When a truth-and-dare question turns Chavi's life upside down and pushes her toward the only person whom she had pulled with herself, Garvit, in the turmoil.
dive in for some sour and sweet banters and most of all, teenage romance!
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"Want to go out for some coffee?" The question was almost unheard amidst the hustle and bustle of the chaos around them.
It was directed at Chavi, who nodded absentmindedly with her nose still buried deep in the question paper she had already given the examination for. Hordes of students streamed out of the classrooms, sporting large smiles after having finished their last examination. Devlina snatched the question paper from Chavi's hand and put her arm around her shoulder, to get her attention.
She asked again, "Want to go out for some coffee?", looking at her expectantly.
Chavi finally looked up from the question paper and stared at her best friend, before asking, "Okay, who else is coming?"
Devlina looked at her with an offended expression and asked, "Who else do you need?"
"It's a girls' day out", she concluded, her round eyes shined bright under the sun, a smile pulled up on Chavi's lips as well.
"Okay so there is this...", the rest of the words faded out in Chavi's ears as her eyes searched for a certain tall guy. She remembered getting a glimpse of him, early this morning before the bell rang and they had to move in to their assigned classes.
They haven't been able to speak properly after his disappearance before the exams and even when he came to write all the papers. She returned to her conversation dejected with Devlina.
.
A cold breeze swept in through the sheer white curtains from outside filling the silent space of her warmly lit room.
The ticking of the clock hung on the wall reminded her of the three hours she had spent going through the orders that had been left when her exams started. She noted down the ones left in the Excel sheet and also went through some feedbacks and added them to her to-do list. She logged out of her Instagram and shut her laptop when the pomodoro clock pinged on her phone.
She got up from her study table and stretched her muscles as she walked up to her balcony when, the cool breeze felt refreshing as she clutched the shrug tighter around her frame, winters were around the corner and grief knocked at her doorstep. She looked back when small padded footsteps made her turn her attention towards her room, but found noone.
Amusedly she went inside her room again and noticed the bowls of whipped cream and fruits on the table, a smile stretched across her face. She quickly walked out of her room to check the doorway to find it empty, then goes inside her room again when the shuffling behind the curtains give her the indication, the smile on her face if lifted one side as she looked at the bowl of fruits and then at the intruder in her room.
She made a thinking face as she said,"I wonder who put this here", she paused to see any movement then continued again, "Must be a fairy".
"No, I think it's a guardian angel".
"No, it was me ", the small voice finally spoke from behind the curtains.
She was always grateful for her brother, he would lift her up on her lowest days and today was supposedly one of those.
"Oh my, Are you here angel? Where are you? Why can't I see you?", she made a little show looking behind the bookshelf and under the table, Vihan giggled in response to her antics.
"Call me by my name", He finally whispers.
"Angel Vivu, please come forward, I want to thank you for this", Chavi spoke as been told.
"Close your eyes",he replied.
She closed her eyes on command when he heard his padded footsteps from behind the curtain and she finally looked at him and they broke into laughter.
After they were done munching on sweet and crunchy fruits from the fruit bowl, they went downstairs to help her father with the dinner, her mother would be joining late.
Chavi's father smiled at his children and informed that the food is almost ready and asked her to call her dadu.
She switched on the TV and put on a cartoon show for Vihan before leaving the room. She took a left from the drawing room to knock on her grandfather's door but found his room empty. After searching around, she found him in the most unusual place, taken a little aback.
He was standing in the middle of her grandmother's room, staring at a hand-painted picture that hung above the headboard of her bed.
Chavi sometimes felt grateful that they had two guestrooms, as her grandmother always requested a separate room, despite staying only six months of the year. Her dadu was a simple man, content to live anywhere as long as it didn't cause any trouble.
She stepped inside the room and watched her dadu, who gave her a small smile when he noticed her looking at the picture.
"The dinner is ready", Chavi informed.
He nodded and stepped towards the door to leave the room, she hesitated but asked, "Do you miss her that much?"
He nodded wordlessly when she gathered her courage and asked again,"Then why did you let her go?"
The old man finally looked at her, and she could see from his red eyes that he had been holding back tears. He spoke, "Sometimes you have to let go if the pain becomes unbearable."
"Of what", she dared to ask.
He looked at her again and his eyes told it all before his lips could express, "Love is unconditional like that".
"Do you think you will ever be together again?" she asked with her voice laced with hope.
"I hope and I pray," he answered before leaving the room.
She stayed for some time, after he had left when she realised that her dadu had never stopped loving her grandma or never did she, from the times she had noticed her grandmother stack all her grandfather's belongings, that she had been merely trying to stop herself from, and keep them treasured in her cupboard.
Grief was the older sibling of hope, and in their household, they both lived side by side.
