AT THE PARIKHS' HOUSE

The day had begun peacefully for both Jay and Aastha. It was not because they had telepathically decided to make peace, it was just because Aastha woke up very late and Jay had already completed his breakfast.

Today, Jay wanted to have an 'important' discussion with his parents. He wanted it to be at the right time so that they said yes to it. What is it that you may ask? Permission for going to the IPL finals.

He wasn't worried because the tickets might be costly, it was because his dad was a little on the strict side. So, he thought that during lunch would be a good time to ask his father.

"Pappa, gaikale Dhruvit aavelo. He was wondering if he, his brother, me and Didi could go watch the IPL finals together?" Jay asked, politely.

(Dad, yesterday Dhruvit had come.)

"Hmm, go if you want to," He paused and took a sip of his chaas (buttermilk). He continued, "Aastha, beta, do you like cricket? If you like it, you can go with them too, no? But first ask your parents."

(Dear)

Aastha's parents nodded, pretty much giving Aastha permission. Aastha looked around the room awkwardly. She scratched the back of her neck and then spoke, "Uh, as much as I love cricket, I can't really go. I mean- it will be awkward for me and him and his friend both. Plus, I promised Priya that if i go to the finals I wouldn't go without her. Thanks for asking, though."

"Ema tu na kya pade che beta? Priya ne bi lai jaje. Ena parents ne ame convince kari laisu. Jay, beta, Priya ni ane aani pan ticket ganjo." Aastha's mother said joyfully.

(Why are you saying no for this, dear? Take Priya with you too. We will convince her parents. Jay, dear, count Priya and her tickets too.)

AASTHA'S POV

(her outfit)

God bless my dearest mother! This woman couldn't sense my awkwardness and has now jeopardized my chances of enjoying the IPL finals. It's not like I don't want to go. It's just that I wouldn't want to go with them. Also, Priya would kill me for this.

Only thing that could compensate for this is CSK winning the finals. Hey but what if CSK doesn't qualify for the finals? What in this damned world would I wear to the game? I do have a GT jersey but I really want the CSK jersey being the one I'd wear to the game.

Anyways, this still would count as me going to the finals so I'm happy. I need to tell Priya about this ASAP.

END OF POV

Rutuja smiled at Aastha, she was pretty happy that Aastha and Priya would be joining her because she didn't want to be the only girl with these three crazy boys.

After lunch, everyone went to their respective rooms to relax for a bit. Aastha went to hers and told Priya about everything.

"We're going to the finals, but with Dhruvit and Jay!? You're completely cray cray, dude."

"I tried, okay, Priya."

"YOU GAVE STUPID REASONS, YOU DUMBASS."

"But, on the bright side we're going to the IPL finals, right?"

"Yeah, you're forgiven just because of that."

Although Jay was pissed off at his dad for inviting Aastha and her friend he was taking it out on his innocent sister.

(his outfit)

"Arre yaar, aavu thodi hoy. Pappa ne je mann fave e kahi devu hoi che ne pachi badha consequences aapde face karvana." He shouted at his sister, loud but not loud enough to go to the next room because his father was in that room.

(O, dear! Why is it like this? Dad says anything that comes to his mind and then we have to face the consequences.)

"Have aa badbadiyan ane eni benpani ne lai java padse ne." He rolled his eyes, being completely annoyed.

(Now we'll have to take this talkative girl and her friend too, no?)

"Yes, definitely. But both of them are nice to be around and mind your words, e etli pan badbadiyan nathi." Rutuja said, trying to calm down her brother.

(She is not that talkative)

~

(her outfit)

(his outfit)

It was now the 24th of May's evening, it was Radhika's birthday and Aastha and Priya had planned something. Aastha and Priya were going to go on a walk, just around their society, there's a home-baker nearby. So, they would pick up the cake from the home-baker and store it in Priya's house's fridge. Then a little before dinner, Aastha would go to Priya's place with the excuse of giving her a book and bringing the cake. The plan was foolproof, but there were just some inconveniences that this duo hadn't expected.

