A Friend of Chitra

 "I told you, Reema, I don't want to talk to him. If he thinks that I am going to stand in front of his main gate with a sorry card in my hands, he is so wrong", she said while looking at the mobile phone. "And what's with this childish behaviour? Don't you think you are getting bad inspiration from your movies?"

"I think you have lost your brain cells befriending this idiot, Reema, but this is utter nonsense. What are you expecting from us? You should know that her ego won't reduce just because you tie her to the chair", another male voice added to the conversation.

"First of all, to answer your question Chitra, yes, I am taking inspiration from the movies. Please remember that I am not doing this because I care if you two are still friends or not. I am tired and sick of being your mediator and I wanted to get out of the all-time call center job that I have been doing since the past week. You guys should take care of your problems yourselves and not involve me. I am not doing any service here. So yeah Rithvik, maybe my brain cells are lost but that's because of you two. I don't want to take care of children now. So, you both stop being one and sort it out", a voice came from the mobile which was on speaker mode.

“Oh my god, should I feel bad and sad now for hurting all my friends?” Chitra asked sarcastically.

"You don't have to, Chitra. You can just feel bad for yourself when you badly want to use the washroom but can't get out of those ties. So yeah, good luck while controlling your urges in front of your friend-turned-enemy aka Rithvik."

Chitra groans in irritation, "Reema, let me out of this bullshit. I don't want to sort anything out. I don't even want to see his face right now. Do yourself and me a favour by stopping this right now or else, I swear I will torture you more than this"

“I bet there can’t be anything more torturous than being your friend. Trust me, Reema already has gone through enough just by being your friend”, Rithvik commented on Chitra.

"Wow, how caring. You can stay here as long as you want and pity Reema and keep thinking about how I am responsible for global warming, illiteracy, terrorism, or any other problem that exists in this country because I am the sole root cause of all the problems, aren't I? But you can trust me when I say I too feel this as torture by having to stay in the same room as you"

"OK guys, I guess I will just give you both 2 hours. I am going to attend my classes. You guys can decide whatever solution that involves me being not involved in your fight. Decide and let me know and you are free to use the washroom or eat food or to get back whatever freedom which ever existed in your life. Bye!!!"

The call got cut immediately after that before Chitra could even try to utter Reema’s name.

“Reema… Reema”, she still attempts but only gets stopped by the laughter beside her.

"Here I thought Reema could hear through a call which is ended", Rithvik added sarcastically.

“And I thought I have got a friend who could understand and take my side no matter what. How wrong of me to think that way about you”.

Rithvik gritted his teeth hearing that again.

“If you are not mature enough to understand, just do me a favour and don’t bring up that topic again”, he said.

“Why? You don’t have any explanation for your narrow-minded thoughts?”

"No, I just don't have an explanation for your childishness and stubborn nature. You can go ahead and spill more things to my mom which we promised to keep between ourselves. I won't be surprised this time."

"And you can go tell my parents more about how reckless I am. As it was, you already complained and canceled my plans for the trip."

“For god sake, they already had doubts that you were up to something. It just happened that I had to tell them Reema was going to her village. I didn't know that you didn’t tell them anything”

"yeah like you would tell everything to your parents", she scoffed, "I told you already I would talk to them later but you had to go in the middle and bring up that topic. I know that you did it intentionally. You are against me going with Rohit's gang from the start."

“For the last time Chitra”, he tried to control his anger, “I… didn’t… do… anything… intentionally…”.

“Moreover, even if we consider whatever story you think I conspired against you is right, don’t you think telling my mom about Julie is such a low blow”, he added.

“You know what. I too assumed that you might have told your mom already that you have a Christian girlfriend. It’s not my fault you see. Just like you”, she argued getting irritated.

Rithvik just kept glaring at Chitra for almost a minute.

"I don't know that we are playing the revenge game here Chitra. Sorry, my bad. I am at fault because I assumed we were good friends and thought I could share anything with you."

