14th August 2017

P R E E T I

Normal people expect an alarm blaring in their ears when it's time to wake up in the morning. But some people lose that state of normalcy when they find a best friend like Aisha.

"Get up already! How lazy can you be that too on such a day!", shouted-a little too much for my delicate eardrums-my best friend, Aisha.

Wait a second...who am I kidding? My one and only best friend is my bed!

I pulled my blanket over my head in an attempt to block those irritating, displeasing sun rays in my room from reaching me and held my pillow over my ears to muffle the protests of Aisha.

Why do so many things want to keep me away from my bed?

Aisha harshly pulled my blanket away from my face and snatched my pillow.

"Preeti Das Durand! If you don't get up from your bed right this instance... I'm gonna make your life miserable!"

"Don't you think you are already making my life miserable by trying to separate me from my bed, so early?", I replied with an unamused face. "What are you doing here anyways? Wearing a..." I trailed off as I looked at her from head to toe.

Why is she wearing a lehenga so early in the morning?

"Don't tell me you forgot! Oh, of course, you forgot otherwise you would have already been out of bed", Aisha rolled her eyes.

I sat up on my bed and raised an eyebrow at her.

What am I forgetting? Dance practice? Puja?...oh god...

"Girl! Your Krishna must be waiting in the main ground with his flute ready to play a song for his Radha!", said Aisha with a shocked expression. It's obvious she would be shocked.

How can I forget the dahi-handi event?

I leapt out of bed and rushed to the bathroom.

"Sooo you accept the fact that Abhishek is your Krishna and you are his Radha?", Aisha said standing at the bathroom door with a smirk on her face. I almost choked on my toothpaste.

"Aisha, how many times do I have to tell you that there's nothing between us?", I said, still brushing my teeth. She burst into laughter. I slammed the door shut right on her face and opened the tap water in hopes of drowning the teasing voice of Aisha.

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I was rushing to the main ground with Aisha trailing behind me. My 'payal' and bangles were tinkling simultaneously as I was in a hurry to reach the grounds before the event started. I had to lift my white lehenga with a turquoise borderline, a bit so that I don't accidentally trip over it during my marathon. I had paired my lehenga with a cute dark pink traditional crop top.

Hopefully, Abhishek and Abhinav won't be mad at me for being late.

How can I afford to be late on such a day?

My stomach was rumbling as I had to skip breakfast as a part of "tradition". I paid it no heed because now my topmost priority is to reach the ground. Finally, I reached the ground and made my way through the crowd, muttering a few apologies. The crowd was thick on the outside but thinner in the middle since the human pyramid would be formed there and only the people of the neighbourhood were allowed to form the innermost circle around them. Just as the crowd became thinner, I started to jog my way through the rest of them.

But fate wasn't on my side today. I tripped on a stone and was about to fall and dirty my beautiful outfit but, a pair of strong hands wrapped around my arms to prevent the embarrassing fall. I wrapped my palms onto the person's forearms to balance myself. Once I did that I looked up to a pair of blue eyes. They reminded me of the calm waves of an ocean and the boy gave a small smile. He was around my age and had black hair with blue tips that seemed to match the colour of his eyes making him look more attractive. He was wearing a Prussian blue shirt and black jeans-ripped at the knees.

He's hot. Wait what-

I felt heat rise to my cheeks at that thought and I suddenly remembered that I was holding onto him for too long. I retrieved my hands and let them fall to my side. I had a hunch that he was not an Indian.

"Thank you", I said with a smile trying to cover up my embarrassment.

"Je vous en prie", he said.

French? Hmm... interesting.

"Oh...uh... "

"C'est d'accord", I replied quickly.

"Oh, so you can speak French. That's nice", he replied.

I giggled at his accent. It reminded me of how my father sounds when he speaks English. Suddenly, out of nowhere someone jolted me out of my thoughts and pulled me to the front of the crowd.

Aisha.

That's when I remembered where I was and what I was about to do.

"Okay, I get it whoever you were talking to, was very attractive but now we have to go and meet up with the others before the boys start climbing the pyramid."

I looked back at the crowd trying to look for the boy I just met but he had already disappeared in the large group of people.

I let out a sigh.

I didn't even get his name. I hope we can meet again.

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L U K A

"This is not my size", I told my mom who was scanning me from top to bottom. I was currently wearing an orange kurta which was totally not my size, nor my favourite colour. Sushma aunty had bought it in a hurry last week since she was a bit busy with her work.

