20th August 2017

L U K A

1:04 AM

I kept staring at my phone screen as the minutes passed by. The silence of the night being broken, by the occasional calls of dogs and cats or by the rustling of the leaves as the wind whirled around the branches of a tree, in Preeti's garden.

Sleep bade me goodbye, half an hour ago because it got scared of a dream.

"More like a nightmare", I whisper to no one in particular. Everyone's asleep and I feel like a nightguard, keeping a lookout for thieves or ghosts. Suddenly, I feel something touch my hand, in which I held my phone. For a minute, I thought it was a skeleton's hand and pulled my hand back.

However, the hand did not belong to a skeleton. It belonged to Preeti. I got up and looked at her, peacefully snoring with her left arm dropping to the side of her bed, and her legs bent in such a way, that it looked like she was doing a tree pose in bed. Some drools had escaped through her parted lips, which I quickly wiped away, using my thumb. The blanket was already ruffled at her feet, so I straightened it out and tucked Preeti in her bed cautiously so that she wouldn't wake up.

I walked out of her room, and down the hallway. Her house was as big as a small mansion. At the end of the hallway, I found the bathroom and used it. After coming out, I was walking back to Preeti's room, when an open door of a room, caught my attention. I entered the room and saw a sofa lined up against the left wall and a television set attached to the right wall. There were a few tables and chairs here and there which gave me the impression, that this was the living room.

I walked across the living room and opened another door which led me to a balcony, lit up beautifully by the moonlight. The curtains started to dance on the directions of the wind, as I stepped into the balcony. It was a wonderful balcony with small plants and flowers growing in the pots, lined up along the fence. I rested both my arms, on the fence and stared at the moon.

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I don't know how long I was standing there until, I heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the room and a soft soothing voice asking me a question," Luka? What are you doing here so late at night?"

I turned around to face the dark-haired girl who was rubbing her right eye with the back of her hand, curled up in a small fist. She opened her eyes fully and looked at me as a small yawn escaped her lips. The moonlight had perfectly lit up Preeti's features and she looked like a goddess of the moon.

Wait what? Stop it, Luka! But, how can I? She looks so beautiful...

"Luka? Is there something on my face?"

I broke out of my night-dream and blinked twice.

"N-Nothing. I m-mean there's nothing on your face", I said and scratched the nape of my neck. This was the second time I had gotten lost in my thoughts. When she had opened the door this morning, I couldn't help but stare and wonder about how cute she looked in her pyjamas.

Preeti walked past me and leaned onto the railings like I was doing a minute ago. I also did the same.

"Bad dreams?"

"Yeah. Wait how do you know?", I asked utterly perplexed as to how perfectly she had hit the right spot.

"It's a common thing. It doesn't let you sleep, sometimes", she said and simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Yup."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No. I'm good."

She placed her hand on top of mine and in a soothing tone, she said, "Talking about the things troubling us makes it less troublesome."

I looked away from her eyes and whispered, "I saw my dad."

"And?"

"We were walking down an alley when suddenly, something from the darkness pulled h-him a-away from me, and when I screamed his name, I felt a hand clasp my mouth, drowning my screams. In the split of a second, I was unable to move. I panicked. That's when I woke up. And it felt as if- as if it had actually h-happened, right in front of me. Like, it wasn't a trick, my sub-conscious mind was playing on me. It felt so real", I said and buried my face in my hands.

I was trembling again, like a leaf on a windy day. I hated it. I hated acting so cowardly in front of others, especially Preeti, a girl who I just met, a week ago. My breathing calmed down when I felt her arms wrap around my shoulders. I turned towards her and buried my face in the crook of her neck. The tears started to spill down my cheeks, falling on her shirt as she combed her fingers through my hair, in an attempt to calm me down.

The scent of roses along with the warmth radiating from her felt calming. I pulled away from her embrace and she wiped away the stray tears from my cheeks. Her soft hands rested on my cheeks, while my hands straddled her waist. Without the slightest hint of what I was doing, without even thinking, I leaned towards her face and captured her lips in mine. The kiss felt so passionate and enticing that my brain wasn't able to comprehend my actions. They say that if you kiss someone you like, sparks and fireworks erupt but, this felt different. The moment we shared, felt sweet and calm.

When she parted her lips and our tongues touched, that's when I came back to my senses and realized what I had done. I instantly pulled away and felt my cheeks heat up.

No, no, no, no.

My eyes darted away from hers as I tried to find a reasonable explanation for why I just did... that.

It was my first kiss and perhaps hers as well because she had never been in a relationship before.

Wait, why do I know that?

"Uh, L-Lu-Luka?", Preeti stuttered out as she looked into my eyes. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her lips looked even more alluring than before.

"I- I'm sorry. I-I don't know why I d-did that", I managed to stutter out.

What's wrong with me?

"It's a-alright. Happens s-some- "

But before Preeti could finish her words, we both heard the door to the living room, slam against its feeble frame.

Someone was there.

"Um... must've been a draft. It's a lot windy in our house during Aug-August", giving off a fake laugh in the end.

I looked at Preeti who was now looking at the floor and I tilted her head up-by her chin-slightly only to get lost in her eyes again. I cleared my throat and uttered a small apology for my actions which couldn't be undone.

"It's okay Luka. Mistakes happen. Anyway, we should go back to bed. It's getting late", she meekly spoke. I nodded and we both made our way to the bedroom.

I looked around the room to see if anyone had gotten up a while ago, to spy on us but everyone was peacefully sleeping, and their forms were covered by thin blankets.

Preeti and I bade each other good night and I slipped underneath the covers.

What have I done?

~~~~~~~~~~

🙈

Luka... 🥺

Something similar to what happened, happened to me one time.

✋ I didn't kiss anyone!

There was this boy back in Grade 6 who used to have a crush on me and I didn't like him back " Romantically " (He was a playboy guys, what could I do?). One day, when we were talking, he was leaning in too close to me and when I saw his eyes close and realized his not-so-innocent actions, I stepped to the side and he ended up kissing the pillar I was leaning on earlier, instead.

🤣

I know two girls (my bffs lol) who are gonna kill me when they read this because I didn't tell them before.

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