AT THE PARIKHS' HOUSE

Aastha rubbed her favourite itr on four corners of her CSK jersey and the joints of both her wrists. She put her sunglasses, Google Pixel 6, lip balm, a napkin and obviously her ticket in her bag. It was a small bag, although it was enough to fit all this and an extra back-up t-shirt, obviously yellow in colour.

(Perfume)

(her outfit)

She took the bag and her phone in her hands and went to her house's living room. She sat on the sofa, crossing her legs as she waited for Rutuja, Jay and Priya to come. She had one of her palms on her cheek and the elbow on her thighs. She was tapping her fingers gently on her cheeks, when Priya entered the room and gave her a weird look.

"What?" Aastha asked, looking at Priya, who wore a GT jersey and shorts. Both of them decided on a Jersey and shorts, they hadn't discussed which Jersey though because Priya thought that Aastha was going to wear her GT jersey.

"Please tell me that you did not expect me to wear my GT jersey." Aastha looked at her friend, hoping for a negative answer or just a simple no.

"What else?" Priya spoke as she rolled her eyes and facepalmed herself. She sighed.

Just then, both of them saw Rutuja and Jay coming down the stairs. Rutuja saw Aastha wearing the CSK and chuckled a little, Aastha smiled a little at her, thanking God because her didi didn't judge her.

Jay eyed Aastha's outfit and then looked at his own, he was a little shocked because he simply assumed that she too would be supporting GT. His surprise was slightly visible on his face.

(his outfit)

"Chalo," Rutuja said when Aastha stood up, adjusting her jersey. All of them wore their shoes and sat in the car. They left for Dhruvit's house. Dhruvit joined them and the boys went to sit in the back seat, while Dhruvit's brother, Anshuman sat next to Rutuja who was driving. The girls' sat in the middle seats.

(Let's go)

"Hello, ladies, I am Anshuman, Dhruvit's brother," He told Priya and Aastha, politely. "You can call me Anshu Bhai if that's comfortable or just Anshuman would be fine!" He said with a smile on his face.

(Brother)

"Nice to meet you, Anshu Bhai. I am Priyadarshini but you can call me Priya and she's Aastha." Priya said with a smile, putting an emphasis on the 'Anshu Bhai' part.

"Yeah, nice to meet you!" Aastha too, had a smile on her face. After all, Anshuman wasn't exactly who or what she expected Dhruvit's brother to be like.

"So, Aastha, right? Do you like GT or is it a big no-no for you?" Anshuman looked at Aastha's jersey, it wasn't weird honestly. She was the only one out of the six who was not wearing a GT jersey and was on top of that wearing a CSK jersey.

"I love GT too, honestly. But, CSK is my first cricket love after the national team, obviously. So you can say that I like CSK more than how much I like GT." She chuckled a little and winked at Anshuman who was able to see it in the rear view mirror.

AT THE MOTERA STADIUM

After approximately an hour of parking struggle, the group reached the insides of the stadium. Although they did not have to climb as much because their seats were in the 7th row. All of them settled on their seats and decided to take a picture.

At approximately 5:45, an announcement was made declaring Ambati Rayadu's retirement. It was a little shocking for all the CSK fans in the stadium including Aastha. They showed his tweet on the big screen, there were sad cheers heard from all over the stadium.

Then the worst part of the day started happening, it rained. It kept raining without absolutely any single limit. They ran into the inner part of the stadium, where the food stalls were. All of them were a little hungry so they decided to get burgers. Rutuja asked Jay and Dhruvit to go buy the burgers and gave them some money.

Then only, Anshuman had asked Aastha to bring the Subways both of them wanted, they did not want to eat the burgers. Anshuman gave Aastha some money which she gave back to him saying that she had enough.

Aastha bought the Subways And Jay and Dhruvit bought the burgers. All of them were running back to where the rest 3 were standing so that the rood doesn't get soggy. That was when Aastha bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I'm in a little hurry," Aastha said, getting away from the person and looking at them to see their face. She saw the person's face and spoke up again, "Oh, it was you. Anyways, uh, let's go." She got awkward because she saw Jay, he was whom she collided with.

"It's okay," Jay said looking at her. He took a pause and then continued, "Yes, it was me. Anyways, yeah, let's go. Also, please be careful, it's slippery ne tu padis toh bau gandu dukhse." He too, had got awkward but there was not much time to overthink about it.

