I was idly sprawled out on Lila's bed with her laid down next to me. Her room was all white like an angel's castle and a cool breeze occasionally came in through the shutters of her balcony window. Lila was scrolling aimlessly through her Instagram feed, liking a picture before she even saw it properly. "You should join Instagram, it's soooo fun."

"What's fun in an app which makes a comparison to other people's success so easy and drains you mentally by the end of the day?"

"You can be no fun at times." She puckered her lips and slowly slid clockwise on the bed, till her soft head rested on my lap, her wavy hair spread over my thighs like hanging creepers and her feet were carelessly kept against the white wall.

I laughed awkwardly, shifting and trying to get her off me, but she wouldn't budge. "You have so many friends on Instagram."

She slightly tilted her head to me and grinned before going back to the homepage of that app again. Just then, I heard the notification sound of my phone and I curiously opened it, wondering who it could be since my best and only friend was lying half on top of me. It was Jaspreet, the other friend that I tended to forget at times.

'I HAVE GOOD NEWS'- Jazz (I saved her number as Jaspreet, but she had forcefully taken my phone and made me change it to Jazz).

'What?'

'Hahahahaha, I'm not pregnant'- Jazz.

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes at her aunty joke and before I could remind her of her virginity, another message popped up.

'GUESS WHAT ELSE???'- Jazz.

'Idk' I realised that I was sounding unenthusiastic which I was, but I shouldn't show it. So I typed further, 'Tell me quickly!'

'A new waffle place has opened near Durga temple. THEY'RE GIVING FREE WAFFLES TO THE FIRST FIFTY CUSTOMERS!'- Jazz.

'Oh.' Again, I realised that she would expect more than an oh, so I said, 'Cool' which I thought wasn't sufficient so I further typed, 'Nice. Very nice.'

'The store opens at 6. BE THERE BY 5, I'll wait for you'- Jazz.

A message popped up before I could respond, 'Hey, what's up? I exist'- Lila.

I looked over my phone as Lila turned her head on my lap, sadly sticking her lower lip out. To annoy her, I said, "I forgot you were there." And she angrily head-butted my stomach which caused my stoicism to break like glass and unfettered laughter fluttered out of my lips as naturally as the butterflies flying with the flow of wind. "Okay, okay, how can I ever forget you?"

"You dare not! I'm stronger than a bull!" And her own words made her burst out laughing as I watched in wonder, her head shaking on my lap and sending jolts of laughter throughout my body. She had a peculiar way of laughing when we were alone, her tiny nostrils would flare faintly. She wouldn't bother covering her mouth or burying her face in my shoulder which would otherwise innately happen in presence of others.

Just then, the door of her room flung open and her mother's bewildered eyes were on us. "What are you girls doing? I could hear your laughter even with the tv on!"

Lila torpidly sat up, still laughing, her hair disheveled. "I-I was like a bull, wasn't I?"

"Nothing that interesting, aunty," I said in a tone which conveyed, 'you know your crazy daughter, right?' and her mother smiled in good-nature. Lila's best friend was her mother, nobody came before her. I used to be jealous of their friendship, they nearly shared everything- from gossips in the neighbourhood to Lila's childish dreams and fantasies. I could never imagine a relationship like that with my mother who possessed the power of turning conversations into assigning chore duties in the house. The rare times we warmly bonded were over my father's faults where she took great pleasure in criticising him to me which never failed to amuse me.

"Raul had called in the morning. He asked if you wanted to go swimming," Lila's mother said, leaning against the door with one hand on her smart trouser clad hip. "You're going?"

That rich prick had a bungalow with a swimming pool which was more than a luxury to have in a crowded city like Mumbai. Even Lila lived in an apartment, although this place had five, big, boasting bedrooms for a family of three with a walk-in-closet in her mother's room that I saw once and was left in a magical state of awe. I spent most of my free-time dwelling on which crime I must have committed to not be born in such splendour, but in a mortgaged apartment. Perhaps, my family and I failed to pay debts in our earlier lives and those loans haunted us in this one too like the murder of Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shaanti Om.

Lila surprisingly didn't even consider the question as she said, "Tulsi and I are going on a drive."

"We are?"

"At this hour?" Her mother gave out a short, incredulous laugh. "You'll be stuck in traffic till night. And where will you go?"

"We'll go to Marine Drive. It's been so long since I walked!" It was true, Lila was bizarrely cooped up in her house for days. Lila, who belonged to an active family who loved to travel around the world. Lila, who casually went abroad every summer vacation like it was no big deal, but had no plans this summer. I glanced at the white bookshelf beside her white desk (by now, it was established that her room was very much white) which was clustered with artistic souvenirs from around the world instead of storybooks. Something was off this summer.

"Alright, I'll tell Manu that you wish to trouble him again." Shaking her head humorously, her mother left us.

"I'll be back in a second." Lila hopped off the bed, grabbed her clothes from her wardrobe and ran to the bathroom as if we had an important flight to catch. She forgot to lock the door which stayed halfway swinging open and her bare leg became visible through the gap, smooth and long. In the blanket of darkness, her leg appeared paler than she was. Those legs which sent her jumping at the tiniest spark of excitement as if the floor was a trampoline.

Suddenly, her eyes bore peculiarly into me- through me, from the small oval mirror next to her and I felt an impulse which automatically averted my eyes to my phone, the screen opened at Jaspreet's chats. It took me a second to process the tiny, blurry words on the screen as I blinked in perplexity. I had forgotten to reply to her and the consequences were clearly in front of me. There were numerous dramatic "hey's" and "reply quick" (all in capital letters with multiple punctuation marks that hurt my eyes) and I began typing- 'Hey, so sorry, I won't be able to make it today.'

An instant reply from Jazz- 'WHAT? WHY? WHAT ABOUT THE FREE WAFFLES?'

I heard the shuffling of Lila's clothes in the bathroom and I fleetingly looked at the door and caught another glimpse of her leg, this time clothed,  before focusing back on the phone. 'I'm going out with Anthony. He's currently getting ready in the bathroom.'

And several, urgent messages flooded my screen-

'WOAH. WHAT.'

'A DATE?'

'OH MY GOD. WHERE ARE YOU GUYS GOING?'

'WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?'

'Get in the bathroom with him.' Just when I was glad that she hadn't sent a suggestive eggplant emoji, she did it. Along with all fruits and veggies representing male genitalia. She refused to stop sending them so I had to switch off my phone in mild vexation.

"Who was that?" Lila emerged out of the bathroom, surprising me by wearing another pair of pyjamas and another casual t-shirt which was hardly any different from her earlier outfit. "It's too hot to wear jeans!"

"That's okay. Doesn't matter."

"You're supposed to say, that's because I'm hot. That's why it's hot here."

"I'm hot?"

"No, I'm hot." And she playfully flung the pillow at me which softly landed on my lap, making both of us laugh. "You're hot too, global-warming hot. That's what Raul complimented me the other day."

"Are we following some script here?" I asked instead of commenting on her passing remark and she mockingly huffed.

"Those random guys on Instagram give me better compliments than you do."

"Like Raul?"

"He's not random." She giggled at that as we both strode out, the back of her head making me curious about all the unsaid mysteries hidden there. The more that I didn't know, the more I was left in a torrential storm- only the storm was within me- spiralling my thoughts and feelings in a destructive force. Did she like him or not?

* * *

Glossary

Om Shaanti Om- a movie.

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