"How funny right Rithvik… Considering I wanted to say those same words to you"

“I didn’t break your trust Chitra. It was a mistake from my side and I accept that. But what you did is not a mistake and you know that.”

"Well, I don't believe you Rithvik. First, you were completely against us going with Rohit's friends. Then, you ditched me saying that you had to go meet Julie's brother. And even though I should have been mad at you for that, I still tried to understand but going on that trip had to be my decision Rithvik. You tried to demotivate me to not go and when I refused you played a nice drama. All you had to do was go to my parents and tell them about Reema going out of town during the weekend and make them question me on why I lied to them that I would be staying with Reema. Nice plan. Congratulations. It worked.”

"You know what… You will perfectly fit in that Rohit's gang. I shouldn't have felt concerned for you and should have stayed away thinking you going to trip with that Rohit is none of my concern. Excuse me for trying to be a nice friend. All you do is blame me even when I am telling you that it was just a mistake. You can happily join Rohit's group or even that drug dealer group in our college. Ask me if I care."

"You don't have to give me a lecture acting like you do care about me. If you cared, you would have planned to visit Julie's brother some other time. I would not have lied at my home and this wouldn't have happened. And just so you know, I am happy to join any other group that doesn't include you. You say I am cunning but I think you forgot your traits of how deceptive you were”

“I never cheated during exams or pretended sick unlike someone here. So guess who is deceptive here genius.”

"I just pretended sick. Glad I don't have to pretend like a perfect kid to my parents though. Perfect kid with good grades and respect for all elders."

"I know it. You still are jealous of me. All that speech about being mature and becoming friends which you gave three years back is bullshit. I wonder how aunty and uncle are keeping up with you."

“Same way how I keep up with you. I can’t even believe I thought we could be friends by keeping aside our differences.”

“The differences which were a result of your insecurities towards me. You were worried that I was stealing your limelight.”

"Oh yeah, like you are some celebrity that I would worry about my limelight. All you do is preach to people, study all the time, and look good. You are just boring otherwise. Let me know when you find out why I would be feeling insecure because of someone like you."

"Well, you can ask that to yourself Chitra. Don't forget to tell me too when you find out why you asked me to be your friend though I am boring.”

"What should I say? I like doing charity work. I thought I could introduce you to the word FUN. Guess, I failed miserably", she retorted.

“First try to understand the difference between having fun and being reckless. Probably then you can teach me?”

"Firstly, you are not my father and secondly, it's my life. Can you stop poking your nose in my life and judging me all the time?"

"That's something that you do Chitra. Interfering in others' life. I was just advising you something here."

“Well stop doing that Rithvik and let me enjoy my life. Seriously, I don’t need babysitting from you.”

Rithvik stayed silent for a minute before speaking again slowly and confidently.

“If that’s what you want Chitra… I will stop now. I will stop caring and interfering in your life. You can believe me on this.”

“I don’t even know if I can believe you now. I am not so sure if our friendship is true Rithvik”, words come out of her mouth harshly this time.

"Well, no relation gets built without trust Chitra", he speaks after taking a long breath, "If you can't trust me as a friend, it's fine. As it is, after you revealed the Julie matter at my home, I don't think I too can trust my secrets with you."

"Wow great then. At least we agree on something here", she added a little sarcastically.

“You can continue your life as it is without me involved in it and we can end this fight here. We won’t talk to each other from tomorrow and lead our own lives. I guess, ending this accusation game is the last string between us. You can do whatever you want in your life and I will also make peace with myself that we can’t be friends. Is that fine with you?”

Anger and irritation are visible on her face after Rithvik said those words.

"Yeah, sure. Why won't I be fine?" she huffed and turned away. 

"Nice. We can get out of these ties and be free when Reema comes here", he said. Chitra understood in what context he told her that they could be free of the ties but just stayed silent after that.

After nearly 2 hours, Reema entered the room and stood at a certain distance from them.

“So what have you guys decided”, Reema questioned while folding her hands and raising her eyebrows.

“We decided to end this fight. You don’t have to be the mediator between us anymore”, Rithvik told her.

