“Misha, please,” Piya laughed.
“And Panchi isn’t wrong, this dress really is incredibly beautiful. But Misha… what are you doing?”
Misha looked around the room in confusion.
“What do you mean? What am I doing?”
“I mean, the party downstairs has already started, and you aren’t even ready yet!” Piya pointed out.
“I “am” ready,” Misha replied, looking down at herself.
“Ready? Misha, you haven’t even changed your clothes!” Panchi exclaimed.
“You’re still wearing the exact same t-shirt and pants!”
“Oh, please! Don’t tell me you guys actually think I’m going to wear dresses like you and Panchi,” Misha scoffed, visibly wrinkling her nose.
“Ew. I don’t like it at all. Besides, I can’t even walk in clothes like that. I have no idea how you two manage it. Honestly, just watching you guys walk around in those things makes me feel suffocated!”
“Piya, there’s no use,” Panchi sighed, shaking her head.
“Misha is never going to listen to you, so just let her be. Come on, let’s head downstairs. I’ll introduce you to my friends. Besides, if we take any longer, Mom is going to get angry all over again.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Piya agreed.
Misha, Piya, and Panchi finally made their way downstairs to join the party.
As they descended the staircase, conversations began to quiet down.
People turned to look at them, but almost instantly, all eyes in the room were completely glued to Piya.
In that stunning off-white dress, she looked absolutely breathtaking.
Noticing the heavy stares, Panchi gently nudged Piya with her elbow and leaned in to whisper teasingly.
“Look at that, Piya.
The way “someone” is staring at you right now… it looks like he wants to keep looking at you for the rest of his life.”
“Oh, please, Panchi,” Piya laughed softly, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
“Oh, there’s Danny!” she called out, immediately hurrying over to him.
A second later, Misha spotted a few of her male friends near the pool table and drifted off to join them, leaving Piya completely on her own.
Feeling totally lost in the sea of unfamiliar faces, Piya quietly slipped away from the crowd.
She walked over to the edge of the room and took a seat on a high stool at the wine bar, cradling a glass of fruit juice in her hands as she watched the lively party from a safe distance.
Just then, T and her squad made their grand entrance.
T was dressed to kill in a bold, striking pink dress, her face covered in heavy, glamorous makeup.
She paused confidently, her gaze sweeping across the entire party to make sure all eyes were on her.
Right at that moment, Kabir walked in, stepping through the doors just behind her.
T turned slightly, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips.
“Today, Kabir is going to completely lose his mind looking at me,” she thought to herself.
Behind her, Kabir slowly lifted his head from his phone.
The moment he looked up, he stopped dead in his tracks.
He was completely stunned.
His eyes practically froze, locked onto a single spot across the room, utterly mesmerized.
T turned to her friends, her smile widening in pure arrogance.
“See?” she whispered smugly.
“I told you guys Kabir wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off me today.”
Kabir took a slow, deliberate step forward, closing the distance.
T’s heart raced.
She flashed a triumphant smile, tilting her head and striking a coy, glamorous pose, fully expecting the campus playboy to stop in his tracks and shower her with attention.
But Kabir didn’t even blink.
He walked right past her, brushing by without a single glance in her direction.
Kabir’s gaze was locked entirely on the quiet corner of the room.
There, sitting peacefully alone at the bar with her simple glass of juice, was Piya.
Completely oblivious to the heavy stares and the party drama, she looked effortlessly stunning in the off-white dress.
For the first time in his life, the smooth-talking Kabir was utterly captivated, drawn to her quiet elegance like a magnet.
Kabir walked over to the bar, resting his elbow on the counter with a smooth, effortless charm.
“Wow,” Kabir said, leaning in slightly.
“Look at the life of the party!”
Piya flashed a polite smile, tilting her head.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…
“you” are looking like the absolute life of the party tonight,” Kabir replied smoothly, his eyes warm and completely focused on her.
“Oh,” Piya murmured, looking down at her glass before glancing back up.
“But… weren’t you supposed to skip tonight? I thought you weren’t coming.”
“Yeah, well,” Kabir smirked, adjusting his jacket.
“I brought myself anyway. And honestly, it’s a good thing I did. Otherwise, Misha would’ve just dumped you here alone to run off with her friends, and you would be dying of boredom.”
Piya raised an eyebrow, a small, playful curve touching her lips.
“Oh, really?
And what are “you” planning to do about it?”
“Me? I’m going to give you company, of course. What else?” Kabir declared smoothly.
From across the room, T stood frozen in disbelief.
Her knuckles turned white around her glass, her jaw tight, while her entire gang watched the exchange in stunned silence.
The absolute disrespect of Kabir walking right past T to flirt with the new girl was about to cause an absolute explosion.