The countdown to Irfan's wedding reception started a few days ago. At that time, we had two weeks to go. Two dreadful weeks that I knew would pass by too quickly, and then before I knew it, my sunshine's rays were going to be moving to another city to brighten up other people's lives. I hoped that wherever he'd be, the people around him would be blessed with the positivity that radiated with every step that Sunny took.

    But, even though that thought weighed down on the back of my mind, I tried to ignore it as I was over at Jen's house a lot, hanging out with her siblings, throwing spirals with her brothers, or braiding her sister's hair. Either way, it was always fun, and it was a good distraction to the thought that he was going to be leaving.

Because Jen was a lot more available than Manish was, now that he had to clean out a lot of his stuff that was in his room so that it could be shipped off to Seattle. Of course, this gave us no reason to not be in contact, but it was easier to talk to someone who wasn't losing his mind slowly over his possessions.

"So, anyways, are your parents moving Irfan off of his ass so that he can actually do some work for the reception?" I asked Jen, as I smoothed out Hiba's hair so that I could practice French braiding on it. I took the comb and ran it through her slightly naturally curled hair so that it could be freed up a little bit. If I learned how to do it on Jen's sister, then it could help me do it on myself so that I didn't end up creating a bird's nest in my own hair.

Jen chuckled, and said, "Oh yeah. Irfan's finally getting off of his lazy ass so that he can help a little bit. My parents are absolutely in love with Mallika as their daughter in law, and to be fair, I don't blame them. She's so wonderful. Irfan scored way out of his league."

Hiba chuckled from under my fingers, and said, "Didn't he? I mean, like, he always scored pretty girls, but pretty girls with a good personality? Yeah, he got way too lucky this time." We all laughed over it, as I separated a curl from Hiba's head.

Then, we heard footsteps come up to Jen's door, and then, a knock came at it. "Jen, you in here? Hiba?" the familiarly deep voice of Irfan inquired.

Jen gave a slight smile, but with her eyes widened, as she said, "Yeah, I'm in here. Jaya's here, too." She looked at me, and quickly mouthed, "Speak of the devil."

"Oh, Jaya's here?" he asked, as the door swung open. I smiled at Irfan, who looked pretty much the same since the first time I met Jen's family over 8 years ago. His thinning hair was combed neatly, and his strong jaw and pale skin was a slight contrast to Jen's slightly tanned skin. His mellow face remained nonchalant, despite the fact that Jen and I were literally joking about his love life a few minutes ago.

He gave me a slight smile, and said, "How are you, Jaya? It's been a while."

I smiled back at him, and said, "Oh, I'm okay. Congrats on your wedding! I'm just getting ready for medical school." Irfan's face droops with empathy as he realizes that we're going to be stressing ourselves even more for the next 4 years with school and an excessive amount of lectures, exams, and yelling.

"Wow, that's not fun. Rest in peace, girl. Jen's not going to like it either. She couldn't even handle a college level French class, yet she thought she could go into medical school." Jen gave him an eye roll, as Hiba tucked a curl behind her ear.

Mallika came walking by the door, and the fresh air of beauty blew in the room like a cool breeze. Her perfectly tanned skin, along with her pale pink lips and high cheekbones was a definite contrast to Irfan, although a rather pleasant one.

Mallika looked at me, with a big smile on her face, and said, "Jaya! How are you?"

I smiled back at Mallika, and said, "I'm doing great, Mallika. How about you?"

Mallika just shrugged, and said, "I'm doing okay. Life's crazy. With the wedding and everything, it's all been so hectic. We're just doing some last minute planning for the reception. I'm glad you're coming, Jaya, with your boyfriend."

Jen then burst into a fit of giggles, as she realized the context of what Mallika just said. I nudged Jen, as Mallika and Irfan both looked so confused as to what was going on. "Oh, he's not my boyfriend, Mallika. He's our best friend, Manish. Jen hasn't told you about him?"

Mallika's eyes widened, and Jen continued to giggle at the thought of Manish being my boyfriend. "Oh, sorry, Jaya! Sorry, but Manish and his sister are still coming either ways, right?" I gave her a confident nod. "Yes, definitely. I made sure that he's going to come."

Mallika then flashes another radiant smile, and then Rania Aunty called, "Irfan! Mallika! Can you help me, please?" Without another word spoken, Irfan and Mallika walked away from the door frame to go help Rania Aunty with whatever she needed.

Hiba leaned her head back a little bit, and said, "Manish being your boyfriend, hm? Sounds like a win win situation." I rolled my eyes, while I could still see the Lenny face plastered on Jen's face.

******

It was a while since I had talked to Manish. A few days, to be exact, but we usually talked to each other almost on a daily basis. I just assumed that he had to pack and move a lot of stuff to Seattle, because moving across the country isn't an easy process. And we sure as hell knew that the emotional factor was going to be the hardest thing that he had to deal with.

"Sorry for not talking much, Jaya. I've been so busy with moving and everything," Manish apologized, as I sat on the steps with a cold can of soda in my hand.

I took a sip, letting the cold liquid flow down my throat, and said, "Nah, you're good. Just don't overwork yourself, okay?"

I cautioned, as I heard him moving through souvenirs and other things in his room. "I'll try. Moving things out isn't the easiest thing that I've had to do."

