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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˗ˏˋ thick pins and blunt needles 'ˎ˗
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The next few days seem to go by in a flurry with the studying, helping each other with whatever they could, and talking about stuff the three of them haven't brought up with each other before.
They spend so much time together, Mahika temporarily forgets all about the thump of loneliness in her chest. Especially today, as she lets the peace of the day wash over her; the click of Keerti's fingers flying across her keyboard and Sakshi's long, even breaths as she sleeps with her head on Keerti's lap being the only sounds in the otherwise quiet room.
A fragment though, just a smidgen of the loneliness from having Naina thousands of miles away from her returns today when she scrolls through the pictures Naina has sent of her new house to their little group chat. Despite the ache, Mahika feels her lips curl into a fond smile around the straw of her sipper when she notices the array of Naina's favorite paintings lining the walls of the place in the pictures. The house also has a lovely indoor garden, the curtains are light and flowery, the windows are abundant, and the lights are warm.
It's the kind of space Naina would always gush about wanting to have growing up, and Mahika feels the ache in her chest intensify-the good kind of ache-when she thinks about how none of them would ever have to worry about whether or not Naina is happy.
Akash has already shown time and time again that he's more than worthy of being the person that Naina spends the rest of her life with.
Keerti lets out a whistle, startling both Mahika and Sakshi, the latter letting out a low grumble before opening her eyes.
"Akash is a hallucination," Keerti says, eyes on her phone, and Mahika immediately barks out a surprised laugh.
"What did he do now?" Sakshi asks, the question melting into a deep breath and then a long yawn. She closes her eyes again and blindly starts patting around the bed for her phone. Mahika takes pity on her half a minute later and leans over to pick the device up so she can hand it to Sakshi. "Thank you, Mahi, I love you."
"Love you, too," Mahika replies, amused.
"As impressed as I am, he's also married to Naina of all people," Keerti continues, still scrolling through the pictures. "I really don't know which one of them is luckier." Mahika blinks at the words, a little surprised, and it must show on her face because Keerti lets out a scoff. "What? Just because I don't show it often doesn't mean I don't love her to death. Stop staring."
Mahika stops staring.
"Damn," Sakshi whistles. "We're all a little bit in love with Naina, aren't we."
"Little bit?" Mahika scoffs as if offended. "Speak for yourself."
Keerti snorts and keeps her phone aside with a shake of her head before getting back to aggressively typing on her laptop. Mahika moves to do the same, but then her phone pings the very second it's about to touch the table.