"Oh, honey! I'm sorry I didn't know your exact size. I guess you'll have to wear a shirt and jeans for now. We can buy another pair of kurta-pajama that is your size when the shops open this afternoon. Besides, the colour looks ridiculous on you!", said Sushma aunty with her nose scrunched up at the last comment she made.

I chuckled.

"It's alright. I can do with a shirt and jeans for now."

"Okay how do I look?", said Juleka emerging out of our bedroom. She was wearing a pastel pink lehenga paired with a golden-coloured crop top. She looked beautiful. That's the reason why I encourage her to be a model. She can pull off any look.

"Aye there's my gorgeous princess!", said Mom.

"You look, beautiful dear, it suits you", commented Sushma aunty.

I saw her meddling with a hair clip in her hand. I immediately knew what she was thinking about. I walked towards her, took the hair clip from her hands, and clipped her bangs away from her face.

"Now you look like a doll"

"Really?", she enquired with a confident smile on her face. "Which doll?"

"Annabelle!", I exclaimed and laughed.

"Shut up!", she said and slapped me, playfully on my arm.

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"You could have still worn that kurta you know", said Juleka.

I narrowed my eyes at her. We were currently walking past the crowd to the centre of the main ground where the 'dahi-handi' event was about to be held. Mom and Sushma aunty were walking in front of us, chatting, both of them wearing saree. It did look odd to me to see Mom wearing a saree but she did look good in it.

"I prefer wearing something comfortable. Besides, it was too tight and restricted my movements."

"Well... it was showing off a few of the muscles you have and who knows you might have won some Indian girl's heart at the ground", Juleka said and smirked.

"I have no interest in winning any Indian girl's heart besides you know I still love Marinette."

"Do you still believe that she'll come around Luka? She's been crushing on Adrien for a whole year now. Even if that fool is dating Kagami, Marinette might just use you as a rebound."

The smile on my face faltered. I frowned.

She really does like Adrien. That too not for his model looks but because of his kind heart and the gentleman he is. Juleka's right. She'll just use me-

"Hey", Juleka spoke softly and placed a hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Listen I didn't mean to ruin your mood or anything. Why don't we just enjoy our time here and forget about her? She's way back in Paris", Juleka said emphasizing the word 'way'.

I chuckled as my smile made its way back on my face.

"Oh, look there. They are about to start!" Juleka ran towards the front to see a few men standing in a circle.

I was about to join her when I heard someone panting behind me. I turned around just at the right moment when a girl tripped and was about to fall. I grabbed her arms to prevent her from falling. She wrapped her hands around my forearms to balance herself. When she looked up my breath hitched in my throat. I looked into her black sparkling eyes which reminded me of the night and I felt like it was trying to engulf me. Her traditional outfit made her eyes pop out more. She started to blush, most probably due to the running she might have done to get here.

She's so cute. Wait what? Calm yourself down Luka you just met her. She's a total stranger. You love-

"Thank you", she said with a smile on her face.

"Je vous en prie", I replied.

Oh god! I said it in French! Stupid Luka! This is India, not Paris!

I mentally facepalmed.

"Oh...uh... " Why am I at a loss of words?

"C'est d'accord", she replied quickly.

I was a bit shocked cause I wasn't expecting a random girl in India knowing how to speak French.

"Oh, so you can speak French. That's nice" I slightly grinned.

She giggled.

Wow...she looks way cuter now.

Before I could introduce myself, another girl came out of nowhere and pulled her towards the middle of the ground. It happened so quickly I couldn't spot her in the swarm of people. Before I could go on to find her someone pulled me by my wrist.

"Luka! You might get lost in the crowd come over here", Sushma aunty said. She pulled me to the spot where Mom and Jule were standing. I scanned the faces of the people around me but could not find her.

I let out a sigh.

I didn't even get her name. I hope we can meet again.

~~~~~~~~~~

1,736 words.

Phew... *wipes sweat away from forehead*

#TranslationTime
Je vous en prie- You're welcome
C'est d'accord- It's alright

So that's my surprise treat for you guys today(20 mins late but still)!

Ik I'm not a good writer but, I just wanted to share this idea with you guys 😁.

I hope you liked the meeting of Luka and Preeti. Kind of a romantic cliché I know...

I hope you also liked the friendship between Aisha and Preeti. It's kinda what I thought could be my friendship with you-know-who if she lived in my neighbourhood. I would be Aisha because I like to irritate her a lot. 😈

P.S. Outfit of Preeti is...mine ofc. And Juleka's outfit I took from Google along with the above pic.

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