As time went by, she did not hear from Lakshya. She prayed everyday over that week that the marriage was going to happen.

That's when she heard some beautiful news. "We are setting up a date for your engagement," her father said. He did not seem as grumpy as before. Possibly after getting a little more acquainted with Lakshya's parents, he no longer had the previous contempt.

She smiled slightly.

He looked away.

She had an hour more before she left for work.

She knocked on her brother's door.

After a while he opened it looking groggy. "Still not going?" It has been close to ten days since he stopped running to college. She was worried.

He shook his head as he walked back and plopped on the bed.

"What about your classes?" He was always so meticulous in following the schedule and completing his syllabus. He was going to take the entrance exam, after all. The exam was just five months away.

"Just this week. I'll see if I can study this portion during revision. Can't you see how my nose is running?"

She nodded. He sneezed. Then he sneezed three more times.

"A fortnight of stalling in two years of preparation. I kind of deserve it, don't I?"

"You tell yourself anything."

He wiped his nose. "You had something to tell me?"

Shreya nodded. "I like the guy. Father seems to be fine with him; he just told me they were setting a date for engagement."

"He always thinks of us first."

Shreya sighed. It did seem so.

"After enjoying this huge break, should I again take a break for your marriage!" he suddenly asked with a twisted face.

Shreya slapped him on the back. "Won't you?"

After some more talking he bade him farewell and went to her lab.

She had dealt with a lot since childhood, but the worst of it still seemed to be awaiting. She did not know if she was doing the right thing hiding the bitterness between Lakshya and her from everyone. But she was sure she was making the best out of her circumstances.

What would it be like? Her future? Her marriage? Her life?

Only time would tell.

That day, she had more food from her lunch to offer to stray dogs. Somewhere she knew she would be fighting a losing battle. Why was there no light at the end of her tunnel yet? What horrid things had she done in her past life? Why should she still suffer?

She did not know what changed in her, but she noticed the change. When her father discouraged her about tying the knot with Lakshya and she knew of his girlfriend, she had a burning fire in her heart. A fighting spirit to get what she wanted.

But now when her father finally came around and had no bitterness regarding this marriage, when what she wanted seemed to come a little closer to her, she somewhere feared it. She lost that fighting spirit.

She would effectively be fighting for her own happiness at the cost of someone else's, in fact, at the cost of two people's.

∼•∽

Amid all the negativity, Shreya was coping with, Shreekant's NEET result was out.

He sat before the screen tapping his foot furiously and he entered his hallticket number. The server loaded for a whole five seconds. His tapping got wilder.

Then, finally, he stopped. He was stoned. His AIR was single digit. His score was 712, ranking him 9th in the country.

"I will become a doctor," he whispered as his eyes turned misty.

It was a result he deserved but not one he dreamt of. He could get into the top medical school now.

His family was around him. His father was seated beside him and his mother stood aside, while Shreya sat on the bed a little far away.

"Well done," his father appreciated with a pat on the back. His mother just smiled at him. Shreya was silent but he knew she was going to congratulate him over and over again when their father went out and that's exactly what happened. They celebrated with a serious gaming session.

∼•∽

It was the engagement day. Lakshya had not spoken to Moksha in the last two days. Even their good morning texts became barred.

Soon, he was standing before who seemed to be his shackle, holding him from his beloved. There was no smile on his lips. He did everything mechanically.

When the time came to exchange rings, he finally looked at her, to be exact, her eyes.

She seemed to know what he felt, she averted her eyes, and her face. A moment later, metal slipped into her ring finger. His touch was gentle, rather, minimal. When his hands left hers not a shred of warmth remained.

When it was her turn, she carefully grabbed his palm, and put on the ring slowly. Those few touches would be on her mind for weeks to come, making her smile a little more.

∼•∽

Nothing much changed though. Yet, she told herself.

Every time her father went on unreasonable and denigrating lectures towards anyone in the family, she wrote it down in her dusty old books wherever there was some space and then cried herself to sleep.

One night, however, she was completely exhausted. It was due to work just as much as it was due to a weird feeling she could not understand. She was worried sick that her decision to marry Lakshya did not further push her into darkness. That night, her head hurt so much, she could not write anything out. But that had been the only way to keep her sanity all along.

