CHAPTER 2

While having a word with Manik at the party, as if through some kind of sixth sense or the sense of doom, she looked to her left. Sure enough, she saw that Aryaman was heading their way.

"Oh, fuck!" Nandani liked to save swearing for important occasions. Like running into asshole exes for the first time after they had broken up with her by phone.

She looked around wildly to find a place to hide. But by bad luck, the next thing she knew he was coming right there toward's them.

Aryaman seemed to notice Nandani while only a few strides away. He came up short and looked from Nandani to Manik and back. She could tell from the tension in his annoyingly still great body that he didn't know what kind of reception he was in for.

"Hey, Nandani," Aryaman said finally, his brown eyes on her. Uncertainty in them, mixed with a hint of what she hoped was fear. "How was your summer?"

She flashed the biggest smile she could muster, going for full wattage but only partly succeeding. "After you dumped me? The best. New York was amazing. Aryaman, do you know Mukti's twin brother, Manik? He went to high school with us."

Familiarity dawned and Aryaman extended a hand, relieved for the excuse to look somewhere else. "Hey, man. You play soccer, right?"

"Rugby." If Manik knew about their history he didn't let on. But something told her that Manik wasn't drawn in by Aryaman's easy charm.

Manik Malhotra went up another two notches in her books.

"Well, I just wanted to say happy birthday, Nandani," Aryaman offered before turning and walking off.

"Let me guess..." Manik raised an eyebrow as they watched Aryaman's retreating back. "Leading in the polls for Asshole of the Year?"

"Running uncontested, actually." Nandani's deadpan response elicited a surprised laugh from Manik.

The sound warmed her insides. Manik's voice, like his appearance, was familiar and different at once.

"Well, you let me know if you want me to lay him out for you." Manik slapped a fist against his other palm.

Nandani wasn't used to having her virtue defended, particularly not by an unexpectedly tall, dark, and broody echo of someone from her past. There was something sweet about it, though.

"Is this service part of the brother lending library?" Nandani teased. "I don't have a brother of my own, so I get to borrow Mukti's when my reputation is in danger?"

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but his attention was drawn away by movement behind her.

"This is your house, right? I am sensing a situation in need of some diplomacy," Manik said.

Turning to follow his gaze Nandani saw Mukti, a five-two pixie with dark hair and stormy eyes, shouting at a tall blond girl in a miniskirt. While Nandani could not hear any substance over the loud music, this looked like it could get ugly fast.

"Welcome to college. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go stop two girls from ripping each other's hair out," Nandani said to him.

Manik rewarded her with a genuine smile that nearly knocked her off her feet. "Godspeed," he wished her.

*****************************

Three trays of shooters (A shooter, or shot, is a small serving of spirits usually about one ounce) had gone missing from the fridge. Accusations were made. Inquiries ensued.

At one point Nandani thought it would escalate to violence, but she settled the dispute by pointing out that the trays were being held hostage by a group of guys and gals playing truth or dare on our back deck.

Nandani returned them to the fridge, without getting a finder's fee in return.

The party was in full swing. If the neighbors had not come over marching to their place, Nandani fully expected them to call the police, for noise pollution complaints.

Nandani was ready to find something a little less exciting to occupy her. Pre-reading for her advanced economics course was sounding pretty good right then.

Nandani picked her way back through the crowd, heading to the stairs, but pulled up halfway there.

The guy occupying one of their armchairs was familiar. Intimately so.

Perched on Aryaman's lap was a pretty blond girl trying to devour his head with her mouth.

He didn't seem to be objecting. In fact, his hand was on the back of her head, pulling her closer.

Nandani felt jealousy burning inside her. Though telling herself that she shouldn't care, did not seem to make a difference.

She stumbled towards the stairs and raced up towards her room. She jerked the door of her room and closed it behind her and collapsed on her bed.

Tears rose behind her eyes, but she refused to cry. She had not cried since her dad left her and her mom, more than ten years ago. She wasn't about to start for some guy who had cut off ties and ran months ago at the first sign of trouble.

Aryaman was not worth it.

She did not want him back. But seeing him with someone else threw her off guard.

Probably because she had no plans to do the same. This summer she and Mukti made a pact, they would have no boyfriend in their senior years. As guys would interfere with their heads, hearts, and most importantly their business.

They had worked too hard to put the pieces in place to lose it all now.

Still, seeing Aryaman and the blonde had sent her body into panic mode even though her head kept telling her it would be okay. Nandani tried talking to herself to calm down.

Deep breaths, Nandani. In and out, she told herself.

A knock sounded at her door. It was followed by a deep voice, rough and tinged with concern.

"Nandani? It is Manik. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine." Her voice almost matched her words.

She was not the kind of girl who needed or liked to be rescued. And as far as would-be saviors went, Manik Malhotra would not be her choice.

She was about to ask him to leave when the door handle turned. His lean face appeared, silhouetted by the light in the hallway.

Manik stepped inside, pushing the door partly closed behind him. Only a couple of inches of bright hallway light shone into the semi-darkness of her room.

Manik leaned his frame against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I saw you take off up the stairs like something was on fire. What happened, Nandani?"

"Nothing. Really, Manik, it is fine."

He did not move, he just waited. From ten feet away, his brown eyes probed hers as if he was reading everything she was feeling but didn't want to voice.

Instead of asking him to leave, she found herself sighing. "It is stupid," she muttered. It was embarrassing being exposed this way in front of a near stranger. But he had been kind enough to come up.

Mustering all her energy, she sat up, pulling her legs and crossing them.

Manik took three slow strides towards her bed. "Can I..." He gestured towards the bed.

"Be my guest," she replied. She didn't know why he was here or why he cared.

Manik hadn't dated her, nor dumped her, and neither made out with another girl at Nandani's birthday party. So that put him ahead of some guys.