Who he used to be

Chapter 4

After having a pretty rough day and an even worse night where he basically had a mental breakdown, Harsh missed his alarms and by the time he woke up he knew for sure that by the time he reaches uni, he would’ve already missed the first class. Harsh was also not sure how to come clean to Vamika and was debating whether he should skip college for the day. He then decided against it as he had to talk to Shreyansh about last night.

Harsh hailed a cab instead of taking the bus so that he could reach before the first class ends. While in the cab, Harsh had been thinking about the last day’s occurrences and then thought why Tanya didn’t wake him up since he was late. He then texted her if something was wrong as he expected her to be in class at the time. When Harsh reached uni, he headed straight for his class expecting to get an earful from Mr. Hans, but apparently luck was on his side that day and Mr. Hans had gone to the principal’s office when he quietly snuck in. Harsh had expected Shreyansh to ignore him but he had still saved a seat beside him, obviously for Harsh. Harsh sat up next to Shreyansh as he asked Harsh why he was so late. Harsh did not want to talk about what happened last night so he just said that he overslept which is partially true. Harsh was about to ask Shreyansh why he left so abruptly the other night but Mr. Hans entered the class and Harsh did not want to draw the lecturer’s attention or he might notice Harsh was late.

A few boring lectures later. Right before the last class, Harsh realized they didn’t have any classes with Vamika that day and was quite relieved. Harsh said to Shreyansh, “let’s have lunch at Rizzbees, our usual, after we are done with this shit.” Shreyansh agreed and added that Vamika had told she would wait for them there after she’s done with her class too. Harsh was not very thrilled about having Vamika join them but then he still had to face it, they were bestfriends after all. Shreyansh noticed Harsh was having an inner conflict but decided not to ask anything since he had already agreed.
(At the Rizzbees) the three sat in a awkward silence when their waiter arrived and asked what they wanted to order. Harsh ordered his usual, the biryani rice and butter chicken thali, Vamika decided to try their Chinese combo and Shreyansh got plate of tandoori biryani. As they waited for their food to arrive, Shreyansh got annoyed with the two’s silent treatment and said, “What do ya’ll think you are doing? If you go on like this and refuse to communicate what would happen to our trio? What about our fairly successful startup? We gotta sort things out” Harsh then spoke, “Okay, Vamika listen. I’m sorry, I’ve been avoiding you, it's just that it was all too sudden for me and I couldn’t accept the fact that you, of all people, had feelings for me. So, long story short…” Vamika interrupted, “Why short, I need full details.” Shreyansh said to Vamika, “You really cannot read the room can you? It’s obvious he doesn’t wanna talk about it properly just yet so shut up dumbass.” Harsh then continued, “So yeah, there was this girl I had a crush on in 10th grade and we dated for a couple of months. I was deeply in love but one day, she broke up over text in the most obnoxious way possible during the preparatory holidays before boards. Even during boards, I didn’t see her as her examination hall was different from mine and after boards she just disappeared, changed her number, changed schools and even blocked me on her socials apparently. After being heartbroken by the girl I thought to be my soulmate was devastating and so I just don’t have it in me to have serious relationships, that’s why I’m into hookups but I obviously can’t do something so terrible to you. So I really hope you would try to keep your feelings aside and not bring up these topics anymore. You guys and my highschool diary are basically the only ones who I’ve told this about. Not even my sister.” “Aww we are so grateful for you to trust us your highness.” said Vamika sarcastically even though her heart had just been shattered, she put up a brave carefree front for the two of them so that they won’t worry. By this time their food had already arrived, and they ate as they discussed about yesterday’s football match between Real Madrid and Liverpool FC. They talked and laughed as though nothing had happened and just like that, they were back to being the terrific trio with no conflicts or misunderstandings. Yeah, that name’s lame but when the group has the hottest looking guys and prettiest girl of NIYS nobody gives a fuck about the name of the group. After lunch, Harsh and Shreyansh took the same cab as their houses were on the same route. That’s when Harsh confronted Shreyansh why he just left like that the other day and he couldn’t even be reached on his phone. Shreyansh had thought Harsh probably forgot and now he wasn’t sure how to answer that. He made an excuse that he had an emergency with his last hookup so he had to leave and his cell phone was out of juice. But the way Shreyansh was speaking in a tone that Harsh could make out something was wrong. Harsh said, “You’re acting sus. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying and FYI you suck at lying.” “Okay, I was sketching something like a comic and upon hearing your story I got an idea on how to make it more interesting and unexpected. I didn’t want to show it to you yet, I’m embarrassed.” replied Shreyansh. Harsh then said, “What do you mean you’re embarrassed? We’re homies, what’s there to hide? Let’s go over to your place and you show it to me. I read manga pretty often so I can share my opinion. We can have some pizza and beer too, it’s my treat.” “But…” said Shreyansh as he tried to protest but Harsh didn’t let him speak. “No but, I didn’t ask you. I informed you. Now shut up.” said Harsh as he turned to the cab driver and asked to change the drop location to Shreyansh’s house instead. Shreyansh had no choice but to go along or else he might seem like he’s hiding something, which he is.

