A for Empathy

Chapter 1

"People can live as long as they have one person who listens to them".

She texted Siddharth about the situation. He maybe a junior but they are very close to each other. She made the decision to tell him since they have been friends for a very long time.                

"Whooo, Speak her name". 

"Sakshi". 

"She will pay". 

"Don't do anything, I just cannot handle anything rn". 

"I couldn't be there". 

"It's fine". 

"Had done enough".

 "Not your fault". 

"It's time for them to pay". 

"Don't do anything". 

"Today we mourn, after a few days we bury".                                                                                                          

Well, that wasn't a good decision was it.

She decided to call Manasvi. "Hello?", nobody answered. Arohi already teared up listening to her voice. "Are you crying?". All she could hear from the other side was quite wailing. "So, where was I?". She explained her the entire situation. 

On the evening of 4th August, friendship day, "I'm sorry", she wails walking from the pavilion. Arushi watches from a feet away as her old friend breaks down in tears walking towards her. "Are you okay?", she asks. They leave the park and make their way to the bus stop, which takes Arushi home. "Goodbye Arohi, take care", she says and boards the bus heading home.

Today was a gloomy day for our main character. She did not just lose her eight-year-old best friend but also her eight-year-old school friendship. She doesn't have any friend group anymore.

"Why does that keep happening to me?", she said to herself while walking home alone. She lives in an apartment in a family of four. She wiped her tears before entering her house. Her dad opened the door for her, her mother sitting on the couch watching TV and older sister sitting on the bed.

She is a teenager in a group of adults who despise their daily lives and have little time for anything else, her mother who works despite having multiple health issues, her father who is retiring this year, an older sister who is doesn't treat her like a younger sister.  A truly dysfunctional household. Living in such a house is exhausting. 

Despite her red eyes, no one seemed to notice. Entering the bedroom, she saw her sister lying scrolling reels. She changed and ate dinner at her study table as usually. The family does not eat meals together. Her heart was shattered but she was trying to hold her tears back in front of her family. 

Her family has always been involved closely with her friends. She was unsure of how to break the news to her mother. Sakshi used to visit her home frequently and chat with her mother. Despite her mother's disapproval of her, she was quite close to her. At the beginning of the year, Arohi grieved the loss of another group of friends, and Sakshi helped her in overcoming her loneliness at that time. She was very grateful for that. Sakshi's loss will affect her life a lot.