||CHAPTER 25||
《¤》

"Ham Armaan ke dost hai... Arvika hai kya?"

Silence greeted them before Armaan did. They were stupid, oh so stupid.

"Tell them I'm not here," I commanded him before he could walk towards the door.

"You said that you were not ashamed of being friends with me."

I snapped my head back at him. Maybe it's the contacts that makes him look intimidating.

"Trust me, I'm not... and I don't know what they are doing here-"

"Armaan?"

Both of us whip our heads towards the door, and find three pairs of eyes looking at us.

"Armaan?" His sister calls out again.

"Haan..." he trails off, looking at me, "Yeh mere dost hai, ammi mai aapko bolna bhool-"

"There's a misunderstanding, actually," I interrupt, backing towards the door. "Sorry, please give us a minute? Mai abhi ayi."

Once I'm out of the door, I grab Arnav's hand and drag him upstairs, towards a landing, making sure that the others follow.

Once we're out of the scene, I glare at the three of them: Arnav, Ishita and Vansh.

"What the actual hell guys? Did you seriously have the nerve to follow me here? Baukhla gaye ho kya?"

"Baukhla tho tum gayi ho yaar!" Arnav starts. "Tum Armaan ke saath yaha par kya kar rahi ho?"

The accusation in his voice got to my nerve. "Mai apne dost se milne ayi hoon. Isse tumhe matlab?"

"Par Nerdy Qureshi koi ladki nahi hai," Vansh defends his best friend.

"Tho woh to meri galti nahi hai, I can't change his gender. And maine kab kaha mai kisi bandi se milne jaa rahi hu??"

"Exactly! Tumhe koi tho details dene chahiye thhe-" Arnav counters.

"Kyu doon? Tum mujhe bata ke ghoomne jatey ho kya?"

"Look, Arvika, this place doesn't look safe," Vansh says, trying to be calm. "This locality is known for shady business and we just wanted to make sure you're safe."

"Guys, calm!" Ishita's voice overpowers our argument. "Ye jagah soundproof nahi hai, woh neeche tumhari awaaz sun sakte hai."

I fold my hands, leaning against the wall and looking away.

No one speaks for a moment until I decide to.

"Look, if you guys came all the way here, stalking me for my safety, then Thankyou, but you can go now. And FYI Arnav, Daadi ko pata hai mai kaha hoon, you guys don't need to be Mr. Plod."

"We aren't leaving this place without you," Vansh's gaze doesn't waiver. "Tumhe yaha koi cab bhi lene nahi ayegi, yaha ka rasta bhi pakka nahi hai, ubad-khabad hai."

"There you go," I unfold my hands in frustration, "judging this place again. Have you guys like grown up here or something, because you sure are acting like you know this area."

"You know what we mean Vickey," Ishita speaks up. "And come on, even you have to accept-- wait, why are you wearing a kurti?"

I roll my eyes, standing straight. "Because, if you haven't noticed yet, Armaan mera dost hai, aur uski Ammi ne mujhe unke ghar Eid ke dawat pe bulaya hai. Now, I'd like it if you guys leave this building and this area, and go back to whatever you were going to do and let me have a peaceful night."

"But my ammi won't."

All of us turn to look at the landing below us, where Armaan stood, holding onto the railing.

"What?" I ask.

He gulps, trying to hide his fear as he looks at the three of them. "My mother has invited all of you to dinner. Won't be like your normal cuisines, but that's not my problem."

We exchange glances, and I climb down, finding Jamila aunty standing at the doorstep.

"Aunty, aapko taqleef lene ki koi zarurat nahi hai," I apologize. "Ye tho bas jaaney hi wale the."

"Isme koi taqleef nahi hai- mai Armaan ke doston ko aise kaise jaaney doon? Armaan waise bhi apne doston se hame nahi milata hain, akhir ham bhi tho unse mil le."

I turn my head to look at the three overwhelmed faces hidden from her, mouthing me No! and shaking their heads.

But they needed to feel the situation they had suddenly put me in, so mustering up a hidden wicked grin, I smiled at Jamila aunty. "Shukriya aunty. I'm sure unke liye ye mulaqat yaadgar rahegi."

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The driver had been standing outside for over a minute now, as he was instructed by the owner of the vehicle. My hands were itching to open the door on my left, but someone clearly had something as kiddish as a childlock activated. So I resorted to glaring at Ishita, Arnav, and the back of Vansh's seat.

"Are we going to sit here all night?" I finally broke the silence.

Yet no one spoke.

