1.3 | Under The Pink Evening Sky | ✓

7 | a new friend

 ₊‧꒰ა❤︎໒꒱ ‧₊

Sana hated the universe.

Why in the world did she have to end up in the same class as Shrest? She wanted to scream but she held it in, under her graceful demeanor.

She was always a pretty child but now that puberty was hitting her, she was growing up to be more and more gorgeous. She swept aside her long bangs behind her ear and pretended to read a book, as she eavesdropped on her desk mate's conversation with her friend.

"Shrest is in our class. Vihan is too."

"I think our class is going to be the most popular class this year."

"Exactly, exactly. We have both popular kids in our class."

Sana inwardly rolled her eyes. Shrest? Popular?

"We also have..." They grew silent. She felt them glance at her. 

"We're going to have a line of boys standing at our class door, aren't we?" The other friend whispered.

Sana pretended she heard nothing about herself.

"Anyways, do you think Meena will try to date Shrest? I think her goal is to date all the popular guys."

Meena? Who was this Meena?

Sana placed her book down. Tucking her hair behind once again, she faced her desk mate and her friend.

"Hello, guys..."

The desk mate and her friend smiled at her, eagerly.

"Can I join in your conversation? I'm feeling a little bored."

"Of course, of course."

"What are you guys talking about?"

"We were just...talking about Shrest. And Meena. Oh yes, don't you live in the same apartment complex as Shrest? I suppose you two take the same bus."

"Ah, no. There are two buses that come to our locality from school. I usually take the second bus." Or the first bus. Whichever bus Shrest took, she avoided it to avoid his antics.

"I see..." The desk mate nodded slowly. After a pause, Sana dug into the piece of information she had been wanting to inquire about.

"Um, who is this Meena?"

The desk mate pointed to a pretty girl, who was casting furtive glances at Shrest and Vihan who were standing at a corner of the classroom and joking around.

"I see. She's pretty."

"Not as pretty as you, of course." The desk mate quickly replied, leading Sana to laugh a little.

"Thank you."

"I'm serious. You're gorgeous. No girl in the school can compare to you."

Sana felt her face blush. "You're flattering me too much."

That's called real popularity. Take that, Shrest.

Gloating inward, she tried to concentrate on the conversation between her newfound friends, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up.

"My good friend, we haven't been in the same class for awhile, have we?" Shrest smirked at her.

Sana's mind went blank.

Friend? Who was your good friend?

"I have another good friend who I wanted to introduce to you. You might have met him before. This is Vihan."