Poonam walked out of her house completely ready to go to school. The road was empty, except a few people going out for walks, chatting around in tea stalls, and children going to school.

Poonam was walking out of her out of the narrow road, when she heard someone running behind her. Turning around, she found someone she'd met yesterday walk towards her.

Aditya.

Finding him walking behind her, she casted a small polite smile towards him, to which he smiled back.

"Good morning..." He started the conversation first.

"Morning to you too..." She replied back, and a comfortable silence fell in between as they walked together to school.

They were on the main road to school, when Poonam asked, looking at him, "Physics homework kiya?"

["Did you do the physics Homework?"]

Aditya was shocked would be an understatement.

"There was Physics homework!??" He asked, or more or less, shouted, wide eyed and astonished. Poonam nodded, perplexed by such an confusing reaction from him.

"Tumne nahi kiya kya?" She asked again, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she listened to him attentively.

["You didn't do it?"]

"I didn't even know we had homework." He said, his eyes focused on the road below him. He then whispered something under his breath. "Main to baith ke TV dekh raha tha..."

[" But I was busy watching the TV..."]

"Kya? Sun nahi payii kya bole?" Poonam questioned, not being able hear him properly.

"Kuch nahi kuch nahi!" Aditya immediately replied looking at her, feeling embarassed.

Suddenly they heard someone calling for Aditya from the other side of the road. Aditya looked around to find a girl standing at the far end of the footpath.

The girl had long hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, and was extremely pretty. Big plump lips, hooded eyes and long thick eyelashes.

Poonam recognized that girl immediately. It was the same girl from yesterday, the one that dropped her phone.

"Tumhare saath Shivansh nahi aaya?" Aditya asked the girl.

["Shivansh didn't come with you?"]

She shook her head and replied, "usko sharam aati hai na, isliye." Aditya chuckled upon hearing her. "Tum kuch zyada hi delusional ho." He said, his eyes beaming with laughter.

["He's shy about it, that why."]

Nitya retorted back, "wo to paidaishi hoon main." casted a small smile at Poonam as her eyes fell on her quiet figure standing beside Aditya. She slowly raised her hand, opting for a handshake. "Hi! I'm Nitya. Nitya Ahuja."

["That— I am by birth."]

Poonam let out a smile and shook her hands with Nitya. "Poonam Choudhary."

As the three of them were walking to school, they spotted a boy from their school walking alone, drowned in his thoughts.

"Ei Shivansh!" Aditya called out to him, bringing him out of his trance. Shivansh turned to look at him, and spotted two other people, one of which he knew, and the other he'd only seen from afar. But his gaze kept swapping from one to the other in particular, and that was Nitya and Aditya. It was was as if he was hiding his way of constantly looking at Nitya, so she wouldn't notice.

"Mere pati parmeshwar mujhe chodd ke akele chale aaye! Himmat to dekho iski!" Suddenly Nitya cried out.

["My godly husband left me and came alone!"]

"Tum breakfast karne me agar chaar ghante lagaogi to usme meri koi galti nahi hai." Shivansh retorted, ignoring the way she had addressed him.

["It's not my fault if you take four hours to eat breakfast."]

Poonam and Aditya were very entertained by their friendly banter. Their faces had a slight smiles as they watched them argue.

"Usse chabaake khaana bolte hai." She furrowed her brows.

["That's called chewing properly and eating."]

"Haan thik thik hai ab chalo tum log. Nahi to PT sir humara antim sanskar kar denge." Aditya said, his voice filled with finality.

["Yeah okay okay, now let's go y'all. Or else Physical Training Sir will conclude our funeral.]

With that, the four of them walked to school with laughs and giggles surrounding them. Poonam, for the first time felt something warm in her heart. There was a smile on her lips, something she wasn't herself aware of.

As the four of them reached school, entering the ground chit chatting, they were greeted by two more people. One of them was a girl, short but physically slightly muscular. She held an annoyed expression on her face, as if she wanted to leave. There was another boy with her, looking at the girl with an amused look. As soon as the two noticed the group of four approaching, they waved at them.

As they approached the the two, Poonam could clearly see both their faces. She was the girl Nitya was talking with yesterday.

"Aaj kitnaaa jaldi aye ho tum log!" The girl spoke, casting a sarcastic smile towards them.

[" Y'all have come sooo early today!"]

"Aree wo khane me late hogaya sorry." Nitya said, itching her forehead.

["I got late because of eating breakfast, I'm sorry."]

"Tumhare saath roz wahi hota hai. KG se dekhte aa rahi hu tujko."

["It happens everyday with you. I've been seeing you since Kindergarten."]

Nitya laughed nervously.

"Classroom tak chal dekh main tera kya haal karti hun." The girl warned, and turned towards Poonam.

["Let's go to the classroom and then see what I'll do with you."]

"Hi!" She moved her hand forward for a handshake. "I'm Vidya. Vidya Dwivedi."

Poonam shook her hand with a polite smile on her face." I'm Poonam Choudhary."

"Chalo chalo assembly shuru hone jaa raha hai!" Sidharth, who was busy talking with Shivansh and Aditya said, and soon everyone stood in the school assembly, doing their prayers and pledges.

["Let's go, let's go! The assembly is gonna start soon."]

Once the students returned to their classes, they sat down at their designated seats. As usual, Poonam was going to sit alone at her desk,stay alone and quiet when suddenly she heard someone call for her.

"Poonam!" She turned around to find Nitya calling out to her and Vidya beside her looking at her expectantly. "Idhar aake baitho na! Akele kyun baith rahi ho?"

