(Just to be clear- This is a few years ago from the prologue)

That summer, things started to change.

The living room of Siya's tastefully designed bungalow apartment was bustling with cheers and congratulatory hurrays. The palatial room that stood opposite the wooden-furnished main door occupied a few of her and mostly her father's friends. The dining area that extended along the other end of the living room towards the open kitchen harboured the group of her mother's and Aunt's friends and neighbours. Each of the faces beaming with pride.

The atmosphere was enriched with fruition vibes in ample.

For the family that never believed in the extravaganza, such celebrations were new to Singhanias but not the smiles and warmth. With Siya providing them more reasons to celebrate, it is becoming a new norm for them, along with an ever-increasing list of the people to host.

Muting all the cheerful laughs and happy murmurs, Siya's almond-shaped, coffee-brown colored eyes swept through the entire area of her house in search of one person. Her pear-shaped face - captured between the rebellious waves of silky-smooth, shoulder-length, naturally shaded hair and pert nose - lost its shine on realising the absence of the person she wanted the most at the moment. At any moment of her life.

Sidling away from the celebration thrown in her honour, Siya glanced at the wooden door lying parallel to her main door. It was additionally encased in an oversized iron gate. Closed and Silent. Everything was similar in the build of both the houses except the dynamics.

Jogging her way out of the elevator through the porch of her building, she didn't miss the sole entity standing rather solemnly at the designated parking spot for the flat 406 - his moped, a shinning blue Activa. Yet another reminder of his choices and dreams losing their voice amidst the echo of his father's louder noise.

He had been dreaming of owning a Royal Enfield Bullet when he'll enroll in a college. The newly launched beast in the bike market. Two years ago, he experienced his first heartbreak when his father crushed his dream with this Activa. But he wasn't week-kneed either. He revolted for the color of his choice and picked up a blue only to ruffle a few of his father's feathers. As much as he would like to deny, Siya could see the truth through him. Like always.

After crossing a pile of towering buildings in her society named alphabetically as wings, Siya took a sharp turn around the Society's common hall and game zone. Stealthily walking on a dirt path behind the far end of the society, she tried to be as silent and vigilant as possible.

The path ended on the territory of a new development site being protected by a wire fence, woven in a structure of the mesh. Siya crouched and effortlessly slipped through a pre-cut hole in it owing to her petite jeans-clad form.

Dodging sacks of cement, concrete-mixers, an enormous pyramid of dry sand, and uneven cement-spilled blotchy ground, she reached a noiseless abandoned garden, probably grieving over the numbered days it has.

The construction work around the area has picked up a bullet speed in the last two-three years and a few of the cherished things from her childhood had to suffer a setback. This tranquil garden, their discovery, their Adda, is one amongst them.

Craning her neck down to avoid a huge bough of a longevous tree that is now buckling under the weight of its own branches, she could dodge the cover of its broad trunk and look beyond.

Siya's eyes landed on her favourite thing, the swing, made up of a small rectangular wooden plank held mid-air by ropes hanging from one of the high branches. And then on her favourite person, him, her best friend.

She doesn't need to see the face of the sturdy figure - just starting to get the right amount of muscles at the right places - to recognise him. His back faced Siya. Her eyes spotted a torn fiber end of his tee dangling near the seam of his shoulder. She smiled at his inability to cross the wire fence without getting his cloth stuck at its end. At least, some things are still the same amidst the sea of changes.

The summer was at its last shades hence the heat wasn't that scorching. Siya could feel the mild evening breeze tickling her senses. The worst part of the weather was over, now on to the next best things.

Siya could appreciate the slight movement of the swing as he shifted towards one end of it, apparently making space for her to sit. Even though she hadn't made her presence known, he knew she was here. A knowing smile graced her features at the preciousness.

"Mr Paras Malhotra.." Siya hollered in mock anger.

"What kind of a friend gets sad over his best friend's success?" She asked, taking in a place made by him, by his side on the swing.

"The kind that sticks with you for years, despite all your non-sense." Paras simply stated in a factual tone. The usual mirth in his voice missing. He's still mindlessly staring at a far point in front of him.

Siya took a good look at the guy she asserts to know and befriend since she didn't even know the meaning of the word. This fair-looking round-face hiding behind 4-day old stubble had crashlanded in her life one fine day, to make her 8th birthday memorable. Followed by, each next one to come.

"You could have told me if I was getting this unbearable to you." Siya pretended a hurt look with a dramatised turn of her head towards the opposite side.

That did the trick. He looked at her and a ghost of a smile appeared on his chapped lips. One of his sharp right upper teeth peeked through the blinders of his lips.

"I will, the next time you decide to hear me."

Her mouth fell open and she was ready with her comeback when her eyes caught on the vulnerability spread on his face. She let go of her words. She could lose many such banter for him, with him.

"Congratulations, Miss Topper. You made us all so proud of you." Paras punctuated his wish by playfully flicking Siya's nose.

Siya beamed at his words. This is the first time after the declaration of her selection list in the morning, he has expressed his happiness in his words. The rest of the time it was only his eyes doing the task.

"I always knew you could pull off anything you decide on. Cracking Medical entrance in the first attempt that too with flying colors is not child's play."

His admiration was genuine. It made Siya smile broadly, the smile that creased the sides of her eyes and hid a small mole at the end of the meeting point of her left eyelids.

