The Unfolding Duet

PART ONE

“Kiara? I just took a fart on the heart.”

Chapter 1: Eiffel Needs to Cool Off

Ethan

It was all happening so fast that my only focus was the Skittles in the fishbowl, tempting me to steal the whole bowl away and cry while binge eating them.

“Well, he started pushing me and saying all the words. What was I supposed to do?”

“Not punch my dick.”

“You deserved it.”

“You are such a bitch.”

“Suck my cunt, you asshole.”

Knowing Liam, he would have accepted her crude remark and fantasized about it.

I closed my eyes. This was not happening on the first day of senior year. But it is. My two best friends—no, my best friend and my ex-best friend were fighting like teenagers who just learned to use cuss words.

“Ms. Sharma and Mr. James, please refrain from using swear words in my office,” our principal, Mrs. Inez Cooper, said, giving both of them a stern look.

They shut up, glaring at each other while I slouched in the seat, rubbing my forehead. This all started after our morning swim practice when I had showered and got a text message from my girlfriend—whoopsie, now ex-girlfriend—to meet her on the fourth floor of our high school.

To be called on the fourth floor’s abandoned chemistry lab was every guy’s wet dream.

It was well-known for getting a quickie, hooking up, smoking, and even smuggling drugs. And I was excited because my girlfriend of three months was finally asking me to meet her there. We started dating when she asked me out on my swim meet while she was wearing her cheerleading outfit. I remember replying ‘Yeah, sure’ because I had seen her play with my six-month-old sister. Needless to say, whoever is in good terms with Eveline, is in good terms with me.

My silent footsteps filled the creepy hallway, the only sound of bugs crawling through gaps of the old door. I was thankful for the light coming from the window, sunlight streaming down on the dusty floor and dry leaves.

I shivered. Whatever happens, I am not losing my virginity in a creepy chemistry lab and getting herpes by touching something in here.

Determined, I quickly made my way to the lab, furrowing my brows when I heard grunts and gasps from inside. Maybe some couple is already occupied with the lab. Curiosity getting the best of me, I creaked open the door without touching the doorknob.

I stepped inside the grayish lab. The floor was grim and dirty, covered with dead insects, littering rats and cockroaches. Not to mention too many weird spots of white liquid that I was sure I could get AIDS from. The ceiling was worse. Covered in huge spiders and webs. I held back a shudder and the urge to gag at the smell of a dying corpse. I coughed loudly, waving my hand in front of me as every piece of furniture was covered with dust and whatnot other liquids.

But that wasn’t the most shocking part.

The most traumatizing part was that my girlfriend, Ariana, was sucking faces with my best friend, Liam, who was too busy groping her breasts to notice me.

“What the hell?” I muttered to myself, looking at their disheveled clothes and hair. Not to mention, Liam’s shirt was half-buttoned, his pants—oh, shit! He has a fucking boner.

Ariana’s blue eyes met my mismatched green and blue, her eyes widening with shock, and pushed Liam away as if she wasn’t leaning on him against the old desk. I remembered why I loved her eyes so much. They reminded me of water, and I wished to drown in them. But now? I wanted someone to pull me out and give me CPR.

She patted down her black hair and glared at Liam. “I specifically told you to meet me later. Look what you’ve done!”

Liam rolled his gray eyes at her and buttoned his shirt, nodding at me, “Hey, man!”

Hey, man?!

“What the . . .” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

My lungs squeezed in and I couldn’t remember how respiration worked. Ironic how I could hold my breath for two minutes underwater. But looking at them, I didn’t want to breathe in their direction. Ever again.

Ariana straightened her clothes when my eyes kept fleeting between them, trying to understand why she cheated on me and why my best friend never talked to me about this. I was sure I had done everything a good boyfriend did. I even took her to the carnival last week even though I hated crowded places just to make her happy. Not to mention, Liam was at my house yesterday where we played video games all day and even talked about school and university. Why didn’t he tell me? Am I that bad of a friend or a boyfriend?

I snapped out of my thoughts when she walked toward me, her curves striking against her blue and white cheerleading outfit. I could still remember the day she approached me wearing the same clothes while I had just finished my round of breaststroke for the match, landing the first place. I blinked out of that vision because she was about to break up with me. Or I was.

Ariana kept her index finger on my chest and looked up at me, “Look, Ethan. How should I tell you this?”

