Friends : Check!

Sun was shining brightly as ever but its warmth didn't reach the cold grounds of the earth. It was as though the earth was embedded by a veil of mist, not letting any heat through it. The trees started to shed their protective clothes around them, decorating the grounds and footpaths with their beautiful artwork. They were welcoming the forthcoming autumn gracefully, using the shredded leaves as its greeting carpet. The way nature changes with time are fascinating to watch.

I pried my eyes open, my nostrils were immediately met by the addicting odor of coffee. I was wrapped around my blanket buried into it like a burrito. Squinting slightly to the light, I followed the odor aimlessly. My eyes came upon the steaming cup of coffee placed right at the center of my table lamp. It was very tempting not to reach out to it so I did. I took a sip and awed internally; that was one of the best coffees I have ever had. I emptied it in one go almost burning my tongue.

Wait!

Who put it on the table? I usually have to go to the cafe to have one. How did it get here? Did someone put it here? But who?

Oh, don't tell me it wa-

"Good morning, Ananya"

I got startled by the sudden voice almost dropping the cup. I turned my head to the door and saw Karthik closing the door behind him. Surprisingly, he turned around and smiled widely at me, his eyes trailed off to the empty cup in my hand for a second.

"How was the coffee?" he asked a little eagerly.

"You put it here?" I asked overly surprised.

"Yeah, why not?" he furrowed his eyebrows, the smile never leaving his face even once.

"Oh! It's just you never-" I thought for a second and changed my mind, "Nevermind" I shook my head.

He stood there with a grin etched upon his face. The morning breeze hitting his hair causing it to sway sideways on his forehead. I watched him as he searched his jean pockets and pulled out a card to twirl between his long slender fingers.

"We are going to school in two weeks," he announced, "Ms. Morgan told us to go on a little shopping for buying school supplies and all."

I couldn't believe my eyes. I am going to school; to a school in New Zealand. I had always wanted to go to New Zealand and study but I knew I couldn't afford it but now, it was like a dream come true. Also, I never thought I would go with the chocolate-headed muscle man before me. I was so excited like I wanted to jump and squeal into my pillow.

It took all my willpower not to show any reaction. I simply stared at him putting on my emotionless expression and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he gaped, "Aren't you excited?"

"Which grade?" I asked ignoring his question.

"We have not completed 11th Grade, so 11th," he said.

I nodded acknowledging his reply and got up from my bed to arrange the covers calmly.

I heard him clear his throat.

"You know, Ms. Morgan also allowed us to buy some books?" he said slowly definitely trying to squeeze out a reaction from me.

Okay, I really had the urge to hug him delighted with what he said right then. Because I love love love reading books. I practically can't live without books, they are my whole life. Having the title as a bookworm and nerd at school had never bothered me because I really was one and was happy about it too. My safe places were libraries and I hoped I would find one in my new school too.

Karthik here knew this very well, well everyone at school knew. That was exactly why he added that piece of information and I can already guess he might have talked to Ms. Morgan about it. How else would she allow us to buy books?

I was thankful but a little part of me was not ready to civilize with him. Why wasn't he avoiding me like the past days? It was better if he did that. I don't want to be sad again when he is gone to his past self.

I remained silent and did my work. I knew he became restless judging by his long sigh. Let him be. Let him get the taste of his own medicine.

"Look, Ananya," his voice came near me, "I am sorry. I am sorry for ignoring you the past few days. I won't repeat it again. I was a complete jerk, please forgive me. I promise I will treat you better. Please, this once?"

I was shocked. I seriously never thought he would apologize. He never apologizes, he never does. He is known to be cold-hearted for a reason but this completely caught me off guard.

I slowly turned around to face him and I could say he was being genuine right away.

I sighed, "When are we going?"

"Um, in the evening," he said biting down on his lips fiddling with his fingers without looking at me.

I raised an eyebrow at his behavior. I had never seen this side of him. Was he intimidated by me? Like really, the coldest bully of my school, intimidated by me? Is he bipolar?

