Chapter 34: Pretending to be Serious (Flash Back)

"Mama! I'm off for college! See you later!" I say with great enthusiasm. I don't know what happened to me or what has gotten into me but I just feel happy and I like this feeling, whatever this feeling is. I'm working fine with it. I reach college, whistling all the way from home.

"Good morning Narita." I greet her and she greets me back. I continue skipping, jumping and whistling through my way.

"Morning Sasha!"

"Morning Nate!"

"Morning Vaniya!"

"Morning Susana!"

"Morning brat-" I stop on my tracks, the shiny and sparkly aura leaving me. My breathing stops, it's getting dark in front of my eyes. I think I am going to die today...

"Someone's a lot chirpier today. Did something happen?" He asks, arching an eyebrow at me and I laugh. I laugh. And I not just laugh. I laugh a lot. Like literally, a lot.

He's giving me an awkward look but I'm still laughing rather confusedly this time.

'Hell! Stop it, you immature woman! Act normal!'

Well, I'm trying just give me some space you stupid subconscious!

"Wow. Something good might have happened? You're laughing since last five minutes and the bell is about to-"

rrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

"Ring," he smirks and I smile at him not baring-my-teeth-smile, not at all. Nu-uh. But smiling like a-

'STUPID WOMAN!' pokes my subconscious and I hit her back to silence.

But I'm still smiling, doing nothing but just looking at him with a confused smile now.

"Okay... I think my class is going to start now... I better go." He hesitates and points his finger in the direction of the corridor behind me.

"Ah, sure!" I say, eyeing in that direction. The corridor is empty now, I swing on my toes just like a kid while watching the corridor and my hands clasped together behind my back. He motions his head, signaling for me to move and when I don't move he heaves a sigh.

As my brain functions and makes me realize the situation I immediately move to my left while he does the same.

I'm blocking his way again.

I step to my right while he steps to his left at the same time again, blocking ways. Now he holds me by my shoulder and looks at me seriously.

"Whatever is happening to you, it is bad and I can see it. We need to make sure you are all fixed up before you leave for home, okay?" A look of concern crosses in his eyes and I just nod at his words. He lets go off my shoulder and moves to his left, leaving me standing there dumbfounded.

Am I sick?

'Yes! You have to pretend to be sick even if you are not now!' Hisses my subconscious at me.

Don't you come at me right now! I hiss back

"Hey, weirdo!" I turn back to his familiar voice. "You know you are the weirdest brother I never had." He smiles at me and surges away, leaving me dumbfounded with his words again.

I walk towards my class and find that the teacher is still not there. My eyes land on Sally and she waves at me and motions me to sit on the seat next to her that she always saves for me. My mind diverts to the thought if I should tell Sally about the things happened yesterday at the festival but she would probably conclude things to something more. Obviously, she is the one who has made me think all the weird possibilities between him and me, making it more complicated. I discard that idea and decide to tell her later but not any time soon.

Every passing second was like an hour in the class not soon when the last bell rings, signaling the end of the day, I breathed a tired sigh and Sally comes next to me with her things and hits me hard on the shoulder.

"What's your plan for today?" She asks.

"The same old," I say in an obvious tone.

"You're an old soul hun! No fun at all." She says, heaving a long sigh of exasperation. "I wanted to talk about the festival and so much more." I stiffen as she says the word 'festival'. "What's wrong? Why you have stopped walking?" She asks me, noticing my posture. I give a confused chuckle.

"I wanted to talk about it too. It must have been fun with your family there?" I say, somehow diverting the subject on her.

"My family?! Pftttt! That's the stupidest thing you have ever said. You know how much I like the company of few and my type of people yet you say that like you don't know me." She scoffs.

"I bet half of the crowd of the festival was related to you." She laughs at my words.

"Yeah, perks of having a big family." She shrugs. "Say, what did you want to talk to me about-"

"Oh! There he is!" I say, cutting her off deliberately, knowing I can't hide from her for long but I can't even tell her right now too. The sooner I get out of her company the better and I get that chance when I see him.

"Yeah right. Your BRAT. Sure thing, you had plans with him but not me." She says, rolling her eyes at me and I pinch her cheeks.

"You look cute when you're jealous." I stick out my tongue at her.

"I'm leaving you this time but you can't protect yourself long enough from me." She yells at me as I run towards him. He waves at Sally while walking in her direction and I hold his sleeve in midway and drag him away with me and out. I can't let Sally have one-bit doubt of the situation when she sees us together, knowing the stupid reaction I may inflict around him. As we walk out, not actually walk out but I dragged him out to be exact.

"Hey easy there!" He says, stopping me. "Why are we running away?" He asks me, looking back to see if someone is following us.

"Oh, I just wanted to get out from there," I say, looking anywhere but him.

"And why is that so?" He asks, curiously.

"B-because of Sally!" I say half whisper, half shout.

"Ahaan? And why is that?" He pushes me to continue.

