Secrets Hidden In Time (Time #1 Book#1) (✓ )

02 | Dear Diary (08/05/2005)

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02 | Dear Diary (08/05/2005)

8th May 2005,

Sunday,

9:35 p.m.

You know, sometimes it feels like talking to people is as exhausting as running a marathon in flip-flops. And guess what? As a fourteen-year-old boy, I'm one of those rare creatures who actually gets it. Conversations? Total energy vampires! Lucky for me—or maybe not—Ma and Papa are usually off doing whatever it is they do when they're not home.

Nirjhara, in a shocking twist of fate, has ditched her Lego set for the blue kitchen set that Grandma gifted her last Sunday on her tenth birthday. I mean, who wouldn't want to play with plastic cups and pans instead of building epic Lego castles? The poor thing was practically drowning in tears because Papa was MIA at her party and Ma decided to show up fashionably late.

Then there's Aridaman, my twin, who's now obsessed with anime. Seriously, what's the deal with those big-eyed, spiky-haired characters? I can't make heads or tails of it, and neither can Nirjhara, but she's at least pretending to understand. His bookshelves are practically screaming with DVDs of the same ridiculousness. Oh, and he's got a crush on Shweta from class 9th C. How original.

So while Ira is busy pretending to be a chef and Daman is lost in his anime love saga, I've decided to take up diary writing. Because, you know, it's not like anyone else cares about my secrets—like the fact that I have a tiny, head-scratching monkey in my brain!

The other day, Vinita ma'am enlightened us about these four 'happy' hormones: dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin. Now it all makes sense! Every time I'm at the park and see that 'monkey' play, my body goes through a dopamine explosion. Who knew happiness could be so scientific? 

You know, every time Didaa swings by, she brings these local lychee candies from Dehradun. Everyone at home is obsessed with them; Ira and Daman have this bizarre ritual of placing the candy on their tongues and sucking on it like it's the last drop of water in the desert. Meanwhile, I have this uncontrollable urge to just chomp down on that sugary goodness and chew it like a rabid dog to experience all its sweetness and flavor in one glorious bite.

This brings me to teeth.

And from teeth, I can't help but think of the 'monkey'.

Some of her teeth are MIA now, but two years ago, she had a full set.

Then there's Tapan, who keeps bombarding me with the same question: "Your driver and guards drop you off at the gate at four pm, but it's five-thirty by the time you waltz into the court! What on earth are you doing for the first hour and a half? We're already halfway through the match by the time you show up!"

I just give him my best blank stare and shrug like a confused puppy, offering no explanation for my mysterious absence. I mean, why ruin his day by revealing that every Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday, I ditch my entourage of bodyguards to play basketball with him and the boys? Nope, I'm really just there to see her . . . the 'monkey' or the 'girl with pigtails'.

Those ninety minutes are my slice of happiness.

Away from the suffocating loneliness of the mansion's colossal walls.

Yet, here we are, two years later, and I still don't know her name. Sigh! One day, I will; I absolutely will, because giving up is not in my vocabulary.

Daman claims I'm too formal, mature, and philosophical for my age, that I sound like a mini adult. Do I?

I guess I just devour more books than he does and have a snazzier vocabulary. Or maybe it's just the circus at home that's turned me into this.

Dinner was a total snooze-fest today . . . not that my family is a chatterbox at the dinner table any other day, but usually, Ira, Daman, and Ma throw in some short conversations. 

But today? Crickets. 

I can only assume Ma and Papa had a spat. I could feel the tension in the air.

Maybe it's time to ring up Grandma tomorrow.

Signing Off

Dev D.

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