Ananya's POV :

"Guess what?" I asked Arjun as we both sat in the dining table having lunch. My parents were not at home and Arav had gone out with Janvi.

"You and Kishan are now friends on Instagram?" Arjun asked looking bored.

"Co-rrect", I said happily.

"You have his number yet?", Arjun asked.

"Umm..nope. I was too embarrassed to ask him", I said defensively.

"Ananya do you think this is okay for you?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"I mean I don't know what you're doing, but I think this Kishan thing is going a little overboard", Arjun advised casually. That instantly irked me.

"And I think I can look after myself Arjun", I said irritably.

"A moth that romances the flame will eventually get extinguished in it", Arjun shrugged.

"Whoa. That's dramatic".

"I'm just saying - be careful. He might take advantage of you. Don't get carried away. This is Find your Fortune, not Find your Boyfriend."

"You filthy hypocrite!", I said angrily "After all that you've been doing with Rubina, you actually have the audacity to come and lecture me?"

"There's no need to shout at me now", said Arjun loosing his temper too.

"Kishan is a genuinely nice guy and not a slut like Rubina. So you can shut up", I snapped.

"Will you stop falling all over that Kishan for one minute?", he argued "What do you even see him? His overgrown curls remind you of Harry Styles?"

"Shut up" I said hotly, "You're just jealous because there's someone on that competition better looking than you".

I had touched a nerve.

Arjun glared at me as he violently snapped his physics book shut. Bits of beetroot and carrot flew everywhere. He got up and stormed out of the room.

                                      ~~~~~~

"Ananya! Listen to me!", Janvi said seriously to me as we sat together chatting after dinner, "Some things really baffle me these days. For example, why are random people blessing my parents in every single YouTube video comment section?"

"Either because they're really nice or because they are fucking nuts", I replied.

"Or because they need subscribers", Janvi said. We both laughed.

It was so nice to just sit and listen to Janvi's bubbly chatter after two whole weeks.

I felt so relieved to return to the canopy of my home. How different my family was from a Dulquer or a Raghav or a Shilpa!

"And.." Janvi cleared her throat and sat up straight "What's this I'm hearing about some Kishan guy by the way?" she asked.

I looked up very quickly. She was grinning, "How do you know?" I croaked.

"Arjun told me",she grinned even wider as she pulled her glass of water closer and took a sip.

I was speechless. "Jan please don't tell mom and dad. I'll die", I moaned.

"Come on, you know me better than that An", Janvi said "Your brother had five girlfriends or was it six? Anyway I knew all of them and I've never said a word to your parents. Do you think I'd give you away?"

"Okay", I said relieved "And anyway", I added defensively "Kishan is not even my real boyfriend".

"Yet", Janvi finished. I looked at her trying hard not to look embarassed. She looked at my face and burst into a fit of laughter.

I was embarrassed beyond my imagination.

"You don't how much I've waited for this day", she said gleefully, "When you and I can sit and talk about our respective boyfriends".

"Jaaanvi", I pouted.

She burst into laughter again. Seriously! She was sometimes more annoying than Arjun!

                                     ~~~~~

It was well over midnight, my parents were stuck on duty and Janvi was in her room having a lovey dovey chat with Shaheer. Those two were apparently now well into their relationship. Whatever that means! But that's what Arjun told me.

"Do you think they've made it physical yet?" I asked Arjun as we sat in his room and I was finishing his damned Biology record for him. FYF had totally made us fall back on school stuff and Arjun was suffering hundred times more than me. My buffoon of a brother couldn't even draw a tomato. How would he draw the transverse section of spinal cord and twenty other diagrams in two days?

He had forgotten about our fight at lunch (he always did when he needed my help) and had begged me to do his record so here I was.

"Who knows?" Arjun asked me "Anyway it's their thing. I don't want to dig into it. Plus, I feel very uncomfortable thinking about whether or not my aunt slept with someone so please don't talk about it".

"Okay, okay", I said, "I just wondered..."

"Room for one more?" we heard Arav's voice before he pushed open the door and peeped in.

"You've not gone to sleep yet?" Arjun asked.

"Nope", Arav said "Wasn't feeling like it".

"Come sit down Arav", I said "We were talking about how Arjun's self obsession is getting out of hand".

Arjun stared at me and Arav in disgust as and then said in a dignified voice, "This is not self obsession kids. It's called confidence."

"You and your confidence!", I chided.

"But she's right, you know", said Arav now putting on a high pitched voice to imitate Arjun, "Oh mom, I want a cocktail party! Mom I want a five star luxury bathroom! Mom I want a golden egg!"

"Mom I want Kim Kardashian's ass!", I said in the same high pitched tone.

"Shut up", Arjun said.

"You should try talking to mom like that. Mom will show her mom side", Arav said.

"That's scary", Arjun remarked.

"That's the power of Vidya Rajesh", I said. 

Arjun picked up his pillows and threw it at me and Arav. I picked it back from the floor and chucked it at him.

The pillow fight continued and by the time it ended, it was two in the morning. I heard our parent's car coming into the driveway. 

The three of us dropped the pillows as me and Arav hurried back to our rooms. On the way, I heard Janvi still talking on the phone. What do couples even talk for that long? If Kishan called me I wouldn't even be able to say a word. I would just stutter and mumble incoherent replies. I reached my room and just as I climbed onto my bed and pulled over the blanket I heard the main door open.

So much for the Biology record!