She cried until her face went red.

She swiped open her phone and recorded whatever was reaching her ears.

Once her father's speech came to an end, she opened her eyes. She waited for five minutes, in case it was just a pause, and he got back to his rant again. Then, she stopped the recording. She looked at the single file on the screen.

A calm and slow breath came out of her. It helped.

∼•∽

Shreekant would leave for Delhi within that month. He had gotten his admit. The admit he dreamed of, at AIIMS.

"Neha and I are planning to go to the monthly con this Sunday. You are coming."

"Nah.."

"Why? I know you won't go once your college starts." Shreya placed three special merchandise coupons before him.

He grabbed one. "I'll go on my own."

Shreya sighed. "We know the place well," she said.

Shreekant just felt shy. A young boy hanging out with his sister and her friend whom he had overheard to be a dress-up freak, and with both women being way older than him? No way.

"Why don't we ditch your friend?" That was the only concession he could make.

Shreya slapped his back. "She's the one with the membership. She got these for us," she said, eyeing the coupons.

"Well, thank her for me." he ran into his room with his coupon.

Suddenly he turned back. "Did you tell dad?"

Shreya shook her head.

"I'll ask him. You get ready." He shut the door.

Shreya smiled and her eyes teared up.

If there was one person who could understand her, it was her little brother. Despite the huge difference in how they saw their situation, he did not need her to ask for his help. He did not need her to understand him either. In fact, he did not understand her either. To be exact, he felt her. He just knew how she felt to the tee.

She cleared her clogged nose and got ready.

∼•∽

The siblings met Neha directly at the convention and Shreekant did not want to be associated with her. She had a light green wig with rather long hair on her. Her dress was classy in beige.

"Congratulations!" She said as soon as she saw them.

"Thanks." Shreekant said.

"He wants to explore himself," Shreya said.

Neha was surprised. "Really? Huh? We are indeed too old I guess." She laughed and tapped his shoulder and took his number. "Okay, boy. Keep your ringer volume full." She then dragged Shreya away into the changing rooms.

"I'm not dressing up!" This was the third time she was attending the event and just like the last two times, she walked out with a protesting Neha.

Everybody was either taking photos or running around their favourite amine merch stalls. In a section further away, a band was performing.

Neha had way too many friends that came and said hello and took photos with her. Shreya was standing at a stalled themed 'Unfated Love.' She took a figurine of Kaori and checked if it was all good.

Right at that moment she heard the song Orange. With the small doll in her hand she struggled to get a proper look at the band.

The stall manager sang along and nodded at Shreya to join in. Shreya laughed a little and hummed lightly. As she looked on, the guitarist was all her focus was on. But no matter how much she tried to make him out, she could not. She was simply too far away. There was a nagging feeling she knew him.

When the song was finally over, the guy said holding out an Arima doll, "Buy this too. You don't want to separate them, do you?"

She had to admit, the guy could sell. She quickly took it and paid the price. The coupon gave her a 10% discount. However, she got more than she should have in return. "A discount for you," the guy said.

"Oh.. Oh, I did not know we could bargain here."

"You can't! It's a special discount for you."

She looked at him for a moment before averting her gaze. "Thanks."

"Can we be friends?" He asked. He had a sunny smile.

Shreya did not know how to turn the guy down.

"Don't even try. She's mine." Neha rescued her from the sticky situation.

The guy looked confused. Before he could reply, the girls set off. Since when did friendships become exclusive? He did not know. He still felt good about giving the beauty a discount.

"What a smooth flirt! I was watching you two singing together and you seemed fine. Then I thought he was ripping you off making you buy more and more. That's when I came over, but the guy actually gave you such a great deal. All to get your number. You should be careful."

Shreya nodded. After all, between the two of them, Neha knew people better. She had a huge number of friends everywhere, but all of them were rather genuine people.

Neha suddenly looked over. "If you ever need to choose a guy to date, make sure to tell me. I can smell shitty dudes well."

Shreya nodded again. Neha had a few boyfriends in the past, and those experiences taught her a lot.

Shreya was yet to tell her about her engagement. Her ring was in her bag.

