Bound By Hurdles

❥ Chapter 13

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Into Her Veiled Secrets

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~ A quick recap : Juhi overhearing Sonakshi, Harsha & Rohaan learning the truths about the pendant.

Next day

Harsha gasped for fresh air as his lungs burned after a strenuous session of morning workout. He splashed an entire bottle of water along his sweaty face & forehead as he jogged back in the direction of their house. Being refrained of sleep last night & having not done any vigorous exercises for almost a week, he was drilled physically. Though the run was exhausting, he was able to revamp his emotional state, atleast to a certain extent. For some reasons, a positive spirit kindled his insides. He felt seemingly fresh & alive from within him.

As he arrived back at his house & undid his shoe laces, he saw a tiny girl trying to sneak in through the closed grills of the house next door. Her ruffled pastal frock swung upwards as she hopped in the air to get a better view of the indoors. She pressed herself closer to the wall outside & leaned in while her extended hand simultaneously tried to unlatch the huge lock.

After attempting the same a couple of times, she seemed agitated. Giving up, she kicked the iron bars firmly whilst retrieving her legs back in the same speed, this time yelping in pain. Harsha heard the irritated girl cussing her heart out at everyone residing on the other end of the gate. He stared at her direction in amusement. Since she had turned on her back, her face wasn't visible to him yet.

"Kids these days!! She looks like a minion but her tongue is that of a monster!" He let out a low chuckle as he tried to get a glimpse of the girl's face.

On the other hand, Juhi whimpered examining her painted toe nail which was now chipped & split into two halves. It had costed her weeks of efforts to grow it that long but just few seconds of her impatience had got it broken. The blood that coated her feet didn't bother her as much as that depressing thought. She never imagined, she would be devastated over something so silly. Dashing angrily towards the gate once again, she banged on it with all her might. Surprisingly, the heavy lock budged this time & came open with with a subtle creak.

"Argh! Finally!" Juhi immediately grabbed her sling bag that was abandoned somewhere in the ground & walked inside.

Harsha watched the moody girl curiously until she passed from his sight through the entrance. He tried to peek inside but the huge wall served as an obstacle. Smiling discreetly, he undid his track boots & discarded them on the shoe rack. As he stepped inside, he heard a full-throated shriek followed by excessive barking of the neighbourhood dog. Both the sounds approached closer, as he stared along the lane cluelessly.

"OMG!! PLEASE HELP!!" He heard the shriek again, this time from right behind him. The same girl in the pastal frock cut way into their house & slid the swing gate close in a blink. She was a panting mess with her outfit & hair completely dishevelled from the unexpected chase. Only when the loud barks of the dog that was trapped on the other end subsided, she calmed down. Everything happened like a flash that Harsha had to put efforts to decipher the exact scenario.

He studied her face that was now exposed before him with no wall or enclosure as a hindrance. Though she was so short & looked even more shorter with the frock on, she wasn't any kid like he had thought her to be. Infact he knew her already. He had seen her bunch of times. She was their senior, Sonakshi's best friend & the seemingly courteous one in the gang.

He mentally jabbed himself for thinking her to be any other audacious child who was trained skilfully in cussing & swearing. Now that he thought about it & connected through the voids, he found it extremely hilarious. She had stealthily sneaked into the other house only to be chased back by the dog inside. Could this get any more funny? He had an urge to laugh his heart out at her bewildered face. But knowing how rude it would sound, he bit his tongue hard & gulped down the smile.