Shreyansh lived in a cozy two-bedroom apartment with his parents. Yess his PARENTS. Shreyansh tried to get Harsh to change his mind about going over to his place by saying his mom would be home and so they won’t be able to drink. But to his utter dismay, Harsh said that it was totally fine, they could just get pizza and some cola.

Harsh had not been to Shreyansh’s place more than once since they usually hung out at Harsh’s. Harsh said that he wanted to greet his mom but Shreyansh said, “That won’t be a good idea. She’s suffering from conjunctivitis. So, we shouldn’t go near her right now.” Shreyansh then led Harsh to his room and went out to get some water for him. Harsh sat there fidgeting with the stuff in his room, when he saw a prize in the back of the display shelves showcasing prizes and medals he’s won. That prize seemed oddly familiar so Harsh took it out and found that it was a felicitation award of the high school he’d attended and by the year he figured out it was the class 10 batch. Harsh stared at it in confusion as Shreyansh came back to the room with some lemonade that his mom made for the two of them. “Why the hassle to make lemonade, just water would have been fine.” Harsh said and then added, “Whose prize is this from Sunrise High cause you definitely didn’t go to that school or we would have known eachother from back then.” “Ohh, that? That’s….. uhh… my sister’s. I didn’t know you went to Sunrise High.” said Shreyansh. “What sister? You don’t have a sister as far as I know. What’s up with you today?” asked a confused looking Harsh. “I regard my cousins as sisters you know. She had given me this as an inside joke between us. Forget about that, let’s order pizza first. Where should we order it from? Pizzahut or dominos?” “Obviously pizzahut. Who likes dominos anyways.” “Okay so let’s see, so tandoori paneer for myself and a chicken tikka supreme for you. I know it’s your favourite.” said Shreyansh. Harsh reminded him about the cola but by then Shreyansh had placed the order and now if they cancelled there would be extra cancellation charges. Shreyansh apologized and offered to go to a nearby store and get it himself and hurried off. Harsh wanted to ask Shreyansh to give his comic sketches for him to see by the time he gets back but he had already left. So, Harsh decided to look for it himself and rummaged through Shreyansh’s room trying to look for it. He could not find anything like that but instead he found a key. There was a drawer in his study table that needed a key so Harsh tried opening it. Harsh had this lingering feeling at the back of his mind that he was invading Shreyansh’s privacy but curiosity killed the cat. He opened the drawer and found a bunch of random envelopes, crumpled paper, wrappers almost everything that looked like it belonged to the dustbin except for one thing that caught his attention. A bracelet, it was the same one he had given to SHREYA years ago. Why does Shreyansh have it? What did he ever have to do with her? Where was she? All these thoughts filled Harsh’s mind as he stood there holding the bracelet and staring at it, when Shreyansh came back. Shreyansh stood there in horror as he saw Harsh holding the bracelet. When Harsh saw that Shreyansh was back, he asked, “Whose bracelet is this? Cause it definitely doesn’t look like it’s yours.” “Ohh that? That’s my mother’s. She had given it to me saying it was some sort of good luck charm and unexpectedly it does help me pass in exams most of the time.” Said Shreyansh. “That explains how you manage to pass everytime even though you party with me. But why the hell do you have all this garbage and shit in your locked drawer? I expected to find some secret of yours.” said Harsh teasingly. “What secret would I keep from you? You’re my best bud…” Shreyansh was speaking as the doorbell rang. “I guess the pizza is here. Can you pick it up? I’m too tired now.”

Harsh grabbed the pizza and they both chatted about a new anime series as they ate. Harsh then recalled the actual purpose of his visit and asked Shreyansh to show him the manga that he was sketching as Harsh had to leave early to pick-up Tanya from the mall. Shreyansh had thought he had successfully diverted Harsh’s attention from the manga thing because there was no such manga that Shreyansh was working on. Now Shreyansh was panicking as he thought of what he should do. Shreyansh bought himself some time by saying he would show it after they finish eating as he thought of a plan of action. After eating, Shreyansh pretended to look for his sketches and literally turned his room upside down to make it more believable. Fifteen minutes later Harsh swore at him for being so irresponsible and that he was being late. Harsh then left in a hurry to pick Tanya up. Shreyansh was relieved that Harsh left but now he really had to sketch something or else Harsh would still suspect him of lying. On the way to the mall, Harsh was still thinking of how strange Shreyansh had been acting recently and he also seemed to be lying. At some point Harsh even thought maybe Shreya was one of Shreyansh’s exes. But no, if that would have been the case Shreyansh would have told him the truth when Harsh talked about Shreya and their past. “Maybe I’m just overthinking, Shreyansh must be high. That explains why he’s been acting weird.”