by Vaanya Singh
It was as if I was being stabbed each time she stated the truth. It was all true. I was a loser back then.
‘That was only the beginning of my misery. You picked on me every day—tripped me in the hallway, took my lunch money, stating I didn’t need it since I was already too fat, gave me your homework and the list goes on and on. You even got the entire school against me,’ taking a deep breath, she continued. ‘Slowly and slowly I started to feel insecure. I hated to look at myself in the mirror. I felt like a fat, shallow, good-for-nothing kind of a person. So I stopped eating. From three meals a day, I went to one and eventually zero. I would cringe at the sight of food; soon I became anorexic.’
I didn’t know what to say; I was speechless.
‘But that wasn’t even the worst of all. I remember I was sitting on the swing in the park alone when you came and asked me to the annual dance. I was ecstatic. I thought you wanted to repair the friendship you had broken so long ago. But boy, was I wrong! I dressed up in my best clothes and tried to look pretty for you. You came and picked me up from my place, telling me how beautiful I looked. At the dance you made me smile and laugh. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I belonged. People treated me differently because I was with you. It was as if I was royalty. We went to the park and talked like old times. It was all perfect. It was the happiest day of my life. Until the clock struck twelve. Just like Cinderella, you turned into the beast that you were. Everything was going perfectly and you leaned in to kiss me. It was my first kiss ever. It was like fireworks erupting in the sky, but all of a sudden you pushed me away wiping your mouth as if it had touched dirt. I looked at you, confused, until the ice-cold water was poured on me. Your friends laughed when I shrieked as the cold water hit me and you looked at me in disgust.’
I sucked in a sharp breath.
‘You said that it was all a dare and you could never like a loser like me. You called me pathetic just like my mother, and that was the breaking point for me. I ran home in that chilly weather as I heard your laughter echo in the distance. It was all too much and I couldn’t take it anymore.’
‘What did you do?’ I asked, scared of the answer. She gave me a sad smile.
‘I jumped from my bedroom window as the night thundered. My room was on the fourth floor then, so the impact should have killed me instantly...’
But I couldn’t take it anymore. I yelled ‘No’, cutting her off. ‘Please don’t continue,’ I begged, but she kept talking anyway. ‘But I did not die. My father found me just in time and rushed me to the hospital. I woke up after a week. My dad was worried sick. I told him that I didn’t want to live here anymore. He didn’t ask me any questions and we moved. But that night had scared me so much that I even got astrophobia. I couldn’t sleep for nights as the dreams kept playing. If it wasn’t for Alex, I would have never recovered,’ she said.
I looked at her with wide eyes. I had shattered her, it was true. She tried to commit suicide because of me. This was all too much.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ I finally said.
‘You don’t have to say anything. I know you’ve changed over the years. You’re not the same person anymore,’ Faith said.
We stayed silent for some time before I finally spoke up.
‘I know I don’t deserve this but I’m asking you ... no, actually begging you for a second chance,’ I went down on my knees as tears threatened to roll down my face.
She stayed silent for a very long time before the words I had been waiting to hear left her mouth.
‘Okay,’ she whispered. I instantly hugged her.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise you won’t regret this!’ I assured her.
She laughed a carefree laugh which made me smile wider. ‘Friends?’ I asked, sticking out my pinky finger just like the first time we had met.
‘Friends,’ she said, entwining them together.
CHAPTER 20
Sometimes you need to feel
a little cold before you touch
the sun.
FAITH
‘I can’t believe he’s coming back home!’ Anusuya, Vaibhav’s mum, yelled while jumping around the house.
Right now I was at Vaibhav’s house. Alex had left for Pune the previous night along with Cory.
He had given her a surprise, saying that he wouldn’t last a month without her. Asking for her parents’ permission, which they graciously granted, he whisked her along. Cory was on top of the world!
Malhaar was returning today after he had finished a work-project in New York and he was bringing someone along. It was a surprise, too.