Reema loosened her hands and an instant smile took her face.

"Oh, I knew it. I so knew that my idea would work even though it's cliché. Thank god, you guys will be back to normal now", she said proudly. She paused for a second and then continued again, "One second, you guys ended the fight right. You are not fooling me so that you can get out of these ties and murder me I hope.”

"Reema, we are not lying. Rithvik is right. We ended it here. We will no longer fight and bring you in between. Don't worry".

The way Chitra said those words made Reema believe it and at the same time she felt as if something was still wrong. But considering how Chitra normally addressed Rithvik saying that he was right seemed that they made up, thought Reema.

"Ok, if you say so", she shrugged and walked towards them. "And before untying you guys, I hope you remember that it was because of me that you people ended your fight. So don't attack me. I am not the culprit here but the savior of your friendship", Reema giggled saying that and first untied Chitra's ties. By the time she untied Rithvik's too, Chitra left the room. Reema got confused about what was happening not knowing why Chitra left like that suddenly. She turned to Rithvik who spoke before leaving too.

"Thank you for your efforts Reema but I don't think my friendship with Chitra got saved", he said and left.

***

Chitra walks past her father who is sitting in the living room. Her father who sees her taking hurried steps towards her bedroom tries to call her by keeping aside the tea that he was drinking.

"Chitra", he calls her in a worried tone making her stop walking, "did something happen at college?"

"Nothing Dad, I am just having a bad headache. I will take rest for some time."

"Ok, you go to your room. I will bring coffee for you"

She nods her head and goes to her room. She places her bag on the table and sits on her bed thinking about her conversation with Rithvik today.

After a few minutes, her dad enters her room with coffee and pakoda in his hands. As soon as he places them on the table, she grabs for the pakoda.

"Hawww... Is this what your mom taught you? You should get fresh and change your clothes after you enter the home. Remember?" he asks in a fake disappointed tone.

"Nah, this is what my dad taught me. I learn from what I see you know. You are still in your business suit. Like father like daughter", she shrugs while pushing that pakoda into her mouth. 

"You know your mom is complaining that I am the one who is spoiling you. You are getting me into more trouble by learning from me", he says while sitting on her bed.

Chitra simply shrugs her shoulders and continues eating. After some time, her dad questions her again.

"Is there something that is bothering you Chitra?" he asks

"Nothing dad, as I told you, I am just tired."

"Really? It has nothing to do with Rithvik then?"

When she nods her head in a no, her dad continues, "ok then, if everything is fine between you both, I will just call Rithvik's family and ask them to join us for dinner."

"Dad...", Chitra whines making her dad stop from getting up from his chair.

"What happened", he demanded answers.

Chitra sighs before speaking, "Nothing Dad, I just don't want to talk about Rithvik today. And anyway, you and Mom always support him. There is no use talking to you about him. You will end up telling me that I am wrong like always."

"Chitra," he pauses till she looks into his eyes and when she does, he continues. "You are our daughter. It's not that you are wrong always. Do you think I can exercise the same rights on Rithvik that I have on you? Do you think I can say all those things to him which I can say to you with the same right? Telling you what is right and what is wrong is my responsibility. Don't you think so?"

"I don't know Dad", she exhales before continuing, "I know that you can tell me what is right or wrong for me but can't I make decisions for my own life? I wanted to go on the trip. You guys won't allow me to go unless Rithvik or Reema accompanies me. Now, Rithvik and Reema have their plans for the holidays and I will be the one dying out of boredom.  How is that fair."

"I have already told you Chitra. It's not because we don't want you to go but we don't want you to go with some random gang of people. Those people are not even your friends. When you don't know them properly, how can I trust my daughter with some strangers."

"But you can trust me, right? I can keep myself safe Dad. I don't need anyone to babysit me always," she argues.

"We never know how the situations would turn to Chitra. You can go to that place some other time but I can't send you with some set of rowdies just because you badly wanted to see that place."

