Sindoor | The Devotion Duet Book 1

꧁Chapter 5: And So It Begins꧂

Chapter 5

ARYAN

20 July 2008 (13 years old)

"Again, you didn't have to come."

Tara Maa rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. I should know what's happening at your school."

I shook my head. "I was talking about your husband."

"Shut up, little rascal!" Papa said, continuing to walk beside Tara Maa in the school corridor. Seriously, he did not have to come. He had never come to my Parent Teacher Conferences before. And yet, he had to come today.

We were walking back from my classroom and on our way to the Amphitheater. Something we didn't have to do, but Tara maa wanted to go there. "Why are we going to the Amphitheater again?"

"Because they are exhibiting Shivansh's sculptures today. And we are going there to show our support."

I scoffed. "The Thakur's aren't even here today. So, what's the point? They aren't here to show support to their son. So, why should we?"

"That is exactly why we should be here—to fill in!" Tara Maa said. Her smile and the light in her eyes showed that she was really here to show support.

I didn't say anything and just let her do whatever she wanted. But it was futile. The rest of the school was there to show their appreciation. The school had shown theirs by exhibiting his sculptures, which had won him prizes. His family wasn't here to show their support, however—not his parents and, for sure, not his unnecessarily competitive sister.

The sister who did not show up to the last week of school before summer vacation, and then her whole family was MIA for the entire vacation and did not come for the first month after school opened, as well. She missed her weekly tests, did not submit her holiday reports, wasn't in the class to be a pest, and irritated me with her stupid, sarcastic remarks.

She wasn't here. I did not see her during the summer breaks or at those random dinners our families hosted. 'She wasn't here!'

We walked out of the building, towards the amphitheater nestled between the senior building and junior building. The amphitheater was lined with flowers and plants I didn't bother remembering the names of. Just that they were red, and pink and yellow and white. They smelled good too. The amphitheater was made of red-sandstone. It looked like it really came out of Ancient Rome. That was the beauty of studying in the most expensive schools in India.

I saw the usual faces around. Some smiled, some nodded. I ignored. What was the point? They weren't the faces I wished to see. So, I just walked over to the amphitheatre and was already hating the crowd that had gathered there.

Shivansh was good. Almost a prodigy, if not already considered one. But, this was also his first art piece displayed and exhibited at The Composé, one of the most famous and prestigious art galleries in the world.

"What the actual fuck?" Papa said and paused at the entrance of the amphitheatre.

"What?" I said, looked over to where his gaze was trained and froze myself.

"Is that Jaya?" Tara Maa said, and sure enough, it was, Jaya Thakur standing there in a white and pink dress, with Viraj Thakur, dressed in a blue shirt and black pants and beside him was Shivansh, wearing those black glasses and white shirt and black pants, standing beside his sculpture of a female phoenix.