Playing Her Lover

Part 11 - Changes

Sameera waited with bated breath. Her phone was in her ears, waiting for Raghav to take the call. The ring continued on and on. She sighed and cut the call herself. Might as well text Nur, she thought.

Sameera: Hey Nur! Could you please explain the last 5 questions on the physics worksheet?
Nur: Hey Sam! Yes, dude. It's easy. They are trying to make you confused by those questions. I can't take any pictures, my camera is in smithereens, but I can explain them to you.
Sameera: That would be okay too. Thanks a lot.

The next half hour flew by with Nur desperately trying to make Sameera grasp their fabulously convoluted physics concepts.

Sameera: "Not hard" indeed.
Nur: I didn't know that you haven't understood the previous lesson! With that concept in mind, this one in easy only.
Sameera: Ya, right... Wait till you have to write Chemistry, then you will understand my position
Nur: I already do babe. Btw, how's practice going?

Sameera looked at the message, uncertain. Until then, they had stuck to the subject of studies, nothing else. But now, Nur, out of all people, was reaching out to her. It could not be genuine interest, anyway. Becoming closer to Nur was also an effective way to get back on track with Raghav. He was becoming more avoidant each day, though Nur had said that he would come around in a few days. She shook herself and went back to the conversation.

Sameera: Practice has been okay. Not a lot to say. To be honest, Indu is fine inside practice, you know?
Nur: WHAA... I thought you hated her!
Sameera: I don't know. I still hate her for the whole Raghav thing - but outside of that, she's okay. Again, okay. Not nice, not a friend.

The "yet" at the end of the last sentence was only in Sameera's thoughts, not in her words.

Sameera: But she's also super annoying. Like, she talked and smiled on one day, the next day she acts like she has never talked to me, you know? I tried talking to her today, and she gave me such a huge cold shoulder. I was SO ANNOYED. She's never consistent with her behaviour. I hate people like that.

Nur:... You are contradicting yourself here, Sameera. Why do you care so much?
Sameera: I don't know man! She is annoying, okay? That's my final stance.
Nur: ok, ok!! calm down maaraythi!* You're really touchy about this girl, aren't you?
A/n - maaraythi is a slang used to call out to a woman. Often said in an exasperated tone, it is prevalent in the Dakshina Kannada district of the state of Karnataka.

Sameera rolled her eyes and ended the conversation there. Truth be told, a part of her was already begging to forgive Indu for all the drama with Raghav.

On the other end, Indu was eating lunch with her mother. With each mouthful, she could hear her phone beep. Siddhu was spamming her on WhatsApp, and it was annoying. Her mother kept glancing at the phone and then at Indu. Not being able to take more, Indu got up from the table and kept her phone in another room. She sat back down at the table with a huff. Her mother looked at her with concerned eyes.
"Puttani, it's okay - tell him you are eating. It will be rude if you ignore him. "
"It's okay Amma. If I ignore him now, he won't text as often."

Her mother frowned. "Indu, you shouldn't do that... I know you don't like talking to people, but that's the only way you can make connections."
"Ya, whatever." Indu shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm being serious here" Indu's mother pursed her lips.
"Ya, ya, I know. I've managed to be closed off for an entire year. It's amazing, I'm telling you."
Her mother's eyes narrowed, and eyebrows shot up.
"Oh really? You've never had something nice happen and wished you had someone to share it with? Or wanted a hug when you're low?"
"I've got you na?"
"Putta, I'm not your friend, even you know that. Don't argue for the sake of arguing."