Night Out

1

1

Ayesha couldn't believe it. Her parents actually locked her out of the house. She rolled her eyes, at first. But even after fifteen minutes of continuous ringing of the doorbell, and constantly calling her parents, she found no answer. She couldn't help but stamp her foot, childishly.

She was going to ring, once more, but decided to give up when she got a message from her mother.

From: Ma
No use of knocking the door or the bell. Me and your Papa are sleeping with earbuds. We warned you. You rebelled. Now sleep outside, and learn a lesson.

Ayesha groaned. She wanted to text back a sorry, and a promise that she won't go out for parties again without increasing her marks. She even typed it. But sighed, erased it, and locked her phone knowing it was of no use. It was just eight in the evening, but the night was pretty chilly.

She shivered. She wore jeans and a sleeveless top. She went and sat by her favorite bench, in the garden... and noticed the stuff left by her parents.

Her warm jacket, a bottle of water, and a biscuit packet. Ayesha smiled.

Wearing the jacket, she felt warmth and was grateful her parents thought of it, at least.

Ayesha Raizada is nineteen, and in second year of her college in her home town of Mumbai. Pretty with long hair and brown eyes, she is used to attention from boys. Ayesha used to be a great student in school. Key word, 'used to'. But college somehow struck a cord in her that she never knew was there. Soon, her number of friends kept increasing, the number of proposals kept increasing, the number of parties kept increasing, but the number of her marks kept decreasing.

Her parents always tried to talk to her, but she kept ignoring them. Her parents had their last straw when her semester exams hit an all time low of forty nine percent. They warned her until she scored at least sixty percent in the tests, she can't party. And if she rebelled, she'd be locked out of the house for the night. She never took their warning seriously, but now...

"They meant it, damn it," Ayesha whispered to herself. She took a sip of water, and put her head against the wall.

Unfortunately for her, her phone battery was dying soon as there was less than five percent charging. Zipping up her jacket, she decided to just go to sleep.

After five minutes of trying to a position comfortable enough to sleep on the uncomfortable bench, she gave up. Groaning, and frowning she stood up.

Her body felt a bit stiff. Stretching and yawning, she started walking around the garden... feeling utterly bored. She kept thinking, singing, sometimes dancing even, but still she couldn't pass more than half n' hour.

Sleep, please come on, she chanted in her mind. Sleep, please come on. Sleep, please come on. I SWEAR JUST MAKE ME FEEL SLEEPY!

She groaned, and zipped up her jacket. Taking in a deep breath, she opened the gate of her house and walked to the road. Making sure, the gate is securely locked, she started walking on the roads.

Ayesha lived in a nice colony, which was safe for everyone even at midnight or after. She walked slowly, carefully, and that somehow made her take in a lot more details than she usually does.

The wind was chilly, but also swinging in a pleasant way. It moved as if it almost sang a song. A hum, or a lullaby. The moon, tonight, was luckily full and looked more stunning. The leaves of the tree rustled in a rhythm, and her footsteps too made sound that - if coordinated - Ayesha was sure it would've made great background music for a song. The night lamps were working, lightning up the way for her.

"Ah, Ayesha," she said to herself, almost fifteen minutes later. Her legs began to feel tired and when she spotted a bench, she proceeded to sit on it. Stretching her legs, she smiled to herself. The chilly wind felt better as she got used to it. Now that her mind was cleared, Ayesha began to realize from her parent's point of view.

They always believed that Ayesha would never be the one to disappoint them. They wouldn't even mind if she had gotten less marks in her exams, or was not feeling comfortable in what she was studying. But what made them worry was the reason why she began to get less marks. Distractions. Purely negative ones. Partying and hanging out with her friends used to completely fine and normal, until she began to do them to an extreme. Forgetting all her hopes and dreams, she began to distract her mind in a way that made her parents worry.

Ayesha couldn't help but feel guilty. She sighed, lost in her thoughts until -

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed, immediately jumping away from the bench. She felt like her heart almost stopped.

"Whoa, chill!" came a grunt, yet familiar voice.

She squinted her eyes to get a better focus. The boy was about her age, with hazel eyes, dark hair and light beard. He seemed familiar, as if she saw him many times... her eyes widened.

"You?!"

"Yes," he said. "Me. Got a problem?"

"Rahul Lohiya," she almost gasped.

"Ayesha Raizada," he said, sounding a little irritated.

"What are you doing here? And with that?" she pointed to a big bag, accusingly. She had a faint idea what he was going to say.

"Isn't it obvious Raizada? I ran away from home."

Yep, I was right. "Why? If it's okay..."

"It's not," he said bluntly. She frowned, yet sat beside him.

They sat there, silently. They didn't speak to each other at all.

Rahul Lohiya is a college mate of Ayesha. They always saw each other but never talked. Why would they? She was the social butterfly, while he had only a couple of friends. She was closing to failing, he was almost acing every exam. She would talk loud to grab attention, he would just sit by a corner reading a novel. Ayesha noticed him at first, because she found him cute.

His hazel eyes were the prettiest part of his face. She even tried to talk to him, but gave up in the last minute. To be honest, she kind of felt ashamed to talk to him. He was a winner, while she was slowly becoming a loser.

But wait, she thought. If it's like that, why would he run away from home? He doesn't seem that type.

"You know," she blurted and broke the silence. "I am really trying hard, but I can't take in this suspense. Why did you leave your home? You don't seem like the type to."

"You clearly don't know much about me, Raizada."

"Of course I don't. We barely talked."

"Barely?"

"Okay, fine. We never talked. This is our first time." Yet it isn't as awkward as it should be.

"Whatever," he mumbled, and closed his eyes.

"Are you sleeping?" Ayesha asked him, softly.

"Not exactly," he admitted.

"I'm bored."

"What do you except me to do?"

"C'mon, Rahul. Let's play a game!"

"Absolutely not."

She scoffed. "You're so cold."

"I know."

"Rahul," she whined.

Frustrated, he opened his eyes. "Okay fine!"

She grinned. "It's time for some twenty questions, Lohiya."