‘Sometimes she acts as if she’s a child herself,’ Vaibhav whispered to me, commenting on his mum.
‘Mum, calm down. You’re never this excited when I’m coming home,’ Aditya whined.
‘Oh, my baby’s coming back home after such a long time,’ she expressed. Beth, dad and Vaibhav’s father, Kabir, entered the living room to join us.
Anusuya was still jumping around. Vaibhav was sitting on my left and Aditya on my right.
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Anusuya squealed and ran to the door. I could hear Malhaar. He picked up Anusuya and spun her around.
‘Hey, mum,’ he said once he put her down.
I remembered Malhaar so well. He had come to my mum’s funeral. He had obviously grown since then and there was a striking resemblance between him and his dad.
‘Malhaar! I missed you so much,’ Aditya yelled, jumping up on him.
‘I missed you, too! We have to talk about a certain girl named Julie, whom you really like,’ Malhaar said in a teasing manner.
‘Daaddd ... why did you tell him?’ Aditya whined again and Kabir simply laughed.
‘Hey, Malhaar,’ Vaibhav said as he was about to hug him but Malhaar got him in a headlock.
‘Vaibhav! Little brother, how’s your life?’ Malhaar asked, giving him a friendly punch.
‘Malhaar, let me go; I can’t breathe,’ Vaibhav said in between stops.
Malhaar simply laughed but stopped abruptly when someone called out his name.
‘Malhaar darling, where are you?’ a very high-pitched voice called out.
‘In here,’ Malhaar yelled back.
Before the girl came in, Malhaar’s eyes fell on me. He looked confused but soon recognised me.
‘Faith! Is that really you?’ he asked.
‘Yup!’
‘Wow! You’ve...’ he stopped, looking for the correct word.
‘Changed,’ I prompted.
‘I was going to say “you’ve become hotter” but “changed” will work, too,’ he said, laughing and pulling me for a hug.
‘Malhaar?’ the girl spoke again but this time she was right behind him.
She was short in height and was abnormally thin. I could say that she was pretty in a way. She had sharp cheekbones and big doe-like eyes and her lips looked like she had got a surgery done.
‘Won’t you introduce me?’ she said.
‘Umm ... yes ... mum, dad, everyone ... this is Malvika; she’s my...’
But before Malhaar could finish, she yelled, ‘Fiancée!’ holding up her left hand, showing a ring.
Everyone was silent for a minute before all hell broke loose. Everyone started congratulating Malhaar. Well, everyone except Vaibhav.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, nudging him.
But before he could answer, another girl came running inside the house. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and red blouse and she looked frantic holding a pile of files.
‘Mr Raina! Mr Raina, you won’t believe what happened! They agreed. They agreed to sell their share!’ she yelled running in but tripped on the carpet.
All the files flew in the air. The girl instantly went to pick up all the papers.
‘Sorry,’ she muttered, gathering them all.
‘How many times do I have to tell you to call me Kabir, Priyanka?’
‘And how many times do I have to tell you to
call me Priya, Mr Raina?’ she teased with a smile.
But the smile dropped the second she saw Malhaar. ‘Malhaar? What are you doing here?’ she asked him.
Before Malhaar could speak, Anusuya cut him off. ‘Wait, Priya, how do you know Malhaar?’
But before she could answer, Malhaar cut her off.
‘We went to the same college,’ he said.
But that didn’t sound like the whole story because of the pleading looks he was giving her.
‘Hi! I’m Malvika, Malhaar’s fiancée,’ Malvika said with the fakest smile ever.
‘Fiancée!’ Priya yelled.
‘Yup. I’m getting married,’ he said nervously.
‘You know what, Mr Raina, I think I’ll head back to the office.’ She didn’t wait for Kabir to respond and hurried off.
After Priya left, even dad and Beth went home and Aditya went to his room.
‘We’ll be going to my room; it was a tiring journey,’ Malhaar excused himself.