Paras had been her front-row cheerleader, forever. He had always been a giver in their friendship and sometimes Siya does feel the weight of it. She had been more demanding than him. While he'd always be his sensible, goofy, humorous self.

She knew him too well to understand the 'but' hidden in his trying-to-be-effortless speech. Epic fail!

Toning down her big smile, Siya sighed and gave him the time he needed to process his traitorous thoughts.

"Since when you started taking medicals this seriously? I thought it was a universal joke in your family," Paras began, unconvinced.

That did put up a teasing smile on Siya's face. Very rarely you'd get the chance to witness this species in skepticism. She forced her dangling leg backward to give forward momentum to the swing. Paras followed suit.

"Since the time you decided that commerce, CA and accounts it is for you and overnight changed your stream."

Making a face at her deliberate jibe that had become more like an inside joke between them in the past two years, Paras punched playfully at her arm. It was the time of their stream-selection after 10th boards. They had both been enrolled in the same Science college, the best one in the city. Siya, a little too eagerly, Paras, a lot more influenced by his father's choice. Until a day previous to the start of the college when Paras opted out and got admitted into the commerce branch of the same college. The heroism that probably cost him his favorite bike.

After some time of keeping each other company, trying to battle with their swinging thoughts, Siya noticed Paras fiddling with his fingers. The telltale sign of his nervousness and indecisiveness.

Sighing defeatedly, she extended her legs to stop the slowly moving swing. Twisting her body to face him squarely, she held his hands between hers and asked earnestly, "I know, Cheeku, you'd never be upset over my achievement but what exactly is bothering you?"

Not able to meet her eyes, Paras kept looking at the space between them, irritated at her impeccable ability to read him. He whined cutely, "Popo, yaar! This is not fair. How do you know?"

"It won't bite you if you give a little credit to me. I have known you since what a decade."

"Nine and half years, precisely," he corrected her with a smug smile.

"You and your love for numbers, Maths, Finance, Accounts, and Commerce," Siya grumbled.

'And You!' Paras added in his mind, with a dejected smile on his face.

"So? Are you going to tell me anytime soon?" She narrowed her eyes and warned him.

"Would I come across as selfish if I ask my best friend to not opt for her dream medical college but to compromise?" Paras questioned, tentatively.

His insecurities were out in display for Siya to see. She didn't see this coming and had to ponder over her thoughts that weren't as organised as a few minutes ago. She remained quiet.

"I know, Popo, you had earned this MBBS seat in Mumbai's best college by your sheer hard work and determination but Nagpur isn't bad either. You could join in the same city and even remain close to your parents." And me!

"Besides, you're still a teen, and the life of Mumbai is stark different from here."

He's not talking anything different than what Siya had been thinking ever since she attempted Medical entrance and was awaiting her results. The medical college of Nagpur was pretty dope in its reputation but Mumbai's college Siya was selected in her first round of selection list was the best in the whole state and 3rd best in the whole nation.

She had seen a dream through her father's eyes, to become a doctor. She had dedicated every minute of her past two years in grooming her dream. Not expecting that it could become a living breathing reality one day. With the extreme grandeur she could never imagine!

She had always targeted the pinnacle. True

She had never thought of actually clinching it.

And now she was in a fix.

There was no pressure from her parent's side on the choice of college or city when the selection procedure began after the entrance-test results. That was the reason she could fill the name of her preferred college at the top. The problem began when she was actually allotted a seat in that college.

Her parents were beyond delighted but the thought of leaving them behind for a long time was eating her up since the morning. Being a single child, she is the apple of their eyes. And it would break multiple hearts in her family when she'll leave for her professional growth. But there would be happiness too.

Her eyes constricted and dilated as the reel of thoughts played behind them. Paras could feel her dilemma as well.

"Okay, forget I said anything. I was being utterly stupid. There shouldn't be any other option in front of dreams," Paras asserted, shaking his head lightly, chiding himself for his selfishness.

Siya tried to put up a smile but it didn't reach her eyes, it didn't crinkle the side of her face and also didn't hide her mole.

"You asked me a question only to answer by yourself? What's this behaviour, Mr calculator?" Siya tried to lighten the mood. She continued, firmly pressing her hand over his, "You'd come across as just my best friend who is amply concerned for me."

For the first time in the whole day, Paras smiled, wholeheartedly.

"I'm here with uncle and aunty, you don't have to worry. You never know it might be my grand plan to steal them from you,' he declared, with a mysterious lopsided smile Siya always found cute.

After swinging for a few rounds remembering their childhood days, Paras put in finality, "So, Mumbai it is."

"Mumbai it is!"

"850km."

"Will you stop squeezing numbers in everything?"

"Wait for a few days, you'll start squeezing phenomenon and mechanisms in everything."

Their laughter attenuated behind the symphony of happily chirping birds returning to their homes as the sky started to change its color.

Paras never mentioned his fright of the said distance creeping between their friendship. Siya never addressed the disquiet of her existential crisis without him, her dependability horrifying her.

That summer, things truly started to change.

To be continued..

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Hello there from the other end,

How are my lovely readers doing?

I'm really nervous about your reactions on the start of this story. This is not the general fluff I usually write so I hope I could do justice to it.

Having said that, This particular story is very very close to my heart. ❤️

Please shower a little love on this as well.

Much love
Riya