(and if you fall, it will hurt a lot)

All of them ate their Subways and Burgers and went back near the seats to check the weather. It was still raining. There was not much hope that the match would continue that day.

Finally, the officials made an announcement that the match would be postponed to the next day, and well-kept tickets could be reused. And luckily for them, Aastha took care of the tickets as if they were her children.

There was disappointment on all their faces. Jay and Dhruvit were supposed to meet some tution friends, but obviously they had to cancel. Aastha was planning to binge-watch a show but she had to decide against it. But honestly to them, it was all worth it.

All this, but all of them were still enthusiastic for the upcoming and were praying with all they had that it wouldn't rain the next day.

~

AT THE MOTERA STADIUM

Jay's POV

It was finally time for the rescheduled match and all pre and post game events. The performances were so damn lit, especially Nucleya's. All of that kept aside, the drone show was the best part of all the pre-match events. It was so beautiful and worth it.

CSK had won the toss and decided to bowl first. Shubhman and Saha came out to play. The game was going on really well, if the playing rate continued, the match would probably end in GT's favour.

Then, something happened, the star player of GT, Shubman Gill got out in the seventh over, he scored 39 runs before getting out, that was if he was to be out. The result wasn't out yet. As the result came out, Aastha started dancing like crazy and waved the CSK flag she had brought, that cheer wasn't just for the wicket. It was also for the lightning fast 0.12 second reaction of Aastha's favourite wicket-keeper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Then, GT was 67 at 1 in 7 overs.

The match went on, there wasn't much to enjoy for Aastha, but everyone except her was in a really good mood. Finally, the first 20 overs were done. GT ended the match on 214 for 4 and set a target of 215 runs for CSK.

The chase was really hard considering the situation of the team, but there was still hope in the hearts of CSK fans. The game started again and things weren't looking that bright for CSK fans.

And then, something no IPL viewer wanted at that time happened, it rained. There was water everywhere, even on the 22-yard pitch. The rain was there for a very long time. It was declared that if the game restarted before 11:30 PM, all 20 overs would be played.

But, that isn't what happened. It started after 11:30 and was supposed to continue till 15 overs. CSK was given a target of 171 runs. It wasn't that easy to chase for the team.

END OF POV

AASTHA'S POV

The last over is going on, I can't let myself sit now. We're probably going to lose, all thanks to Mohit Sharma, what a great bowler, yaar. Mahi got out on a duck, what worse could happen. There wasn't much worse to happen except losing now, which looked too evident. 2 balls and 10 runs that ain't possible.

(Dude)

Only Jadeja can do some kind of a miracle now. I saw the bowler throw the ball towards Jadeja's direction. And, I could not process what happened, it was a sixer! WHAT THE FUCK. I screamed at the top of my lungs and so did most other CSK fans.

And then the bowler again went to bowl the last bowl. There was too much tension in the stadium. My attention was on the pitch, it was clearly visible to me. Jadeja hit a four. I blinked my eyes again to believe it. Tears fell out of my eyes as Jadeja ran around the stadium and the whole team came inside to cheer the man.

My tears became more evident as Dhoni picked up Jadeja and the most heartwarming moment happened. I could not believe it, CSK won. It was so unreal.

Anshuman Bhai asked us if we wanted to leave before the post-match ceremonies but I requested to see it.

END OF POV

The stadium was filled with joy, both the teams and families of the CSK team were on the ground. Everyone was enjoying and celebrating and then all the post-match ceremonies started. Firecrackers were bursted and millions of confetti were tossed.

Shubman Gill received the orange cap, Mohammed Shami received the purple cap. Jadeja was announced man of the match.

They left after all post-match ceremonies ended. It was around 3 A.M. Almost all people left at that time so they reached the parking which was around 10 minutes away after 45 minutes. It also took them around 2 hours to reach home because they took the longer route, but if they had taken the straight and shorter route it would've taken more time as that route was traffic-jammed.

The sun had almost risen when they reached home. Aastha went straight to sleep because she had to wake up again after two hours to get ready for her tutions. Jay went to sleep a little later after bathing because he didn't have to go anywhere that day. 