"Fine," I said and walked away from him to my cupboard to pull out my clothes.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw his lips tugging upwards.

I got ready wearing my only outdoor wear. It's not like I have never been outside here, I have gone to some of their expeditions but not so far from here. I have never wholly seen the town, just the countryside now I am going to the heart of the city.

It was the first time I let my hair fall to my waist. My mother never allowed me to untie it in public, no particular reason she thought people would jinx it. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I look different, way different. My lips turned down reminiscing what happened the very last moment before the tsunami hit us. I came to know what happened to me while I was asleep; I saw it as a dream. It really hurt a lot but I could not do anything about it. Whatever happened, it is over, no taking back.

"You are gonna survive~" her words still rang in my ears.

I closed my eyes sighing.

"Guess she was right" I mumbled.

"Ananya," came the deep voice of Karthik through the door, "Ready to go?"

I turned around and nodded.

Sorry, mom and my sisters. I couldn't save you.

Tyler dropped us in front of the mall in his red jeep. It was just like I had expected it to be, a tall building lit by various led lights with trees and plants around the entrance. People were chatting and laughing around loudly, enjoying themselves with their families and friends. Most of them were youngsters hanging out in just couples going out on a date. I could see students with their friends buying supplies. Their shopping bags were loaded with books and kids were tripping over them because they were in a hurry.

I envied the kids who were walking with their parents, smiling and jolly. I wished I could walk like that too, with my parents. But look at my fate now.

"Come on, let's go," said Karthik, breaking my train of thoughts.

We entered the mall. Even though it was pitch black outside the mall smote off light as if it is daytime. It was the best mall I had seen so far with almost everything in it; hair boutiques, spa, perfume shops, clothes, bookstalls, supermarket, tech area, toys, gift, shoes, you name it. It is not like I haven't been to a mall but it fascinated me because my family rarely went to malls. We had only gone there without father who by the way seldom come home from London. My father is always busy but when he comes home, it will be a whole new celebration.

I took a glance at Karthik who lead the way. It looked like he knew the way around, he had come here before. Of course, he would have, he was awake two whole weeks before me. He just walked looking straight ahead while I turned my head in all directions, taking in whatever my eyes could. I knew he was rich and all this might be very ordinary for him. He didn't care about this anymore.

"So, where do we go first?" he turned to me.

I had no idea where to go so I just shrugged, wanting him to decide.

"How about books first?" he suggested to which I simply nodded.

I was jumping inside though. It was as if he read my mind.

We mounted escalators to the second floor and he lead me to the bookstall right at the end of the hallway. It was huge, almost the size of a library, definitely not a bookstall.

There were only a few people running their eyes through the shelves for a perfect one to read. Karthik gestured for me to go on and choose which I gladly did, my steps bouncing a little with excitement. They had hung boards above each different categories making it easier to distinguish and identify which is which. My eyes traveled through each of them before stopping on my favorite one.

Adventure/Action

I strode towards the said section and searched for a certain series. No one was present and I had all the time choosing and deciding what I wanted.

"You can buy three books, maximum" Karthik added from beside me.

Only three books? Just three books out of all these eye-catching feasts before me? I wish I could buy the whole shelf because there were wide varieties of books also the books I wanted to read so badly which had been stuck on my wish list for years. I could see the Harry Potter series pocking out of the fantasy section; my all-time favorite book. But I had already read them back home so it's a waste of time. I also saw Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books to my left which excitingly was the crime and thriller section, I had almost read all of them too. I saw Jules Verne's books, The Hobbit and Lord of Rings series, Hunger Games trilogy, and a lot of books that had managed to catch my attention but I had all of them at home.

That's when my eyes caught Percy Jackson. I had two among the series and I had three remaining, so without any doubt, I picked them off the shelf gracefully. Out of all the numerous books in this category, I chose those books. Of course, I like them but I had not thought much about completing them, it was intriguing but I just did. It was as if I was under an Imperius curse or something. Whatever!

