The ones who do not have a voice feel the most. I do not say this as a profound lover of botany. I say this as a careful observer. Animals (human beings included) cry when they are in pain, plants cannot. Those who are mute cannot. But they understand what agony is, they can comfort anyone who is hurting. Since childhood, they were the ones who comforted me whenever I could not explain my inner turmoil in words. I used to hug a tree whenever I was upset (I'm allergic to stuffed toys). Coffee can calm me down as well. And books. To be precise, those who talk less own my heart.

Triparna has owned my heart just like that. She is one of the few human beings I like talking with besides my parents. She doesn't speak much and understands a lot.

However, right then, I wanted to beat the crap out of her.

I was having a headache, sipping piping hot coffee while she was snoring (which was quite surprising, knowing that she rarely snores) right beside me. The coffee could have helped me a lot if a laptop was not wide open in front of us, its screen burning my eyes. Knowing that she had slept for probably an hour or two, forgotten to bathe and seeing her swinging like a rocking chair like she could pass out any moment, I just let her off.

Yeah, I can throw Ayan Chatterjee out of his seat (apparently it wasn't his), but I cannot watch Triparna Chakraborty trying hard to keep her eyes open.

Tri sighed in her sleep and I kept my eyes still on the screen. The information did not seem to give away anything. I was supposed to find out more because like the apparent idiot I am, I wanted to help the sleeping baby beside me. And like the determined friend I am, I could not back off.

An image smiled at me, the words typed beneath it.

Name : Aimée Monet

Age : 21 years

DOB : 17/02/1998

Parents : Samuel Monet, Coralie Moulin

School : Odantapuri Academy

Graduation : Sociology from Jadavpur University

Physical description : Short, black brown hair, light brown skin tone, hazel eyes, 5'6 feet.

Personality : Helpful, funny, studious

Other facts : Plays violin, loves reading books

"Ugh!" I growled softly. They were not helping. They were simply not helping. I closed my eyes. The memories flooded my brain. I saw everything clearly that had been happening over the past two months.

★

2 months ago

The students bustled in the hall. I slightly tightened my grip on the satchel straps. The new session had begun. Nearly all the faces were familiar to me. Yet, I was panicking internally.

An arm flung onto my shoulder. My heart thudded once and calmed. It was Triparna. It's her unusual way of telling me that I'm not alone.

"Guess what?" she asked, excitement laced in her tone.

"Hmm?"

She whisper-shouted, "Me, you and Aimée are performing together!"

I gave her a light frown. Did she not know? I asked myself.

"What's new? We always perform together."

"No! It's not that together. It's like 'together' together."

My frown deepened, asking, "what the heck are you on about?"

Tri sighed. Then gave me a light smack on my upper arm.

"That means, you dumbass, that Triparna, Maryam and Aimée are going to sing together. Got it now?"

I grasped her words and nodded slowly. She didn't know. She didn't know what had happened. However, I resumed my walk, Tri scurrying behind me.

"Hey! Aren't you glad?"

I said nothing. Just walked. Right then, I felt a tug on my wrist. I closed my eyes in frustration. Then, keeping a neutral face, turned towards her.

"What is it?"

She repeated her question, "Aren't you glad?"

"About what?"

"About us performing together?"

"Are you pretending?"

She gave me a baffled look. "Huh?"

"You don't know?"

"What?"

"About Aimée?"

"What about her?"

I huffed, in guilt. Biting my cheek and dipping my nails harder into my palm, I controlled myself. We were standing some ten hands away from the class, the corridor emptying slowly. I felt like stopping time, so I could run to the class and not face her for the time being. The fact that she knew nothing and the eyes that were glistening with hope a few minutes ago were replaced by a worry filled one, made me want to escape the situation.

Finally, mustering the courage, I took a deep breath. I bluntly said, "Aimée is gone. She was last seen on the university campus."

A moment passed. Then she slowly asked, "She is dead?"

"No one knows. The police are looking through it."

She looked at me for a few seconds. The corridor was nearly vacant now. I shifted awkwardly under her gaze. Appearing to notice my guilt and discomfort, she bit her lip, took a deep breath, turned on her heels towards the class.

What I saw the next day was gobsmacking actually. Triparna was found to have dark circles underneath her eyes. Sitting on a bench in the playground, she looked like a hungry zombie or something. To be honest, it was scary. Although, Ayan's fussing was exasperating, I too was worried as hell.

"What's up, girl?" I patted her back.

She just shook her head, causing Ayan to get more worked up. He grabbed Tri's hands and rubbed them excessively. It was way too creepy for my tolerance.

Anyways, she did not object. That was the indication of something terribly wrong.

I yanked her hand away from Ayan's and snapped, "Can you fucking leave us alone?"

"But-"

"Get a life Ayan."

I didn't remember whether he went or not. I didn't give a fuck about him. I turned to Triparna.

"Ate anything?"

She shook her head. I kind of knew that she didn't. However, it wasn't a problem. I took out a chocolate from the bag and decided to pull off a Remus Lupin.

"Eat it. You'll feel better."

Expectedly, she denied. I urged once again. She still refused.

"Worried about Aimée?"
She nodded.

"The police's investigating. They'll find her."

"Even if she's dead?"

"You think she's dead?"

"No..." she drawled.

"Don't worry Tri. They'll find her. For sure. She'll come and sing with us."

"They can find her, can't they?"

"They can." I affirmed. "Now eat it."

★

Present

Who knew that they could not.

I opened my eyes. Triparna was still fast asleep beside me. The ceiling fan twirled above. The laptop screen was still lit - a smiling girl and a bunch of information within.

The smile seemed to challenge us.

A sudden memory struck me. Aimée loved challenges, any kind of challenges. I saw it more than once. Every year during school programmes she would sing the hardest of all the songs. And the result would be mind-blowing. Yeah, she was just like that.

She once said, "When you want to see your skills, you must try to aim at and achieve the hardest difficulty. That is, if you truly want to be an expert."

That's it, I thought. We're going to visit the Monets.

★