Secrets And Lies [Completed]

00. epilogue

Song of the chapter is
If I Go, I'm Goin
by Gregory Alan Isakov

-00-
-Himanshu Arora-
-Present-

______________

Town Hall, Delmore
22 December, 2035
10:45 am

5 Years Later

"......and perhaps we really were...the architects of our own demise."

As I flipped over to the acknowledgments page, my heart raced. I took a deep breath, counted to three and began.

"There's an ache in each one of us,...unhealed scars which would probably stay for this lifetime. But despite that, we move forward with life, like a paper boat in a stream....unable to change its course. Perhaps it was our destiny to live through that pain and that ache. Perhaps it was not."

I breathed in between.

"Regardless of how vast the darkness was....we all managed to find our guiding lights."

I adjusted my glasses perched atop the bridge of my nose as I looked up at the anticipated faces in front of me. Inhaling swiftly, I continued, "For Kartik Malhotra, thank you for being the brother I had once thought I lost. You were there to pick me up and knock sense into me, everytime I failed."

His smile flashed across from the room and I returned a similiar one.

"For my best friend, Siya Malhotra, thank you for having such a kind heart. You and me would always remain the superior nerdy best friends for how many years there are to come, I assure you that much."

Laughter ricocheted and bounced off the brown walls of the auditorium as I flipped the page.

"For the funniest and the most dauntless girl I know, Zoya Afreen, thank you for being the amazing human being that you are. No other person is as full of life as you and you know it. You've taught me to never take anything too seriously and that you can always find happiness even in the worst of times."

She cheered from across the room but it was loud enough for the entire crowd and myself. I flashed her a small smile.

"And now for the ones who aren't with us today," I began, my throat closing up immediately. I felt my fists shiver in place as I stood my composure.

"For Saina Arora, the girl that went through so many storms yet stood her ground. The girl who was brave enough to say her mind, fearless and unfiltered. The girl who held so much love in her heart that she didn't know where to put it."