The Addiction of Love

IV

Almost a week later, the results were out, and Zara topped the class again with 94.6%. Avni, Nitya and Shivaansh congratulated her with lots of hugs and ordered tons of food from the canteen.

While waiting for the food, Zara excused herself to call her mother.

"Assalam Walaikum Ammi." She greeted her mother, Mumtaz Shahid Ibrahim.

"Walaikum Assalam, ammi ki jaan. Kaise ho aap?" Mumtaz's sweet voice came.

"Bilkul khairiyat. Aaj result aaya hai, maine phirse top kiya."

"MashaAllah! Khuda aapko aise hi kamyaabi dete rahe." Zara could feel her mother's happiness from her tone.

She heard a little shuffling before Noorie's shrill came onto line. "Aapi, mubarak ho."

"Thanks, Noor. Kaisi ho tum? Padhai kaisi chal rahi hai?" Zara couldn't help her elder sister mode.

"Ugh, sirf boring baato ke baare mein hi pucha karo aap, yeh nahi ki yeh pooch lo ki koi hot banda-wanda mila ya nahi." Noorie said in a fake disappointed voice, and then got hit on the shoulder by her mother.

"Besharam ladki!" Zara shook her head at her little sister's antics. Her eyes fell towards where her friends were and saw that their food had been served, so she hung up the call, but not before promising that she'd call them at night.

"To Zara!" Avni raised her cup of chai and urged everyone to do the same.

"No, to our friendship." Zara corrected her and they all clinked their cups.

"Our placements start in two months." Zara said while taking a bite of her hakka noodles.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Shivaansh sucked at giving interviews and presentations, so the upcoming placements were an absolute nightmare for him.

"Don't worry, Shiv. You'll do well." Avni rubbed his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"I don't think so. Don't you guys remember how bad I fumbled while giving the presentation last year? The whole class was laughing at me."

"Those are all assholes. And everyone is weak at something or the other. That doesn't define you as a person. You're a brilliant person, and you're good at learning new things. I'm sure the interviewers will see potential in you and you'll get an awesome job." Zara assured him.

"What am I going to do without you guys?" Shiv said while wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

"You can take us all shopping after you get your first salary!" Nitya winked.

They all burst out laughing.

After two hours of hanging out, they decided to leave. Shivaansh had a car, so he generally dropped Avni and Nitya to their respective homes. So they left for the parking, while Zara had to issue a book from the library.

The college building was almost empty as it was evening, and everyone had left for home already. Zara was walking while scrolling on her phone. Since she was distracted, she couldn't see Shayaan coming from her front and they both ended up colliding. This made her lose her balance and her ankle twisted. To steady herself, she pushed her body more onto Shayaan and grabbed his shoulders to save herself from falling. Shayaan too held her waist to protect her.

She looked up only to realise that their faces were too close.

"Are you o.." He spoke but his words got lost when he realised the closeness between them. Neither of them made any move. It was like they were captivated. His deep eyes made her heart flutter, and her scent did something to him.

Zara's brain gave her signals to back away, and she broke eye contact. She removed her hands from his shoulders, and took a step back. He also got out of his daze and left her. They both created some distance between them. Zara lowered her eyes, while Shayaan looked around and cleared his throat to lessen the awkwardness.

"I'm sorry." Zara said.

"It is okay. I wasn't looking where I was going either." Shayaan scratched his neck. He did not know what was happening to him. He had never felt this way before. They just barged into each other, what is the big deal about it? But then, why did he feel like grabbing her soft, curvy waist again, pulling her impossibly close to himself and never letting go.

"I saw the results. Congratulations." Shayaan gave her a small smile.

"Thank you." Zara felt happiness arise in her heart. This was the first time he had looked at her with pride.

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds before Zara decided to break it. "Umm, I'll leave then."

"Where are you going at this time?"

"Library."

They both took a step forward at the same time, and almost collided into one another again. Shayaan then stepped on the side and gestured with his hand for her to walk. She didn't know why, but she blushed at him. Seeing her red cheeks, he smiled too and they both walked off in the opposite directions.

It was only when Zara reached the library, she realised how fast her heartbeat was. She has to keep a hand over her chest to calm her heart down. Looking at her rosy cheeks, fast breathing and hand over heart, the librarian gave her a weird look. Zara just stole eyes from her and rushed towards the business section from where she wanted her book.

That night, she had her dinner and then called home, just like she had promised. She talked to her ammi, and Noor for a long time, but the thought of Shayaan didn't leave her mind. She just kept replaying those events over and over again, and kept smiling to herself. Anjali asked her a few times if she was fine, and she brushed it off saying that she was happy about her result.

Sleep didn't come easy to her that night, but even when it finally did come, she dreamt of colliding with him, only this time they didn't back up. Instead, they closed their eyes and joined their lips.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The first romantic scene between them. They are always the special ones, aren't they? When you finally realise that you feel something for the other person!

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