[" Poonam! Come sit here please! Why are you sitting alone?"]

"Yahi par hi baithti hu..." Poonam said quietly.

["I sit here..."]

"Hum logon ke saath baitho na!" Vidya exclaimed.

["Come sit with us, please!"]

"Okay..." Poonam accepted, and sat beside them, feeling included for the very first time. She felt a weirdly nice warmth spreading through her chest, a sudden feeling of excitement running through her veins.

She turned around to check who was sitting behind her, only to see Aditya, Sidharth and Shivansh sitting together, busy in their own conversation.

.☘︎ ݁˖

"Achha Poonam tumhare koi bhai behen hai?" Nitya asked.

["By the way, Poonam, do you have any siblings?"]

Poonam shook her head. "I'm an only child."

Nitya sighed. "Lucky. Atleast tumhe secong hand kapde nahi milte."

[" Lucky. Atleast you don't have to wear second hand clothing."]

"Kyu? Kya hua?" Poonam questioned, feeling confused.

[" Why? What happened?"]

"Kuch nahi..." Nitya didn't drag the conversation.

[" Nothing..."]

For the last couple of periods, Nitya and Vidya had been asking her questions about herself, trying to know her better.

"Achha tumhara insta handle do na" Suddenly Nitya interrupted.

[" By the way, give me your insta handle."]

Poonam tells them her instagram handle and they copy it over a piece of paper.

"Thanks." They say in unison.

"Meri vidu kitti pyari hai!" Suddenly Siddharth's voice broke their silence. The three turn around to find Sidharth smiling and admiring Vidya.

[" My vidu is soo lovely!"]

"Chup kar! Pichle saal se mere pichhe pada hai. Ye majak kab tak chalayega haan?" Vidya said.

["Shut up! You've been behind me for the past year. For just how long are you going to keep this joke going?"]

"Saari zindagi agar tum kahogi to..." Siddharth's voice sounded as if he was in dreamland. He leaned against Shivansh's shoulders as he stared at Vidya with dreamy eyes, a smile on his lips.

["My entire life if you tell me to..."]

Suddenly Aditya tapped on Poonam's shoulders, making her look at him, a smile on her lips watching sidharth's antics. "Kaisa lag raha hai best friends bana ke?"

["How do you feel after making new best friends?"]

Poonam couldn't help but smile harder. "Bahot achha."

[" Very good."]

"Inn dono ko best friend bana diya aur abb mera kya?" Aditya let out a fake pout.

["You made these two your best friends and what about me now?" ]

"Tum mere favorite friend." Poonam cracked a teethy smile looking at him make that face. Her laugh made Aditya laugh as well.

[" You're my favorite friend."]

"Bilkul aise hee hasna. Happiness doesn't need to have a reason; sometimes, even your own smiles can make you happy. So smile."

["Smile just like this."]

His line made Poonam stretch her lips and smile, as a thought intruded her mind. She turned back around to the blackboard. She looked like she was paying attention to the class, but her mind was somewhere else. 'Maybe he's right. Maybe I should smile more.' she thought.

.☘︎ ݁˖

Poonam walked back home with Aditya. Throughout the way back home, he asked her questions about herself, wanting to know her better. Somehow, with Aditya, her nightmares were at bay.

Aditya looked ahead at the road, his eyes looking thoughtful. "Hmm... Tumhara favourite colour kya hai?" He asked.

[" Hmm... What your favorite colour?"]

"Lilac." Poonam replied.

"Hein? Wo kya hai?" He pulled his phone out of his bag.

["Huh? What's that?"]

"Tum school tak phone lekar aate ho!?" Poonam was shocked.

[" You bring the phone to school!??"]

Aditya's voice was very chill and disinterested as he searched up on Google. "Haan. Akele Ghar ke bahar jaata hum yaar. Bina phone ke jaana bahot dangerous hoga." His eyes lit up when his answer on Google came up.

[" Yep. I go to school alone everyday. It'll be dangerous to go without a phone. "]

"Wow. Very nice colour. Mera favorite green hai." He put the phone into his pants pocket.

["...My favorite is green."]

Poonam nodded.

"Tumhara... Favorite food?" Aditya asked yet another question, making her think.

[" Your... Favorite food?"]

"Hmm... Pav bhaji? I think so. I've never really thought about any food items being my favorite. I literally eat anything."

"I see." He remembers something, standing upright all of a sudden. Pulling his phone out, he looked at Poonam. "Tumhara number Dena?"

["Give me your number?"]

"Okay." Poonam have him her number.

"Thanks." Aditya looks into his phone, when he notices Poonam suddenly stop on her tracks from his periphery.

"Hmm?" Aditya looks up from his phone at Poonam.

"Mera ghar aagaya." She says, before continuing."bye. See you tomorrow?" She asks, her voice slightly hopeful.

["my house has arrived... "]

"Yeah." Aditya smiles. "See you tomorrow."

Poonam enters into her home as the eeirie silence welcomes her. Going upstairs with quiet steps, she entered into her room, when a soft 'ping' from her phone startles her.

Taking her phone into her hand, Poonam stares at the one absurd notification between others. An invite to a groupchat, named:

Phool🌷4fool.

The name makes her laugh out loud.

────୨ৎ────

Soo how was it? Ik it was pretty boring but still. Any thoughts? Favorite moments? (Mine was when Poonam called Aditya her favourite friend:))

Anyways, please comment and follow.

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