Unspoken feelings are unforgettable

Chapter 14

Like every other day, Friday began with the saddest of smiles that reflected all of Arisha's grief when she took a peek of herself in the sink mirror. Strands from her braid had ably plucked out, adding to the beauty of her golden-brown hair, her face lacked glow, and so did her eyes, still sleepy, but she didn't fail to flash a smile at herself. Her morning activities didn't take much time, followed by hours of continual studies. Her orbs were a lighter shade of brown that day, lighter than usual and so had changed her mood. Having been satisfied with her work, she decided to make an early morning entry in her journal regarding the other tasks she considered to be her responsibility on Vidisha's behalf when Riya couldn't pay attention to herself, let alone the rest of her household. 

Her checklist contained groceries, moping the floor, which she considered after almost a week, and breakfast. She clutched her bag lying on the floor and shoved a list and her phone inside before swinging it above her shoulder. She changed into a pair of sneakers, grabbed the main door keys, and locked it before heading towards her least favorite shop. The calm outside lit her up, the fresh morning breeze and slightly warm pools of sunshine added an artificial glow to her skin while she narrowed her eyes to prevent the direct rays. She shopped for some eggs and a few packets of nuts, bread, and a can of chocolate spread; not a breakfast Riya would allow, yet appreciate, when her narrowed eyes caught a glimpse of school buses. It had been three days since she had isolated herself at home. Going to school felt like the worst idea on the list of wearisome ideas when all that happened at G.W. High was a fake screenplay, complete drama.

She reaches home, cooks the meal, and decides to skip lunch. Arisha serves her mum the food, mops the kitchen floor, and living room, and doesn't feel like doing the others so she ignores the dust and mess she'd been creating over the week all around the house and her instinct, swirled up with her exhaustion, makes her skip the rest of the tasks on her list and she heads to her room finally. Just as her butts land on the bed, a phone buzz leads to a rush of air from her mouth accompanied by an eye roll,

"Swati?" Whispering on the phone can be dangerous, Swati takes some not-at-all-provided hint and hangs up.

"Swati" Arisha calls her back and practically yells on the phone.

"Oh, I thought..." And she giggles, Swati giggles when her friend was far from smiling, "I've been trying to call you for three days now, Ronil says you never went to school this week?"

"No, I didn't" She picks up at her nails and pouts.

"Why? You sound all fit and fine, why have you been missing school?" squeaks left her, which sounded eradicating on the phone.

"Because I'm not fine, my life has turned around and I've basically lost everything" Her demeanor had altered slightly, a frown took over the sweet smile she'd been trying to pull on all this morning. Her mind is messed up with the situation and Ronil is surely making it worse, revealing information he doesn't even know, which is far worse than what Tushant has done.

"Hey, are you crying? You can talk to me, you know that?"

"No, I am not. But I should be crying" Her neutral voice made it immensely difficult to decipher the sentiments of her words on the phone. Arisha adds up information, elaborating on her life to her friend, "I...I had a severe fight with Ronil, dad left home so mum remains gloomy all day long and I even overheard her talk to some lady lawyer over her phone about their divorce, therefore Vidisha never comes home. She says she has taken much of their trouble for years, since a young age. I've lost all of them" She had become misty-eyed by then, Swati switched to panic mode, she took a deep breath and asserted, "I'm coming, visiting you. No school today. And you fool, this is not the time you stay alone, you need company and support"