Unrequited

Chapter 17

 Days flew by and exams were around the corner. Even the ever-enthusiastic Aisha had her head buried into fat books. Nyra and others were busy mugging and cramming as much as they could into their brains. Now and then I would look up from heavy texts and wince with a pain in the neck. I had ditched all parties and hangouts and whatnot and the exams went by as smooth as butter. The results too were announced in a matter of a few days.

I sat on our usual bench, ripping the skin off of my fingernails. My foot bounced impatiently as I waited for the professor to reach my roll call. I knew I had done well and I would probably even score higher than I expected, but that would be asking for too much. I looked at Aisha who sat next to me, trembling like a dry leaf with her hands supporting her head. She had entered college looking as pale as a ghost and I had feared for a second that she might get sick. Both of us knew these were only internal exams but our galvanised personalities sometimes took the forefront.

'Roll No. 1318?", I jumped slightly in my seat as the teacher called out for me. As I reached him, he gave me what I could only interpret as a smile and handed me my result sheet. Without pausing to see the score I raced up to my bench. I waited for Aisha to get hers as well. After that, both of us headed out of the sweaty class and stepped into the library.

"Let's exchange our sheets, Ki." Aisha took a deep breath and handed me her paper with one hand and took mine with the other.

"On the count of three...1...2...3!"

I looked at her score which was a perfect 93%! I looked up at her with an expression of utter relief and disbelief. She looked at me with a confused look, making my heart race at a deadly speed. The mirth drained out of me as my brains started making assumptions. I looked at her wide eyes and felt my hands go numb.

But I had worked hard. Where did I go wrong? Oh god! I couldn't score less. My parents had high hopes pinned on me. I couldn't let them down. Heck! I couldn't let myself down. What had I done! I should have avoided all the parties and the Starbucks visits, and the hours I wasted reading books. I should've studied—

"You got a freaking 95.45%! 95.45%?!", Aisha almost screeched, interrupting my train of thoughts.

"What?!"

I could not believe it. I stuttered out her scores and her palms flew up to cover her mouth which was going to let out another high-pitched scream. We stood like that stunned for a few minutes before we broke into a celebratory jig. We laughed and laughed and laughed and then cried because our stomachs hurt.

That evening my parents were so happy that we went out for dinner. We came back home, eating Malai Kulfis. Just as we stepped inside the door my phone buzzed and Ayaan's name flashed onto the screen. I rushed inside my room to talk to him. Surprisingly, he too had scored a perfect 95% and was out on a drinks night with his friends. Just as we hung up, I heard a loud crash and the sound of feet scurrying up to my grandparents' room. I peeped inside to see my grand-mom splayed across the floor with her body convulsing violently. Shards of glass had been sprinkled all around the room. I could not fathom a thing! My vision went blurry with uncalled-for tears. I said her name twice, thrice but got no response. My parents pushed me and my brother out of the room. Karan immediately called an ambulance, as instructed by Dad. I collapsed onto the couch because all the air had been knocked out of my lungs. Images of my grandma lying on the floor, sprawled out like dropped vegetables.

I must have been like that for a while because I could hear the siren of the ambulance outside our house, and my parents handed my grandma to the helpers who hoisted her into the back of the van. Karan went with them. I stayed back with grandpa, whose eyes would not stop leaking. He whimpered and sniffed like an injured child. I could say no words to console him, except patting his arm, now and then. A few hours, which felt like eons, Grandpa drifted into a fit-full lull. However, I sat wide awake, not able to register anything. I did not pray that often, but that night I caught myself with folded palms sending a prayer heavenwards. I cried and cried, finding no solace.