I glared at her, hating the way her pale skin flushed under my gaze. “Starting with your mouth would be better. Though I wonder where it has been.” I gave Liam a pointed look.

He shrugged in response, trying to adjust his boner. Oh, God, he lied to me about his size.

“Ethan, baby, I’m sorry,” she said, her hand trailing down my shirt.

“Are you, though?” I asked, clenching my jaw.

I was angry for three main reasons: a) A huge tarantula was crawling behind Ariana on the right corner of the wall, b) Liam lied to me about his penis size, c) My girlfriend was cheating on me with my best friend.

Ariana noted my angry look and stepped back. “I am sorry, Ethan! Can we please get over this?”

I laughed. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? I can’t believe I liked you. Did you even have feelings for me, Ariana? Or was I just another guy for you to hook up with?”

She didn’t reply, avoiding my gaze, and I knew her answer.

My eyes averted to my best friend and he had no emotion on his face. Eleven years of friendship for nothing.

“How long have you been cheating on me?”

“This is . . . I . . . please—”

“I asked you how long, Ariana.”

She squeaked, “Two weeks.”

That meant the carnival date didn’t mean anything to her. I noticed that the lace of my shoe was undone and I bent down, tying it as they both took a sharp breath when I stood up and said, “It’s over.”

I walked out of the creepy lab with my heart broken and my virginity intact. But by the two high-pitched shrieks, I knew the tarantula had lowered down on the floor.

The news of our breakup was out in the next few minutes. Everyone gave me pitiful glances, especially girls. All I wanted to do was go back home, hug my moms and tell them what had happened, maybe tell my baby sister not to date until she was thirty.

I was walking to my third lecture when the scent of coconut and black vanilla filled my nose, my nerves relaxing under her arms. I smiled and pulled her closer, hiding my face in her hair. My throat clogged and my eyes started burning. I had the sudden urge to cry on her shoulder when her hand gently patted my back.

“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” Kiara said, her warm breath tickling my ears. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Yes, yes, yes, I do. Can we please bunk right now?

I shook my head and cleared my throat to get rid of the itch to cry and looked at my best friend. “You have piano classes and I can’t miss the workout or the swim practice. I can handle this,” I said with what I thought was a reassuring smile, but she didn’t believe me.

Of course she doesn’t. We had spent eighteen years of our lives together. She knew me better than myself.

Her small hand wrapped around mine, giving me a small squeeze. Her brown doe eyes were wide when she blinked up at me. “If you need to leave, just tell me and I will take care of”—her eyes flitted over my shoulder, her expression changing from I-am-the-definition-of-kindness to I-am-the-definition-of-serial-killer in a second—“Bhenchod!”

I raised my eyebrow at the Indian swear word. She only used it when she was angry. And right now, she was fuming. I looked over my shoulder and found Liam opening his locker. Oh, shit.

“I’ll be right back. Hold my bag.”

Before I could stop her, she gave me her backpack and marched toward Liam with determined steps. Passersby stopped to look at the five-foot-four furious girl as if they knew hell was about to break loose. They were right.

Kiara turned Liam’s shoulder and started talking to him. Angrily. I couldn’t make out the words, but I knew they were both equally furious. Liam pushed Kiara on the lockers and whispered something harshly. He was about to leave when she said something snarky that made him stop and glare at her. I was about to go and stop them when he slammed his hand beside her head on the locker.

The crowd was gathering around them and tension was boiling to see who would win the round; the golden girl of Summer High or six feet Liam James who had won the most swim competitions. Everyone knew the answer by the time she punched him in the balls when he said something that made her snap.

Liam crouched in pain, protecting his family jewels, and I rushed to them, Kiara’s blazing brown eyes flashing toward me. Her anger died down a little. I took her away from there, holding her back before they both started clawing at each other’s faces.

“No, let me go, E,” she growled, “I am not done with him.”

“Calm down, Jhansi Ki Rani,” I whispered in her ear, my arms cinching around her small waist.

Her face relaxed and she let out an adorable snort.

Kiara Sharma, my best friend since I could learn to walk, is Indian. I had the honor to befriend her when her family moved next to our apartment and her parents took every opportunity to tell us stories about great Indian warriors. Especially Jhansi Ki Rani as she was our favorite.

