•| BONUS THREE |•
The day the invitation to the funfair came, Reyansh thought it was going to be organized chaos — but of course, it quickly became full-blown chaos with sprinkles.
Suhani was already sprinting toward the gates the moment they arrived, her feet barely touching the ground as if gravity was merely a suggestion for her.
“Faster, slowpokes! The Ferris wheel waits for no one!” she screamed, clinging onto Reyansh’s arm like a tiny tornado of energy.
Reyansh, whose idea of excitement usually involved clean notebooks and proper shoe alignment, found himself being dragged along with perfect, earnest panic written all over his face.
“Suhani! Wait! I haven’t even—” But Suhani was already gone, leaving a wake of sticky cotton candy wrappers and stunned adults in her giggling trail.
Kiaan, meanwhile, walked beside them with the casual air of someone who definitely did wake up this morning thinking today I conquer the funfair, only to be immediately ambushed by his baby sister’s hurricane of enthusiasm.
“Suhani, you better not—” Kiaan started, only to be cut off by her leaping onto his shoulders with giddy abandon.
“Carry me! You’re Dad’s favorite for today!
” she declared, absolutely thrilled with herself.
Kiaan groaned but didn’t even try to push her off — mostly because she might actually kick him in his shin if he did.
Reyansh watched this, cradling his books under one arm, and wondered aloud whether anyone else ended up in situations that looked anything like this on a casual Saturday. The answer, he suspected, was no.
They had barely entered when Suhani zeroed in on a ring-toss stand, where fluffy prizes in every color imaginable beckoned like soft, plush sirens.
“Reyansh! Come help me win a unicorn!” she begged, turning on her sweetest yet most manipulative smile.
Reyansh’s knees wobbled — he was a sucker for that smile, truly — so of course he agreed, lining up beanbags like a general meticulously planning his battle strategy.
Suhani stood beside him, offering commentary that ranged from “Aim for the big one!” to “Do you even math?” which Reyansh insisted was very offensive to geometry.
On the third throw — after two sobbing beanbags flopped pitifully at their feet — Reyansh scored a ring.
Cue Suhani’s victory dance, which mainly consisted of her hopping up and down while clutching the giant purple unicorn like it was the Holy Grail.
Reyansh smiled awkwardly, patting her shoulder: “You—uh—practically did all the math.” Suhani beamed like she’d just won the whole fair.
And that’s when Kiaan froze.
One glance toward the carousel — where the world was somehow more colorful and spun with dazzling music — and his eyes locked onto her.
The girl standing by the cotton candy booth wasn’t trying to be noticed.
She had chubby cheeks kissed with rosy blush, those warm honey-brown eyes that seemed to glow even in midday sun, and a shy tilt to her smile as she watched some younger kids chase bubbles nearby.
She looked like laughter and bright summer afternoons folded into one.
Kiaan felt his chest tighten in a way that was completely unfair and totally unexpected.
Suhani might have thought the bumper cars were the most thrilling thing on earth, but Kiaan’s heart was under sudden construction — somebody had just built a skyscraper there without a permit.
For a full minute — yes, a full dramatic minute — Kiaan stared as if the girl had personally hand-painted the sun into the sky.
Reyansh, unaware of the emotional earthquake occurring beside him, was still trying to wrestle the unicorn plush into Suhani’s arms without disturbing her victory dance.
Suhani — tuned into dramatic frequencies only children possess — suddenly pointed right at Kiaan’s face and yelled, “Brother! You look like a tomato!”
Reyansh nearly dropped unicorn plush, startled, while Kiaan snapped upright, cheeks flushing red in a way that absolutely matched Suhani’s description.
“I—I’m not—” he stammered, but his eyes kept drifting back to the girl, who was now looking in their direction with a curious tilt of her head.
Time slowed, the carnival music seemed to soften, and for the briefest heartbeat, everything faded except those honeyed eyes.
Suhani, however, was not done. She marched up to Kiaan, unicorn in hand, and declared loudly, “Brother is lovestruck! I think his heart just did a backflip!” The way she said it — all proud and wild — made Reyansh snort into his sleeve, and Kiaan could have died right then and there from sheer embarrassment.
But the girl — the sunlit girl with honey brown eyes — smiled. Not a mocking smile — but a gentle, curious one. Then, almost as if serendipity itself was operating the carousel that day, she walked over.
Reyansh instantly went stiff. Suhani hopped on Kiaan’s feet like a proud cheerleader. And Kiaan — Kiaan’s heart began racing.
“Hi,” she said softly, eyes looking between Suhani’s wild energy and Kiaan’s reddening face. “Is that your unicorn?” she asked, nodding at the giant plush.
Suhani puffed up. “Yes! Reyansh got it! I’m Suhani. And this is my overly shy friend and my tomato-brother.” She gestured dramatically at Kiaan like he was an exhibit at a museum.
Reyansh squeaked, unable to hide a grin. Kiaan — well, Kiaan simply could not believe his life right now.
