Promises Made and Broken

Cupcakes And Mr. Death Glares

It's was difficult for me to breathe. The pain in my chest rose with each breath I took.

Ignoring the rising pain I opened my eyes.

I woke up to the hooting and hauling sounds my brother's cavalry.

The sky today is cloudy and it's darker than usual mornings. Seems like God's official announcement for the onset of winters.

I'm still laying in my parent's bed.

I looked at the wall clock which displayed the time as 9:45AM.

My eyes widened. I had school at 8. I had a presentation to present. I had a test to write. I had a quiz to answer. I had lectures to attend. I had practicals which I couldn't miss at any cost. And I had promised Arundhati about not leaving her alone in school.

She's going to kill me.

"Yeah, give him some." I could make out who was shouting on the top of his voice. Raghav.

I searched for my phone everywhere. But I found no sign of it.

I got off the bed, stretched and walked out of the door, into the living room. My hair was sticking out from all directions and my eyes were puffy.

I entered only to see Arrav on top of Divansh, Divansh on top of Harsh, Raghav standing besides Vartika, while both tried to breathe amidst their laughing fit and Ayush and Vani holding a bored-to-death expression.

Sometimes I feel like Ayush and Vani are the only people sane in their group.

"Em.Em." I cleared my throat and everybody turned to me.

For a second there was an awkward silence until Raghav spoke "Abani, come..we've been roasting Harsh all morning."

"That sounds inviting." In the most bored tone I rejected his offer and started walking to the landline.

I picked up the dialer and dialed my number. It was ringing.

"Abani, your phone's with me." Arrav called out.

I walked to where he was sitting.

"And what is it doing with you?" I crossed my hands to my chest and knotted my brows.

"You had alarms ringing at 6 in the morning..and I thought after whatever happened yesterday, it's better that you rest." He completed. And as he did, I started losing my temper.

"Who asked you to do that.?!? It was important for me to go to school today, Arrav." My voice sounded a little irritated.

Everybody was patiently looking at me.

"What's wrong?" He calmly asked.

He can't be serious.

"You made me miss a very important test. And I had lectures. I had a presentation today. All if this was really really really important Arrav."

I could feel my cheeks flush by now. But this time it wasn't because of the fixed eyes, it was because of built up anger.

"Abani, your cheeks are red." Raghav stated. "And your ears too." Arrav added, looking straight into my eye.

I was breathing heavily and blinking furiously.

"Where's mom?" I asked, my temper still intact.

"She's gone to the hospital. They called her in. It was some kind of an emergency." Arrav shrugged, but did not break eye contact.

"Alright." My voice came out hoarse.

"Do you want breakfast?" Divansh asked. I averted my eyes from Arrav's and looked at Divansh. He'd spoken to me for the first time since whenever they all have been here.