Page 39 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
He swallowed the rising lump in his throat.
“And don’t do that again,” Nori’s voice turned cold, lips pressing into a thin line, not matching her insides.
“Do what?”
“Go wandering off in the rain like that. Youknowhow one bad bout of pneumonia might ruin everything.”
“Oh?” It was his turn to go icy. He tilted his head to the side and stared pointedly at her.
Nori matched his stare for a moment before her gaze unexpectedly softened. “Fine. It was partially my fault. Okay, mostly my fault. I’m sorry. But don’t ever follow me if I do something dumb like that again. I’m not saying I will, but… Promise me you won’t.”
He stared quietly at her for a moment.
“I can’t promise you that,” he finally replied.
Nori’s brow furrowed, and as she kept looking at him, her emotions took a melancholy turn again.
Vir sprung to his feet, whisking their empty bowls away to the dishwasher. He wished he could turn it off—the horrible heightened sensitivity, empathy, curse… So, he didn’t have to feel the rejection so solid and clear, like a ringing slap to his face, over and over again. She’d said she didn’t hate him, but her insides told him otherwise.
And even though she didn’t seem furious anymore, knowing that the mere hint of him having any feelings for her was making her so incredibly sad… He didn’t know how to feel about that. Better or worse.
He felt worse.
Ten
The Snot-Nosed Boy
January 2019:
Shoja, Himachal Pradesh
Vir
Nori slowly relaxed around Vir asdays wove into weeks, and weeks gave way to the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. Their daily walks continued, full of conversation once again. The two strolled the hills together every late afternoon without a set route in mind, often exploring new pathways and alleys in the process.
“I used to live here with my grandparents a long time ago,” Nori told him when they stopped for tea at a roadside stall one day. “Mom and dad traveled a lot for work when I was young, and they left me here. Easily the best couple of years of my life.”
Vir passed her a steaming paper cup of dark spiced tea before taking his coffee from the old man behind the counter. As they walked to a nearby bench, he sensed a subtle, wistful shift in her emotions.
“You know what?” she said, a lopsided smile playing on her lips. “I met my first love here, too.” And just like that, the shift wasn’t as subtle anymore.
Her insides bubbled with joy. All because of her memories of a silly teenage crush.
Thatmade her happy. But anytimeheshowed her the slightest bit ofplatonicaffection, she’d recoil from him as if he’d offended herandthree generations of her ancestors.
First love, my ass.
“I was the quiet new kid at school,” Nori continued, oblivious to Vir’s thoughts or the mental eye rolls his brain kept performing, feeling each fresh wave of her nostalgic joy. “Soon after, this other new kid arrived. He was even quieter and sat at the very back of the classroom. He wouldn’t talk to anyone and ate by himself at recess. The homeroom teacher asked me to help him catch up with the classwork—I was a smart kid. In case you didn’t know.”
“Of course you were.” Vir chuckled. He didn’t want to know about her dumb first love. But he did want to keep listening to her talk.
“So, next recess, the boy came to me with his stack of notebooks. He was so tiny… like a little rat, barely reaching my shoulders. And when I fully turned to look at his face, I…” Nori giggled, her shoulders bouncing in tandem with her laugh. “I completely lost it.”
She wasgiggling.
Vir had never heard her giggle before. It was the second most beautiful sound he’d ever heard, intoxicating almost, a close competitor to her contagious brand of laughter. And it made him the most jealous he’d ever been in the history of his own existence, his insides churning raw. She wasgigglingfor the boy.
God dammit.