Before I could talk to her, there was an announcement that Kiara and Liam had to meet in the principal’s office for causing a commotion in the hallway.

And now here we were. Me ogling the Skittles while they both bantered in front of our principal.

“This is the first day of Senior High and two of my most honorable students are fighting each other like cats in heat,” she commented, removing her glasses and massaging her temples.

I shifted in my seat and glared at Liam’s blond hair. If he had told me about Ariana from the beginning, this would have never happened.

“I am sorry, Mrs. Inez, but I wouldn’t have punched him in his di—er, baby maker if he hadn’t pushed me and said—”

Liam interrupted, “But she started it! I was merrily enjoying my existence and then the next thing I know is—”

Our history teacher barged in. “Some freshmen are rioting outside to bring back the candy machine in the toilet.”

I hid my smile and looked back at the principal.

She gave both of them a sharp look. “If I hear any complaints from anyone about you two and bruised penises, you both will have detention for the whole year. Got it?”

I couldn’t help my grin when they both nodded and said in unison, “Yes, ma’am.”

Her eyes landed on me. “You can have the Skittles, Ethan.”

With that, she left the office, leaving all three of us alone. After two seconds of silence, we all jumped from our seats to grab the Skittles and almost started another fight emptying the whole bowl in our pockets.

If it weren’t for my broken friendship with Liam, it would’ve been just like old times.

I dragged Kiara away before they could start fighting each other and opened my locker for my AP Chemistry notes. She leaned on the lockers, staring at me with her wide brown eyes, and I tried to pretend that her sharp gaze didn’t affect me. But who was I lying to? Of course it did. It’s Kiara Sharma we are talking about.

“What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

She kept her hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes at me. Although standing at five-foot-four and barely reaching my shoulder, she had a strong aura that demanded attention.

“I’m worried about you, Ethan. You haven’t talked about the breakup or Ari—”

I shut the locker and the smell of chlorine died down. My locker always smelled like chlorine. “Please don’t say her name. And I am fine.”

I was far from fine. And she knew it.

Her palm landed on my balled fist as we walked to our class together and I felt my nerves relax under her small touch. “You don’t need to lie, Ethan. Text me if you need to hide someone’s body.” She leaned up on her toes and I held my breath when her lips landed on my cheek, grazing my stubble, and pulled away before I could react.

“Yeah, I will,” I said, staring at her lithe figure when she turned around with a small grin and disappeared into the crowd.

I touched my tingling cheek, still feeling the light pressure of her soft lips. With my cheeks warm, I rushed to my next class.

***

Slamming the food tray down on the table, I looked at everyone and asked, “Did anyone know?”

“Of course—”

“I didn’t even know you two were dating, lol.”

“Nope, I was busy binge-watching Tokyo Ghoul. Again.”

“Meh.”

“No, how would I know?”

“I am new.”

My gaze dropped to the new kid who was wearing a cream sweater and glasses. I narrowed my eyes at him, and Kiara shot me a glare that clearly meant ‘behave’ when the guy’s cheeks reddened under my gaze.

I looked down at my tray and started eating the sandwich I had made at five in the morning. Kiara shared her Gujarati snack called bhakarwadi with us. It looked like a tiny cinnamon roll and, if you ate a bunch of them together like popcorn, it would taste really spicy, and your taste buds would moan in pleasure.

Volt was busy eyeing Becky Whitestone, one of the cheerleaders sitting on the other corner of the canteen. He always had a crush on her ever since they talked one time in the eighth grade about Naruto. He thought she was his first and last love and would marry her one day. Rio, on the other hand, was busy reading a book, eating fries from the tray and nodding along whenever Volt said something about the new anime he was watching.

Katherine was FaceTiming her college boyfriend, Ryan, and sketching in her sketchbook, which she kept to herself all the time. Kiara once told me she even slept with it, so it was like her child and one should never take it away from her or she would raise hell on Earth.

Meanwhile, Kiara was talking to the new guy, whose name was Neels, and his cheeks were already flushed when she talked to him animatedly. She had that effect on guys. Like right now, even though her hair was messily pulled into a ponytail, Dan from my swim team kept glancing at her from the table beside us. Aman from the school book club couldn’t stop his dreamy look while looking at her. Andrew, a sophomore, had a whipped look on his face when his group of friends kept pointing at her, gushing about her. She had a kind, gentle aura about her that made the boys of Summer High wish to be around her all the time.