She groans in irritation, "Yeah fine. I got it. I can't go on the trip. I will stay in my room watching the stars. happy? You are so adamant."

"Like daughter like father", he smiles and gets up, "Ok, I will go get fresh before your mom comes. You don't think too much about this trip now. You can go next time with your friends."

She simply nods to him not wanting to tell him that her friendship with Rithvik has ended and her dad leaves the room.

***

The next day, Chitra goes to college and finds Rithvik completely ignoring her existence. Generally, Reema, Rithvik, Julie and her used to sit together for lunch. But today, Rithvik and Julie sat separately while she was trying to avoid the questions from Reema. She observed Rithvik and Julie talking over something, laughing in the middle as if nothing happened. She didn't know if Rithvik had told Julie what happened between them. Looking at how Julie gave her a cold shoulder but smiled at Reema before taking a seat somewhere else, made her believe that Julie knew what happened. She huffed in frustration and finished the lunch as soon as possible and left the cafeteria, saying bye to her only friend now.

Two days passed and Chitra's frustration only increased looking at how Rithvik is all normal without being her friend. It was as if breaking their friendship didn't even matter to him. Both Julie and Rithvik avoided her full-time. The class just ended and it was again lunch time. She should avoid thinking about anything or anyone. If people are determined to throw her out of their lives, so be it. With the newfound determination, she entered the cafeteria but as soon as she finished half her lunch, she heard Reema questioning.

"I can't stop myself from asking you this. Chitra, what happened between you and Rithvik?" she asked in a serious tone. She knew this question would come up some time or the other from her friend. Though Reema always had that question mark on her face, she didn't ask about what happened till then. Reema doesn't even know the reason for which the fight got started between her and Rithvik. Would she take Rithvik's side if she got to know what happened?

"And I went to Julie's house yesterday. I don't...," Reema's words are cut off by Chitra.

"You went to Julie's house?" she questioned in surprise.

"Yes, I did. She said she wanted to talk," Reema responded, "Do you know Rithvik's parents got to know about their relationship?"

She knew? She was the one to reveal it to his mom, Chitra thought. Suddenly she felt a bit guilty listening to those words coming out of Reema but her pride didn't allow her to accept her mistake. She wondered how much Julie told Reema about the situation here.

"Rithvik's parents wanted to meet Julie, it seems. She was worried about that and wanted to talk with me. Other than that, she was not telling what happened and neither do you."

Chitra just looked at her food for a while thinking about Julie. Was she being selfish and jealous? She didn't even think about Julie before going and revealing everything to Rithvik's mother. Julie is her friend too.

"I was the one who revealed it to Rithvik's mother," she finally decided to come clean to Reema.

"You did what?" she asked in surprise.

"I revealed about their relationship to his mother."

"How can you do something like that? You know how they wanted to keep it from their parents till they got settled yet you went and told his mother?"

"I did that because of Rithvik, Reema. You don't know. He complained to my parents and now I can't go on the trip during our winter break"

"Are you hearing to yourself, Chitra? You are comparing him spoiling your trip with you trying to ruin his relationship?"

"I didn't ruin Reema. He was already planning to tell his parents after some time. It's not like their relationship is ruined."

"But that was his call, Chitra. He will tell his parents about it when he wants to. You going and revealing it is just not correct."

"As much as I see they are still in a good relationship which means everything is fine at his home, Reema. If what I did was wrong then, what Rithvik did is also wrong."

"Are you maintaining some balance sheet here trying to analyze and compensate his wrongs with your wrongs?" Reema questioned Chitra's childish behaviour.

"If you can't understand why I did what I did, you can also go join Rithvik and Julie for lunch. It's ok," saying that Chitra left with half her plate still filled with food. She dumped the remains in the bin and left.

***

Chitra could barely concentrate on her studies. She was in her room feeling frustrated about all the things that had been happening for a week starting from the failure of her trip plan. A ping on her phone grabbed her attention. She picked up her cell and opened the group which showed the notification. It's a group created for the upcoming innovative contest that's being held in their college. There are 5 members including her and Rithvik who as a group are part of this project, or at least she thought until she saw the message. It's a message from Ankit, one of those 5, saying that Rithvik asked for a drop from participating in this contest. Only the remaining 4 will be meeting the next day to discuss the possible ideas for the contest so that they can start working as soon as the winter break starts. 