The Pandya siblings had decided to get Radhika a cake too, it was a nice gesture after all and they couldn't appreciate Radhika enough, she was like a mother to them. They decided that they would give the excuse of bringing soft drinks for the 'special' dinner that day and bring the cake then. No one could've suspected a thing, but little did they know. Something else was going on too.

It was almost dinner time, Aastha had gone to Priya's to execute her plan and the Pandya siblings had gone to execute theirs. They co-incidentally came back home at the same time. Rutuja opened the Gate for Jay and Aastha who were holding their respective cakes. They took one glance at each other and realised what was going on. Both of them rolled their eyes and Rutuja sighed.

Aastha entered the house calling for her mumma, screaming, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARI FAVOURITE MUMMY. AHIYA AAV"

(..., My favourite mom. Come here.)

Radhika and Birva came out and opened the door for them. Radhika saw her daughter and Jay holding the cakes and tears almost fell out of her beautiful brown eyes. Everyone was smiling, but silent.

"Aunty, aama rado su chho? Jaldi karo naitar cake ma maja nai aave." Rutuja said, breaking the silence. All of them went inside and placed both the cakes on the table in the living room.

(Aunty, why are you crying in this? Be quick, otherwise the cake wouldn't be as fun."

(Aastha's Cake)

(Pandya siblings' cake)

Aastha's POV

Why did their cake have to be so fucking perfect!? It's my mother's birthday. Who does he think he is? Did he not think that he should've talked to me before deciding this? Now if mumma doesn't like my cake, I will fucking kill him. She better cut my cake first.

"I'll bring two knives, just a sec." I said, trying to take my mind off of their perfect cake.

I brought the two knives and they had already opened the boxes of both the cakes. I was just hoping my mother would cut my cake first.

End of POV

After almost what seemed like an eternity of debate to Aastha because it should've been obvious that the first cake to be cut should've been hers.

But to her disappointment, it was not hers. Her mother had decided that it should be Jay and Rutuja's cake as they are her guests. This put a smile on the Pandya siblings' faces.

They cut both the cakes and sang the birthday song twice as a joke, but Aastha played the guitar only once, obviously, when they cut her cake.

After the cakes were cut, all of them had dinner. Although everyone was in a joyful mood while eating dinner, there was someone who had absolutely zero interest in the Paneer Chilli (a hakka/indian-chinese dish) and the Hakka Schezwan Noodles prepared by Siddharth; it was Aastha.

Jay's POV

I could sense Aastha staring right into my soul during dinner. Her stare made me very awkward and a little frightened honestly. It felt like if I said one more word for the day, she would stab me with her fork.

Her anger was justified though, if my mother would cut a cake brought by someone staying at my place before cutting my mine I would also be disappointed and angry at the other person.

Although, one thing I wouldn't do is eat very quickly and leave the dining hall as soon as possible, that is just straight up rude. And, she did it. Even if I think of sympathizing with this girl once, she always ruins it herself.

End of POV

That night, for some reason, Aastha's sobs did not take the name of stopping. She cried herself to sleep. It might seem like an overreaction, but she was really, really, really hurt. This meant a lot to her. She even bought it from the money she had gotten after acing the TST examination taken by the state government. But all her mother could do then was talk about how tasty Jay and Rutuja's cake was.

It obviously was more tasteful to Radhika as it had walnuts in it and she loved walnuts, but with the money Aastha had, she couldn't afford that cake. Her mother, though unaware of what she had done, was being very cruel to her. Aastha had made a mental note to make sure her mother realized what she had done.

a/n~

Hello ji! Kese ho sab? I hope y'all are doing fine physically, mentally and emotionally.

Accha haan toh Aastha ko kya karna chahiye tha 😀
Woh petty hai, personally i like her pettiness anyways

Chalo agle Saturday ko milte hai apan, with chapter 5, it's like my favourite chapter jo maine abhi tak likha hai, pretty relatable like tbh apni situation ke according hi likha hai lmao.

Love,
Tithi <3