Sun shines brighter here *Editing*

There's no dignity in dying

I caught Emily's eye across the room and motioned that I'd be right back. I walked through the sweaty crowd toward the back door that led to a garden.

Pressing the answer button, I lifted my Iphone to my ear. A loud voice boomed through the speaker.

"Aria,I had to speak to you, it's an emergency, how are you doing?" My mother's voice alarmed through the phone.

An emergency? My fingertips prickled and I gripped my phone tighter.

"Hello, Ma" I said shakily.

"Did you speak to Rachel lately?"

"Why, no"

"I thought you should know what happened to her brother. Earlier today, the Sharmas got a call from the University saying that they're son was missing, they have filed a complaint with the police but so far, they have no idea about him,sounds so strange isn't it? I always knew these Sharmas were trouble"

"What?!" I gasped for air. "Ronak is missing? I must call Rach"

"I'm telling you,leave that family alone,ever since he shifted to Delhi, they've been extremly weird and secretive"

"I'll talk to you later,Ma. I have some work to do. Bye" I said hanging up.

I left a voice message to Rachel because she was'nt answering my call.

My head spun in every direction, must have been the alchohol. The wind hustled through the desert bush. I was scrolling through my phone book to find anyone who studied in the same college as Ronak, Ronak and I were close friends during our teenage years and then he got so weird around me and we drifted apart.

"Hey?" A hand landed on the back of my shoulder. I froze, my body going cold as I turned around.

"Naveed" I whispered.

The hiss of his name echoed over and over.

"What are you doing out here?" Naveed snapped,,retracting his hand from my shoulder.

"I needed some air,,the room is so crowded. I think I have asthma" I coughed.

"Asthma is hereditary, dumbass"

"There's something called as sarcasm, heard about it? "

Naveed chuckled.

"Who was that on the phone?" he asked making a serious face.

"Uh, none of your bussiness " I said walking away from him.

"It was your mother or Rachel informing you about Ronak's disappearance,was'nt it?" He started to whisper again. Yeah, because it is so possible that some random white people will know who we're talking about, right?

"You're acuraccy at guessing is freaking me out" I said.

"Ha,I heard you say Ronak,so I thought you'd know about it"

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how close were both of you?" I asked suddenly remembering they attended the same College and school.

"4.5? I don't know, we weren't close. He was always so angry and grumpy. He once hit his own girlfriend of two years. He used to sit alone at lunch and write something in that grey notepad of his. Such a weird fellow" He said turning away from me.

"Rachel isn't picking up, I hope she returns the call. Imagine your only sibling is missing and you can't do anything about it " I said.

A low buzzing noise sounded. I was'nt sure it was the bugs or the music from the party.

"Well,I think there's more to it" He said,eyes wide opening.

"What do you mean?" I said, paying attention to his words.

"Look, we all know Ronak was a loner and a stoner, that actually rhymes! haha"

"What do you know?" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm saying he hung out with a lot of unruly elements in the society,I'm pretty sure he owed a lot of money to a lot of people,I don't think he ran away because he was unhappy or whatever,I think he's been planning to do this from a long time besides he even s....." Naveed was cut off by a squeaky voice. We both turned around in co-ordination.

"I'm sorry,am I interrupting? "

It was that useless Preethi Rajpal.

Of course, you are woman!

"No,not at all,come join" I fake smiled.

"Yeah,not at all" Naveed retorted.

"So, you both seem pretty close,huh?" Preethi said yanking her long dark locks into a ponytail and stared at Naveed like she was waiting for him to defend himself.

"We're just getting to know each other" He said.

"I bet" she said sarcastically and stared at me.

"What?" I asked her awkwardly.

"Nothing, you're pretty but your eyes seem sad,why are you sad? Naveed why is she sad? " she said shifting her gaze from me to Naveed.

"We should go back inside" I suggested.

Naveed shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his mud-coloured cargo pants. "Yeah,we should"

We walked back inside in silence and met up with Emily.

"You're adorable" she said looking at Naveed.

He blushed and whispered something in her ear.

My neck ached as I had too much for tonight. I just wanted to lie down.

"So,I'll take leave and you my lady are my ride so better move it " I said looking at Emily.

"Dude,I had like 4 shots,I can't drive unless you want to go to jail" she said and disappeared into the crowd.

"Do you want a ride?" Naveed asked.

I hesitated but I agreed because my body needed the comforts of my bed.

We walked out of the building nearly after 30 minutes, fake smiling and biding goodbye to everyone.

I walked over to the driveway, Naveed behind me. The night air hung heavy and silent between us.

Panic gripped my limbs.

"Are you all right? Naveed asked.

"He used to call me at odd hours and cry, you know? " I said walking faster.

"Ronak? Wow,that guy had tears in his eyes? He was a terrible person,Aria. I don't usually call people that but this guy is an exception. He has done things that you would'nt even have heard of,don't think about it,he isn't worth it" Naveed said catching up to me.

"You know,it's funny how people just disappear. When they're gone they leave a trail of mystery and misery behind them, his disappearance doesn't affect me, it just intrigues me. As you said, there's more to it, there should be " I said all at once.

"See, that's the thing, some people's presence is only felt when they're gone" He said hopping in his car and motioning me to do so.

"Do you think he's dead?" I asked him as I got into his car.

"I hope not, there's no dignity in dying" he said and drove away into the monsoon darkness.