Chapter Fifteen

"Woohoo! Spin the bottle!" Tania cheered. At this point it felt like she was the only youngster in the group and the rest were in their late-sixties. 

The sun had set and the sky glimmered with stars. After the movie, Samarth knew he was hungry and thus they decided to head over to his house which wasn't far away from the movie theatre. 

They sat on the open terrace under the moonlight. The pizzas they ordered came a while later and what does a group of friends do when them come together? Play spin the bottle! 

"This is child's play!" Raina complained. Niharika had accompanied them to Samarth's house as well. No one was happy with that but only Raina did all she could to express her disinterest. 

Every time the couple got closer, she would say 'Excuse me, I have to go vomit.' And Aditya being the caring best friend would flinch away from his clingy girlfriend and focus on Raina. 

She smiled inwardly but kept a frown on her face. 

Tania retorted, "Don't be a spoilsport, Ri-ri. What's the matter with you?"

Samarth grabbed the empty beer bottle he'd found in his brother's room from Tania's hand. "Give me that! Everyone sit in a circle. If you don't want to be here, Raina, get out."

"I'm not going anywhere before finishing this pizza." She waved a middle finger at him and everyone laughed. 

The bottle spun around. Everyone watched it with excitement. 

Raina. 

Tania grinned wickedly, "Okay, Raina. Truth or Dare?"

Raina raised an eye brow and said, "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss any guy present here. Or girl. Whichever you prefer." Tania clasped her palms together.  

Raina pouted and looked around. Shrey immediately moved a little behind. Samarth rolled his eyes at her. Finally, her gaze settled on Aditya. 

Neither Niharika nor Aditya got any warning before Raina rose from her seat and planted a brief kiss on Aditya's lips. 

The air filled with sounds of gasps. 

"I didn't say you had to kiss the lips but that's fine." Tania cleared her throat and lowered her gaze. 

Aditya was still trying to recover from what happened. Niharika's jaw was practically on the floor. 

Raina giggled and gave the bottle another spin. 

"So no one is going to talk about what just happened?" Niharika picked up the bottle mid-spin and glared at Aditya. 

"Shut up, dumbo. This is a game. Get over it." Raina remarked and placed the bottle in the centre yet again. 

It stopped after a while and pointed at Tania. 

"Oh, my god. Get it on!" Tania sighed. 

Shrey decided to ask the question. He really hoped she would choose truth because there was a burning question stuck inside his head and for some reason he wanted an answer to it. 

"Truth or Dare, Rapunzel?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Tania frowned, "Don't nickname. That's my thing. And yes, I choose truth."

"Have you ever felt any romantic feelings for Samarth? Ever crushed on him?"

Tania was taken back by the question. His tone seemed accusing. She gave one glance to Samarth who appeared equally offended but then shook her head and put a coy smile on her face, "Never. He's my grumpy boy. I've only felt sisterly love for him."

Shrey gave her a curt nod, clearly not convinced with her answer. But Tania knew she had only stated the truth. 

This time the bottle took a stop at Mayra and she gulped instinctively. 

"I'll ask. Truth or--" Samarth began but was cut off by a nervous Mayra. 

"Truth. I choose truth." She cursed herself inwardly for sounding so hushed.

She looked up at Samarth and found him looking back at her. His grey eyes darkened, glistening in the bright moonlight. She felt her eyes burn at his gaze and chose to look away. 

"Describe your future self as the opposite of what you'd want her to be." 

Mayra eyes darted back to him a bit too soon. He hadn't asked anything mean or nasty but it was a simple question and at the same time quite deep too. 

She sighed deeply before answering, "I'm madly in love with a guy." She smiled, lowering her gaze to the floor they sat on. 

Everyone let out a laugh or giggle except Samarth. He was listening to her intently. 

The smile on Mayra face faded as she continued, "My thirst for knowledge has vanished and I no longer believe in Knowledge is Power. I'm not curious anymore. I'm not independent instead, my life basically revolves around the guy I love and I'm dependent on him both emotionally and financially." She let out a snort. 

"I'm taking people for granted. Life for granted." She finished with a nod. 

Silence lingered in the air. Every one were too deep in their thoughts to say anything for a moment. 

Mayra decided to break it, "Let's continue, shall we?" 

"Yes." Samarth whispered, his eyes still locked on Mayra as his mind processed all the words she'd just said. 

"Shrey, finally. Truth or Dare?" Tania smirked. 

Mayra smiled at him. 

"Truth." 

Tania narrowed her eyes, "Your question back at you. Did you ever have a crush on Mayra?"

No one had expected that. At least, Mayra hadn't. But she stayed calm because the answer was known to her. Shrey would never crush on her. 

"Yes." Shrey answered. 

"What?" Both Tania and Mayra asked at the same time. 

Shrey blushed as he confessed, "I crushed on Mayra for a month when we were fifteen."

"You didn't tell me." Mayra accused him. She felt disappointed and upset. But shock dominated all other feelings she felt in the moment. 

Shrey shrugged casually and the bottle began spinning again. 

Mayra no longer had her mind in the game. The confession was too much to process. She felt... betrayed? In her whole life, she had seen him as a best friend exclusively. And he had at a point developed a crush on her. 

Was it really a big deal? 

Maybe, she was only exaggerating this. 

He did mention after all 'had'. That was all in the past now. She sighed in relief and tried to focus on the game again. 

"Good you chose truth, Niharika." It was Raina. Apparently, it was Niharika's turn and Raina had grasped the opportunity to humiliate her in some way. 

Raina pulled out her phone and played a video. Everyone peeped into her phone. There was a girl pressed against a tree trunk and she was making out with a guy. Surprisingly, the girl look horribly similar to Niharika. 

The video ended. And everyone fixed their widened eyes on her. 

Raina pressed her lips together, "Answer honestly, it was you in the video, right?" 

Mayra observed Niharika's failed attempt to maintain eye contact with anyone in the group. Her face had turned cherry red. 

"Yes." 

Aditya ran his fingers through his face and let out a curse. 

"When did this happen?" Raina further asked. 

"Only one question, Raina." Niharika attempted to defend herself. 

Aditya gritted his teeth together. The vein in his temple throbbed, "Damnit! Answer her!" 

Niharika flinched in her seat at his sharp tone. 

Raina pushed her to the edge, "You're wearing the same t-shirt now." 

"Today. Yes, it happened today." Niharika confessed, fighting back tears.