‘Malhaar, can you get a servant to take my luggage to your room?’ Malvika almost commanded.
I looked at her in shock.
Kabir and Anusuya left and Vaibhav turned to me and said, ‘Doesn’t she seem a little...’
‘Bitchy?’
‘Yup, definitely,’ he said, laughing.
‘Let me go, Vaibhav,’ I said, struggling in his arms.
‘No, we’re leaving,’ he said sternly, holding me tight. I huffed like a child and he started laughing.
‘Hey, James, I’m kidnapping your daughter; will get her back after dinner!’ he said as we passed dad.
‘Sure, son,’ he replied with a grin.
‘Daaddd !’ I whined.
‘Bye, princess,’ he said, kissing my cheek and walking off.
Vaibhav quickly put me in the front seat of his car and sat in the driver’s seat himself. Before I could escape, he locked the doors.
‘Look, Vaibhav, you are acting like a kidnapper right now. Don’t even think for a second that I’ll hesitate to yell “Murder!”’ I tried to threaten him.
He simply barked out a laugh and put the car in ignition. I didn’t even bother to ask him where he was taking me because I knew he wouldn’t tell. After driving for half-an-hour, we finally reached the destination. I could see an artificially created ice-world amidst tranquil settings.
‘Surprise!’ Vaibhav yelled while parking his car. He got out and came around to open the door for me.
‘You know that I can’t ice-skate to save my life,’ I told him as a matter of fact.
‘I know,’ he grinned, opening the hood of his car.
‘Then why did you get me here?’ I whined for the tenth time that night.
‘Simple. To teach you,’ he shrugged, pulling out a black body-size bag.
‘What’s that?’ I asked suspiciously.
‘It’s my whore. I keep her sedated,’ he said with a straight face. I burst out laughing. He opened the bag and pulled out two pairs of gloves and handed them to me. Next, he handed me a jacket which was his and pulled another one out for himself and put it on.
Lastly, he took out a pair of ear muffs for himself and handed me a grey beanie.
‘All set?’ he asked. ‘Yup,’ I replied with no excitement.
‘Hey, cheer up. By the end of this night, you’ll be an expert skater,’ he said seriously.
‘I give up!’ Vaibhav exclaimed after trying to teach me for an hour.
‘I told you so!’ I said.
‘I didn’t think you’d be this bad,’ he complained.
‘Hey!’ I displayed mock anger and started to hit his chest. He started to laugh again and I rolled my eyes.
‘Let’s just go and eat, okay?’ he said, pulling me to the diner. We took a table towards the rear end and decided on a cheeseburger and two cokes. We were just talking normally when Vaibhav asked a question.
‘So, who was your first?’ he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Who was your first ever in bed? You know...’
‘Did you just ask me that?!’ I replied in mock anger.
‘Who was your first? I’m dying to know,’ he persisted.
‘This guy I was seeing for a while.’
‘How long did you people date?’
‘Nine months. What about you? Who was your first?’
‘This girl,’ he said, teasing me.
‘This dead girl,’ I joked.
‘Honey, I don’t do necromancy,’ he said in a high-pitched girly voice.
I burst out laughing and so did he. ‘You know you’re not such bad company,’ I told him.
He gave me a smile at this. Maybe we could go back to being friends.
Slowly but surely.
CHAPTER 21
My thoughts are stars
I cannot fathom into
constellations.
MALHAAR
I am royally screwed!
First, I was going to get married to Malvika of all people. Ya, sure, she is hot and good in bed but she’s really annoying and demanding. And now, Priya came back in my life, messing up all my emotions. Ugh! How I hate girls.
It was almost midnight. Malvika was snoring like a pig. I slipped on my slippers and went downstairs only to find Vaibhav stuffing his mouth with cake.
‘Now I know where all the cake goes,’ I teased, grabbing a fork myself.
He said something, which sounded like I was hungry, and stuffed his mouth a little more.
We sat in silence, finishing the cake, when Vaibhav asked me, ‘Okay! Tell me truthfully, where did you find Malvika?’