"Okay, enough. Vansh, you're going to get out, open my door and let me out, varna I swear mai tere seats pe susu lar dungi!"

"Ew, no!" Ishita shrieked, trying to widen the space between us, and indirectly squeazing my brother against the door.

"Yaar, darwaza khol de, we will talk about this whole thing upstairs," Arnav pleaded, and Vansh had to finally heed to my wishes.

When he opened my door, I sprang up from my place, while Ishita and Arnav got out of the other side. However, my escape route was blocked by Vansh trapping me against his car.

"Quite a clichè position," I speak up, "but I am not really sure if you are daring by nature or you just love being beat up."

His face remained emotionless. "I'm not afraid of your brother."

I laughed, shaking my head as I pushed him to let me breathe. "I wasn't talking about Arnav either."

"Fine, now we need to talk," Ishita said, appearing to our side with my brother in tow.

"Kyu? What is this? Pakoda with Pak-pak-pakau?"

I think this was the first time that she gave me a disappointed look instead of a glare.

"We're serious, Vicky," she said, with that annoying nickname.

I huffed and walked towards the swingsets, grabbing a swing and claiming my seat. Ishita took the other, but only I swang slightly.

"Toh meri praja, apne raani ko apne dukh dard ke baremein sunao." Swings brought out the good mood in me.

But it apparently wasn't the same for them. Arnav glared at me while sitting down on the grassy ground with Vansh.

"Why didn't you tell us about your friendship with Armaan?' Arnav started.

"Oh, I am sorry bhaiya. Next time se mai aapko poochke susu karne jaungi, theek hai?" I pouted.

He got angry, I didn't aim for anything else. "Arvika, ham yaha par mazak nahi kar rahe-"

"Haan haan, pata hai," I drawl. "Ham yaha par Pakoda with pak-pak-pakao kar rahe hai."

If getting on their nerves got me a penny, my Dad would be so proud of me.

"Ok," Ishita breathed out. "let's start again, yeah? Tumne hame kyu nahi bataya ki Nerdy Qureshi tumhara dost hai?"

"Tum meri legal guardian ho kya?"

"So you want to say ki Mamma ko pata uske baremein?" Arnav countered.

"No," I smiled. "All I wanna say is that even my legal guardian isn't as annoying as you- and I actually fled from her place!"

"Why can you not be sarcastic for a moment, Arvika? Your brother was worried sick about you." Vansh said, his voice chilly.

"Fine. You want to know why? Because tum sab judgemental ho. Kal tum sab jaake use bully karoge, just because he is my friend, and doesn't belong to our 'society'. You guys were worried about my safety? Doesn't that sound ironic?"

Silence follows my short speech, but climax doesn't instantly follow the drama.

Holding onto one harness of the swing, I move back and forth, looking at the full moon.

"And you know what's funny?" I continue, "the people you judged, aren't judgemental at all. Jamila aunty tum logo ko jaanti bhi nahi, and Armaan agar chahta, then he could have kicked us all out of his home. Maybe you guys don't bully him directly on a regular basis, but you don't even talk to him properly. And yet, usne ham sabko apne festival ka hissa banaya. Aur fir bhi tum logo ko us jagah ki road ki condition and shady business ki padi hai. And maybe you still think that way, but just as Armaan says, it's your problem. Tumhara dost nahi hai woh, mera hai."

Ishita joined my pace and started swinging. "I... I don't agree with that. But what I can agree on is that Jamila aunty ne duniya ki best biryani banayi, and woh firni bhi lajawab thi. I can see why you're never with us during lunch."

"You spend your lunch time with Armaan?" Vansh's eyes widened. Again with the accusations.

"Okay, hold on," I raise both my hands up. "Let's think again. Do you guys really think you will be able to convince me to not hang out with Armaan Qureshi?"

When silence follows my statement, I know I won the argument.

"Exactly!" I shrug. "On the bright side, tumhe to mujhe thanks bolna chahiye. You did get fed today, in quite a grand maner."

But no matter how much I tried to take it easy, Arnav and Vansh didn't seem convinced.

_____

Namoshtaii!

How ya all doing? Just a heads up, next week I might feel a bit generous and swing another extra update next Sunday. Keyword, might. I got a lot of exams lined up, so no promises.

Also, Eid Mubaraq! This is a huge coincidence that I posted this Eid Chapter on Eid itself, trust me, bcus I wrote this one a looong time ago, even before I knew that today wud be eid.

Anyone got the Pakoda with Pakpakpakao reference? Lmao, let me know :D

So please stay tuned, read, vote, comment and promote!!

~emcee.