Chitra fumes in anger not liking this level of ignorance from Rithvik. He wants to avoid everything that involves her. He is the one who started this by revealing about Reema going out of town in the holidays and now he is the one who decided to break their friendship and be in full-time ignore mode. She thought he understood her after they became friends but he is proving her wrong by doing all this. Wish she had never gone to him 3 years back and asked him to be her friend. It was good at the time when they didn't even care about each other's presence. Even though their families have been good friends, she never liked him. That was before both of them had to go to the same college and take the same course. After she extended her hand for friendship, she thought everything had changed and they became good friends. Guess, she is wrong. She wished she would have never patched up with Rithvik in the first place. She wished how she could forget him as a friend in her life. 

She skipped dinner saying she had a headache and she couldn't even concentrate on her studies. She closed her books, turned off the lights, and went to bed to sleep.

Chitra wakes up early in the morning and as soon as she gets up from the bed, she notices a chit fall from her lap. She opens it and reads out what it says - "A chance to change the past. Utilize it properly."

She gets confused reading the chit. While she is still thinking about it, there is a knock on her door and her mother opens it. 

"You woke up now? It's the first day of college and you are not ready yet. Do you even know what time it is? I came to wake you up twice already. How many things should I take care of? I should only think about everyone in this house. No one knows how to look after themselves," she scolds and leaves.

Chitra immediately looks at her cell phone but is surprised to see her old phone instead of her brand-new one. She opens it and to her surprise, she finds that the day is 24th July 2019. That means it is the day when she started going to college, which by the way is the same one as Rithvik's. She remembers the chit which is still in her hands and opens it to read the contents again. She ponders over it again not able to understand if what she is thinking is happening. While she is still thinking, she hears her mom shout at her again.

"Chitra... I hope you are not falling back to sleep again. Get ready fast."

Chitra goes to get ready still surprised that she actually came back in time. She knows what will happen next. She will miss the bus and Rithvik will give lift to her. Before she could ponder over it, she got transported to the time when she saw Rithvik in front of her on his bike.

"What? Are you waiting for some auspicious time? Stop thinking too much and get on my bike if you don't want to miss your first class," he says. She finds herself getting on his bike and words come out of her mouth without even her knowledge, "Thanks for the lift but just so you know, your sarcasm isn't much appreciated."

"Who cares," she hears him mumble.

She didn't get it. This was the same situation three years back when she started college and these were his exact same words. She couldn't even control what she was saying. Those words came out of her mouth automatically. When they reached college, she got off his bike and again found herself thanking him without any control over her words.

"Thank you", she mumbles.

"Not a problem, Chitra," she hears from him and heads to the parking.

When she thinks that she should go to her first class, she is already transported to that point in time. Are her thoughts controlling the time she is moving forward to, she wondered. When she opened her bag, she found another chit. She unfolded it and read - "Past can't be changed. However, it's possible if you want it to change". What does that mean? She couldn't change whatever happened in her life as she could observe everything was happening as it did happen. The chit says she could change it though if she wants to change the things that happened in the past. Looking at the lecturer who was giving an intro to them, she remembered how she became friends with Rithvik. Suddenly she got transported to the time when she was in their Engineering workshop lab where the same lecturer was the incharge of the lab. It was their lab exam and everyone was getting something to do. She picked up the paper already knowing which experiment she would get. She turned the paper and huffed knowing that it was the same. She has to cut an iron rod in that experiment and she hates it. She looked at her friend Reema who got carpentary work herself and nodded a no to her. Reema signaled toward the lecturer and mouthed the word "ask". They thought to ask for an exchange if they got a difficult experiment. Chitra looked at Rithvik who was the next and the last one to pick up his paper and she knew what would happen next too. It was exactly at the same time when Rithvik picked up his paper that she went to the lecturer and asked for an exchange as she did in the past. 

