Seventeen

Prologue

9 years ago, on a hot summer day, four boys were sitting in front of the apartment building they live in, sucking on to some ice creams. The four boys were 8 years old and were friends since they were babies or so say their mothers. The boys' names were: Arjun, Ishan, Farhan and Jignesh (Jiggy).

Jiggy's dad had treated the boys to the ice cream on that hot summer day since the boys looked even too exhausted to play.

"Life is so boring lately," Farhan commented pouting...

"Yeah..." Arjun agreed with him. "Even school is not there..."

"And too hot to play..." Farhan said.

"My mom is always just yelling at me at home," Jiggy said. "To make things worse...There is my sister as well."

The other three boys winced. They hated Jiggy's older sister as much as Jiggy did. She was a monster according to them.

"I hate girls," Jiggy commented.

"Me too..." Arjun said. "They are such useless creatures. I am not sure why God made them."

"Right." Farhan agreed. "Girls are just loud, and always crying and useless..."

The other three looked at Ishan who was silently eating his ice cream. "You?" They asked. Ishan looked up at his friends...

" Eh...I love my mom," Ishan said. "But won't have a problem if all other females did not exist."

"Yeah..." All the boys agreed. That is when a car came to stop in front of the apartment. The boys looked up just out of curiosity...

And then, for the rest of their life, they could not ever say or think that it would be better if girls did not exist. Because from the car, stepped out a little girl who took the breath out of the 8-year-old boys. The girl was about their age as well. But she was so much more beautiful than any of the girls they have ever come across.

She was wearing a white and baby pink lace frock, with long ringlets of brownish-black hair, with a white hair-bow. Her eyes looked gentler than of a deer's, and her long and dark eyelashes made them even more beautiful. Her rosy lips curved inwards and gave a really cute feel. And that smile was to die for. She was of a creamy white complexion. Her face, when being neither too chubby nor too thin, had the most adorable dimple. It felt like beauty and cuteness was radiating from the girl. Like she was glowing...

The boys fell in love...

They could feel their tiny 8-year-old heart getting squeezed inside of them for the first time in their life.

"Hey..." The girl came up to them and said.

Jiggy dropped his ice cream by accident in the trance.

"You boys live here?" The girl asked.

Even her voice and the way she talked were angelic.

"Yes." Arjun was the one who answered.

"We are moving into this building today." The girl said. "I am Suhana."

The boys were still in trance to answer.

"This is my twin sister Adithi." She indicated to someone behind her. That was when the boys even noticed that another kid was there. They were so concentrated on Suhana to notice Adithi.

Adithi stood there, in jeans shorts and a maroon t-shirt, holding a football in her small hands, with dark shabby hair and dusty face and dark complexion.

"Twins??" Asked Ishan. Because if Suhana looked like a Barbie doll, Adithi looked like Mowgli.

"Yeah. We are fraternal twins." Suhana explained.

"Hey..." Adithi told to the boys. "Do you play football?"

"Yeah," Farhan said.

"Cool." She grinned.

"Is that a real professional ball you are holding?" Arjun asked.

"Yeah. I got it from our uncle." Adithi said proudly. "He used to play in the district-level team. This belonged to him."

"Cool... Can we play with that?" Farhan asked.

"Yup." Adithi nodded.

"Oh you already made friends...," Suhana and Adithi's mom came up to them and said. "Nice."

"Oh... Not yet. We don't even know their names yet." Suhana said.

"That's ok." Arjun jumped up. "I am Arjun. This is Ishan, Jiggy and Farhan... Nice to meet you."

"So we are friends now," Adithi said. "Can I go and play with them?" She asked her mother.

The mother nodded, "but since it's a new place, don't go too far. Play in the front play-area only."

"Okay..." Adithi said already running to the playground.

"But who play football in this heat...?" Suhana complained. "And...I don't play football."

Adithi stopped and looked back. The boys who were excited to play football stopped as well. They looked back at their angel.

"Let's go inside and play with something." She said, adjusting her awesome hair. "or.. you guys go ahead. I will go help mom set up the house."

"Eh... No. We will help as well. We can help your mom as well." Ishan said.

"Yeah. We will... Come on." The other three boys cheered as well.

"But hey..." Adithi tried to call out to the boys, but they had already cheered and followed Suhana to the house.

Because it was no meaning in playing if the goddess was not there. They just wanted to be with her more. So the boys who yell at their mother when getting asked to do chores, helped the twins' mom to arrange the house. They put the books on the shelf, wiped the furniture, moved the things they could help move... And finally sat and played jigsaw puzzle with Suhana.