∼•∽

Both girls walked forward. Every few minutes someone came over to take a picture with CC, the character Neha dressed up as.

When they were closer to the stage, Shreya noticed it was another band that was performing. But soon after stopped.

She had come face to face with a group of 3 guys and 3 girls. They had their instruments with them and one of them was Lakshya.

"What?" Neha asked.

"Hi," Shreya carefully greeted Lakshya. She was pleasantly surprised. It was indeed Lakshya and she was once again drawn to him.

Beside her Neha was surprised that Shreya took the initiative to speak to a stranger.

Lakshya looked up and his face immediately changed. He was trying to keep his mind off his problems. He did not care to hide his anger.

"How did you know I'd be here?"

"You played well. That was all I wanted to say to you."

"You two know each other?" A girl who seemed rather close to him than the other two girls asked. But the next second, her mood also changed.

"I'll get going. I really just came across you walking around." Shreya bent her head and was ready to turn back.

"Who's she?" One of his friends asked.

"She's the one."

After a moment of silence, the same guy said, "I see!" His voice was singy-songy.

"Do you not know how to be polite? Who even are you to talk like that to a person you just wanted to give you a compliment?" Neha spat.

"Neha!"

"What did you mean she is the one?" Neha was confident Shreya did nothing bad to any of them.

"Neha! Let's just go," Shreya pulled her.

"Do you know him?" Neha did not understand why her friend did not fight back their malice.

Lakshya smiled. It was not an innocent smile though. It seems he had something on her now.

"She's my fiancée," he said with the utmost mocking tone. How could he let her be at peace when she did not let him be? It was a great opportunity.

He took a step forward. "When is our marriage again?"

Neha wanted to look at Shreya, but she kept her eyes on the group instead. "Is it?"

"Yeah. Don't let Shreekant come over."

"Got it." She turned to Shreya and said, "Don't waste too much of your time here. He's not that great." She turned around pulling her phone out.

Half of the group scoffed.

Lakshya laughed. "So I am the one who does not want to get married to you and you are the one hiding it from your friends. How ironic!"

"Our marriage is two months and seventeen days from today," Shreya said, "Is your girlfriend here?"

One girl moved behind Lakshya, shielding herself from Shreya's view.

"Why? What do you want to say to her?"

"I see it's her..." Shreya had been noticing her from the moment she greeted Lakshya. She was definitely younger than her, cuter too with bouncing curls perfectly shaping her face.

"Hey." His friend hummed and said, "Why did you have to do this and ruin such a great relationship? They've been together for what, 4 years now."

Shreya bent slightly and locked eyes with Moksha and smiled. Maybe she felt sorry, maybe she felt she lost, or maybe even she felt she had to get along with her. She did not know herself.

"What the hell are you doing? Did you just mock her?"

Shreya was startled. "No!" She looked at Moksha and emphasised, "I did not."

"You didn't answer me," his friend said.

"Stop it, Utpal." The final guy of the group, who had been silent, said.

"I will get going." Shreya quickly left.

Behind her she heard Lakshya say, "She completely ruined the day."

∼•∽

Is it a good feeling to be followed constantly by CC? Yes. But is it a good feeling to be constantly monitored by an older woman? No!

Shreekant scratched his head and smiled with quite some irritation. "Um, where is Shreya?"

"I ditched my sleeping beauty for you. We just had a little fight."

Shreekant had a headache. If she had a fight with Shreya, go off with someone else. Why come to Shreya's brother?

"I heard you have a lot of friends here..."

"Did you check those stalls?" Neha ignored his comment and pointed away from the stage.

"Yeah."

"That one."

"Stall sixteen?"

"Yeah."

"Nah, I haven't watched that anime yet."

"I did. Come on, help me choose something from there."

With a lame face, Shreekant had to follow her.

He texted Shreya behind Neha. 'I said let's ditch her! Not ditch you and roam with her! Where are you?'

"Why are you lagging behind?"

Shreekant fumbled with his phone and walked faster.

Neha was so indecisive with what she wanted to buy, even when he told her which was the best. Just as he was about to glare at her, his phone rang.

"Shreya! Where are you?"

"Did you buy some stuff?"

"Oh, I bought a lot!"

