Clouded Crossroads

1: New and Old

Jiya

Colors. Shapes. Structure. Design. Blending them together was an art itself.

I switched out my regular pencil for the charcoal one as I continued adding details to my drawing. A curve there, tighter here. Continuing to perfect my sketch, I could see the outfit coming alive on the paper.

Suddenly, in the distance I heard the sounds of faint footsteps coming closer and closer to my room. Scrambling to hide everything in sight, I quickly shoved the paper underneath my textbook and hid the pencils in the nearest drawer. Flipping to a random page, my eyes scanned the words meaninglessly as I heard my door open. Acting oblivious, I turned around to see Ma walk into the room smiling, holding a plate of snacks.

"Studying before your first day? Excellent, beta!" she said, her eyes gleaming with genuine delight.

I simply nodded at the partial truth. I was studying until a new design idea for a dress sparked in my head.

"I have complete confidence in my child. Even though we moved to this new city in the middle of the year, you won't have any trouble catching up. You will be a star, Jiya!" And with that, she gave me a tight hug and left the room after a few more words of assurance. Putting the textbook off to the side, I extended my legs to lay on my bed.

This new beginning was something I was scared about. I still remember the day Ma got the call -- a job transfer to a new city, Delhi. Leaving the home I grew up in, leaving my best friend, and leaving the city of my laughter and tears...all blurred before my eyes like a dream. Suddenly the thoughts of moving to a new city, and most importantly a new university, became something I dreaded looking forward to. "Everybody would have already formed their own groups of friends. Where would I belong?" was a thought I frequently had. But then, I thought of my single mother. Working as an accountant all day and coming home to live her role as a mother, was something I admired with all my heart. Everything she did was for me; making sure I got all the privileges I needed. Apart from my high academic performance, if it hadn't been for her, I probably wouldn't have gotten a seat in Delhi's prestigious university. Ma is my life -- and I'm willing to go through anything to make her happy.

But little did I know what difficulty that vow would bring in the future...

~~~

Vihaan 

"You killed the match, yaar!" Rishi slapped my back.

"From now on, I'm bringing a sign that says 'Watch my bhai, Khatri, kick butt!'" Jay added in, chuckling.

"Please no." I said, cringing at the thought.

"Khatri...captain of the varsity football team. When will this title turn true?!" Vicks (our nickname for his real nickname, Vicky, which stands for his real name, Vikram) shouted, earning us a few glances from the people walking around us.

"Why? So you can go around college wearing your Gucci shades in front of girls, saying your friend is the captain of the football team?" Jay joked. "I don't know why...but I feel they will give you their Gucci slippers in return."

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Me and Rishi had our mouths plastered shut while Vicks had a deadly glare on his face.

But after a good length of silence, he finally spoke up. "Y'all don't need to do this much overaction. If you want to laugh then laugh. I don't need my friends' faces on the medical channel for inventing a new death cause: how-to-die-while-clogging-your-breath-from-trying-to-stop-laughing."

The four of us just looked at each other wide-eyed, imagining the scene. Two seconds later, the burst of laughter filled the warm air.

Many people might say their parents, siblings, girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse are the basis of their lives. But for me: these dimwits are. No matter how many times they crack jokes at the wrong times, no matter how many times they emotionally blackmail me to do their forgotten assignments, no matter how many times they get us kicked out of ice-cream shops for trying too many free samples...they are after all friends. Friends who stand by me in the best dreams and worst nightmares. To the rest of the world, I might be known as the 'Popular College Star Vihaan Khatri' -- extraordinary academic student and footballer. But only these guys know me as just 'Vihaan', or 'Khatri Boi', or even 'idiot'. They know the determined, headstrong human I am...and they also know the broken one.

🌱

Now how would it be when these opposites meet?...