Pranitha's POV

"I have to call Shrey." I say. He had gone to India last week because his aunt had died. He was very close with his aunt. She was an amazing person. I  loved her, just like my aunt. He was supposed to come back this week, and was taking his classes online.

"Maybe I should call him after work." I say to myself.

"How long is your shift today?" Zaara asks, looking up from her book.

"Till 7." I reply.

"Wait, three hours?

"Yea. I have to take over the first hour of Sage's shift."

The time is currently 3:15. I'm working on taking notes, because class went by too fast for me to finish taking notes, and I still have homework. And I like my notes organized. I hear knocking on the door.

I get up, and to open the door, and see Sanjay standing there.

"Hey." he greets me.

"Hi Jay." I say. He told me to call him Jay. I mean, come on, im lazy to pronounce the 'k' in Ranak, how lazy do you think I am to pronounce the 'San' in Sanjay? Wait, don't answer that.

"Uh, I gave in my car at the garage, and I don't have a ride because the other two are out. So...can you drop me off at work?" he asks.

"Yea sure. No problem. How 'bout Saash?" I ask.

"She has practice today." Saash is on the badminton team, which is not surprising, given that she is an amazing player.

"K. I'll drop you off." I say.

"Thanks Pranu. You're a lifesaver."

"Haha." I roll my eyes.

"I have some work to finish up. When are you gonna start?" he asks.

"K. Um, around 3:45 probably."

"Alright, I'll be here around that time then." I nod, and he leaves.

I go back to my bed and start working again when my phone rings. I look at the screen, and see that its my mom. I pick it up.

"Hi ma." I say.

"Hi Pranitha. How are you?" she asks.

"Good ma. College is so much workkkk."

"Akka(Older sister) when are you gonna come visit?" I hear my sister ask from the back. "Come here and talk!" my mom scolds her. I hear running in the background, and also the faint voice of my dad scolding my sister for running in the house. I smile and shake my head.

"I'll come visit next month Sanu." I reply. Next month is December. It's already been two months since college started. Wow.

"Pranitha." My dad says.

"Hi dad." I greet him.

"How are you? Settled in now?"

"I'm fine. And yea pretty much. So much work though, but getting there." I reply.

"Good. Good. You're studying right?"

"Yea. Actually studying now." I reply.

"Ok."

"Akka, video call?" Sanu asks.

"Yea. Its been a very long time Pranitha. Is it ok if i do a video call?" my dad asks.

"Yea dad. Its ok." I reply. I switch the call to a video call, and see my family appear on the screen.

"Hi akka!" my sister waves to me.

"Hi Sanu!" I say, waving back.

"Is Zaara there?" she asks.

"Right here Sanu." Zaara replies. She comes and sits next to me.

"Hi auntie. Hi uncle." she greets my parents.

"Hi Zaara." they reply.

"You girls good?" my dad asks.

"Yea uncle. Everything is fine. The workload is a little worse than high school, but its fine though." she replies.

We continue talking to my parents and sister, when I realize what time it is.

"Ma, dad. I'll call you later?" I say.

"Why?" my dad asks.

"I have to be at the cafe in fifteen minutes. There will be a lot of traffic, and I have to get ready too." I reply.

"Ok, ok. Bye Pranitha, bye Zaara." they say, and I end the call.

"Wait, there is no traffic now, and you just have to do your hair." Zaara says to me.

"Yea, but if they see Sanjay in the room, they will freak." I reply.

"Eh, good point." Zaara says.

I tie my hair into a ponytail just as someone knocks on the door.

"I got it." Zaara says, going to open the door. She walks in with Sanjay.

I get up. "Let's go?" I ask Jay. He nods.

We walk into the parking lot, and get into my car.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you..." he starts.

"Yea?" I ask, keeping my eyes on the road in front of me.

"Um, what were you crying about?"

"Huh?"

"You know, on the first day. You were crying."

"No I wasn't." I say, sitting up a little straighter. I can feel tears prick my eyes a little, but I shake my head to clear them.

"You were."

I stay quiet.

"Pranu? What was it? Shrey and Karthik knew what it was. Don't you trust me?" he asks.

"Its nothing Jay. And yes, I do trust you. Of course I do." I reply.

"Then tell me? I might be able to do something." he says.

"Trust me, everything's fine." I reply.

"Pranitha." he says, suddenly a bit more serious.

I take a deep breath and smile sadly. "I have a dream that I want to achieve, but my parents planned my life differently." I say to him. A tear escapes my eyes, and he looks at me.

"Wha-" he starts.

"We're here." I say, stopping the car in front of Mike's Garage.

"Ok. Bye. Thanks." he says, getting out of the car. I nod and wave to him.

After dropping Sanjay off at the garage, I drive to Eva's. I pull into the parking lot right on time. Dot at 3:59. I grab my bag and keys. Locking the car, I walk through the staff entrance in the back. I get the apron on, and walk to the counter.

"Hey Pranu." I see Seth, my colleague.

"Hey Seth." I say.

"You good?" he asks.