"You can't change your experiment, Chitra. I have prepared those papers exactly for as many students in my lab. Everyone has got their own thing to do already," the lecturer said.

"Please sir, actually I am not feeling well today. Please understand," she said and that is true too. She is on her period and getting the experiment which she hated the most is making her sick.

The professor exhaled a deep breath and spoke. "Fine, look if you could exchange with any other student here."

"Mine is an electrical circuit experiment. I can exchange with her if that's fine," Rithvik said. Chitra could remember the relief she felt when he said that and the professor agreed for an exchange. By the time this lab incident happened, she had formed some bond with Rithvik. He used to drop her to college whenever she woke up late and missed her bus. They both experimented together in their Physics lab. 

Chitra completed her experiment fast and when she sat on the desk to complete the writing part of the experiment, she looked at Rithvik who was still cutting the iron rod. Suddenly she realized something and her eyes grew wide. This was it. This was the day when she asked him to be her friend. She kept looking at Rithvik a few times while completing her work. 

Finally, the time came when she waited outside the lab for Rithvik to come out. She took the same kind of chit on the ground that she got the other two times and opened it to read - "This is the chance which you wished for". Instead of feeling the rage that she felt since the time she got to know that Rithvik was the reason for her trip plan getting canceled, she felt anxious. When Rithvik does come out, she can't stop herself from thanking him.

"Thank you, Rithvik," words automatically came out of her mouth but she knew that she truly meant those words even now. 

"Not a problem, Chitra. And if you are not feeling well, you should take permission and go home. Should I drop you?"

"No, I am good. Anyways I have to complete and submit an assignment before leaving today"

Rithvik just nodded at her and spoke, "Maybe you should take some medicine at least."

"I am not suffering that much you know," she smiles at him. 

"ok, take care," he says and is about to walk away when she stops him again. Though she knows what she is about to do now, she can't stop herself from doing that.

"Friends?" she asks extending her hand. She badly wanted to change this moment before, didn't she? She wished not to be his friend if she got a chance. But she couldn't bring herself to do it when she actually got one. She really wanted them to be friends.

"Friends," he completed the handshake after a few seconds. This was the moment where their friendship started. Their families have been friends since she was ten years old but she never liked Rithvik. Asking him to be friends changed everything. "I hope that means you no longer would give me those weird looks during our family meetings," he asks unlocking their hands.

"weird looks?" she asked raising her eyebrow.

"yeah, like you don't like my presence"

"I was so wrong about you. Sorry about all those times. I will behave in our next family meeting," she says with a smile.

A guy from their class comes out of their lab and talks to Rithvik.

"Bro, are you up for the movie on Sunday?" he questions.

"yeah, I am coming," Rithvik answers.

That guy acknowledges and leaves the place while Chitra thinks about how she is still living in the past and feels like it's happening again. She comes out of her trance when she hears Rithvik.

"You want to join for the movie?" he questions.

"me?" she confirms again.

"Yeah, you can bring any of your friends too if you like"

She pauses for a while though she internally knows what's happening there. She asked for a chance to not be his friend and when she got a chance to change their past, she couldn't bring herself to change it. Instead, she is reliving those days.

"I will come along with my friend, Reema"

"Cool, see you later. Take care," he leaves saying that.

