Sparks Fly

CH 2:Why Him?

Sara is a year younger to me and is my cousin. Her mom and my mom are sisters. So when Sara's parents got divorced, mother invited her to live with us for the time being and they eventually shifted into the neighbourhood. Sara is 5'6ft with shoulder length hair and a tanned skin tone. We spend a lot of time together, especially when both our mothers are working late.

Sara enters the house all sweaty with a basketball in hand and makes a beeline straight to the shower. I scroll on my phone for the meantime while she starts whistling. After her shower she jumps into the bed with me and is all smiles.

"What's the deal with you?" I ask her

"Nothing."

"C'mon. Tell me. You're smiling in a weird way now."

"I met this guy on my way to your house and we just started talking. He's kind of cute," she says.

This makes me alert as I pay double the attention to whatever comes out of her mouth.

"I've never seen him before or maybe just never noticed, '' she says. This makes me excited for her.

"It sounds like a rom-com story."

"I don't know what that was but it felt like everything." She then covers her face with a pillow and I'm kicking my feet. We both shriek at the same time.

"What does he look like? What is his name? Tell me everything."

"He's tall, a bit older than me. I think he is a college kid. I mean he had a backpack and stuff. But I didn't get his name."

"How could you not?" I yell.

"It slipped my mind. We were talking and the next thing I know the lift stopped at this floor and I got off," she says. Hearing this an idea pops into my mind and together we plan it.

There are three more floors above my apartment. That is floor D, E and F. We start with F and decide to make our way downwards. Starting with F-20, me and Sara stand in front of their door and ring the bell. An old lady opens the door asking us what our business is.

"Hello I'm Gia, I'm the daughter of Janki Devi who's the secretary of the building. Mother's off to work and has given me the job to update the personal information of the residents. So if you could tell me the name, phone numbers and age of your family members, I would really appreciate that," I told her.

The plan was really working but we still couldn't find Sara's guy. Some would invite us into their homes and one look at the family pictures was enough to tell us that this isn't that home. While the age of boys didn't really match with Sara's assumption. Our next stop was D floor, the prick's residence. I sent Sara to his house while I went up to D-16 who invited me inside their house.

Gathering all necessary information I step out of D-16 only for my eyes to find Sara opposite me giggling while Neil speaks to her very enthusiastically. Sara turns her face to invite me over but I decline. Neil looks over at me too and in the blink of an eye shifts his attention back to Sara. I move towards the lift hoping she gets the signal to wrap it up.

I hear the sound of a door being shut and Sara joins me as we enter the lift and hit the button to our floor. Over the background music that is played in the lift she tells me, "found him." I don't say anything further.

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I am already in a bad mood when my mother enters the house with her nasty attitude in place. She complains about everything she has to do for the two of us and everything I don't do.

"It would be of great help if I get to come to a clean house," she says tiredly.

"I know but I have my days. Today just wasn't it."

"I saw your half yearly grade sheet as well, your grades are slipping."

"I know," is all I say.

"I would need a little more than that."

"I'll do better next time," I say half heartedly.

Mother with resignation all over her face leaves the room. I'm filled with guilt but do not go after her. Later at the dining table she shares that she is looking for after school classes for me. I tell her I am too tired after school for these classes but she thinks these are important for me especially looking at my grade. Mom's a lot more tired these days, it has been really hard for her after dad's passing. To take care of a growing daughter, on top of daily life expenses and a house loan has taken its toll on her. The dark circles underneath her eyes is enough proof.

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Days go by neither Sara has stepped a foot in the building nor have I seen Neil around. But that hasn't stopped her from messaging me all the time. Today's message reads that she wants to come over and get dressed for a date. A date! I fire an excuse for not being at home and that she's on her own while laying on my bed. Her response is an upside down smiling emoji that does make me feel bad.

The events of a couple of days get to me and I'm filled with guilt for making everyone's life around me hard. But I'm saved from going down in this spiral of overthinking when I hear the doorbell ring. I open the door hoping that it isn't Sara who's surprising me but the tall individual standing in front of me leaves me equally aghast.

"Have you lost your way?" I ask him

"Still no manners, I see." He tries to enter the house but I block his way.

"Mother is not home."

"I know. I'm here for you," he says. Looking at my confused expression he adds

"Did she not tell you?" I shake my head.

He crosses his arms in front of him, his biceps too tight for his t-shirt and says, "you might wanna call her."