"Yea, how 'bout you?"

"Meh. The usual. This girl I like isn't falling for me yet." he jokes. I chuckle and shake my head.

"Yea. No girl in her right mind would fall for you." I say back. He puts his hand on his chest dramatically, and opens his mouth to form an 'o' shape.

"Geez Pranu. That hurt." he says. I laugh and shake my head. Seth is easy going. Unless someone hurts someone that he likes. I look at my wrist, and think back to that day. Just a few weeks ago, when Amy's ex-boyfriend had come to the cafe in search for her. She had been hiding, and I had gone to take his order. While I was walking away, he had grabbed my wrist, and twisted it roughly. Luckily, my wrist didn't break.

"Where is she?" he had asked.

"Who?" I asked him.

"Amy."

"I don't know who your talking about." I say. He twisted my hand farther, and I started to whimper in pain. It all happened so fast. I heard the sound of wood breaking, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the guy on the ground. His nose was bleeding, and the chair he was sitting in a few seconds ago was broken. When I look up, I see Seth next to me. He had punched the asshole.

"If I fucking see you around this cafe, or these two, I will do worse than this." Seth had warned him. A few minutes later, the police had come in. Apparently, the guy had a few cases against him. 

I look around, and realize that Amy was a few steps behind me. I had realized then that Seth was talking about me and Amy.

"Hello. Earth to Pranu." Seth says, waving his hand in front of my face. I snap out of my trance.

"Huh?"

"You k? you zoned out."

"Huh, uh, yea. I'm fine." I reply.

"Can you see to table number 4. I'm at the register today." Seth says.

"Sure." I reply, going to table number 4 for their order.

"Hello!" I say. "What can I get for you two today?"

The person looks up from his phone, and I stare at both of them.

Him. Its him. My crust from 10th grade. Vishwa Kondari. And his best friend, aka my crush from sixth grade, Ishan Chahal.

"Hey can I have a Caramel latte and a cinnamon muffin." Ishan says.

Maybe he doesn't recognize me. I think

"Um, yea. Sure." I reply. "And, for you?" I ask Vishwa.

"A vanilla chai please." he says. I nod and walk away.

I go to prepare the latte and the chai, and grab the cinnamon muffin on my way back to the table.

"Here you go." I say, giving them what they had ordered.

"Thanks." they reply.

I smile and nod, walking away.

"So. Who are they?" Seth asks.

"Huh?" I ask, confused.

"Well, clearly, you know them." he says.

"The one on the right is my longtime crush from 10th grade." I say, referring to Vishwa. "And the other one was my crush in 6th grade."

"Wow." he breaths.

"Yea."

"Karma."

I roll my eyes as Sanjay walks in. He walks to a table, and sits down. I walk over to take his order.

"Hey Jay."

"Hey Pranu."

"The usual?" I ask. Jay is a usual customer at Eva's.

"Yea." he says, nodding.

After giving him his usual order of a double chocolate chip muffin and a vanilla bean coffee, i sit on the table.

"So?" I ask.

"The car's alive." he jokes.

I roll my eyes and laugh. "Very funny." I reply.

"Did you call Shrey?" he asks.

"No. I was gonna do it after my shift."

"Oh ok."

"Did you?" I ask. He shakes his head no.

"Oh."

"Um, Pranu." I hear my name. I turn around, and see Ishan looking at me.

"Do you know him?" Sanjay asks, his face serious. I nod.

"One sec." I say to him. He nods, and I walk over to Ishan and Vishwa's table.

"So you do remember me?" I ask. They both nod.

"Thats great." I say.

"How's life?" Vishwa asks.

"Meh. The usual." I reply. "How 'bout you two?"

"Same. College is annoying as hell." I nod.

"A lot of work." Vishwa adds.

"Yea. What college are you guys at?" I ask.

"Princeton." they both answer.

"You?" Ishan asks, taking a sit of his latte.

"Prince-" I start when the door opens. I hear the bell chime, and look up to see Shrey.

"Shrey!" I yell, running up to him and hugging him. "You ok?" I ask, still hugging him.

I hear the bell chime again, and I see Ishan and Vishwa walking out of the cafe. Vishwa seems angry, and I see Ishan try calming him down.

Huh? What's going on? I think.

"Now I am." he says, snapping me out of my thoughts. I let him go, and look at him.

"How was it?" I ask.

"I miss her already." he says, crying.

"Karthikeya Ram-Shreyas Mandupani." I say sternly. "Stop crying this instant before I kill you." I warn. He laughs. "That's what I wanna hear." I say to him.

"Thanks Pranu." he says, smiling. "Hey Sanjay."

"Hey man. All good?" Jay asks, and they do the bro shake thing, where they clasp hands and slap each other's backs. Shrey nods, and goes to sit down.

I walk with them, and grab a chair, as there is no one else in the cafe. 

I look outside, and see Vishwa looking stressed.

What's going on? I wonder.

This is a rlly long chapter. The story will get interesting. Please comment on how you like the story so far, and don't forget to vote if you like the story. Also, please read my other books as well.