||CHAPTER 15||
《¤》

The day was going quite well for me until 11:40 a.m., when I went to return the obnoxious book on Business Studies during break. Ishita and the boys had gone to the canteen, and I gave them an excuse of having to meet Mr. Thakur, which I didn't have to actually, until now.

"Arvika... didi?" The ninth standard kid tried to bring me back to the matter at hand.

I slid in the book which I had found at 11:45 a.m., a book which started from the basics, before I calmed my zoned out mind, "Uhm, sorry, what did you say?"

"Mr. Thakur is calling you, he is in his faculty room."

"Thanks, I'll be there," I shoo her off, before leaving the library without any book.

How can he possibly correct the papers so quickly? The test was just yesterday!

But again, there were only five of us who gave the retest, and I had failed it again.

On reaching the Science Department, I knocked on the door before I was allowed in.

The expression on his face? Mr. Thakur was anything but happy to see me.

"Arvika Deewan, please have a seat. I'm betting you already know why you're here."

And I'm betting that's the only thing I know related to his subject.

"How was the retest, Arvika?"

"Can I be honest?" I asked, not meeting his eye.

"I'd want you to be anything but."

"It was bad. Like really bad to the point where I was just trying to select the options on the basis of whether the answers were factors or multiples of what I got, or even something that could fit into the equation. But yeah, again I had to stop after the third, because there was negative marking."

"Well, you have made progress."

I looked up at him, confused. "I have?"

"Hmm. The three answers that you marked were at least the correct ones."

Oh, gee.

"That's a good thing, right?"

He tilted his head, "The bad thing, however, is that you failed the test again, and this time, your father has to be disturbed."

I'm sure he noticed my face go white. "But this wasn't even the Semester Exam! Is there no other way I could possibly fix this?"

"I'm afraid not. However, why don't you ask your brother to help you? Arnav has actually aced the test, so it would be great if you got his hell for the upcoming exams."

There it starts again. The comparison games, where I always got called out names and Arnav enjoyed the fame.

"Don't get demotivated, slow progress is better than no progress at all, Arvika."

I hadn't hit my rock bottom yet, but I wasn't floating on cloud nine either.

I was sulking behind the bleachers during P.E., thankfully unnoticed by Coach Charlie who was making us run rounds for no apparent reason.

And it was unusual, because Arvika Deewan never sulked. Scared sometimes, yeah, but sulking like my life depended on it? Never.

The school authorities had informed my father, who would grace us with his aggravated presence at the end of the day. And I could only imagine the atmosphere this small meeting would create later on at home.

"Arvika?" Vansh called out, briefly halting his jog around the ground. Without anybody noticing, he slithely moved over and under the seats and joined me. "Let me guess, you don't have sunscreen and isliye dhoop me nahi niklogi."

I gave him a look which stopped his chuckles on his own joke.

"Okay, okay," he sat down beside me. "Wait. Is it some girly problem? I swear I won't go gender activist on you!"

"Vansh, you are losing your humour," I replied. "Stop bunking P.E. and go run."

"Hey, I should say the same to you!"

"I failed the test... again."

An expression of solemnity governed his face. "Oh, well."

"And Arnav aced it. In the first try."

He cleared his throat, "Well..."

"And my father's been called."

"Okay, that's the worst part, I guess."

I don't know why I was burdening him with my sob story, but I just wanted to get it off my chest. "No! The worst part will be jab Papa apne Mahaan putra ke baremein lecture denge. Even Thakur Sir gave it!"

I didn't realise I was pulling the grass aggressively, until his hand stopped my movement.

For a minute, none of us spoke. I guess he was consuming the fact that I was, indeed, jealous of my perfect twin, whilst I was consuming the fact that apart from Daadi, I had admitted my jealousy to another soul.

"I know this is the part where I come up with a relatable and even more pathetic story to make you feel better..." he said, and I looked at him, "but you know na... Vansh ke Vanshaj me koi ladki paida hi nahi hui."

I couldn't stop myself from slowly cracking a smile at that. He hadn't lashed out on my pathetic jealousy like I'd expected him to. He had accepted me the way I was.

The car ride home was silent; the driver didn't need to know inside stuff.

But the silence started screaming when we reached the elevator.

"I'm sorry," I said, not looking at him. The elevator was riding up, swiftly, and Dad had been ignoring my presence.

"Dad, I-"

"Arvika, can you please not speak right now? I had to leave in the middle of an important meeting, and I need to collect a file. Aaj raat ko agar mai jaldi aaun, toh dinner ke baad baath karne ana."

He left quickly after that, and slammed the door to give me a glimpse of his angst. I did not want to be in his blacklist, but there was absolutely no explanation that I could give him.

And when I saw Arnav in my room, my anxiety reached another high. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Calm down, it's not like I like stealing girly stuff," he said, getting up from my window seat.

"Just spit it already, and get the hell out of here," I clenched my teeth, and I knew if he remained in front of me, my angst would get the better of me.

"What did Mrs. Dongra say?" He asked, "I mean how did the meeting go?"

Placing my bag on the desk, I gave him a sick smile, "I'll like it if it's a secret between me, Dad and Dongra. I don't see why the Golden Child should be included in this."

I don't know if he decided to let it go or just gave up on the topic, but he just nodded, accepting defeat, and left.

"Aur fir?"

"Fir Mrs. Dongra ne thodi formal angrezi jhaadkar hamara time waste kiya, kaha ki aisa fir nahi hona chahiye, and then jaane diya."

Sprawled across Daadi's bed, I was feeding her the latest gossip of my life. As expected, Dad wasn't home early, and had sent a message that he would be late. I knew it was because of me, he didn't want to even talk to me.

