↟

"I still can't believe Veda is dating that ugly face." Kavya muttered, as she swung her paper fan back and forth. Inaya placed her water bottle near her feet, "Maybe he has a good character?"

"He basically has a rock for a brain, Inaya. That guy has no character. Why do all the pretty girls flock to guys that look like they are homeless? All the pretty aunties in my neighbourhood have the worst looking husbands."

Inaya blinked, in response. The sound of whistles and cheers fill the ground around them, as different classes competed in different races. Prakash jogged towards them and plopped down on the empty seat next to Kavya. The latter took no notice of him. She, instead, turned to Inaya with a grave look in her eye.

"Inaya?"

"Hm?"

"Promise me one thing."

Arjun jogged back from his race and plopped down next to them, grabbing the towel on the chair and wiping his sweaty face. Playing sports under the scorching sun painted most people in an unflattering way. Yet, it did the opposite for Arjun.

Inaya watched him in envy. He really was the heaven's blessed son.

"Inaya, are you listening?"

"I am, I am. Tell me. What do I have to promise to you?"

"Promise me that you'll never marry an ugly guy. I'm serious. Someone has to set the balances of the world right."

Inaya blinked, contemplating the weight of the promise. If she ended up liking a so-called ugly guy, how was she to keep up the promise?

"What kind of nonsense is that?" Arjun retorted with a side eye in Kavya's direction. "You are talking about marriage when you haven't even passed your first board exam yet."

"Of course, the ever-silent Arjun will suddenly speak up when Inaya's marriage is discussed." Kavya grinned.

"Kavya, why you are even discussing her marriage right now is my question."

"It's just girl talk." Kavya shrugged, "Why are you so triggered?"

Arjun blew a breath, exasperated.

"Kavya, the teacher is calling you for your race." Inaya pointed out. Kavya gasped and quickly dashed towards her. Prakash, too, stood up. He sent a teasing grin in Arjun's direction before running to another race.

"When's your next race round?" Arjun posed gently, after a long bout of silence. Inaya pursed her lips, "I already got disqualified. What about you?"

"I will have to run the final round of the 500m race. That's my last one. I have to go in 30 minutes."

Inaya nodded, picking up her water bottle, "Do you want some water?"

"Yup. Thanks."

"How many races did you do today?"

Arjun tipped his head back, counting, "Probably around 5?"

"Wow, that's a lot."

"Were you only joining the relay race or did you participate in something else too?"

"Only the relay race." That she had flopped hard.

"I see." Arjun put the water bottle next to her feet and leaned against his knees, "Then, will you come and cheer on me?"

"Of course." Inaya beamed at him.

"I-"

"Arjun," A teacher appeared at their left, "The PE teacher is calling you for the final round. Are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." Arjun nodded, standing up immediately. He nodded at Inaya to follow him. Inaya padded behind him, with her fingers intertwined behind her back. A small crowd was gathered around the corner were the race was supposed to be conducted. Much of the crowd were guys just standing around or loitering.

Inaya stopped in front of the race tracks, a small distance away from the rest of the crowd, "All the best! Hope you're the winner!"

Arjun glanced at her, amused, "I think you should cheer me on a little louder than that. All of these guys here are supporting my opponent, you know."

Inaya glanced at the crowd, feeling intimidated.

"What?" Arjun bent down to meet her gaze, "You promised to be my moral support and now, you're chickening out."

"I'm not chickening out," Inaya protested immediately, her eyebrows scrunching. "I'll cheer you on loudly, alright? Now, go on."

Arjun laughed quietly as he headed to the position right behind the race tracks. Then, he kneeled, steadying himself. His opponent kneeled, too. A round of cheers went around the crowd.

A whistle was sounded and the two runners shot off, running into the distance. Before Inaya could process anything, the race was ready over.

Arjun had won. The crowd erupted in applause, completelt drowning out Inaya's soft claps.

Inaya: ...

I couldn't even cheer loudly for him...

Towards late evening, the stage was set for the closing ceremony. Prakash,Kavya and Arjun were all winners and had to sit at the front, near the stage. Although Inaya was supposed to sit at the back with the other classmates, the trio had managed to sneak her to the front, along with them.

"You won four medals?" Kavya exclaimed. "That's crazy. You could easily be an athlete if you wanted to."

"I don't want to be running around and sweating all the time." Was Arjun's reply.

Kavya shook her head with a sigh, "He dismisses his own natural gift."

Inaya allowed a pause before she posed her question, "What do you want to become when you grow up?"

Arjun glanced at her, "A doctor."

"May I ask why?"

All three of her friwnds burst out laughing at that, "It's been ages since I heard anyone say 'May I ask...', Inaya. I told you please drop the formalities with us."

Arjun recovered from his bout laughter, "Well, I think all of us have a fascination for the unknown. We also like to pattern the unpredictable. This tendency to pattern things and conquer the unknown manifests in all of us in different ways. For me, it's the human body and medical science. There's so much we don't completely know about our own bodies. I want to try and understand all of it. For now, this is my reason."

"So it's not because you want to save everyone's lives?"

Arjun lowered his head into his open palms., his lips covered by his hands. "That's a thought too but my primary reason is nothing as grand as that."

"Oh," Inaya nodded.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the fascination for biology and medical science grew. It became something she began thinking about frequently.

"Are you going home already?" Kavya groaned. Inaya smiled at her, "I have to. My parents will be waiting."

"Didn't you say before that your parents are always back late?" Kavya mumbled. Prakash and Arjun approached them.

"Yes...but," Inaya let out a breath with a helpless smile, "today's my birthday. My parents are waiting to celebrate."

All three of them froze.

"Say...what? Today's your birthday?" Kavya repeated, with a shell-shocked expression. 

"Yes." Inaya glanced at her watch, "I'll get going. See you tomorrow at school."

With the parting remark, Inaya didn't wait for the greetings repeated back to her. She padded slowly along the sidewalk, disappearing around the corner where the streetlight highlighted brightly.

The trio stood there, glancing at each other. 

"Some friends we are." Prakash muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Let's prepare something for her." Arjun spoke up, quickly.

"Yeah!" Kavya recovered and chipped in. "We could do like a mini party at the rooftop, no?"

"Alright. Let's do it."

The three of them nodded solemnly.

—

a/n: many were shocked that Arjun directly told his parents he had a crush. to be honest, i didn't get the shock at first, considering i giggle about my own crushes with my mom 😭