"Arghhh... Just let me sleep." I groaned, pulling the blanket to my forehead.

"Sleep? You haven't left your bed for the last two days." Sophia's voice pierced my ears and I put my hands against them to save the eardrum from tearing apart.

"Come on. You need to get over that idiot and enjoy yourself." she said.

I could totally imagine Emily standing against my cupboard, listening to our conversation with a confused face.

"I'm enjoying myself." I paused. "By sleeping."

After a while, one of them pulled the blanket away from me. The cold air hit my body and I wrapped my arms around myself. "Don't feed me this crap. I have had enough of you." Sophia said.

"She's right Ali." It was Emily's turn to speak. "You just got your acceptance letter from Columbia. It was your dream to get into an Ivy. And here you are, hiding yourself in your bed instead of celebrating."

He was going to Columbia too. If things between us were any better, I would be jumping on my bed with happiness.

"Just give me my damn blanket back." I shouted at the top of my voice and rotated my body so that I was lying on my stomach now, my face hidden from both of them.

"Fine. You have left me with no choice." Sophia used her threatening tone. "Emily! Call Noah and ask him to get this woman out of her bed."

I thought she was kidding so after they left, I wrapped myself in the blanket once again but half an hour had passed when the door of my room opened and Noah barged inside.

"Come on, Pretty Face. Get your ass out of this bed!" he ordered, standing beside me.

"First, did you really call me Pretty Face? Cringe Alert!" I said. "Second, I am not leaving this bed." I stated clearly, turning my head to the opposite side.

"Are you sure?" he said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yep." I said.

The next thing I knew, he had kneeled beside me and scooped me up in his arms by placing one hand behind my neck and the other beneath me legs.

"Noah." I screamed. "Leave me you jerk." I shouted but that didn't stop him from walking forwards. He turned towards the washroom, ignoring my efforts of punching his hard chest.

"Forgive me for being so blunt but sweetie, you stink." he taunted, turning me into an embarrassed mess.

"When did you take a shower last time?" he asked, putting me down when he reached the bathroom.

"I don't remember." I replied and he made a gagging face.

"You are going to take a long, warm bath and then you are going to wear some nice fresh clothes." he ordered.

"Sure, Dad." I rolled my eyes.

A mischievous smile played on his lips. "Not Dad sweetie. It's Daddy." he said and then let out a strange noise. "Oh Daddy!"

This time, it was my turn to gag. "Ewww. I'm never going to call my father Daddy again." I contorted my face and then pushed him out of the bathroom.

After he left, I shut the door behind him and hopped into the shower. He was right, I smelled bad. Watching myself in the mirror, my eyes raked over my tangled hair, puffy eyes, dried lips and sunken cheeks.

Oh Adam! What have you done to me?

I poured lots and lots of bodywash on myself, washed my hair with shampoo and conditioner and then after wrapping my body in the towel, drowned myself in my favorite body spray.

After peeking inside my room, I exited the bathroom and chose a green jump suit to wear. After wearing it, I once again slumped on my bed and wrapped the blanket around me.

"Do you seriously think I made you change into these nice clothes so that you can collapse on your bed once again?" he appeared out of nowhere and gripping my hands, pulled me out of the bed.

"You are a dick." I groaned and pulled the hairdryer from my drawer. An amused smile played on his lips as he watched me dry the mess. After I was done drying my hair, I pulled them back in a high pony and once again tried to sit down. Tried!

"Is it really necessary?" I asked as he passed me a nude lipstick from my dressing table.

"Yep." he replied and I rolled my eyes once again.

"Now what?" I asked once I looked presentable.

"We are going to do something a girl can never refuse." he added.

"I'm gonna need more." I asked, clearing not understanding what he was saying.

"We are going to mall where we'll buy some crazy expensive clothes for you because you just got accepted into Columbia." he told me and I scrunched my nose.

"I have another idea. We can roll into the bed and watch movies." I said, making an innocent face.

"Yeah right. As much as I'd love to mourn with you over my liar father and my newly discovered siblings, we are going to mall." he said and there was a hint of sadness in his voice which he hid well.

"Ughhh." I let out a small groan. "Fine!"

...

"Which one?" I asked, showing him a bodycon black dress and a white halter neck one.

He assessed both dresses from top to bottom and then finally sighed, "Neither. These are not slutty enough for me."

I shook my head at him and picked up both. Leaving him on the sofa at one corner of the outlet, I made my way towards the dressing room. One by one, I changed into both dress. Although black looked great, I didn't have any white item in my closet so I chose the white one.

After paying for the dress, we left the mall and reached his car, settling inside. I expected him to drive towards my house but he took an opposite turn and stopped right in front of a South Asian restaurant.

"Prepare your stomach for a dangerous ride." he said as we stepped inside.

"It wasn't necessary." I said and looked around. A delicious aroma of assorted spice reached my nose and I inhaled deeply. I have never had South Asian food before so I was pretty excited to try it out.

"On the contrary, it was." he said and chose a comfortable place for us to sit.

He told me that he had eaten there before so I left it on him to choose my food. After the waiter wrote down all the difficult terms on his notepad, he left but not before serving a complementary drink to us. It was a yogurt-based sweet drink, which was known as Lassi. I sighed in pleasure as the first sip reached my taste buds.

"It's nice." I commented, taking another sip.

"I know." he said, drinking it in his signature animalistic manner and then let out a burp.

While he was busy giving another look to the menu, I took the time to study him. Here he was, trying to cheer me up when his own personal life was going downhill. Unlike a certain someone who blamed it all on me and then left without giving us another chance.

"I know I'm hot but staring is rude." Noah broke my chain of thoughts but this time, instead of rolling my eyes, I passed him a smile.

The waiter served us food afterwards. There were five dishes. The first one that I served on my plate was what looked like rice cooked in chicken gravy. When I took my first bite, my taste buds exploded and I bit back a moan threatening to leave my throat.

The next in line was mashed vegetable curry with small rectangular buns. I just tasted few bites because it was too spicy for my taste but nevertheless, just as yummy.

The rest of the items were equally delicious. Kebabs, Momos which were like dumplings and a triangular fried item with savory potato filling.

By the time we finished all of these, my stomach was aching because of how much I had eaten. On the contrary, Noah looked like he could eat few more items. I had to literally drag him out of the restaurant because he was going to order another batch of food.

"Don't tell me you still have space in your tummy!" I said as he eyed an ice cream shop hungrily.

"Just one cup. We can share." he said and at last, succeeded in dragging me with him. Though I just sat there in my seat, while he devoured the pistachio ice cream, his actions brought a smile to my face.

...

By the time we reached my house, both of us were tired so I offered him to sleep over which he agreed happily.

Although when I showed him the guest room, all the excitement left his face and he pouted, "I thought you were inviting me to your room."

"You wish." I said and for the millionth time that night, rolled my eyes at him.

After he made himself comfortable inside the guest room, I made my way towards my room. Entering inside, I changed into my pajamas and like every other night, watched the closed window of his room for few minutes as if it would magically burst open.

_____________________________