So when Daadi saw my dejected face during dinner, I didn't reject her offer for spending time for some nightly talks with her.

"You know, I should be scolding you actually," She said with a straight face.

"Woh aap Papa ke liye chhod do," I yawned.

"I can sense that you are tensed, beta," she said, following her nightly routine of medicines and cream.

"He did look angry. And I know he wouldn't believe my side of the story, hell, he wouldn't even listen to it. So..." I lay over my stomach, "I'll just let him say all he wants, and bear with it."

"Maanyata se baath karna chahti ho?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, confused, "Why would I want that?"

"Maanyata shayad Binoy ko samjha sake-"

"Daadi, ye utna bada issue nahi hai. Moreover, she knows what Dad signed for when I came here. Ye unke liye shaam ki chay-paani hai."

"Mumbai me bhi tumhare principal tumhari complaints karte the?" Her eyes widened in shock.

I gave her a sheepish smile.

"Badmaash ladki," she said, jokingly. "Kya hoga tera?!"

I laughed before slowing down. "Daadi, woh purana radio hai abhi bhi?"

"Jo tumhare Daada Ji ne diya tha?"

"Haan," I reply, sitting up.

"I think woh store room me rakhwa diya tha... Kyu?"

"Store room me kyu rakhwaya? Bigad gaya kya?"

I was out of her room before she could reply. "Ratan kaka!"

He was in the kitchen, putting the leftovers in the fridge, "Kya hua Vika Bitiya?"

"Ratan kaka, store room ki chaabi dijiye na, please?"

"Par aapko ab storeroom me kyu jaana hai?" He wiped his hands on a washcloth before huddling over to me, "Agar kuch zaruri cheez chahiye, aap mujhe boliye, mai nikaalkar deta hun."

"Madat tho chahiye, bas aap mere saath store room me aiye. Daadi ka puraana radio nikaalna hai."

Ratan kaka inserted the key inside its hole when the clock struck twelve. The store room was in our verandah, which was huge. As darkness surrounded us, it looked like a scene straight out of an American horror movie when the door creaked open.

"Kitne saalon se ye band hai?" I asked him, coughing and sneezing at the dust showering us. Snaking my hand by the nearest wall, I switched on the light and the stuffy, messy, and everything that was once upon a time interesting came into sight.

Brown boxes covered the floor and shelves, while spider webs decorated the white walls. Kneeling down, I grabbed a box. It contained old school bags, from our childhood, since I did recognize five of them as mine.

Moving to another box, I removed the flaps, glancing at its useless contents before continuing the same for the others. Ratan Kaka was doing the same.

"Vika Bitiya, agar woh radio mil bhi jaye na, fir bhi koi fayda nahi hoga," he huffed, "Woh bigad gaya tha."

I stopped searching and turned to him, "Radio theek karne ki koshish bhi kee gayi thi ya nahi?"

He sighed, looking down. "Aap tho jaanti hai, is ghar me kuch repair nahi kiya jaata. Aunty ji ke liye Binoy ji naya Stereo laye the, aap chahe tho wo nikal du?"

I breathed out, as we turned to leave, "Nahi Kaka, it's okay. Aapko pareshaani dene ke liye sorry. Aap ab so jaiye."

Before I could hear his reply, my eyes fell on the shiny surface of Daadi's old stereo, "MIL GAYA!"

I ran back inside, clearing the boxes that came in my way with my foot. It lay on the first shelf, resting like vintage, more because it was one, and I snatched it from its throne, hugging the life out of it.

"Par Vika bitiya-"

"Koi par-var nahi kaka," I sighed happily, walking out of the room to let him lock the memory box. "Daadi ko mat bolna ki ye mil gaya hai. Mai ise theek karwake laungi."

He smiled at me, and I went to my room to examine the device.

The two speakers on either side of the long ivory box still looked like they were smiling. There was no casette inside the player, but I knew where I could find my late Dadaji's collection. And even though today was a rough day, I couldn't help smiling like an idiot before bed.

_____

Namoshtaii!

So how many of you have old stereo systems? Well, I don't, but it's really chic to have one. One of my really ardent desires is to have a gramophone and vinyl records!

How's March treating you guys? I got an exam on April Fool's.

Anyways, no one has questions for Ritwik and Karan? They feel neglected! Show some love people ;) Here's an exclusive sneakpeak of the interview which will be out soon!

"I have an interesting question for Vansh!"

"I feel like I am so unpopular," Ritwik comments, grabbing the toy snake.

"Feel ya, bro," Karan fist bumps the snake.

"Oh shut up," Vansh narrows bis eyes at them. "Come on, it's my interview time!"

"Well, @Liyalikesitsweet asks Vansh, Are you a Bad boy or a good boy?" Arnav ends it with a laugh.

Vansh winks at the camera, "Whatever you want me to be, baby."

"Ew," I comment, involuntarily, as all heads turn to me and I turn red. "I mean, next question. @hogwartsalumini0503 asks Ishita, Cheese or Chocolate?"

"Omelette!" She laughs at her own ridiculous joke as we throw her curious looks. "I mean, Cheese! Oh my god, I love cheese more than anything in this world! I have tasted all kinds of cheese and oh god, the texture and taste-"

"Calm down Ishi!" I cut her rant, "I'm pretty sure she didn't ask for your reasons."

She pouts, and Karan grabs the phone for the next question. "Ugh, its for Vansh again!"

"Told ya, people love me!"

That's it for now I guess. Crazy stuff is going on in the behind the scenes of that interview, I swear xD

Well, read, vote, comment and promote!

~chaashnee.