"Mama! Tell me a story please!"
"Not right now sweetheart, it's already too late, you have school tomorrow, don't you?"
"Mama-"
"Siddhant! Abhi nahin, it's time for bed. Come on now, close your eyes!"
"Mama, please! Or else I won't sleep? and I'll be extra bad!" Siddhant wailed.
"Fine, but after this, you promise you'll go to bed?"
He nodded, and cuddled next to her.
"Once upon a time, there lived a king and queen-"
"Mama!" Siddhant interrupted "Not that one! A different story!"
Tamana knew exactly which story to tell. This story was her favourite. Not a fairytale, but more of a reality. A reality she was blessed to witness.
"5 years ago?"
Referee: And once again, Excel College takes home the Basketball championship trophy!
Everyone in the audience went wild! It wasn't a surprise that Excel would walk away with gold, after all? they had the most wanted player on their side. With him, losing would never be a possibility.
Benji: Samrat! (Hugs him) Yaar, you played AMAZINGLY today!
Purab: Yeah dude give us some tips!
Samrat: Would love to, but I have better things to do with my time.
He passed the basketball to Purab, and disappeared into the crowd of people waiting to congratulate him.
Purab: Too much overconfidence is gonna get him good one day.
Benji: But he's Samrat, he'll find a way out of it.
Samrat:
I walk into the crowd of people, there's only one name on their lips, and it's mine.
"Samrat! Samrat!"
I smile warmly to myself. A guy could never not get used to this. I look around, scanning the crowd searching to find some familiar faces. Everybody claims to know me, I don't have the heart to tell them otherwise, so instead, I play along. Some guy claims to have been my best friend since fifth grade. Honestly speaking, I don't think I've ever had a 'best friend,' but again, I play along. Let him share his 10 seconds of fame.
"Sammy!"
"Oh great." I think to myself, as I turn around and forge smile.
"Hey Candy."
"Sammy! You were absolutely brilliant today!"
I shrugged. "Yeah, thanks Candy."
"Why're you being so formal Sammy? No sorries and thank you's in?"
She blushed. Oh god, did she actually think we were a couple?
"In friendship." I replied, finishing off her sentence. The last thing I would want is for Dia to go around telling everyone that we were an item. I mean, we were friends since childhood, but there's a fine line between love and friendship. It's not like I didn't give 'us' a chance. I did. But things just didn't work out, and apparently, that reality hadn't hit her yet.
It was half past eight, I should get going, or my parents would have a hiss fit, not that they really care. It's just a show, to prove that they could be responsible parents. I laughed to myself. Like that was possible.
I walked to the parking lot. It was abandoned, as usual. Everyone was probably still inside, bloating about Excel's victory.
I got out my car keys, and just when I was about to get in, I heard someone behind me.
To my surprise, it was Gunjan. The 'goody good' of Excel, a very typical introvert. I wonder what she was doing here at this time.
Gunjan:
I waited outside the parking lot for di to arrive. She told me that she'd be out at exactly 8 pm, but it was almost half past, and she was still nowhere in sight.
I waited impatiently, tapping my feet. Was I the only one here? I looked around, and noticed Samrat staring at me like he'd just seen the world's eighth wonder. Boy, was this ever uncomfortable. I hated when people stared at me. Infact, I hated getting attention on the whole. I tried forcing a smile, and in return he just rolled his eyes and got into his car.
Samrat, the college stud. As far as I knew him, the only two things that held any importance in his life were:
1) Winning
2) Partying
Some people never change, and he was definitely one of those people.
"Gunjan!"
I heard di calling out to me. She came running towards me. I knew what to expect: a long apology, an even longer explanation, and an hours worth of bad naming Mayank, di's 'most fortunate' boyfriend to be.
Now, when I say 'boyfriend to be' I mean that di and Mayank haven't officially declared their relationship, well, I don't think that they even know they're in a relationship. But I can definitely see Mayank becoming part of the family, seeing that he spends most of his waking days with di, and vice versa.
Sometimes, I feel jealous of Mayank. Di's my best friend, but ever since Mayank entered the picture, she hardly has any time for me, not that I'm complaining. I'm happy for di, I'm glad she found someone like Mayank. He's one in a million!
Nupur: Gunjan! Kya hua? C'mon let's get home before papa has a freak attack!
"Di, shouldn't we wait for Dia and Uday Bhaiya? They're still inside." I replied.
Di rolled her eyes. She didn't like Dia, at all. "If all the villains died in the world, and Dia was the only one standing, the world would be a horrible?. Terrible place to live in!" Quoted directly from Di.
In my personal opinion, I didn't think Dia was evil; she just had a lot of hate in her. So much, that I wouldn't be surprise if her heart turned out to be as black as coal.
"UGH DODO!"
Nupur: Speak of the devil.
From where I was standing, it seemed like Uday Bhaiya was being abused with Dia's purse.
Uday: OUCH! I won't do it again, promise!
Dia and Uday Bhaiya came walking towards us.
Uday: You two are still here? Any problem? Because, have no fear? your Uday Bhaiya is here!
I watched Dia glare at him, which immediately shut Uday Bhaiya up.
Nupur: Woh, actually, we can't seem to find a taxi.
Uday: Arre, no problem! Why don't you two come with us! I mean, it makes sense don't you think? We live in the same house!
Uday Bhaiya laughed at his own joke. That's one of the things I loved about him. Unlike Dia, he was very caring- a bit of an airhead, but definitely my favourite cousin.
Dia: And HOW are WE going home?
We all searched the parking lot.
Dia: SAMMY! He's still here! Let's go!
To my surprise, Samrat was still at the parking lot. I wonder why he was still here.
Nupur: Chal Gunjan!
She yanked on my arm. "I'm coming di!"
Everyone got into Samrat's car. Dia, as usual, sat up front, next to Samrat. Uday Bhaiya, di, and I sat at the back.
I felt very uncomfortable, not only because I was extremely claustrophobic, but also because I felt Samrat's gaze fall upon me yet again.
He was watching me from the rearview mirror. Okay, so maybe not at me directly, but still.
Samrat:
I watched her from my rearview window. She looked flushed; I was worried she'd throw up on my leather seats.
"Stupid Dia." I muttered under my breath. She just had to bring her little posse with her. Note to self: Never promise to drive Dia home ever again!
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