( 🚨 Long chapter ahead 🚨)

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The sun was shining bright in the sky getting covered by clouds sometimes. I enjoyed the small relief they provided from the scorching heat. It was time for monsoon but we haven't received even the pre-monsoon rains yet. Global warming was getting worse by each passing year.

But that didn't stop us from going to watch the newly released movie on its first day. Afterall, it was of my favourite actor. I quickly got in the long queue to take movie tickets at the theatre. I took out my water bottle and took a long sip. I had been walking for twenty minutes because the auto driver didn't know the address.

The theatre was in a mall which had recently opened up. So it was given, most of the people didn't know the exact directions. I had been here before with mom. She had to buy a dress for our neighbours' daughter for her birthday. And also because they were giving discounts on groceries and other items. The mall was so huge that even if you roamed around for two hours, you would not be able to complete the tour.

It was a four-storey building hosting all types of shops and stores. All the things in one place. I would have preferred if they had accomodation facilities too. I would have asked mom and dad to buy a house here. We wouldn't have to worry about going long distances to get the basic necessities.

It had three theatre complexes and I wondered just how much wealth one needed to build such a huge building with all the amenities. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced they had an amusement park too. I would love it.

The auto driver who was supposed to drop me off here kept apologizing for his inefficiency since he was new in the area. Not his mistake. To avoid more delay, I decided to cover rest of the distance by foot and made it on time. And guess what? Rest of my gang hadn't arrived yet. I called them up to ask about their whereabouts. Everyone was stuck in traffic. Really? They wanted me to believe that excuse?

I threatened them that I won't buy their tickets if they didn't come within half an hour. Now, you must be thinking why we didn't book those online. Let me explain. I got a friend whose name starts with 'S'. She volunteered herself that she would do the aforementioned task and rest of us could relax.

I kept reminding her till last night and she waved me off saying she would do it. The first thing I received after waking up is that my mobile was filled with missed calls and messages from my girl gang. I knew it. My best friend had forgotten to book our tickets and I had to complete the task. Otherwise, our today's whole plan would go down the drain.

We had planned to watch a movie to take off the exam stress and spend some girl time together. Thanks to Surbhi, I had to get ready at a lightening speed and get out of my house without having breakfast. The first show was at 10 am. We wouldn't settle for the second screening. It has to be the first day first show or there won't be that much fun.

I quickly hailed an autorickshaw after dashing out of the house and as I mentioned before, the driver didn't know where to drop me. He didn't refuse my fare since I was his first passenger. That guy was so nervous when he was navigating through the traffic. At one point, I felt like I should take the driver seat while he could calm down his nerves in the back.

He dropped me off at a place from where I knew I could go to my destination by myself. I assured him to not feel guilty and told him to relax. Everyone gets nervous on their first day of work. No big deal.

"Please, move forward," the person behind me said bringing me back from my rambling to myself.

I nodded my head and noticed the queue was getting shorter. Finally, after more ten minutes of waiting, I reached the ticket counter. I was going to stick to what I said. I bought only one ticket. I moved out of the queue and narrowed my eyes at the four girls who had just entered through the theatre gates.

They searched for me and when they finally noticed me, I turned my head and started walking towards the waiting booth. I bought a bucket of popcorn and began munching on it, clearly avoiding the four shadows which were towering over me. All of them got late. Could you believe it?

I knew they lived far from here and we didn't have much high class theatres in our city. That's why we chose this one. And I had told them that since it was Friday, there would be a lot of crowd so they should leave early from home. But do they ever listen to me? Nope.

"Sandhya." I heard Tanya call me.

"Sandhya, don't ignore us. We were really stuck in traffic," Divya said and grabbed my left arm.

"We are sorry. You told us to come early but I didn't wake up on time, and I had to pick up Divya and Rashi too. They were ready but got late because of me," Tanya explained.

"Yeah. We are really sorry Sandhya," Rashi said.

"Come on. Don't be a prick now. Tell us if you got the tickets or not."

Only Surbhi had the guts to complain to me when she was at fault instead of apologizing like others. I glared at her and she did the same. We were in a staring contest like that for some seconds. She averted her gaze first and I smacked her on the head.

"You don't get to act all bratty. Because of you, I had to run out of my home like my life depended on it," I complained and she hit me back.

"I already said sorry for that," she argued back.

She didn't!

"Really? You trying to pick a fight right now?" I challenged.

"I am up for it if you are."

"I had to walk for twenty minutes just because your dumb brain couldn't remember to do such a simple task even after I kept reminding you everyday."

"Hey! I am not dumb!"

