore the helmet and started the bike.
He had made a choice too, he had chosen to learn and improve his power but in pursuit of that, he had also chosen to lie. He didn't know whether he dared to face the consequences of his choices. But he knew that he had to live with the consequences for the rest of his life.
" Aaden, why is she with you?" Ishil asked him again.
" It's a little complicated." I will explain it to you some other day." He said.
Ishil shrugged. " Do you know that Vysna slept for half the movie," he asked.
Aaden nodded.
" Tell her not to strain herself too much. She looks tired." He said.
" Why don't you tell her?" Aaden said looking quizzically at him.
"Uhh..."
" Why are you guys walking so slow? Aaden let's go home I am tired." Vysna called out to him.
" Yeah coming," he replied, " Hey can you drop Nidhi home? he asked Ishil.
" Hmm... Okay," he said and they joined them in the parking lot and parted ways.
Vysna had leaned on him on the bike on the way home. She looked very exhausted." Why are you so tired? Do they make you work too much?"
She yawned," Today was my first day on-site. That's why. It is hard work," she said as she wore the cap of her hoodie.
" Whose is this ?" he asked pointing at the hoodie, when they reached the garage of their house.
Vysna's eyes shot open as if she was wide awake." It belongs to my colleague," she replied.
" Why are you wearing your colleague's clothes? Vy, what's going on?" He asked, furrowing his brows.
" It's a long story, I am very tired. Please let me freshen up and then I will tell you the entire thing. Hmm?" she said and dashed inside the house.
What the heck was going on with her? What kind of work was she doing? Hope they were not misusing her powers. He worried about her.
Mom had warned Vysna about the people she was going to work with. She had warned all three of them. The people in power won't cause any harm to them but they won't hold back on exploiting their powers. They had to be vigilant and strong.
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Hello, my beautiful readers 💕
An early update.
Our choices make us who we are.
Most of the characters in this story have made their choices, let's see what will be the consequences.
Hope you all like the new chapter.
Tell me in the comments if you do.
Loads of love
RTW ❤️