JAY'S POV

I was thinking about yesterday. What a fun game cricket is! Two balls, just two balls changed the whole situation. This was such an epic win for CSK, although I am a GT fan, this was quite impressive.

I had goosebumps when Jadeja hit that 6 and 4. And dude, that Aastha was crying, like literally crying. She had been constantly standing for 30 minutes and had her fingers crossed and was literally praying in-between overs. It was comical to watch that. But her prayers worked though, CSK won.

'Aa banne divas ma Aastha has acted like a normal person, etli bi crazy nathi ae.' was what I thought to myself before Rutuja screamed at me to go to sleep

(In these two days Aastha has acted like a normal person, she isn't that crazy.)

Although, not to my surprise, I was not able to sleep. So, I bathed and watched reels till 8 AM and went downstairs for breakfast. I went into the kitchen to see whether Mumma was there or not, but she wasn't. She did say she had to leave early because of some meeting that day.

(his outfit)

Radhika Kaki saw me and said, "Sui jato. Uthi kem gayo tu khali khoto?"

(Aunt; You should've slept. Why did you wake up without any use of it?)

"Arre kaki, ungh j nati aavati etle niche utari gayo." I said, smiling towards her and then poured myself a glass of water and then walked towards the dining room with it.

(Oh, aunt, I wasn't able to sleep so I came downstairs)

As soon as I entered, I saw Aastha yawning and then eating a bite from her toast and then yawning again. She was partially asleep and I tried my best not to laugh at her situation but ended up laughing. Normally, if this were to happen she would have taunted me or glared at me, none of it happened this time. She was too tired to even think about it.

(her outfit)

Her father who was sitting next to her spoke up, "Na javu hoi toh na jaa," He then wore his glasses and stood up from the table to go get his bag, probably.

(If you don't want to go, then don't go)

I just assumed that she wouldn't go to her tuition now but she quickly finished up her breakfast and went to pack her backpack for her tutions, she was constantly rubbing her eyes.

She took approximately 15 minutes to come out, but by then her father had already left. She went to the kitchen to ask her mother to come drop her off, but she was making food.

"Jay, beta, ek help karis? Aane Yug sir ne tya drop kari aav ne." She asked me, I mean what else was I expecting I was the only one awake and at home left who could officially drive a vehicle. Although this was a question, I did not have a choice. So I went to get my EV's keys.

(Jay, dear, will you help? Drop her off at Yug Sir's please.)

I took out my EV and honked for a second and she came out, she sat behind me and started tying her hair with the scrunchie in her hand. As soon as she did that, I started driving.

The road was empty so I decided to have a little fun with her, so I took the speed to 40 and crossed a bump. She was ejected into the air for a second. I started chuckling.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, YOU DUMBASS." She screamed at me in her annoying voice and slapped my back lightly.

I honestly found it funny so I kept laughing but then stopped. "Ungh udi gayi ne tari?" I said, and started laughing again.

(Your sleep went away, right?)

"Jerk." She muttered thinking I must not have heard but I did and it was still funny to me but I didn't laugh this time because I had to cross the road.

We were just a minute away when she said, "Thanks, Jerk. But drop me here, I'll walk from here." At that statement I looked at her questioningly, honestly wondering if she was going to go home and tell her mother that I didn't drop her off probably.

"Don't look too confused, I wouldn't want to be caught dead with you, especially by my friends." She gave me a sarcastic smile and started walking towards the institute complex.

I rolled my eyes at her attitude and didn't think much about it. I went to my old home to see what was going on there, just to see that there was no house left now, it was just broken pieces of walls on the ground. I then went to Sid uncle's home, my current home, apparently and started watching my favourite show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

I tried focusing on the show but my wind went to Aastha again and again. Just some hours ago, she was being all normal and now she was back to her crazy self again. It looks like she has some kind of allergic reaction when she is alone with me. I am not perfect either, I hate her equally but we need to co-exist for the sake of my mental health, at the very least.

If she isn't the one to take the first step, I'll do it. She'd be home for less time from next Monday anyways. I will have my moments of peace then.

a/n~ 
Okayyyy

Abhi bolne ke liye mere paas zyada kuch nahi hai

So there you go. Kaisa laga aapko yeh chapter? Any other CSK fans relate?

Love,
Tithi <3