And that, without a doubt, was the moment the funfair became one for the history books — not because of Ferris wheels or unicorn plushies, but because Kiaan saw someone who made his heart flip with just one look… and Suhani had, as usual, said it out loud before he even knew what was happening.
Kiaan still couldn’t believe it when her name reached his ears — like it was something soft and warm that belonged in sunsets and late-night thoughts.
“I’m Arishti,” she said, her voice like gentle rainfall in quiet spaces, and Kiaan’s heart gave a strange little hop that he swore he didn’t authorize.
Arishti wasn’t someone who tried to be noticed — she just was, with luminous honey-brown eyes that seemed to hold tiny galaxies.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, cheeks flushed ever so slightly as if the funfair lights had winked at her just moments ago, and said with a shy smile, “That unicorn’s amazing.
” Suhani, oblivious to Kiaan’s internal meltdown, leapt at the chance to seize another conversation.
“Oh, it’s legendary. Reyansh here is a professional beanbag strategist,” she declared proudly, dramatically thrusting her chin toward Reyansh as if he’d invented carnival games.
Reyansh, already flushed from earlier chaos, tried a polite smile but ended up looking like a startled deer caught in headlights.
Arishti giggled — that soft, melodic sound like wind chimes dancing with a breeze — and Kiaan found himself listening like every word she said was important, even if it was just about how she liked cotton candy only if it was pink and not blue.
Suhani’s enthusiasm rippled outward like a tiny happy earthquake.
“Arishti, you should try the bumper cars with us! They’re epic!
I can totally dodge Kiaan — watch!” And before anyone could stop her, she dragged Arishti toward the bumper cars with the force of a comet dragging an unsuspecting planet into its orbit.
Kiaan yelped his protest — part embarrassment, part desperate hope that Arishti wouldn’t think he was transported by chaos on the regular.
Arishti laughed again, eyes sparkling like starlight caught in a river, and said, “I love bumper cars!” as if she thought this was the most normal thing in the world.
Kiaan could have melted on the spot — because yes, she genuinely seemed excited.
There was something about the way she grinned that made the loud fair noises and spinning lights feel like they were meant just for this moment.
Once they were all buckled into the cars — Reyansh looking horrified, Suhani whooping like she was born on a racetrack, and Kiaan trying to think of something clever to say to Arishti — the game began.
Suhani barreled forward like she was auditioning for rocket propulsion, aiming directly at Kiaan with gleeful precision.
“Prepare for demolition, brOTHER!” she bellowed, and Kiaan tried to swerve, but his bumper car spun him around like a top caught in a tornado.
Arishti was laughing — that same bright, carefree laugh — and Kiaan suddenly forgot how to breathe properly.
He had never seen someone enjoy something so simple with such pure joy.
And for the briefest second, when his car bumped gently against Arishti’s and she looked at him with unabashed delight, he swore the entire funfair paused.
Even Reyansh’s horrified shriek as Suhani crashed spectacularly into the prize booth sounded like background noise compared to that one moment of connection.
When the game ended — Suhani victorious, Reyansh slightly traumatized, and Kiaan clutching the steering wheel like he’d defended a kingdom — Arishti wiped her palms on her jeans, breathless and glowing.
“That was so fun!” she exclaimed with eyes like twin suns.
Kiaan’s brain protested that he had done nothing admirable except accidentally bump into her car (twice), but Arishti seemed unbothered by technicalities and full of cheerful enthusiasm.
Suhani, ever the self-appointed director of chaos, pointed dramatically at Kiaan and declared, “Arishti, this one’s a natural bumper car slayer!
” Kiaan’s face turned an impressive shade of red — somewhere between sunrise and a ripe tomato — while Reyansh muttered under his breath about not being paid enough for this.
They moved on to the ring toss booth next — where Suhani insisted on another unicorn attempt — and Kiaan found himself walking beside Arishti again, his heart thudding in a rhythm that made him feel both exhilarated and wildly out of control.
She talked about how she loved the smell of popcorn at fairs, how her little brother thought he could beat gravity on the swings, and how she’d begged her parents to please please bring her here today.
Hearing her talk was like watching sunlight scatter across water — warm, bright, and impossible to ignore.
And every time Arishti laughed — whether at Suhani’s outrageous commentary or Reyansh’s awkward jokes about beanbags — Kiaan felt a curious thing settle in his chest. It wasn’t just liking — it felt deeper, sweeter, like something that had been quietly growing and then bloomed right when he wasn’t looking.
By the time the sun began to dip — painting the sky with colors that felt too beautiful for words — Kiaan realized he had accidentally spent nearly hours beside Arishti.
Hours where he was nervous and flustered, sure — but also happy in a way that felt unexpected and totally thrilling.
Suhani had won not one but three unicorn plushies (Reyansh definitely bought them all), Reyansh had discovered new levels of patience he didn’t know he possessed, and Kiaan…
well, Kiaan had fallen for someone with honey brown eyes and a laugh like fireworks on a peaceful night.
And as Arishti waved goodbye later — her cheeks sun-kissed and her smile warm in the fading light — Kiaan stood there with his heart in his throat, wondering if maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of something unforgettable.