The Urban Chronicle ✔

9: The Bad Boy Can Be Sweet?!

“So what exactly did Mother say to you?” Mahindra asked softly, the concern evident in his tone.

“Nothing much, just the usual.” I said indifferently, as I scratched off the nail paint from my left pinky finger.

We were lounging in the common room for all the royal kids.

Sanghamitra and I had postponed our shopping plans to the next day since I wasn’t in the best of moods at the moment.

Mahindra and Sanghamitra had been taking turns to try and squeeze out the truth of why I had been crying, but so far I hadn’t told them anything. Didn’t they get the message that I did not want to tell them? But I had to admit that they had been relentless so far.

“You wouldn’t have irrigated your entire pillow if it was nothing much as you said. Come on Tara, we might be able to help you. It isn’t good to bottle up your emotions like that.” Mahindra said calmly.

Neel sat on the couch trying to act like he didn’t care about why I had been crying. He was pretending to read a book intently but I knew he was listening because he’d been on the same page forever, ok maybe the last ten minutes.

Oh so we were back to pretending that the other didn’t exist. Gosh! He was such a prick. I thought that we had left our rivalry behind, now that we knew each other better.

Well, maybe that wasn’t the case and I had jumped to conclusions. But I knew that he cared because he’d been listening to our conversation so far. He just happens to have an enormous ego. Well, who cares?!

I was annoyed by the amount of questions the two siblings were bombarding at me so I finally decided to tell them. Beside there was nothing to be ashamed of, right?

“Since you want to know so badly and have been acting like your life depends on it, I shall tell you. Your dear mother said that I’m an ethic-less girl with vaguely stripper tendencies and that I’ve been bent on trying to spoil Sanghamitra. There, that’s all.” I said emotionlessly, now scratching the nail polish off my ring finger.

“Hey, don’t take what she says to heart. My mother is overprotective and is known for her quick mouth. I assure I like you just the way you are. I wouldn’t want you to change even in my wildest dreams. Besides, I have no plans of being rebellious. At least not at the moment.” Said Sanghamitra, lifting a weight from my chest and her words made me feel much better.

“Guys, you don’t need to waste your time and energy giving me a pep talk. I have already decided that she isn’t worth wasting the time of day for. I’m over it.” I said raising my hands up, as a sign of indifference.

I got up to leave the room. Now that I’d told them, I didn’t feel like staying here any longer. I was glad they the others made no effort to stop and understood that I needed my space at the moment.

Neel followed me out of the chamber. Catching up with me, he asked, “Are you a hundred percent sure that you are fine?”

“One hundred and ten percent. I feel just peachy.” I replied.

He smiled and said, “I always saw you as a strong girl back in school. I remember how you stood up against your bullies in sixth grade. You never cried even once. I always admired you a lot for that. Any other girl would have cried in the bathroom or complained. So if you cried today, you must have felt very hurt.”

We were walking side by side now. I slowed down my pace, and said, “I know I shouldn’t care much, but as you said the queen’s words pierced me nevertheless. Everyone has always praised me for my manners and punctuality, and treated me like a golden child. I realized today that I am not open to any kind of criticism, which isn’t good either.”