“Hey, Ethan!” Kiara snapped her fingers in front of my face and I blinked at her. “I was asking if you want a cookie or not?”

“Sure, I want a cookie.”

She stood up, Neels following her like a lost puppy, and as she made her way to the snack bar, most of the girls and guys turned to watch her. Even the grumpy old man at the snack bar who never smiled, smiled at her when she bought our cookies.

“Where’s Kiara?”

I internally groaned hearing Alice’s chirpy voice, her eyes darting around the table until she saw her and Neels walking back to the table. Alice took her seat and I glared at Volt until he shifted and made space for Kiara to sit beside me.

“Who is the guy with her?” she hissed.

“Please shut up,” I muttered under my breath and she narrowed her eyes at me, straightening herself when Kiara sat beside me, our knees brushing under the table.

Her almond-shaped brown eyes pinned on the newcomer and smiled, a dimple poking her left cheek. “Hey, Alice. How was Disneyland?”

I gladly took the cookie from Kiara and blurred out the talk between Alice and Kiara when I saw Liam and Ariana laughing. They were already behaving like a couple, kissing and whispering into each other’s ears.

A soft hand wrapped around mine and I looked down under the table where Kiara squeezed my hand, dropping her cookie in my tray. Smiling, I squeezed back and broke the cookie, giving her the other half.

Alice looked away at the exchange between us and said, “So, did you get any flowers?” She grinned.

Vivian was one of those guys who was obsessed with the idea of loving Kiara and dating her. He’d had his eyes set on her for almost three years now and wouldn’t take no for an answer. We had lost count of the amount of times she had politely declined his every proposal. I almost punched him when he wouldn’t stop talking with her when she kept ignoring him. He did stop that shit afterward because Kiara said he almost peed his pants when I held him by his collar, ready to land my fist on his face.

“What flowers?” Kiara asked, frowning at me.

I shrugged.

“Yes, he told me if you got the bouquet of flowers and a very special letter from him—”

“They’re in the car,” I said, hopefully ending the conversation.

“But he gave her the letter, too. How could you just take it and keep it in your car?” She scowled at me. Alice was a close friend of Vivian and supported his every antic when it came to Kiara. I hated the fact she only befriended her so she could play Cupid between her and Vivian.

“Tell him something, Kiara!”

She turned to me and I bit back my grin at the teasing glint in her chocolate brown eyes, “Hey, Ethan.”

She was teasing Alice. Ha!

“Hey, Kiara.”

“How are you?” She grinned.

God, those dimples.

“I am cool. What about you?”

“Oh, me? I’m cool too. Want to go somewhere and get cooled off together?”

Fuck, yes!

I shifted in my seat. Nonono, calm down, Eiffel. Bad boy.

Yeah, I knew she was my best friend, but you couldn’t blame a guy for having a crush on her. Especially when she looked at me while I swam. It was hard to ignore that look and I always wondered what went on in her mind.

“Okay, let’s go.” I stood up, taking my backpack.

Her eyes met my mismatched ones and I watched as her pupils dilated. She licked her lips and I would have sold my soul to know what she was thinking when she ignored Alice’s protest and whispered something in Katherine’s ear.

“Are you okay?” she asked once we were out in the hallway.

“No, but I will be,” I said. “I should’ve known something was going on between them when Liam went to drop her home after swim practice.”

Kiara nodded absentmindedly, biting her bottom lip when she thought about something. She was close to Liam as we all grew up together, but she was acting weird around him and Ariana ever since I started dating her. Maybe I should have followed her gut instinct and would’ve avoided all of this in the first place.

She asked, “Hug?”

“Sure.”

Who in their right mind would pass the chance of hugging Kiara Sharma? No one, that’s who.

Her arms wrapped around my torso and my body stiffened under her touch. I relaxed my muscles, kissing her hair when she rested her head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat. I pulled her closer, wrapping my arms around her and loving the warmth of her petite body pressing against me. Her scent wafted in my nose; coconut and black vanilla.

Which reminds me.

I pulled away and said, “Your coconut body wash is almost empty. You said so this morning. We have to buy it.”

She kissed my jaw. “Yes, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for reminding me.”

We are more than friends. Fuck, how I hoped it to be true and I would never have my heart broken by Ariana or Liam.

Definitely a great start for the senior year.