AADHYA REHAN✓

02| My Phone ✓

Rehan Malhotra

"Rehan!" I hear Mom calling me but without giving her any reply I sit inside the car. She hurriedly open the passenger seat and sit inside.

"What's your problem Rehan?" She ask as soon as I start the car.

"Mom! No, leave it. I don't want to talk to you." I say looking straight and pull the car out of the temple.

I agreed to her demand for going for the pooja and all but then some ladies came and she was talking with them about my marriage and how it is not getting fixed. Like seriously. I'm hell happy about it. Then the ladies came near me and started talking blah blah blah. I'm not some gossip piece to share.

Indian mothers!

My phone start to ring. I take the phone and see it's from home.

"Hello." I say.

"Bhai! Can you do me a favour?" Liya, ask from the other side.

"What?"

"Can you buy me an instrument box? Please."

"Yeah." I reply.

"saKAsaVsaYA"

It's our code of talking. My brother Ved's and sister Liya's. The code is simple just add SA in front of every letter. We use it when we don't want the person next to us to hear what we're talking about.

Now what Liya meant is that Kavya (my cousin who is bent on marrying me) is there in the house or is coming.

"Okay. Thanks." I tell her and keep the phone back in my pocket.

On the way home I buy what she asked for and passing it to Mom, I sneak into Chacha's house, which is near my home but Kavya won't barge there searching for me.

"If anyone asks about me, I'm with Sanjay. Don't mention the place just Sanjay. Okay." I say to Mom and run to Sanjay's house.

I find Sanjay in the kitchen. He has some cooking video playing on his iPad and is stirring something in the vessel.

"What is he trying to do?" I ask Jiya, who is sitting on the countertop. She's the same age as Rhea.

"I'm making noodles." Sanjay answers without taking his eyes from the iPad.

"Why do you need to watch YouTube?" I ask. "Even I know how to make noodles."

"No. I'm making noodles." Sanjay says emphasizing on making.

"Miser." Jiya murmur.

"I'm taking my iPad with me." He says.

"I hate you." She yells running out of the kitchen.

"She is only ten and her tongue is hundred." Sanjay tells Rehan.

"Oh I know. I have the same one just meters away." I reply. "But what she said was true."

Sanjay rolls his eyes. "I'm not a miser! I'm saving money for myself."

I shrug my shoulder. "Aah, same thing." I say. "When is the football match at DIAS?"

"Date isn't fixed. Will be in about one weeks." Sanjay answer. "Rehan, whatever happens, we should win."

"I know."

"I won't lower my head at the bastards."

It may sound childish but we are still rivals with our juniors in school. Even though many of us are spread out over the world after school we still have that anger towards them. God! We hate them.

This year we are holding a football match in our school, DIAS. We can't lose to that losers.

Aadhya Mehra

"Jijaji!" I exclaim looking at Nikhil jiju in Di's phone. "When are you coming? Your wife is killing us!"

Di slaps my arm. "I'm pregnant!"

Jiju laughs. "Aadhya, treat my wife like a queen."

I roll my eyes. "Yes and we are her servants."

"Sort of."

"See Jiju. She's agreeing. But seriously dude, when are you coming home? My Di is all alone."

Jiju frowns. "Which team are you even on?" He asks.

"See he can't answer that question. When my boy comes, I'll tell him how his father treated me when I was pregnant." Di says sounding sad.

Jhanvi Di and Nikhil Jiju are settled in Australia. I've visited them many times and they have such a wonderful place. Also, Jiju is head over heels for Di. They had an arrange marriage and I still remember his expression when he first saw her.

He was in awe. He still is.

She came back to India a month and he went back after staying a couple of days. She is due in weeks. If he doesn't arrive, she will kill him.

"Oh Jhanvi!" He says and his face is traced with worry and sadness. "I miss you."

I silently gets up from the couch and walk towards my room. I want a guy who can love me like Jiju loves Di.

I start singing while taking out my clothes from the wardrobe. I hear a knock and open the door to see Anjana.

"What?" I ask and she smile at me.

"My phone died out of battery. So can I use your phone? Please," She begs and hold my hands.

"Okay," I say giving her my phone after unlocking it.

I walk to the bathroom and begin to take shower. I'm so slow in taking bath, and my mother calls it, my second house. I just want to clean my body and dream. As I start to wash my hair, I hear my phone ring.

"Anju," I shout from inside and I hear no reply.

"Diya your phone is ringing. Are you going to come now?" I hear Papa ask.

"No. It would probably be Kiara. Tell her, I'll call later." I yell.

I hear no response and I continue showering when the ringing died. Then comes a knock on the bathroom door.

"What is your password Aadhya?" Papa asks me.

His tone has changed and he never calls me Aadhya unless I did some mischief.

"Why?" I question.

My father and his mother is the flag bearer of patriarchy and male chauvinism but he has never meddled into my personal life.

"Aadhya!" He warns.

I roll my eyes and look at myself. I'm not in the perfect place to make an argument and decides to answer.

"2580." I say.

I finish my shower in record time and wearing my PJ's and oversized shirt, I walk out of the bathroom.

Papa looks at me with anger as he grips my phone tight.

"You can't snoop into my phone." I say defensively.

"I never expected this from you." He says in his dangerous voice and I feel my world shaking.

Everything feels so wrong.

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