Best Rivals {On Hold}

Chapter 9 (*Revised)

Simran jumped in surprise when the door flew open to her dorm.

She had been reading an article online for class when Bethany barrelled through the door speaking loudly into her phone.

"Mom! I'm not coming home. You invited his entire family over without even asking me and I've barely met the guy."

Bethany paused as she listened to the response while moving around her side of the room.

"No! That's not my fault."

She stayed on the phone for a few more seconds before grumbling a "bye" and hanging up. Her gaze met Simran's quickly before she went back to grabbing a few things. Before she left again, she turned back to Simran with a harsh glare.

"Don't even think about touching any my stuff."

Too bad Simran had already done more than just that.

Bethany was only gone for a few minutes when her phone, which she had left on her desk started vibrating with a call. Ignoring it, Simran focused back on her laptop when the ringing stopped. It started up again after a few seconds and it was starting to irritate her.

Whoever it was, apparently really wanted to talk to Bethany.

When it finally ended, Simran was glad.

But apparently whoever was on the other end of that phone was impatient. Another five minutes had gone by when it started vibrating again and this time, Simran didn't want to hear it.

Getting up from her bed, she walked over to turn the phone off when she caught sight of the name lighting up the screen.

Aaron.

Why was he calling Bethany? Had they been talking again?

Grabbing the phone, she clicked the off button and walked back to her desk with questions swirling around her head.

Just the thought of him brought so many emotions to the forefront of Simran's mind. Anger at what he had done and led Bethany to believe. Surprise that he was calling Bethany now and the underlying sadness that somehow always creeped its way in when it came to remembering her friendship with Bethany.

Simran was still lost in her thoughts when Bethany came back. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but Simran knew it would be different in a few hours.

The two girls didn't speak to each other for the next two hours. Simran stuck in her earphones and finished up the rest of her readings and Bethany sat on her bed with her own headphones covering her ears.

Simran packed up her things once she was done and left the dorm without a word. As she walked from her dorm to the cafeteria to grab herself some dinner, Simran thought back to how different it was now with Bethany.

The two girls had grown up together and been best friends since grade three. Bethany had moved in days before the start of the school year and at that age, she was much more quiet and shy than she was now. Her parents had introduced themselves and ever since the first day of school, when they had been paired together for an activity, they had been practically inseparable. Neither Bethany nor Simran had any other siblings and they had both felt the absence filled by each other. Bethany loved hanging out at Simran's house where she would taste new foods from Simran's south-asian culture and even dress up in some of her colourful suits.

On the other hand, Simran had loved going over to Bethany's house to play with her dog, Noodles and indulge in her mother's homemade english desserts that Simran had devoured each and every time.

Despite coming from different backgrounds, the girls had found so much in common with each other and shared so many memories that now, seemed like a lifetime ago.