Blooming Flower ✔️

Chapter 5: Alter Ego

"MANISH, WATCH OUT!" I screamed, as I turned my motorcycle a little bit. I should've known that this ride was probably the one that would've catapulted me straight into both a coffin and into heaven. Sure, we were going at a slow pace, but I knew that riding on a motorcycle was still as dangerous as riding in a car with no seat belt on.

Finally, Manish made a sharp turn, and then the cycle hit the curb. Like a punch, we were knocked off of the seat, and onto the sidewalk. The warm cement hit my skin and side of my body like a swift kick, as I rolled over to see how Manish was doing. "Sunny, are you okay?" I asked, as I stood up. I dusted off all the rocks and dirt from my shirt, and took a look at Manish's arms and hands.

Surely enough, there was a large scrape on his arm, right above his elbow. "I'm fine, don't worry, Jaya," he assured. I eyed the scrape on his arm, and slightly winced because it must've started stinging when I started to dust his hands off.

I raised an eyebrow, and said, "That scrape doesn't say that. I have a first aid kit. That looks nasty." I took his elbow and tried to blow on it a little bit to relieve the possible burning that could have existed.

Manish gave me a grateful smile, and just grabbed my hands. "I'm okay. Let's get a bandaid from your house. The last thing that I need is for this to get nastier than my love life,." he exclaimed, as we walked closer to my house's gate.

I turned around, with a raised eyebrow, and said, "Aw, that means your wound's going to become really bleak? It's because you haven't dated me yet. I'm still an open option!" I wiggled my eyebrows, in a joking manner, to which Manish just gave me a slight smile.

"In that case, kiss me, Ashwini!" he shouted, with his arms spread out. He moved closer to get into the embrace, but I pushed him away a little bit. He attempted to pull me into a loose hug, and the next thing you know, I was screaming, and we fell back into the grass next to my house. Manish's arm was on my stomach, and my foot was resting on his ankle.

Giggling, we both got up, and dusted off the grass and extra dirt from our clothes. "Well, that wasn't as bad as the motorcycle ride. That was probably the most dangerous ride we have ever taken," I exclaimed, as I pushed my hair out of my face.

"That's what she said," Manish muttered under his breath, while trying to conceal a very obvious smirk. I hit him gently on the side of his arm, as a chuckle escaped his lips, and we went inside to clean up the wound that was on his elbow.

"Manish, how are you doing?" my mom asked him in Hindi, as I brought the disinfectant over to the table.

Manish gave my mom a smile, and said, "Very good, Aunty. How about you?" I dabbed some of the disinfectant on the cotton balls, and proceeded to apply it on his wound. He squeezed his eyes, from the pain of the disinfectant, but we both knew that he had been through so much worse.

"I'm doing okay, thanks for asking. How's Mom and Dad?" my mom inquired, as she brought out a bowl to pour some crackers into it.

I placed a bandaid on the wound, and he just said, "Oh, they're fine. Nothing too bad is happening. I'm just preparing to move to Seattle in a few weeks." He turned back to me quickly, thanked me, and then diverted his attention back to my mom.

I leaned in to see what my mom was going to sass me about today, and she just said, "Oh yeah. Ashwini told me about this. Are you nervous?"

Manish, without hesitating, nodded his head vigorously. "Absolutely. I don't want to leave my family and friends, and plus it's a whole new world. Seattle is very different from here. It's not going to be easy to adjust to it."

I let out a silent sigh, and just looked at the wall briefly. It's not going to be easy to adjust to life without my best friend, I thought to myself, as Manish and my mom happily chatted away.