Starring: Reyansh, Kriya, Swayum and Sharon...

Vicky's house special Part 1

(Swayum's point-of-view)

I couldn't believe how the comfort level had suddenly gone up. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was dreaming when I saw Sharon helping Kriya and Neha in the kitchen through the glass partition between the dining-room and the kitchen. I felt a smile spread as I listened to the contrasting songs they were singing to themselves, contrasting both to each other and to themselves. Neha was singing a super-spicy Bollywood song that I had heard very recently. "Ladkon ka nasha pyaare nasha sabse nasheela hai… Jise dekho yahaan woh husn ki baarish mein geela hai… Ishak ke naam pe karte sabhi abraas neela hai… Main karoon tho sala character dheela hai!" her little-girl, sweet, tight voice rang out softly. In contrast, Sharon was singing in a high, melodious tune that warmed my heart, turning my smile softer. "Chura liya hai tum ne jo dil ko, nazar nahin churana sanam… Badal ki meri tum zindagani kahin badal na jaana sanam…" I turned to Kriya and my smile grew wide and amused again. "Aaj ki raat! Hona hai kya? Hona hai kya? Hona hai kya?" Well, really… considering the circumstances, anything could happen tonight. And by circumstances I mean that the Dazzlers and Weaklings of the college were in one house, who were supposed to hate each other purely and strongly and fought like cats & dogs, whereas the truth was that the male half of the population was madly, truly, deeply in love – while the female half was madly, purely, deeply in hatred. Literally… I smiled at the ironic similarity of the song and the situation we were in, and smiled even more widely at the kitchen's state. Neha was chopping apples in a wooden plate; Sharon was frying potato chips in a pan; Kriya was arranging drinks on a tray. Sharon looked adorable in a white chef's hat and a clean, spotless apron; I pushed open the door and walked straight in, rubbing my hands together; I was starting to get used to the rapid beating of my heart and my acrobatic tummy, so it was easier thinking and speaking and breathing now, even though Sharon's cuteness didn't decrease. "What's cooking, girls?" I said brightly. I couldn't help but notice that Sharon's back stiffened as she heard my voice. "Our brains," Kriya said sarcastically. "They're delicious. Want some?" "That's called cannibalism, my darling," I said teasingly, and I couldn't help but notice that Sharon's back stiffened even more as I addressed Kriya with the endearment. "Oh, go tell that to Rey and Vicky – they might just stop eating our brains," Neha suggested cutely. Sharon whipped around at that and it took me a second to start breathing again and to get my heart beating again as her adorability (did I mention she was adorable?) overwhelmed me. She waved the oily, scorching spatula viciously in Neha's direction. "Oye, miss Verbal Diarrhoea!" she yelled angrily, her green eyes flashing with anger. "Is mein Rey aur Vicky ko laane ki koi zaroorat nahin hai, okay?" "Swayum beech mein aaya tho it's only fair ke Rey aur Vicky bhi aayein," Kriya said, rushing to her friend's defence, leaving the drinks unsupervised. I sighed and set back to enjoy a gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful, relaxing, friendly, awesome, hilarious conversation between the girls. (And again, like you see on the television, it turns into chipmunk and fast motion. Of course, it's not fair that it's Neha and Kriya vs just our innocent little Sharon – so guess what happens?)