She hit me on the arm and we began fighting like kids. I was in a really bad mood since I wasn't able to complete my sleep. It made me cranky and she wasn't helping a bit.

Other girls intervened before we attracted more attention. We didn't care. It was normal for us to argue in public whenever we didn't agree on a topic. That's what best friends do, right?

"Please chill, guys. The movie is gonna start in five minutes. Let's not ruin our mood," Tanya said.

"Okay. But I bought only one ticket. So, I will be definitely enjoying. Don't know about you all. Toodles."

I picked up my bag and started moving towards the entry gates of the screen which was going to premier the movie. All of them looked at me in disbelief. Surbhi stopped me and I tilted my head.

"Told ya already. If you got late, I won't be buying yours," I said cockily and flipped my hair behind my shoulder.

"Don't you think you are being mean? We are your friends. You can't be angry just because of a simple thing like this," she retorted.

"Of course I can."

"We already apologized. What do you want us to do? Kneel down to you and beg for mercy?"

I smiled cheekily and nodded my head. They couldn't believe I was behaving like this. They exchanged looks with each other and I tried hard to control my laughter.

"Come on girls, let's go. Afterall she didn't buy our tickets. So what's the use of staying?" Surbhi said in a mocking tone and everyone looked at me. They started walking away and I burst out laughing. They were so gullible.

They stopped in their tracks and Surbhi's eyes widened in realisation. She pounced on me while others looked at us in confusion.

"You dumbo! You were pranking us?" she complained.

I pushed her away gently and pinched her cheeks. She was so cute when she got angry. Others soon realised what I had done and began scolding me. I ignored all of them and ran inside the theatre room. They all followed and I showed the tickets to the ticket checker. He let them in and I chuckled at their reactions.

I was just pulling their legs. I lied when I said I bought only one ticket. They were my friends. How could I ditch them just because they got late? I was angry at them but they were sincerely sorry for it. I didn't know I was so good at acting. I had all of them fooled. None of the girls suspected that I could be lying too.

"We will get back to you for this," Rashi said to me as we took our assigned seats.

"Always welcome," I grinned.

We all started laughing and other occupants looked at us disapprovingly. We ignored them and laughed till our eyes teared up. We stopped when the movie started but I could hear one or the other of us chuckling during the movie.

The movie ended after two hours and fifteen minutes and we all got up to leave. We kept discussing about the movie as we made our way towards CCD (Cafe Coffee Day). We all sat down on the chairs and put our bags on the side.

Rashi and Divya placed our orders while rest of us kept arguing about whether the movie was good or not. The movie makers certainly needed to work on the plot. Same thing to watch again and again was getting boring. We needed new topics to be addressed in our movies.

As we were chatting, our topics changing continuously, I noticed a familiar face at a corner of the room. I turned my head and saw Mahek sitting at a corner table. She was with a guy.

Now you must be wondering he must be Shree of course. Right? Wrong. He wasn't Shree or the boy I had seen her with that day when I had spotted her near the gym.

I didn't know this guy. Something was fishy about it. Mahek was sitting close to him with her head rested on his shoulder as he told her something. She laughed and I furrowed my eyebrows. She slapped him on his arm and planted a kiss on his cheek. I almost spilled the coffee I was drinking.

"Sandhya! I am talking to you. What are you looking at?" Divya asked.

I turned towards her and pointed my thumb in Mahek's direction. Their eyes followed and Divya almost cursed.

"Told ya. Something was fishy. Now you believe me?" I asked them.

They all nodded their heads and we began discussing who that guy could be. The obvious suspicion was, he could be her boyfriend but then Shree was too. Was she cheating on him? Surbhi suggested he could be her best friend too. We all thought for a moment. It was hard to digest that speculation.

We all shook our heads and kept observing the couple from where we sat. It was not good to stare like that but we couldn't help it. I wanted to go to her and ask her about it but Tanya held me back.

"Chill Sandhya. We don't know for sure what their relationship is. Don't jump the gun, okay?" she reasoned.

I scratched my chin and nodded a little. Mahek and her 'boyfriend' left after sometime and we followed their movements till they went out of sight.

"Do you think it was her boyfriend?" Rashi asked.

"I don't think. I know it!" I assured her.

"Hmmm.... we can't conclude that just because we saw them here," Surbhi said.

"Didn't you see how they were acting with each other? They looked like a couple madly in love," Divya argued.

"Okay, everyone. Let's not waste our time on that. It's none of our business," Tanya intervened and we all turned towards her.

"How?" I asked.

