Dead Nor Alive

#28

              To say the coming month was hectic would be the understatement of the year. Juggling between school, studies and exams the girls had barely managed to complete the training without completely turning into a pile of dust. Trisha was sure she was flunking math, something her ego couldn't possibly take. Sarah's parents had tried to implement every possible mean to stop her from distracting from her studies. Their entire class was buzzing with speculations over what had pushed the most laid back girls into overdrive, their sudden friendship with Sharan not going unnoticed. The one affected the most by this major time lapse was Aditya. The rumours had gone from vacationing, to missing, to murdered, to murderer, to abducted by aliens to who even cares. There were still some news articles here and there, an occasional blog post or so, but the overall population seemed to have lost interest in his whereabouts.
        
           "Tomorrow..."

           "Yeah, tomorrow."

             An entire month had passed and the forthcoming camping trip had brought down a sense of finality on the lot. Sarah had checked and rechecked and checked some more to make sure she wasn't missing anything out. Trisha had never been so thorough at preparing anything. Even Sharan hadn't escaped the rush of the seeming and hopeful end of the adventure. Aditya's mind was moments away from exploding from all the telepathic conversations. All the three kids spent their night tossing and turning in the anticipation of the things to come.

.

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           That day they reached extra early at the meeting spot. Despite the oncoming summer it was still pretty cool that early in the morning. All three of them looked like bundles of wool with the layer and layers of warm clothes. They discussed and planned and revised what was to be done. They went through the minor details, the tiniest specific just to be safe. Yet all through this discussion Aditya was completely cut off. His face completely somber. His thoughts hadn't escaped the girls' minds but by now they had learnt to tune out the mental conversations. As all the campers gathered and they all headed to board the train, Trisha lingered back a little, silently accompanying Aditya. She didn't push or pry, just walked beside him waiting for him to say something. 

              "Hey."

              "Hey"

              "This is it huh?"

             Aditya did not respond to this. He let out a sigh that conveyed much more than words. However weird the circumstances had been they had spent over a month together. All that had happened was bizarre to say the least,  straight out of Ripley's believe it or not. 

             "I know I wasn't much help, and I did nothing to make your lives easier, but thanks."

             "Yeah I've been waiting for that thanks for a while now."

             "Blunt as ever. But in my defense you guys did create all this mess in the first place."

            Trisha only gave him an abashed look in response and started walking forward. Aditya trailed behind. As they boarded the train they were well aware that there were a lot of things left unsaid. There was much drama to ensue in the coming couple of days.