Right when I turned I came face to face with Karthik, who had an eyebrow raised going under his chocolate bangs. I distanced myself from him then gave him a 'what?' look.

"You selected those books?" he asked staring at the books in my hands with a slight panic.

"Yeah? They are one of my favorites" I heard myself defending.

He continued staring but I walked past him rolling my eyes and called out to him from the cashier. The weirdest thing is that he kept shooting the cashier guy a narrowed look. The guy at the cashier was a little shady, yeah and he kept sniffing, creeping me out a little but we successfully managed to pay the bill and get out of there.

The next stop was stationary. This place however was filled with girls and boys. We had a hard time selecting stuff. Karthik even had a long list of what to buy. I never knew he was productive much and it was kind of irritating because he only followed that, one after the other. We managed to get a pair of everything. Karthik's table was already loaded with things he wanted so he spend most of the time selecting for me though I had said I didn't need any help.

"What about textbooks?" I asked curiously, placing a bunch of notebooks into the cart.

"Oh! We will buy them at SchoolBee, there is a separate shop for that near the mall" he said pushing the cart further down the aisle.

Afterward, we bought clothes for me which went very fast to the amusement of my chocolate-haired companion. Karthik was surprised by how fast I selected clothes for me. I was even alarmed when he chuckled saying his sister would have taken the whole day for shopping. Yeah yeah, rich girls! I knew his sister; the most popular girl at school. I would only be surprised if she hadn't taken a month or worse, a year. I was not like her at all, you can say. I know what I want and that is exactly what I choose. No time delay or waste. I just hate the concept of shopping. Usually my mom shops clothes for me, I never bothered and it was hard buying clothes for myself alone. I can't just ask Karthik whether this fits me or this matches me so I just picked whatever I thought will fit me.

His smile fell from his face after he talked about his sister. I absolutely felt what he was thinking right then. He loved her so much, their bond was really good to see.

"You miss her?" I asked him tilting my head to look at his downcast face.

"Yeah, a lot" he sighed.

"I miss mine too," I said, looking away.

"You have a sister too?"

"Yep, two of them" I mumbled.

He smiled down at me. I saw more than gratitude in them for the first time. It is that I knew almost everything about him while he knew nothing about me other than I like books more than anything and I would die for it.

"Let's go. Ms. Morgan has told me to buy you a phone" he said.

That rang a bell in my head and it had great frequency. I had never imagined myself managing a phone. It's not that I don't know how to use one rather my mom had always advised me to buy a phone only after high school graduation and I had no voice to object to, she was right then. In most parts of India, there is a stereotype that says a girl with a phone is like a human bomb; anything can happen at any time.

After buying the phone for me, Karthik called Tyler using his green one to pick our shopping bags up. We only had to wait for a little at the entrance of the mall, Tyler arrived and took them from us, and asked us to go on with our little shopping date. I mentally facepalmed while Karthik awkwardly laughed at his remark.

We sped towards the said shop. Karthik was acting weird again. He kept looking around him and asked me to walk near to him. I thought maybe he was looking out for robbers or something, it was late night after all. But my mind told otherwise which I shrugged off feeling tingling in my skin every time a black figure passed us.

The comparatively small bookstall was filled with students hurrying around to collect their books. As we opened the main door a bell rang somewhere inside the shop. A stout short man waddled towards us with a crooked smile, not because he was evil, he had a crooked teeth. I could say he was almost in his late fifties judging by his grey beard.

"South Wing High?" he asked right away.

"Yes sir, two sets" Karthik politely replied.

Since when did he start using sir?

The old man lead us through the crowds of students who gave Karthik and me long glances. Karthik grabbed the sleeve of my jacket to navigate me through the crowd in case I get lost. The students even gaped at us with interest sparkling in their eyes. I just ignored them and focused on getting to the other side.

When we reached the shelves, the old man asked our grade and started taking out thick rickety books from the shelves in pairs. I really had to stifle a gasp seeing the thick books that were spread in front of me. The thickest was algebra. Oh! Great. I just hate maths and there are no other rivals like us in this whole world, trust me. That was the only subject I used to lose my As.