"Hm, I'm also done. Ask Neha if she needs to meet anyone else."

"I don't think so. She's been following me as if she knows no one here."

Neha gave him a look. Shreekant turned away nonchalantly, not hiding any of his displeasure.

"Okay, then shall we leave?"

"Already?"

"Let's head to the beach! It's been so long."

"Yeah!"

"I'll meet you at the exit. Let Neha take you there."

"Do I look like a two foot toddler to you?"

Shreya had already hung up.

When he told Neha they had to go to the exit, she avoided the musical section and kept a watchful eye in case she came across those guys again. Luckily, she could get him out with no trouble.

Once out, they all sat in the car and Shreekant plopped his head on the headrest. "It'll take half an hour to get to the beach, let me sleep. You gave me a headache."

"Shreekant!" Shreya was astonished. She did not know he could be so blunt.

"You don't know how talkative she is!"

"Neha, please don't mind."

"Oh, I like it. It's... good to have a younger sibling. That's exactly how I complain about my sister," Neha smiled at the two.

Shreekant frowned with his eyes closed.

∼•∽

Apna Beach was the closest from the convention venue, and luckily, it was one of their favourites, with a lesser crowd, better cleanliness and a garden. It was late afternoon and they had already had their lunch on the way. They still had an hour for any significant crowd to appear.

Shreekant, who was cooped up in his room with his books for two full years, wasted no time in leaving his footwear and running in the vast sands.

"I was once young too." Neha commented looking at the unruly shoes before her.

She too removed her boots and sat down. Shreya's heels joined the pile shortly after.

"So what was that?"

"What else? That's the guy I'm engaged to, and he's forced into it." Shreya's response was nonchalant as the sea breeze blew on her face.

"Does he think no one is forced? Fuck! Every other person I know is forced to marry at some point!"

"He has a girlfriend."

Neha raised her brows. "Huh! Then he should break up. That's what happens when parents object to love marriages."

"I knew about it before we got engaged."

"And that's his whole deal?" Neha felt she was being a little biased. "Why did you get engaged then?"

Shreya sighed. "I guess it's my fault." She turned to Neha and gave a helpless smile while she shrugged.

The rustling of the trees in the garden behind them was all they heard for sometime.

"Tell me what happened."

Neha did know a few things about her personal life, but not so much. Shreya decided to keep it that way. She simply shrugged again.

"Why? Did you like him so much?" Neha's face grimaced.

"He's fine."

"Huh... So you do like him. I agree he looks good. But he's not a great guy."

"He is." Shreya remembered the first time they met. She smiled thinking how she laughed with him. "He is rude to me because of everything else."

Neha nodded. This was the reason she said she would screen guys for her, but it was already too late. Now all she could do was stay by her friend.

She moved to the main topic. "When did you get engaged?"

"Why did you not tell me?"

"You will invite me to your wedding, right?"

There was a barrage of questions, all of which made Shreya a bit guilty.

"Will you call me when you shop for your dresses?"

Shreya nodded. Now that Neha knew, she took out her ring and wore it.

∼•∽

When the crowd started to grow, it impeded Shreekant's run.

"Let's go back. I'm tired." He ran to the girls who were strolling. He took his shoes from Shreya's hand.

"Already? Let's wait until sunset," Neha said.

"Okay. I'll just sit here." Shreekant plopped down with a water bottle he had just bought.

Along the way, Shreya stopped just like she had at the convention.

Neha followed her gaze and saw the same guy. He was twisting a key in his bike. He was not that far and soon noticed them too.

Neha stood with a hand on her hip, especially waiting for him to get to the sands.

∼•∽

A/N:
Hi friends! I am so grateful to everyone who wished me luck for my exam. It went well. Now I will again ask for your wishes for my admission into a good university, the best that is out there for me.

This past month has been so busy, and so exhausting. By no means did it fly by, though. I had so many other things to take care of. Finally when I saw the reminder for update on my phone, I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally had an excuse to prepare a chapter! Yet, I wrote nothing new, except for this author's note, but this itself is so relaxing.

Okay, now I should rush to my learner's licence test. Wish me luck and I will be back on the 21st of the next month!

Love you all!