Arnav left early in the morning as he had something to do leaving Tanvi and I alone, we both were currently getting ready in my room so we could go early to college and get something to eat in the canteen because we both were lazy to cook.

"So this boyfriend of yours..." Tanvi started speaking.

"I thought you were still mad at me for not telling you." I interrupted not wanting to talk about it, it was just a lie and the least we talked about it the better.

"Well I was, but I calmed down. I still don't like the idea that you dint tell me but I can't change it. But now that I know... can I at least know his name? Or see his picture or something? Please." She pouted at me.

"Nope." I walked out of the room really trying to avoid this conversation but I knew Tanvi wasn't going to let it go so easily.

"Oh Come on Khushi!" She followed me.

"We're getting late, we need to leave." I said as I grabbed they keys and headed out.

"You know I won't leave you alone until you tell me, why don't you save the torture and just tell me already? Please."

"Tanvi stop it okay! I have a lot going on right now, and you being my best friend should be worried about this stupid stranger stalking me rather than my not so serious boyfriend. Please let it go, it isn't serious and if it were I would have told you, can we please end the topic now?" I looked at her angrily.

I know it wasn't her fault, if I was in her place I would also want to know who she was dating, the problem was that there wasn't anyone that I was dating so what was I supposed to tell her?

Since the stalker started leaving me notes, I had been pretty much stressed and it was making me frustrated, I was getting mad for no reason actually.

I just got inside the car and waited for her to get in, once she settled down I drove off. The both of us remained silent the entire drive, I know she was the one supposed to be mad at me instead of me being mad at her, but I really wished I could explain things.

I had put myself in another mess while trying to get out of one.

As soon as I parked the car, Tanvi stepped out and walked away madly, I wasn't in the mood of trying to convince her or anything because even if it worked she would go back to asking me those questions again.

I locked the car and headed towards the canteen on my own. All this stress and anger was making me hungry.

As I walked to the canteen, I found Arnav leaning against a girl on the left side of the cafeteria, he was looking into her eyes as if he was in love with her and all over a sudden this was making me mad too.

It was difficult to figure out if I was mad because he was getting cozy with a girl or it was just the stress. I would say stress. I had seen him with girls all these years and it never bothered me, there was no way it would start bothering me suddenly.

He ran his fingers up and down her cheeks and they both were talking about something smiling like idiots, the girl was even blushing and that just seemed to make me really mad so I just headed inside the canteen, got my usual sandwich and settled down in a corner to eat.

Seriously, why was I still thinking about Arnav? Nothing had changed between us. It was like one day I woke up and started feeling this way about him, how did it even happen? Why did it happen? I mean all this years we had been together but nothing, and then out of nowhere it was here. This dint make sense at all.

"Hey Shona. When did you come?" Arnav asked as he walked inside the canteen and noticed me.

"I don't know, maybe when you were busy sticking your face at that girl out there." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Are you jealous Shona?" She smirked as he walked towards me, pulled out a chair and sat down looking at me with his stupid smirk.

"I am not jealous, I am mad at you Arnie. You left early saying you had something important, I see what was so important now. Seriously, do you ever do anything else apart from flirting with those stupid girls?" I asked angrily.

"What is wrong with you Shona? It's not like the first time I am flirting with girls, and I wouldn't expect you, out of all the people in the world, you, my best friend judge me. And about me leaving early, I did have something to do, I just finished it quick and decided to come here wait for you so we could have breakfast together as usual.

Look I know a lot has been happening with you recently but this is no way to talk to me, I am so disappointed in you Shona, and right now I'm just really mad, so I'll leave you alone before I say or do something I shouldn't." He stood up and walked away madly.

Wow! Look at me, I managed to piss off both my best friends in a day. What talent Khushi! Seriously, what was wrong with me?

Maybe it was this secret, if I hadn't ever kept it, it wouldn't bother me this much. No wonder I'm feeling all sorts of strange feeling towards Arnav suddenly, because I knew once he finds out, he would be so mad at me and leave me, he would never forgive me and I was scared to lose him, really scared.