The next thing Chitra hears is her cell phone ringing and she wakes up with a jolt from her bed. That's her alarm sound. Was she dreaming everything till then? Instead of turning off her alarm, she thinks about the dream she had. The dream felt so real like she was reliving those moments. She sat there thinking about the dream and remembering all the things she experienced in their friendship. Starting from watching that movie which she agreed to, their friendship has grown strong over the years. How they used to go out on weekends, how they used to fight for food, their shared chocolate thing, how Rithvik became her saviour during her exams when she had a leg injury and couldn't attend college, how they used to blame each other at their respective homes just to escape the scoldings of their parents, how Rithvik stayed with her family when her grandmother died. He shared every little thing with her including some of his boyish secrets which made her cringe. He shared about his crush on Julie too and she teased him a lot for that. She was the first one to know about him and Julie. He was very happy that day. She could see how his eyes glowed when he told her about it... He gave her so much importance in his life and told every little secret that he had. And yet, what did she do? She revealed the secret which should have stayed between them to his mother. Why did she do something like that? She thought about all those things that had happened in the past week. After 15 minutes, she exactly knew what she needed to do. She got up from her bed, turned off her alarm, and got ready. She took her cell phone and typed something to Rithvik. She then left her house and waited at the stop where her bus usually stopped. Her bus might have already left. After 5 minutes, she saw Rithvik's bike and immediately raised her thumb as if she were asking lift. When he stopped near her, she spoke.

"I am getting late and today is my seminar. That's why I asked you for a lift," she says.

"OK," he says simply and she sits on his bike.

After 5 minutes, Chitra speaks again. "I didn't have breakfast yet. Can you stop at our place?"

Rithvik doesn't reply but soon stops at a tiffin center. Both of them get down and enter the place. 

"Let's sit there," she points to an empty table and they go sit there.

"Don't you want to place your order first," he asks.

"I will in a while"

He didn't argue after that and both of them took their seat. Rithvik immediately opened his cell phone, scrolling down on something.

"Rithvik, I need to talk to you," she starts.

"ok," he says nonchalantly without stopping scrolling down his phone.

"Rithvik I am sorry ok, just keep your phone aside and listen to me"

He sighs and keeps his phone in his pocket, "What is it Chitra? And I know that your seminar got over on Tuesday itself."

She nods acknowledging that and continues. "I shouldn't have revealed about you and Julie like that. Sorry for that. It's just that all I knew at that moment was that you revealed the trip thing to my parents and I was angry which made me act impulsively."

"I told you many times, Chitra. I didn't do anything intentionally, believe me. I don't know your side of the story and I just casually told them about Reema between our talks."

She nods responding to him, "I get it and I thought about it. I think I did whatever I did out of anger. You are not the same, Rithvik. We are not the same after you entered into relation with Julie. We don't hang out much and even if we do, you and Julie find your own privacy time. We 4 used to be a gang and it became like me and Reema got separated from you guys. You don't talk to me much now. It just took a toll on me seeing the closeness between us gradually decrease after you entered your relationship. Whenever you end my call saying that you have some work or whenever Julie tells me that she can't make it to the girls' night out, I feel like you guys are in your dreamland and don't care about us anymore. Deciding to go with Rohit's gang on the trip seemed a better idea to spend my winter holidays. You know how I always wanted to go on a trip like that, at least once in my college life. I thought to forget about all the things running in my mind and I told Rohit I would join their trip. Later I asked you guys if you could join the trip. I know that Reema was going to her hometown already but I thought at least you and Julie would have joined me. Finally, you told me that you and Julie had to meet Julie's brother and couldn't possibly make it to the trip. And then, you also advised me to not go with Rohit's gang. I was very angry when you told me that. I felt like you are not even going to come to the trip but you have to give me some advice on that. So when I got to know that you are the reason why my parents asked me to cancel the trip which I wanted to go to, it triggered me and I acted on impulse. I am sorry for that Rithvik."

When she looked at him, she could see him in thinking mode, probably analyzing what had happened in the past.

"It's just what I felt Rithvik. It's not like you did something wrong," she added.

She could see his eyes turning soft and he was feeling bad for whatever happened.

"I... I don't know that. I didn't know you were feeling like that. I am sorry. You should have talked to me. You could have fought with me. You always fight for small things and when this much is going on in your brain, why did you keep quiet? And I was stupid enough to not have any idea what you are going through. I should have known," Rithvik spoke.

"Maybe I was the one thinking too much about it, Rithvik. You and Julie are in a relationship now and of course, you both would like to spend more time alone."