‘I know she can be a little difficult but overall she’s a nice person,’ I lied.
‘I’m not buying that crap,’ he was quick to respond.
‘She’s this guy’s daughter whose company I’m interested in buying. If I get his company, our company will be unbeatable.’
‘So all this, for a stupid company?’ he asked in disbelief.
‘Yes and no. It’s a little more complicated than that. You won’t understand,’ I tried to explain.
He nodded in understanding before asking another question. ‘What about Priya? What’s happening between you two?’
But I was saved from answering that question as Aditya came strolling into the kitchen as well.
‘So I have a question,’ Aditya said, taking out the carton of milk and a glass.
‘Shoot,’ Vaibhav and I said at the same time. ‘So there’s this girl whom I want to ask out for ice cream but I don’t want to come across as desperate.’
‘Why don’t you just casually ask her if she wants to get ice cream when you guys are having a conversation,? Vaibhav suggested.
‘What if she says “no”?’ he asked.
‘Trust me, with our genes she won’t say “no”. I’m talking from experience,’ I said with a nod.
‘Your mum never said “no”,’ said dad, entering the kitchen and grabbing a piece of cake for himself.
All of us laughed. ‘We should really have a boys’ day out,’ Vaibhav suggested. ‘Definitely,’ dad agreed. ‘Your money or life,’ someone said in a very weird voice. Aditya clung on to me.
‘Now I know where all my cookies and cakes vanish overnight,’ mum joked, entering the kitchen.
‘Mum! You scared me!’ Aditya yelled, finally letting me go.
Mum simply laughed and joined us at the table. A loud snore echoed in the house, startling everyone.
‘Is that...’ Vaibhav began. ‘Malvika,’ I confirmed sadly.
FAITH
I was sitting in Vaibhav’s living room, talking to Kabir. Since Alex wasn’t here, I was spending more and more time with Vaibhav. ‘Mr Raina,’ Priya greeted Vaibhav’s dad as she entered the living room. Trailing behind her was a child whose resemblance to her was striking.
At the same time, Malhaar entered the living room. Talk about awkward silence.
‘Hello, Priyanka,’ Kabir teased her. Priya rolled her eyes.
‘I just wanted to ask you if I could take the rest of the day off. Abhay wants to go to the park,’ she said, pointing at the child.
‘Sure. Take the rest of the day off. You anyway work too much,’ he said, dismissing her.
‘Thank you!’ she said, hugging him and leaving with Abhay. As soon as she was out of earshot, Malhaar asked, ‘Is she married, because I didn’t see a ring?’
‘Oh, no. She’s not married,’ Kabir answered. ‘Then what’s with the kid?’ he asked, confused.
‘Oh, Abhay? Very sweet boy. He’s her brother. She’s been taking care of him since her parents’ death,’ he explained.
‘Parent’s death,’ I exclaimed in horror. ‘Oh, yes, five years ago her parents died. They were driving for her graduation ceremony when the car crashed. She couldn’t even recognise the bodies.’
‘Oh. I have some work to do. Malvika wants to go shopping.’ Saying this, he walked off and Vaibhav entered holding a fat album.
‘Look what I found,’ he said, sitting next to me.
I looked at the fat picture album. It was covered with blue paper and had ‘PHOTO ALBUM’ written on the front page. Vaibhav kept it in the middle and opened the album. Anusuya called out to Kabir, so he left us and went to her.
Our childhood—mine and Vaibhav’s—was documented in photographs. It started with pictures of us in diapers. ‘Look at that one,’ he said, pointing to a picture from when we were four. I was sporting pigtails and Vaibhav was standing next to me with a frog in his hand.
‘...I remember you put that frog in my soup. I think you picked up the idea from some story,’ I shuddered in disgust at that memory.
‘It was hilarious,’ he said, grinning. I hit him on the back of his head. He laughed while I rolled my eyes, like always.