Of The Stars That Breathe

16. Huppi Buday.

So, a dedicated reader of mine had asked me to do a 'meet and greet' type of thingy, and I thought 'OMG YES YES YES' (heehee)
Considering the fact that 4-5 of y'all have already asked me questions in my personal conversation thing and in the previous chapter's comment section, I was thinking of answering them publicily.
So, stick to the end!

Now, on with the story ;)

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12 October, 2021.
11:25 p.m.

"Mujhe lagta hai Gareeb hi hai. Pakka Gareeb hai. Arey maine dekha woh electrical mein tha. Arey sachhi! Gareeb hi imposter hai. Arey lekin maine dekha! Main toh usko hi vote dunga.", Ajey said from his chair.

I sighed and closed shut my novel with a thud. I am not going to be able to read when these guys are live streaming and playing Among Us.

Ajey turned to look at me questioningly and I shook my head as if to say, 'nothing'.
He turned back to his screen and continued to prove that Gareeb was indeed the imposter.

Shlok bhaiya laughed at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

Suddenly, Ajey turned to me and said, "Arey, woh paani ki bottle paas karegi?"
As soon as he said that, his eyes turned wide. Shlok bhaiya face palmed.

It took me a minute to realise what had happened. I passed him the bottle and looked into Shlok bhaiya's laptop screen. He was taking care of any spam comments in the live chat and the superchats.

It was something like this:-

' 'Karegi?' Ajey ki gf op'
'Oho gf'
'Ajey ki bandi aa gayi!'
'Single no more op'
'girlfriend op'
'bhai baaju mein rupali hai kya?'
'bhai rupali ke saath dhokha?'
'rupali op'

Arey yaar.
When he got one such superchat, he said, "Arey bhaiya, Rupali nahi hai, girlfriend nahi hai. Meri cousin hai!"

Eventually, the spamming stopped. He looked at me, muttered a sorry and gave me a smile.
I smiled back, half-heartedly.

I realised that I wasn't mad about the fact that the chat had teased him and they told about me as his girlfriend.

What troubled me was the fact that he indirectly called me a 'behen'.
Ugh.
Why Ahalya, why?

-

20 October, 2021.
7:57 p.m.

I bid my college friends goodbye on my doorstep. It was my birthday today and we all went partying. Half an hour ago, Papa had called me and said, "Beta, Papa ke saath bhi bitalo apna birthday, heh?". So, here I am.

Technically, it was Ahaan birthday too. But he has gone to Chennai for a great-ass science project and won't be back for a week. When we had talked earlier today, he said that spending time with his scientific equipements was the best birthday he had ever had.
Such a nerd.

Before entering the house, I checked my phone for any missed calls from Ajey. He said he was working on a video and would be busy for a few days, turns out he hadn't even called me yet. And also, YTFF was coming. He was pretty busy with that too.

Part of me wanted to storm into his room, snatch away his headphones from his ears and shout, 'I am fucking 18, you dumb and ignorant being! At least, courtesy ke khaatir wish toh kar leta!' and smack him.

But things have been pretty confusing between us since the time the chat was spammed with 'girlfriend' and 'Rupali'. Pata nahi main kis feel mein thi ke I asked him the inevitable question on his doorstep while leaving, 'Ajey, what are we?'
To which he had very helpfully reacted by hanging his head, sighing and replied, 'Ahalya, mein bahot thak gaya hoon. I will call you tomorrow. Bye.'