I needed to think of a way to get out of this mess, no cctv or spying was going to help, it was time for me to write a note.

*****

I decided to head back home and skip all the classes today, I knew I couldn't concentrate anyway so it was better if I stayed home and figured out a way to get out of this mess.

I headed to the parking lot and go inside my car and drove back home, it was like I came to college just to eat.

Once I was home, I changed and wrote the note that I had decided to write, and now I had to wait until nightfall so I could leave it outside for the stalker, it did take me quite a while to write though.

I just wrote that we should meet and talk about this, I was ready to do anything as long as the secret wasn't let out, I hoped it was going to work.

I watched a movie later and I was done watching it by lunch so I decided to cook something and then I took a short nap just on the sofa in the hall.

I was later woken up from my nap as I heard the sound of my phone ringing, but when I woke up I realized it wasn't my phone but the laptop, I had and incoming video call.

I picked it up from the floor where it had been lying all this while and put it on my laps as I pressed the receive button and just then the front door opened and Arnav walked it.

I quickly shut it and placed aside hoping he wouldn't find out who I was talking to.

"Seems like I came at the wrong time, you can continue talking to your boyfriend." He rolled his eyes.

"How did you know I was talking to someone? I could have just been doing something on the laptop?"

"I heard the ringing sound while I walked in and the way you quickly shut it, it was obvious, you wouldn't hide it unless it was your boyfriend. How ironical isn't it Shona, you get mad at me for flirting with girls and yet you have a boyfriend that you don't want to tell me about.

What happened to our friendship so suddenly?" he looked at me sadly. Honestly I don't know what happened, or maybe I knew, it was this secret. It was ruining our friendship even before it came out.

He turned around to walk away but I dint want him to leave so I stood up and rushed towards him, I grabbed his hand and stopped him from leaving.

"Don't leave Arnie." I looked at him sadly.

"I don't feel like you need your friends anymore Shona. Tanvi told me what happened between you two earlier today and then you also behaved the same way with me. It's like you are pushing us away and we don't even know why."

"Because all this is scary Arnie. I am stressed okay? I am doing stupid things and I am behaving stupidly, I know that but I also expect you to understand me."

"I can't understand you if you behave this way Shona. This isn't my Shona, I don't know her, she's not like this." He shrugged as he turned to leave again.

This time I hugged him from behind and held him tightly so he wouldn't leave. I dint want him to leave me, wasn't it why I was so stressed about this whole thing at the first place?

"Please don't leave me Arnie." I almost cried. The tears were sort of floating on my eyes, I just hoped they wouldn't fall out.

He stopped, he dint move, he just stayed in the position for a while, he dint even turn around to face me.

After a while, he pushed my hands away and turned to look at me.

"I would never leave you Shona, you know that."

"What if someday you do? Maybe find out I did something terrible and hate me for it and leave me? What would I do without you in my life?" The tears were finally falling down.

"Shona I would never hate you." He cupped my face and looked me into the eyes seriously, for a moment it was just an eye lock and then slowly, he moved his face closer to mine, leaning closer and closer slowly, and then his lips were brushing against mine and in this moment I dint know what to do.

He was about to kiss me, and I was about to let him, but if this happened, there was no going back, it would ruin our friendship. Why were we suddenly so close to kissing each other? Did it mean that whatever stupid feelings I was having towards him suddenly, he had them too? If he had them, why dint he tell me?

But were those feelings worth ruining our friendship for? Was this kiss that was about to happen worth our friendship? I dint think so. I wouldn't want to ruin it and that's why I decided to step backwards.

"Shit. I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that." Arnav apologized immediately, I dint want him to feel bad about it, because I dint.

"It's okay Arnie, we were just vulnerable." I assured him.

"It's awkward already. Look at our friendship being the only thing it had never been, awkward." He said.

"It won't be if we don't make it awkward. How about we forget it happened, let's think of something do something, maybe try to find out who the stalker is, let's watch the footage again, it would distract our minds." I suggested, he nodded as we both headed to the sofa hoping this was going to help, but was it really going to help?