That voice from behind poured life straight into Himanshu’s dead feelings. His hopes bloomed again like a dried-up flower coming back to life.
But the very next moment, he remembered Priya’s narrowed eyes in the canteen. He immediately swallowed back the happy smile creeping up on his lips.
But the moment he turned around, seeing the shine of sweat on Priya’s face and her heavy breathing, all the useless thoughts in Himanshu’s brain vanished like they never existed.
"Are... are you okay?"
Himanshu quickly pulled his water bottle out from the side pocket of his bag and held it out to her.
Taking two deep breaths to steady herself, Priya took the bottle. She kept drinking until half the bottle was empty.
"Thank God... I made it just in time."
Saying this, her body leaned slightly towards Himanshu. Her eyes didn’t have that canteen boundary today. Instead, there was a depth in them that wanted to break down all the walls.
Himanshu just kept staring at her. His brain was struggling to process this moment. But a part of his mind just wanted to hit pause and save this exact moment in the best memories of his life. Because all of this felt nothing less than a dream.
With a slight hesitation, Priya started rubbing her thumbs against each other.
Seeing her nervousness, Himanshu let out the words buried in his mind for day in a single breath.
"I’m sorry about the other day. I wanted to stop, but I just... couldn’t."
Pointing his finger toward the canteen building, he added, "I was gonna apologize in there too. But the way you looked at me... kinda stopped me."
Saying this, Himanshu dropped his gaze down to his shoes.
For a second, dead silence fell over them. Only the wind brushing against their faces could be felt. That heavy rock placed on Himanshu’s chest was suddenly gone. After days, for the first time today, he was actually feeling what it was like to breathe freely.
Priya took a step forward. Coming right next to Himanshu, she said in a very soft voice, "I just didn’t want to see you get in trouble again."
Her steps started moving forward. "Can we walk and talk?"
She turned back slightly and gave him that exact same deep smile... the one Himanshu was probably doing all this for.
Walking together for a short distance, Himanshu realized why Priya had acted like that in the canteen.
"Because Dhruv was staring right at us," Priya explained.
Hearing that name, Himanshu gripped his cycle handles tight with both hands. A strong urge to smash Dhruv’s face was rising in his mind. Though, looking at his own weak body, he knew his chances of winning were pretty slim. But that guy was seriously bothering him now, like a bone stuck in the throat.
Himanshu stopped in his tracks, looked straight into Priya’s eyes, and said, "I’m not scared of him. And you don’t have to be either."
Priya just kept staring at Himanshu. She didn’t even blink for a few seconds. At least after hearing this, Priya was definitely not going to look at him like some coward anymore.
But the very next moment, that smile on her face bloomed even more. Looking at her face, Himanshu understood this much that Priya was happy, but why... he didn’t quite get it.
After the Dhruv topic ended, Himanshu gathered a little courage, cleared his throat, and asked to change the subject, "Anyway... were you trying to tell me something at break?"
"Yeah, we were supposed to go get manga that day, remember? I’m completely out of stuff to read."
"Oh... right." Saying this like a disappointed patient, he dropped his gaze back to the road. It was honestly surprising for him. A few days ago, he was pedaling his cycle like crazy for this very manga store, but today, he wanted to hear something else entirely from Priya’s mouth.
And right then, they both blurted out at the exact same time—
"The Demon Queen."
The moment those words slipped out, they both looked at each other in surprise. And then they both burst out laughing. For Himanshu, this moment was genuinely worth remembering for a lifetime, because something like this was happening to him for the very first time.
But before Himanshu could live in this feeling a little longer, he remembered the real demon sitting inside his house.
"Did anything... weird happen to you while reading it?" Himanshu asked.
"Weird how?"
"Like... seeing things, feeling something, or hearing voices?"
"No, nothing like that. Why’re you asking?"
Scratching the hair on the back of his neck, Himanshu covered it up, "Just... curious."
"Looks like you got a bit too obsessed with that demon character."
"W-What?" Himanshu’s eyes went wide for a second.
"What’s wrong, why’d you stop?"
"No, it’s nothing. Guess I just got a little too into the story."
"Alright, see ya tomorrow then."
"Uhh..." Himanshu didn’t even realize what she just said. And when he looked around, he noticed they were standing at the intersection where their paths split.
Kicking a pebble away with the tip of his shoe, he killed his mood and said, "Uhh... Yeah, see ya tomorrow."
He stood there holding his cycle, watching her leave. Suddenly, everyone walking on the street snapped their necks toward Himanshu because he had yelled at the top of his lungs—
"So, am I forgiven?"
From the other side of the road, Priya turned back and looked.
"Took you long enough to ask!"
"Himanshu scratched his forehead and gave an awkward, stupid-looking smile, like he was apologizing again for taking so long to say it."
"Fine... you’re forgiven!" Priya said with a smile.
"Thank you! Seriously, thanks!"
Himanshu kept watching her until she turned back and completely disappeared from there.
.....
"Ring that bell more than twice next time... and I’ll throw you right off this balcony!"
Jerking the door open, an irritated Demon grabbed Himanshu straight by his collar.
Well, it wasn’t really the Demon’s fault either. In his excitement, Himanshu had kept pressing the bell non-stop until she finally opened the door.
"And why’re you grinning like an idiot? Get bitten by a rabid dog or something?" the Demon asked, glaring at him.
"No, no... I’m just having a good day, that’s all."
"Happy? Your stupid happiness almost blew out my eardrums. Touch that bell again and I’ll chop your fingers off and nail them to this door."
The Demon was still talking, but right then, a strong, awful smell of something burning from inside the house hit Himanshu’s nose.
"What is... what is that smell?"
"Oh that. I made food today," the Demon replied in her same flat voice.
Hearing this, Himanshu’s feet bolted toward the kitchen with the speed of lightning.
"Oh no,My kitchen...!"
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