SHE WAS NEVER MINE

4.

"Thank God you came before everyone, we can have good girly time" Anushka said to Ritika as they settled down in bed.

"But why are boys late??" Ritika inquired.

"I don't know, Ro said their practice will take time today and Avi told me he has some work" Anushka said.

But girls didn't know what boys have planned for them.

Rohit, Virat, and Avi gathered in hushed whispers, their faces masked with excitement and a touch of nervousness, which made them look like kids playing secret agents rather than expert pranksters. They had spent hours preparing for this elaborate prank, transforming Anushka's room into a ghostly spectacle. The time had come to put their plan into action, or as the girls liked to call it - Operation Scaredy-Cats.

As Anushka and Ritika settled onto the bed, sharing stories and laughter, a faint draft brushed against their skin, sending exaggerated shivers down their spines. The room suddenly felt colder, the atmosphere heavy with an unexplainable presence, or perhaps just a case of overly aggressive air conditioning, as the girls suspected.

Anushka glanced around, her eyes wide with mock terror. "Do you feel that?" she asked, her voice dramatically trembling.

Ritika rolled her eyes playfully, trying to dismiss the eerie sensation. "Oh, come on, Anu. Don't tell me you're falling for this spooky atmosphere?"

Just as Ritika finished speaking, a soft whisper echoed through the room, chilling them to the core (or at least, attempting to). The girls exchanged overly dramatic fearful glances, their hearts pounding in their chests like a duet of clumsy drummers.

The whisper grew louder, morphing into a haunting voice that called their names with all the ghostly enthusiasm of a children's puppet show. It sounded more like, "Booo-ooo-ooo, Anushka and Ritika, please leeeeaaavee-eeeaaavee!" which only made the girls burst into suppressed giggles.

Terrified (or at least pretending to be), Anushka and Ritika clung to each other, striking poses that would make a Bollywood horror film director proud.

"What's happening?" Ritika stammered, her voice over-the-top quivering.

"I don't know, Ritika, but we have to stay calm," Anushka replied dramatically, attempting to contain her laughter. "Let's call Rohit. He'll know what to do, or at least he'll bring some popcorn to enjoy our 'haunting'."

Anushka grabbed her phone and dialed Rohit's number with overly dramatic flair. The phone rang anxiously in her hand as the "haunting" voice continued to echo through the room, now adding a few cheesy ghostly sound effects for comedic effect.

Finally, Rohit's voice crackled through the line, sounding more like a game show host than a ghostly apparition.

"Hello? Anu? What's going on?"

"Rohit, something hilariously spooky is happening in my room," Anushka exclaimed, barely able to contain her laughter. "We're hearing voices, and it's getting funnier by the minute. Please, come quickly and bring your ghostly charm with you!"

Rohit could sense the amusement in her voice and immediately understood that the girls were onto their prank. He signaled to Virat and Avi, who were already struggling not to burst into fits of laughter, and they rushed towards Anushka's house.

As they reached the room, Rohit and the others found Anushka and Ritika attempting to look scared, but their trembling lips betrayed their amusement.

"What's happening?" Rohit asked, trying to look concerned but failing miserably, as laughter bubbled up within him.

"There... there were whispers, a haunting voice calling our names," Ritika stammered dramatically, adding an exaggerated shiver for effect.

The girls couldn't hold it in any longer, and they burst into uncontrollable laughter. Rohit, Virat, and Avi exchanged sheepish looks, realizing they had been hilariously caught in their own prank.