Rey and Vicky strode into the kitchen and their eyes widened at the sight of Sharon waving a burning hot spatula in their faces, Neha waving a kitchen-knife in Sharon's face and Kriya waving a bunch of straws in Sharon's face. Too much waving, too many faces blown up in anger… Since they couldn't catch on what the girls were saying (no, our sweethearts are too unclear for us to catch every phrase when they're arguing), they must have put two and two together with the aggressive body language since they rushed over. Vicky started tugging the straws out of Kriya's hand, while Rey yanked at the kitchen knife and oily spatula. I reached into my pocket for my phone, recording the entire thing, not wanting to miss these few hilarious moments. As soon as Rey got the knife out of Neha's hand, it all stopped; silence prevailed. It was pretty ridiculous that they thought he'd do anything with the knife, but it was an effective way to stop the argument. Kriya surrendered, lowering the straws to her side. "Rey, put down the knife," she said in a gentle voice, like a mother chiding her child. "You put down the spatula, Sharon," Rey said, his eyes scanning all the girls like laser-beams. Sharon sighed loudly and lowered her spatula, the oil dripping onto the floor. (Sudden brainwave I had while writing: If you're all wondering where Vicky's parents are, let's assume they are on a business trip and the servants are off-duty. LOL, anything for our couples) "Now, knife ko chodho," Neha pleaded, staring at it. Rey lowered it in a sharp, disconcertingly fast movement and all the girls shrieked, wrapping together in a tight group hug. It was comical to see the LOC (as Simmie called it) erasing so fast, Sharon was trembling as she hugged Neha and Kriya tightly, all of them staring at the knife blade. "Oh God, that's so filmy! Stop it, three of you," Rey said with a laugh. Kriya's face unconsciously softened at the sound. Sharon motioned to the holder on the smooth, rose-coloured Formica counter. "Put it in there," she said. Rey walked over and slid it in. "Now, are we calm?" he asked. Sharon released Kriya and Neha abruptly and all of them straightened their outfits, now looking as though none of this had even happened. Vicky was cowering against the silvery, tall, French-door refrigerator but now straightened up and walked to the little group. As five pairs of piercing eyes turned to question my sanity, I switched off the recorder and cleared my throat. I could have done anything to break the heavy, awkward silence as they all glared at me. "Let's play Truth or Dare!" I suggested brightly.

(Reyansh's point-of-view)

There was a small, luxuriously-furnished den done up in reds and whites that was a lot like the den I remembered Kriya had fallen asleep in. The similarity left me tongue-tied along with the memories of that agonizing night burned forever into my mind. We all settled around a small, wooden table and Vicky reached for a tall glass of orange juice. Sharon smacked his hand playfully. "You're always the first one," she muttered under her breath. Neha was twirling a red-and-white-striped pencil between her slender fingers which reminded of Simmie's peppermint-candy outfit the other day when we were rehearsing. Swayum folded his mile-long legs and sat down comfortably. Kriya sat right across from me, tapping the smooth, polished wood table-top with her long, perfect, blood-red fingernails. "I've always hated this game," she murmured coldly. "Truth or Dare! Sounds… deadly." Sharon laughed a silvery, musical laugh – and reached for the pencil. "Pointed side is Truth and the other is Dare," she said, and spun.

For the next few minutes, it was actually hard to believe we had a LOC between us. The girls seemed to be having the time of their lives, smacking each other lightly, laughing, pinching – their comfort level rose so much I think it blew the roof off with the pressure. There was no hatred around anymore, just playfulness and friendliness overload. I exchanged a shocked look with Swayum, who really seemed to be enjoying it all. That was, of course, until the pencil was between Neha and Kriya – and Kriya chose Truth. "Nothing embarrassing, please," Sharon pleaded, joining her hands. "But game no fun if not embarrassing," Neha pointed out brokenly, haltingly, reaching for a handful of potato chips. "Tell me, Kriya – are you in love?" Vicky spurted the orange juice from his mouth onto Swayum's face; Sharon looked as though someone had put ants in her shorts; Swayum just looked disgusted as the orange juice dripped down his cheeks; I wasn't sure what my expression was, but my heart fluttered, waiting for her response. She had gone really quiet, blushing radiantly; the sight of her rosy cheeks warmed me inside out, and I smiled. She opened her rosebud mouth once to say something, then clamped it shut, seeming to think about it; her gorgeously green, thickly-lashed orbs were gentle and hesitant as they scanned all of our faces. She stopped at me when she saw my smile; her emerald eyes turned icy. "Why are you smiling?" she demanded coldly. "You're cute when you're confused." CRAP! Did I say that out loud? Sharon froze, narrowing her emerald eyes; Neha raised her eyebrows; Swayum bit his lower lip and shot me a warning gaze; Vicky spurted more orange juice into Swayum's face. But Kriya didn't seem to notice anything; her perfect, dark eyebrows shot up innocently; her large emerald orbs softened and glowed as she searched my face. Neha snapped her fingers before Kriya and the spell shattered; she snapped out of it and lowered her long lashes. Swayum was wiping his face with a white fluffy towel, looking disgusted. "Can I not answer that?" Kriya said, her voice shaking. My pulse sped up in response to her obvious stress; Neha pouted playfully, ignoring her pressure. "Arre, Kriya! Be a sport," she insisted. "Fun stealing away you are." Kriya shrugged her slim shoulders lightly and I turned my eyes on Neha, pleading with her. She looked confused at first, raising her eyebrows at me – but I knew she couldn't resist that degree coming from me. No girl could, except maybe Kriya herself. Neha sighed. "Well, if you're so–" she started to say.