I could feel the stress of everything wrapping around his voice, so I tried to change the subject. Thinking about the reception in a couple of weeks, I moved to that topic. "Have you gotten everything ready for Irfan's wedding reception?"

I heard another thing drop in his room, followed by a crash and a, "Dang it," and then he said, "Yeah, I've gotten pretty much everything done. And I'll drive you. Don't worry. I think we're both ready to shake it on the dance floor."

I snickered, thinking about Manish dancing crazily, or at all, because that had the same possibility of a polar bear coming into my house and stealing my TV with a paw. Smiling at it, I said, "I can't wait either. Just don't step on my toes over and over again."

Suddenly, I could feel something snap in Sunny. I didn't know what it was exactly, but I could just sense it over the phone. Because, over the phone, he angrily said, "Okay, Jaya, it's a joke! Let it go! I don't need to be reminded of my shortcomings every single moment of my life. So find something else to tease me about, or if you don't have anything to say to me that is mean, then don't talk to me at all."

A balloon full of shock popped inside of me. Out of all the reactions Sunny ever had, almost none of them were angry. In comparison, this reaction was a volcanic explosion compared to some of his other reactions. "Woah, calm down. It was a joke. I didn't mean to hurt you, Sunny."

"Well, you should've probably thought about that before saying it to me. I'm sick of it, and sick of your inconsiderate attitude." This time, I got annoyed. Manish was never this nasty to me, even when he was in the most stressful positions. This time, he was just being a douche.

"Okay, Manish, that is just rude. I'm just assuming you're stressed from moving, which is fine. But how could you talk to me like that? You've never gotten this angry at me. So, take some time to cool off. And come back to me when you aren't acting like a douche. Because if you think you can talk to me like this, then you're wrong. Call back when you aren't acting like an asshole."

Without another minute's hesitation, I hung up the call, and let out an exasperated sigh. My annoyance was skyrocketing out of control. Out of all the things he's said to me, Manish has never been this nasty. I pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers, and let out an exasperated sigh.

I guess that was what stress did to you.

**********

"You and Manish fought, huh?" my mom asked, as she looked up from the computer. I sipped on a glass of water, and just gave a subtle nod. She gave me a slightly sheepish smile, and said, "Fights happen, Jaya. That's friendship. I've fought with all my friends before."

"Yeah, but it's never been this bad. He's never been this nasty to me, or said these kinds of awful things. I thought it was just from the stress of moving."

"It probably is. Give it some time. He's a really apologetic person." I just shrugged, because even I didn't know the truth of that.

Out of all the things that he's ever said, this time he actually sounded fairly serious.

********

Nothing. It was 8:30 in the night, and there was nothing. No call back, no text, no arrival at my door. It was almost as if he didn't come back because he didn't want to. Worry was starting to fill up from all sides in me. Because if he took my advice seriously, which I hoped he didn't, then it would be a while before he decided to talk to me.

As I opened a book to read, I heard the doorbell ring. The ring was like the kick for my hopes to skyrocket into new heights. I slammed my book shut and almost ran downstairs to the door to open it. Without thinking, I unlocked the door, and yanked it open to see Manish standing there.

He had the look of shame on his face, like he had just been publicly humiliated in front of everyone. He gulped, and said, "Jaya." I gave him a slightly sheepish smile, and he just stood there, simply blinking. "Jaya, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I-," he started, but without another thought, I went up to him and snaked my arms around him in a tight hug.

When he felt his arms around me, I could almost feel him melt under my touch. He just hugged me back, while we just melted into each other and embraced one of the most comforting hugs that we've ever had in our history of friendship.

While he was hugging me, I heard him say, "Gosh, I was an idiot, Jaya. I'm never going to say those things to you again. I never meant them in the first place. You don't deserve to be talked to that way." I could feel my heart melt into a puddle of pure goo. I didn't know why Manish just had to be just a cinnamon roll, especially after apologizing. It just made me appreciate him to another degree.

Once he let go of me, he held up a little shopping bag that looked like it had a lot of things inside. "I got you some things to fully say 'I'm sorry.' I got you your coffee cake and dahi papdi chaat."

I gave him a smile, and said, "You didn't have to. You know that I would've understood if you just apologized."

Manish raised an eyebrow at me, with the, "Do you even know me?" look on his face. I gave him a slight shrug, and remembered that he always made sure to make his apology come across with some of your favorite things. I then realized that it was kind of cold outside and making the warm hearted Sunny stand outside in the cold was cruel, and slightly ironic at the same time.

"Oh yeah, you can come in if you want. It's kind of cold." Manish took off his shoes, and walked inside of my house so that we could enjoy some food together.

When he stepped inside, I heard the loud thumping of footsteps come down the stairs and into the living room. Ananth walked into the vicinity, and then he saw Manish standing there with food. His face lit up like a lightbulb when he saw Manish standing there. "Manish!" he squealed, as Manish walked towards the living room.

"Ananth, what's up?" he asked, happily, as they exchanged a bro hug. I giggled to myself a little bit, as I went to the kitchen to get bowls and food to make Manish feel like he was back at home.

But, the smile on my face wasn't just from the fact that Manish and Ananth were still so close.