Mahika and Amoli can't stand each other, but that's not the only thing they have in common.
Mahika treats Amoli like she's childish. Amoli thinks Mahika is a stuck-up prude. But Mahika's best friend and Amoli's brother are getting married, so they c...
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˗ˏˋfamiliar touches and vibrant yellows'ˎ˗
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Mahika lets her head drop on the table and groans, feeling the vibration from it go right back to her skull and making her headache worse.
Beside her head lies Naina's, and she probably feels just as bad as Mahika if not more.
"What's wrong with them?" Keerti asks, and Mahika raises her head just in time to catch Akash giving her and Naina a wry look.
"They were up talking till four in the morning," he tells Keerti with an eye roll, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Outside. In the garden." As if on cue, Naina sneezes and then groans in annoyance, unintentionally exaggerating his point. He reaches out to rub her back in slow circles before continuing. "I suggested that we move the farm trip to another day and stay home today so they can both catch some rest. At least until they both feel better." With a shake of his head, he adds, "They refuse to listen to me, though."
Mahika feels terrible. One of the reasons being that she really doesn't want to hold everyone else back from having fun. And the other is that she just really, really wanted to go to the farm.
"We can stay home and do something else today," Samay says, patting Mahika on the head like a dog and then immediately pulling away with a grin when she reaches out to smack his hand off with a murderous look on her face.
"Yeah, it's not like we're canceling," Sakshi adds. "We'll just move the plans a day or two away."
"What were you talking about anyway? It couldn't wait until it was a little less cold?" asks Samay, and Mahika tries to keep her face as straight as possible, while Naina just goes ahead and says, "Girl stuff."
He narrows his eyes at her but Naina just stares at him head-on, her face not giving anything away. Mahika's afraid that everyone at the table is going to be able to tell that she's holding her breath, but it's right in that moment that a steaming cup of tea is placed on the table in front of her, and another one in front of Naina.
Mahika blinks in surprise and looks up to meet Amoli's eyes.
"It has extra ginger," the girl stutters out in a hurry, as if that's enough explanation behind making Mahika's chest feel like it's expanding and contracting with every breath she takes. "To help with the cold," Amoli adds meekly, suddenly looking like she's regretting everything in life, all the way from the very first time she learned how to make tea.
Naina's whine interrupts the awkward moment.
"I hate tea."
Amoli breaks eye-contact with Mahika, but the latter doesn't miss the way her cheeks seem rosier than they were just a few seconds ago. How could she? Mahika is pretty sure her own face looks the exact same.