Boom goes the canon!

I got bored so I excused myself and walked away from them to look around where there was the least number of people. I walked aimlessly tracing my fingers along the slightly dusty shelves while inhaling the scent of books.

Maybe it was coincidence or fate because the next thing I see was the least expected face I would ever see.

"Hey, girl. Move out of the way!" growled someone, bumping into me.

I turned around to apologize but the word got stuck in my throat right when I saw his face. Hot anger coursed through my veins. He saw me too, a little surprised himself then his lips curled into that disgusting smirk. His same friends were behind him and they were carrying the same book as the shopkeeper had stacked for us. Looks like I am going to the same school as this bronze-haired freak.

"Hey there, sweaty," he smirked.

"Isn't this that waitress girl?" oh the mint-hair, yes I am.

"Yeah...what is the pretty girl doing here?" he asked leaning on a shelf quite near me, folded his arms over his chest wearing the same smirk.

"None of your business," I stepped away from him and scowled.

"Oh really?" he widened his eyes dramatically. I watched as his eyes followed Karthik who was behind me taking care of the books, "Hanging out with your boyfriend?"

The audacity of this guy!

"He is not my boyfriend," I snapped.

"Well well, looks like he is" he was really trying my patience, again.

Hearing the commotion, Karthik came into view. He looked alarmed at the guys and then towards me. He kept staring at me silently asking me what had happened. However, my eyes were solely on the guy in front of me who was trying to get on my nerves with that smirk of his.

Mike saw the books in Karthik's hands.

"Aah, coming to South Wing High huh?"

"Yes, what about you?" I saw Karthik gulping though he kept a smiling face.

"We are not talking to you, lad," said the spike hair.

"Who are you talking to then?" I glared, "Oh! Let me guess, you are going to the same school"

"Nice guess Ms. Pretty," exclaimed Mike snapping his fingers.

"Don't call me those names you-" I was seriously going to hit him but Karthik held me back and came in front of me, blocking my view of them.

"We will see you at school, then" I saw Karthik smiling.

What the-

"Of course, we will," scoffed Mike and stood straight, "Until then see you, Mis-"

"Don't even-" I gritted angrily, moving forward.

But Karthik blocked me yet again.

"We are glad that we made new friends!" Karthik added.

Is he crazy?

"Friends?" Mike scoffed again cracking his head and looking directly at me, "More like enemies"

With that, they exited the aisle, then with the clink of the bell, the shop too.

"They are really obscene" a voice of a female made us turn around.

A girl probably the same age of us stood there. She had glittering grey eyes and straight blonde hair tied to a high ponytail, wearing simple shorts and a colorful T-shirt. Her hands held the same book as ours and I guessed she went to the same school.

She smiled broadly and walked towards us.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"I had been in South Wing for four years and I know them very well," she explained, "They cause all sorts of trouble in there. Even though they are popular, all hate them and are low-key scared. They are even 'known as the pawns of Satan'."

Karthik coughed loudly at that.

"Are you in 11th grade?"

"Yep, you're the same right?" she smiled giddily, "We might be in the same class"

"I hope so. What's your name by the way?"

"Oops, sorry! It's Lilly Moscovitz" she extended her hand for me to shake.

"Nice name. I'm-" I was already holding her hand.

"Alisa Walker" Karthik cut me off immediately.

I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow silently asking why he lied. That's not even close to my name. What was the reason for him to change my name into something...American? But he just gave me a look telling me to go with him.

I decided not to question it.

"Nice to meet you, Alisa" she chirped and turned to Karthik, "What about you?"

"Kyle Miller" I heard him answer.

This is seriously very odd. He changed his name too?

"Nice to meet you too, Kyle" she smiled.

"Did you come here alone, Lilly?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows a little.

"NO!" someone answered instead of her.

A blonde boy the same age as us came to the light along with a red-haired pretty girl clicking her green heels on the ground. The guy was tall with grey eyes somehow resembling Lilly very much and the girl was wearing a green dress, the simple yet elegant makeup highlighting her soft features perfectly with her curious green orbs trained on us.