"No Chitra. Whatever it was I should have known what you were feeling. You were feeling left out and I didn't even know. I was such an awful friend. But just know that you are my friend and I care about you."

"I know that and I understand. I just wanted us to spend some time and not lose our friendship. I want us to share things and have those stupid arguments like we used to."

"Believe me, when I say this, I will give more attention to what I am doing from now on. Your friendship matters to me Chitra. I will always make time to talk and argue with you ok. I can't believe that was the thing you missed the most as a friend."

"And I can't believe I am giving you lengthy speeches on what happened to us," she added.

"I know right? I was shocked to see you talking like that without a pause."

"yes, I can do sensible talks. I am not immature or childish or stubborn all the time," she highlights reminding his own words to him.

"And you think I am narrow-minded and some charity work for you," he retorts remembering her words.

"Maybe...," she says playfully.

"I was just concerned about you going with that Rohit ok? I am not narrow-minded"

"But I am doing charity work only by befriending you and teaching you how the world works"

"oh like I don't know anything"

"yes, you don't," she shrugs.

Rithvik narrows his eyes at her and she hides her smile. Later, she orders a dosa and starts eating it.

"Eat slowly. I am not going to run away with your dosa," Rithvik comments.

"I don't believe you. You can do that actually. I know you lose your senses when you see food."

"Trust me I just don't want people to see me with a girl who eats like it's the last plate of meal available on the planet. That's it"

"Haha, very funny"

When Chitra almost completes having her breakfast, Rithvik speaks again.

"Julie's brother is coming to India after 2 years and we thought to meet him and talk about us during our winter break you see. He will leave again after that."

"I could guess that Rithvik. The thing is you never said to me that you were going to meet Julie's brother to discuss your relationship. You used to share everything with me before."

"Trust me, we decided it just two days before you told us about the trip. And as you said, I might be spending less time with you after being with Julie. And I have already apologized ok. Don't get angry now."

"I am not getting angry"

"yes you are"

"Nah"

"Yes"

"ok, I was angry. I am not now," Chitra says.

He simply shrugs at that, "If you say so"

After Chitra completes her breakfast, they walk toward his bike.

"I didn't mean whatever harsh words I have thrown at you. Just letting you know," Chitra says as they stop at his bike.

"I know that and I also know that you will miss me and come back to talk to me". When Chitra pulls her eyebrows together, he laughs and continues, "Jokes apart, I told you that we should stop being friends and we won't be involved in each other's life but I was not really planning to follow it you know. I would have come to your home and would have fought with you until we sorted it out. But seeing you getting irritated when I and Julie ignored you full time, I somehow guessed you would ultimately come to/

 talk to me."

"You are a Devil," she snarks.

"I know," he says with attitude.

"I will apologize to Julie too. Reema said that your parents wanted to meet Julie. I don't know what she might have gone through when she got to know that your parents know about your relationship now and I was the one who revealed it. She might as well want to kill me."

When Chitra sees Rithvik trying to hide his smile instead of replying to her, she narrows her eyes feeling something fishy.

"Spit it out," she asks in a knowing tone.

"Only if you promise that you will keep your claws to yourself and not use them on me."

"Tell me now or you will see my claws"

"You can go apologize to Julie and all. But just know that it might be possible that my parents never had asked to meet Julie. Reema might have planned it to make you feel bad."

Her eyes widened with the revelation.

"What!!"

"Yes and don't blame me ok. It was all Reema's plan. She got to know about the matter the day before she told you about my parents wanting to meet Julie. She came to us and started blaming us for how we both are ignoring you guys and sitting separately during lunch. Julie got angry and spat out everything. Then, Reema understood and planned this out with us to make you feel bad."

"So your parents didn't ask to meet Julie?"

Rithvik nodded his head in a no. "Nah. I talked to Mom already. She understands and is ok with Julie. She also agreed with me when I said that we would make it official after I and Julie both graduate. I asked her to not yet tell dad and she agreed."

Chitra's nose bulged in anger. "Start your bike. We are going to go to college and find Reema. I have a task at hand."

***