"Look, we don't know if he was her boyfriend or not. Even if he was, she must have broken up with Shree or must be waiting to do so on a right time. Though I haven't heard of it yet. But, that's a possibility. Moreover what she does is her choice. Who are we to judge?"

Tanya, always the wisest. We all thought about what she said and decided to throw the doubts away. Yeah. Mahek was an independent girl. She could do whatever she wanted. We should not draw conclusions only because of one incident. We could be accusing an innocent girl of something she didn't do.

"You should become a counselor," I complimented her.

She slapped my hand playfully and we all started gossiping like nothing happened. We spent rest of our time roaming around and checking out different shops.

Surbhi and Divya bought some clothes while rest of us bought some cosmetics. I bought a pair of sandals for myself since the ones I was using were beyond repair now. While I was buying for myself, I bought one pair for mom too. I knew she would love it.

"Let's leave guys. It's getting dark, we should better get going," Rashi suggested.

We exited the mall and went to the parking lot. Surbhi got in her car while Tanya, Divya and Rashi got in Tanya's car. I would be taking a direct bus from here. Surbhi offered to drop me home but since it would result in her getting late herself, I refused. I knew how to defend myself now, so I didn't have much to worry. I also carried a pepper spray and a taser with me for safety purposes.

You never know what can happen. You should have backup. After waving them bye, I turned around to go toward the bus stop. As I walked on my way, I noticed Mahek in the garden of a restaurant in the mall. Wow. I was seeing her everywhere now. This time she was with some other boy. I shrugged my shoulders and continued on my way. Don't think too much Sandhya.

She was a girl and I was one too. I should support her instead of doubting her everytime. Just because she was with some boy other than her boyfriend, didn't mean she was being unloyal. Like this, I killed the doubt which had jumped back into action when I saw her earlier in CCD.

I reached the bus stop and waited for my bus to arrive. I called up mom to ask her if she needed anything from market. She told me to buy some things and make a quick visit to Nikhil's home. His mother wasn't feeling well and mom couldn't visit her because of her busy schedule. So, I had to go in her place. No problem. She was like my mother too.

My bus arrived and I got in after pushing aside some passengers who were standing in the door. They did it purposely to annoy others. I didn't get a seat. Bummer. After half an hour, I got down at my bus stop and moved towards the market.

After I bought the things mom had told me, I began walking toward Nikhil's house. He must be studying right now. Poor kid. His parents were really strict. Now that the exams were just around the corner, his mom didn't allow him to go and play with his friends. I felt bad for him because I watched a movie just now while he was buried under the books.

I reached his home and entered after uncle opened up the door. He welcomed me warmly and I asked about aunty. She was in her room, resting. I met her and told her how mom wanted to come but couldn't. She nodded her head and coughed inbetween while talking to me.

"Nikhil must be in his room. Can I meet him?" I asked.

"No, he is not there. That boy is getting out of hands. Today, he left after talking back to me and hasn't come home yet," she said with concern.

"Where did he go?"

"Must be with his friends."

"Should I go and check aunty?"

"No beta. It's okay. I know he will come back before dinner. It's not the first time he has stormed off like that after I scolded him over his studies."

Of course! You are too strict on him. Just give him some space to breathe. He is a teenager afterall. He is supposed to get rebellious sometimes.

I wanted to say that but didn't. I didn't want another lecture myself. But where could Nikhil have gone to? I checked the time. It was getting late.

"Okay, aunty. Take care of yourself. I should leave now."

"Okay, beta. Be careful on your way. But I have a request to make. I hope you would not mind," she said and coughed a bit.

I picked up the glass of water from the side table and gave it to her. She took some sips and put it back down. I asked her what request she was talking about.

"Keep an eye on Nikhil for me, beta. It's not like I don't trust my boy but I can't always be there for him. You are his friend and I trust you the most. Can you look out for him in college? Nowadays, his behaviour has changed a lot and he has been coming home lately too. I haven't told his father because I know there will be a bigger problem then."

I nodded my head and told her to relax. It was obvious for a mother to care for her son. She was even covering for him. I would do whatever she was asking from me. Nikhil was my friend and his well being was my concern too.

"Don't worry, aunty. I will look after him. You should rest now."

"Such a good child."

She patted my head and I left her room. After saying my goodbye to Uncle, I left their house. On my way to my home, I kept replaying aunty's words through my mind. I thought she was overthinking all of this.

Nikhil was a growing boy. He must be hanging out with his buddies to relieve some stress. If I had such strict parents, I don't know what I would have done. Still, I would do as his mother said. Afterall, what are friends for?