𝐓𝐔𝐌 𝐊𝐘𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄

𝐨𝐧𝐞

𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩

chapter one

biggest fucking nightmare

𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩

Anjali's POV

one week ago

If there's one thing that gets under my skin more than Physics itself, it's having to face it first thing in the morning. It's like they're out to torture us as soon as we set foot in school. And to make matters worse, Tarini's out sick. She only managed to text me around 4 a.m. and hasn't responded to any of my thousand messages or calls since.

I had a sinking feeling about it, but I drank it down with my morning chai.

"Don't worry, Aunty. I'll drive carefully," Veer reassured my mom, waving his hand casually. He was giving me a lift since Tarini was out. Aai just nodded, taking a sip of her chai, while Baba didn't bother lifting his eyes from the newspaper. I never understood why they had to be so difficult, even to those who helped them.

I took a final sip of my chai and left the cup in the sink before darting out. "Bye Aai. Bye Baba," I murmured, receiving no response.

I sighed, grabbing my bag as we headed out. "Sorry about this. Thanks for doing it today," I muttered as we descended in the elevator. "Ah, it's all good. We've been neighbors long enough for a nod to suffice as a thank you," he quipped. I smiled at him, stepping out of the elevator when it reached the parking lot.

Aai and Baba weren't exactly thrilled about my friendship with Veer. They weren't particularly fond of him. Probably because he legally drove a car at 18, which was just unheard of, right? Why would his parents want him to be happy and independent? He should be suffering by taking arts like a proper martyr, not cruising around town.

At least that's what they likely thought.

But they had to put up with it since he and Tarini were my only friends. Plus, there was that diary entry from 8th grade my mom stumbled upon where I spilled about feeling utterly alone because of my inability to talk to people openly. She actually empathized for once and whipped up some gajar halwa. I cringed at the memory. I wasn't big on sharing my feelings with her.

She even took it upon herself to talk to my class teacher. She couldn't possibly give birth to a child who wasn't smart and sociable. Being one of those was clearly not enough. Next thing I knew, I was the class charity case, thanks to the teacher practically strong-arming my classmates into befriending me. Aai didn't see anything wrong with it.

The ringing of Veer's phone snapped me out of my thoughts. We were well into our journey, but I couldn't recall getting into the car, let alone buckling up. Should've slept earlier.

I glanced at the caller ID-it was Dhruv. Not familiar to me, so I let Veer take the call. He answered and put it on speaker, handing me the phone. The voice on the other end was deep.

"Bhai, where are you?"

"On my way to school. What's up?" Veer replied. I heard the guy on the line sigh, sounding frustrated.

"My bike's tyre got punctured. Can you pick me up?"

Veer sighed and rolled his eyes. I zoned out of their conversation. Something about "Aman Uncle's car," and then it was all white noise. I rested his phone on the armrest to ensure it didn't slide off and pulled out my notes. There's always a chance the teachers would surprise us with a test, even though school only started a week ago. I wasn't going to be caught off guard. Buttering them up was my strategy for getting away with late submissions.