"Oh, here comes my twin brother Branden Moscovitz" Lilly put one hand around the guy's shoulder and the other on the girl's "and his girlfriend plus my best friend, Rose Brown"

Both of them gave us a wave while we introduced each other.

"I really hope we will be in the same classes" Rose commented out.

"It'll be fun!" Branden agreed with a firm nod.

All of us talked as we proceed to pay for the books and got out of the streets for a walk. Lilly, Branden, and Rose were very cool to talk with. They were very open-minded and I felt really comfortable talking to them. Karthik laughed hard at the jokes cracked by Branden himself; he was funny and entertaining. I was glad he got a friend. At our previous school he had the worst friends, might I say backstabbers. I was curious though because he never liked guys like Branden, who was carefree and down to earth. But somehow they were getting along very well. It was so unlike him.

We went to a cafe and talked a lot. With lots and lots of jokes and facts, time flew past real quick. Whenever they asked anything about us, Karthik would answer. It looked like he did knew what he was talking about and was told to say stuff like that. He explained that we were orphans and live not in but near Dinosaur Museum. They bought whatever he told so, I didn't bother to note in my mind to question him later. Just by talking to them for minutes, I read all of them like an open book. Lilly likes to travel and wants to become a journalist while Branden was really hilarious cracking his humor every once in a while wanting to become a standup comedian at some point of his life and finally Rose was from a filthy rich family and has the mindset of a firm feminist, ambition to become a career woman. Three of them were different in their own ways conveying that they were more than delighted to expand their friend circle. I was overly happy that I happened to make friends so fast. It was kinda a record on my side.

"See you at school" we exchanged numbers before they left in Rose's personal car as the time was becoming close to midnight.

We were walking on the sidewalk with heavy books weighing us down in silence just listening to the insects creaking and the sound of cars passing by. I refused to talk anything while enjoying the silence but he broke it right away.

"Today was a good day, right?"

That was unexpected. He was starting to initiate conversations.

"Yeah..." I trailed off not knowing what to say being confused beyond myself at his new behavior.

"We got new friends. I thought it would be hard," I heard him sigh and turned to me.

I raised an eyebrow at that turning to him.

"I thought it was easy for you. You had so many back at our school" I pointed out amused.

"It took months for me to befriend them, Ananya" he mumbled, "And I knew they actually didn't want my friendship, they just wanted my money and fame"

I could feel that somehow. Noone actually cared one time when he got into a grave fight with a guy at school. Everyone just cheered at him, even his friends who were supposed to hold him back. I knew they were toxic.

"Then why were you hanging out with them? You could have ended it,"

"Noone wanted me as their friend. The coldhearted arrogant rich guy" I watched him as he looked up at the sky with a dismal expression.

Why does it seem like he is not any of that and it was just a facade for him to hide under?

"That's all in the past," I mumbled out looking away, "Anyway, why did you lie about our names?" I deliberately changed the subject.

"Ms. Morgan told me to," he shrugged nonchalantly, "We don't have any identification here. We are illegally existing here so she made us both our own IDs and made us the citizens here. That was required for us to join the school."

"But why change the name though?"

"She just wanted us to have a new name, that's all" he hesitated a bit, "Besides we don't look Indian at all" he chuckled lightly.

Which was true considering our overly paled skin and some facial features which don't match Indian standards at all. We looked partially western having light features. I got that a lot, being different considering my sisters though my father and mother were more than Indians. People had even suspected whether I was really the daughter of my mom and dad. But my mom always brushed them off with a sarcastic comment.

"That does make sense" I hummed.

"And I guess we have to call each other those names from now on considering we are gonna call each other in school. We can't let our real names out right?" he grinned.

I nodded.

We were nearing the museum and 'Kyle' kept looking around silently. I couldn't figure out the reason but decide to keep shut knowing very well that he won't explain himself.

Guess there are lot waiting for me.