(Cut to Swayum's point-of-view) "Neha," Sharon interrupted Neha in a surprisingly soft, gentle tone, her mesmerizing green eyes locked on Kriya, taking in her stressed state, "maybe Kriya doesn't know herself yet. Sometimes love is not understood; it just… happens." And no one knew that better than Sharon. Once again, that wondering look of intense longing and sweet hunger stole into Rey's hazel eyes as he gazed at Kriya and their eyes locked; I felt the electricity flowing between them, charging through the air with a tension you could cut with a knife – which isn't something you could normally do with Kriya's attitude. I turned my eyes on Sharon, sitting across from me again – she was staring at her small, dainty hands folded in her lap but sensing my gaze on her, she snapped up her head and our eyes met. The deep, endless, hypnotic green of her eyes was soft yet somehow scorching, and it drove all thoughts from my mind, leaving me tongue-tied. Because of the comfortable silence the room had gone into, I had no doubt that Neha and Vicky were eye-locked as well… Wait. Room? House? Eye-lock? Suddenly, it was impossible to think as her dark-green, big orbs burned into mine with overwhelming force. A sensation of smashing pleasure surged through my veins, and I felt relaxed as well as disconnected from everything around me; a familiar infatuation made my heart beat harder. She snapped out of it first and brushed her thick, soft brown curls back, snipping her fingers impatiently in front of Kriya and Neha. Both of them subtly snapped out of it as well. "We'd better go do something for dinner," Sharon suggested in a steadier voice that I thought she could have summoned. With a composure of mind I envied, she climbed fluidly to her feet and to my utter surprise, she reached out her hand to help Kriya up. Casually, easily, without thinking about, Kriya took her hand and pulled herself up lightly. Neha was already on her feet.

"We'll be right back," she told us, and the three of them exited.

That's Part 1 for now and though this wasn't a close scene, now the next three chapters are going to be super-romantic and intense. Sharon, Kriya and Neha's love is going to deepen and widen, until they're all struck to the core by cupid. Rey and Swayum will play each other's intentional cupid to sneak in frequent moments with their lady-loves. And Vicky and Neha have way too much free time, LOL – so they will be your awwiez.

Next chapter: They're all sitting at a glass dining-table under dim, romantic lighting. Swayum is backing up towards the table as he stares at something on the wall. He knocks off a bowl of chicken Manchurian straight on Sharon's white shorts. Sharon screams and squirts a bottle of ketchup in Swayum's direction, who ducks and it hits Kriya straight in her tummy. A pineapple pastry is smacked straight across Neha's face. Cut to next shot where food is flying everywhere. All the couples are having their funny moments as shown in the promo. Cut to next shot where Kriya is flipping wet hair around and it lands on Rey's cheeks, and she wipes it away. Their eyes lock. Swayum is out with wet hair. Sharon walks over and towels off his hair. Their eyes lock. Still covered in food, Vicky's napping on a couch; Neha walks over and smacks him lightly to wake him up. He screams and plunges up. Neha almost faints.

I know that was one long next-chapter thing, but the next chapter is going to be long anyway. The food fight and the lovely moments… You're going to love it. Please review and have a great day. I will update as soon as possible, but like I said, it's a long chapter.