Riya

I looked at the clock on the cafe wall. Rudra had asked me to meet him because he had something important to talk about. I had an idea of what this could've been about.

It was Monday again, but the Monday blues were not affecting me because Siya's birthday was coming up. Dhruv and Siya's birthdays were pretty close to each other.

I saw Abhay sitting in the corner with his Coke bottle, scrolling through his phone. This was his usual time to come here. He would visit around five and then sit here till the place closed. During this time, Dhruv was rarely with him.

I did not like that I had so much information about this person.

Saturday night, Dhruv dropped me home, and since then we hadn't talked. His message still was left on seen in my phone. I understood his anger, and I wasn't going on another date, but still, he needed to stay out of my non-existent dating life.

The doorbell chimed, and a guy wearing a crisp white shirt and navy trousers entered with his navy blue coat probably discarded in his car. He had such intense eyes and tousled hair people mistook him for a jock. But as Siya said, he was a nerd. A crunching number nerd. A nerd with such a calm and welcoming aura that made you feel safe and warm just by being around. A total contrast to Siya's.

My eyes fell on his attire, and the irony of it all made me a little bit sad. He was turning into the person he hated the most. The weight of expecations hung over his shoulders.

Rudra looked around, and his eyes fell on me. A genuine smile spread on his face, which in turn made me smile. He walked towards me and with him, followed the eyes of people in the cafe, including the one sitting in the corner.

"Nice place you got here." He stopped in front of the counter.

"I know right. The best. I could've been paid a little bit more though." He laughed.

"Are you busy right now?" He asked.

"Nope, just give me a few minutes." I turned and asked Sam to be on the counter. Angie was nowhere to be found.

"You want coffee?"

"Sure, espresso." I made a face at his request. I could not believe that some of my closest people drank black goo.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked as we sat down at the table closer to the counter.

"Siya's birthday is coming up. I wanted to surprise her. And...give her my grandmother's ring." He casually sipped his coffee.

It took a while for his words to sink in. But when it did, it spread like a warm feeling in my chest to my toes. A ring. An image of Siya in her school uniform strutting around the campus, proclaiming that Rudra was a piece of shit, flashed in my mind.

It was surreal how fast we all grew up. Time seemed to be in a hurry.

Before I got emotional, I reminded myself that she was not getting married. There was no reason for me to get emotional.

"I need your help in deciding all the stuff." He continued. "I wanted to ask Ruhi too, but she said she's busy today. It's only you."

"I want to jump, but I'm controlling myself."

"I can see that on your face." He smiled.

"So, what are you thinking? A party?" I asked. My mind was already thinking about the day.

"Yeah, we can have a surprise party. After that, I wanted to take her to our favorite place. But I need someone to see through the surprise party. I'm planning the other thing, and I can not do everything alone."

"Shouldn't you hire someone?"

"I have. I'm going to meet the planner tomorrow. You and Ruhi can come with me and handle stuff from there."

"Done. Tell me the time. We'll be there." I grinned.

"Awesome. I didn't want to text or call. I don't want her to accidentally see it." He looked at the scribbled wall. "It's pretty chill here."

"Yeah." I turned to look at it. The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted around us.

"You can hang out with your friends."

"You need to have friends here to hang out."

"Haven't you been here for more than a year?" He raised his eyebrows.

"And?" I smiled.

He looked at me for a beat. He and I were in the same class for a long time. It was a known fact that I was able to make friends easily. But now, Things were different. I didn't know the reason. It felt like the Riya in school was someone else.

"Is everything okay?" He asked with a genuine concern in his eyes.

I was sure Siya was telling him about my life. She was an important part of my life, and he was her's. We both orbited the same sun. He was the unofficial fourth member of our group.

But I wasn't going to start singing my tune when he was here to share the happy news.

I smiled, "Everything's awesome."

Abhay

I watched the excitement in her grow. She was controlling her happiness. I wanted to know what got her so excited that she was practically jumping on her chair. My mind played back the times when she smiled at people around her. And to no one's surprise, I wasn't one of them.

My eyes went over to the guy. Something something name. Chain of industries and a filthy fucking rich father. Dating the daughter of the former Miss India and a renowned interior designer.

Right now, I fuking hated this guy.

He hadn't seen me. Sitting in the corner was a perk.

My eyes went to the text Dhruv had sent a few hours ago.

Wanna come to Xavier's?

Why?

Just wanted to talk to a guy

Need to tell him to stay the fuck away from my sister.

I hadn't replied.

I looked up. Her excitement started dying mid-conversation. What were they talking about? I had no idea, and I didn't like the feel of it.

I looked at the text again and typed.

Who's the guy?

That grey-eyed bastard

Arjun was the type of guy she liked? It made sense. No matter how annoying she was, she was also beautiful with her pouty lips and eyes filled with kindness. Kindness she also extended to people she hated.

I'm in. Meet me at the front gate.

I looked up, and the guy also got up. Their conversation was over.

He started walking to the door, but his eyes fell on me. He stopped.

"Abhay," he said in his annoying tone. His morals were like our little Miss Saviour. It pissed me off more.

"Rudra."

"Heard you turned into a hooligan now." Fucking Raghav and his parents. One of these days, I was going to kill that guy.

"Fuck off," he laughed.

"It's pathetic to see you lose. That too from Raghav. Good luck." Then he walked away laughing.

I would've replied if it was not for the shell-shocked expression on her face. She didn't know how far I was in her inner circle or how much information I had about her. It had surprised me to know she had friends like these. Courtesy of the scholarship she had gotten for a school for people like Rudra and his girlfriend.

Riya Sharma had been a scholarship student throughout her life. A fact that came to bite Dhruv a lot. I was damn sure her parents must be proud of her. Unlike mine.

She blinked once, twice, and thrice. Then she turned away and sat down on her counter, pretending I didn't exist.

I would give her two days. Two days before, she came asking questions that she had no business asking.

Dhruv's name popped on my screen, and I got up. Time for some fun.