"Would you stop asking questions here and let's go to our place first?" I pout and fold my arms against my chest.

"I guess you are back to normal now." He says, smirking and shakes his head and I smile back at him as innocently as I can.

~~~

We sit quietly, enjoying the fresh air, the fragrance of sweet flowers and our reflection against the pond. No one initiates a word. It's kind of peaceful, not awkward, not boring and neither is the case that we are lacking something to converse. We are just enjoying the peace, the silence itself.

"Hey! You want to play something?" He breaks the silence and looks at me excitedly. Probably something in his mind has triggered.

"Like what?" I ask him, tilting my face sideways. He picks up a stick near him and scratches the muddy ground with it, probably drawing something on the ground. After a while, I catch to what he is at.

He is planning to play hopscotch!

"Are you five or something?" I say with amusement and a smile spreads across his face.

"You are the reason I act this way." I somehow feel a little giddy, hearing his words.

Wow. SALLY'S WORDS ARE GETTING TO ME! Cut it out now! Stop over thinking! stop-

"You know the game rules right?" He cuts me through the debate I was having with myself. Thank you, Almighty.

"How can I forget it? It's like I played it just yesterday with you." I give him a warning look, a look that made it clear that he'll lose soon.

Slight changes that we made to the game when we were young:

1. We play it at a max grid of 12.

2. We use multiple shapes, not just square.

3. Each shape gets from big to smaller.

4. You can't hop twice in a shape once you've landed.

5. Each time a player steps on the boundary gets to do a dare.

We call boundary 'the fire', making it sound somehow scary.

"Good. Let's start!" He gives me an evil look and rubs his hands together in anticipation.

"I'll make sure that you lose brat! MUWAHAHAHA!"

"We'll see about that. Fatso." He gives me his warning look by arching up an eyebrow.

"I will start first." I move ahead of him right before where he drew it.

"Pleasure is all mine milady." He mockingly bows and passes me a stone.

I easily pass 4 levels but as the next two shapes of number five and six are two circles which are small, it is rather difficult to throw a stone in. I miss my marker and it ends outside the boundary, I grunt loudly. He takes his cue, keeping his signature devilish smile. He passes 4 levels also with ease on his next level, he throws the stone carefully and it ends right on the mark, he does a little tip-toe dance when I glare at his success. He hops slowly balancing his weight together. He was standing on the fifth grid with one foot which was in a small circlular shape and it was difficult with his big foot to not even move an inch. Just when he was about to pick the stone up, he lost his balance and-

"BINGO! You burn in fire!" I clap my hands and jump in excitement and he lowers his head at his fail.

"So the first dare is..." I look around the area to find something perfect to do with him and finally my eyes land on a mango tree.

EWWW... STICKY... *high five to my brain*

He follows my gaze and flinches. "No! you wouldn't? Oh, why am I even asking? You would." His voice in complete annoyance.

"You are right there." I wink at him.

"You better prepare yourself for your turn then." I laugh heartily.

"Let's squeeze out the syrup in your hair." I smile as I pick up a fallen mango and move towards him. His eyes filled with fear. "It's going to be a little sticky but you would make it out alive, I assure you." I bat my lashes at him innocently.

"Just do it fast!" He squints his eyes as if he would disappear somewhere by doing this. I giggle as I squeeze out the mango juice over his head and he squeezes his eyes more tightly. The juice trickles down to his face with the pulp, as a drop reaches his lips, he licks it.

"Not bad. Tastes good." He stands up, dusting himself. "Let's continue, there is a whole lot waiting for you my dear fatness." He gives me a smug look before turning back.

~~~

After a little while, we are walking towards our home together. Covered with every filth the forest held. Let me cut the story short to you guys.

He cheated. And from cheating, I mean a whole lot of cheating. He hopped twice in a grid, consecutively twice in a row and hadn't accepted it and being myself, the most dominant and a persuasive person I made him pay twice his deal. I pushed his face flat on mud and he grasped my hand taking me with him, we rolled on to the mud covering our bodies with every filth on the ground and that wasn't enough.

Oh, it was just the beginning of a long war, I tell you.

He ran towards the bushes and filled his fist with dry sand and threw it my way. I tore the grass from the ground and shoved it into his mouth and he coughed it out, not all until I pushed him into the pond. He came out of the pond, shouting at me and telling me that was the limit and I froze on my track.

Could you believe it, I actually let him get to me?

And there was his chance, he pulled me close and I froze with my heartbeat, bursting my ears and suddenly he loosened his grip on me and I fell into the pond.

Oh! I tell you it was the worst part. The pond was cold. The impact was sharp and frightening.

Now we both are covered with twigs, leaves, bushes, sand, water, mud... Oh, you call it and we have it.

We move silently towards my home and a small laugh escapes his mouth. For a while, we were pretending to be serious but it could never be when I'm with him. We break into fits of laughter together, clutching our stomachs to a new memory we just created and I know for sure I would never mind anything which concerns him.