Clouded Crossroads

14: House Visit

Jiya

The auto bounced over holes and bumps as I left the streets of my house. It was simple enough to get Ma's permission to "head over to a friend's house to work on a school project". The landscape zoomed by; gradually the simple city streets turned into gated communities. I suddenly felt out of place, but quickly ignored the feeling. Have money and anyone can live like this. I lunged forward, as the auto came to an abrupt stop. When I looked out, a guard outside the gate of a grand community stood waving a hand to stop.

"Naam M'am?"

My eyebrows scrunched up in hesitation. "Jiya Agarwal."

I observed closely as the guard ran a finger down a logbook. "Ji, welcome ma'am"

The auto driver looked thrilled as the gate slowly began opening. Soon enough, we came to a halt in front of a beautiful house. I slowly got out to take in the whole view.

"Itne bade ghar mein rehti hai, phir bhi rickshaw mein jaati hain?! (You live in such a big house, but still ride in a rickshaw?!)" the auto driver asked.

"Kya matlab? (What do you mean?)" I replied back, annoyed. I handed him the fare and started walking up the long driveway. I noticed Vihaan's green car parked out front and had a quick flashback to our unusual ride in it. Shaking my head, I approached the front door and rang the bell. I waited a moment, hearing thumping feet coming closer and closer.

"HELLOOO--oop."

This voice is not... I quickly jerked my head up to the open door to see Vicky, from class: Vihaan's best friend and the boy I misunderstood on my first day here. And that's when I realized, this was our first confrontation after that incident.

"Hi," he started, suddenly polite, a total contrast to his first greeting.

"Hey," I replied back. An awkward pause filled the air, as I kept waiting.

"Will you just keep on saying hi's and hello's or will you invite the girl in already?" a lady's voice scolded from inside the house.

Vicky's face went red as he gestured for me to come in. I stifled in a laugh, passing it off as a small cough.

"Hello beta." I turned around to see a nicely dressed lady make her way over. "You must be their classmate for the project, hai na?

"Yes Aunty," I smiled.

"Okay go ahead and get to work." Her tone suddenly grew more strict. "Vikram...take your classmate to the work room."

"Yes Mummy."

Mummy? But isn't this Vihaan's house?!

As Vicky led me up a flight of stairs, I decided to clear my confusion. "Vicky...?"

"Yes Jiya!" he startled up, suddenly alert.

"Is this Vihaan's house? Or are there just multiple things going on--"

A low half-laugh interrupted my sentence. "Didn't Vihaan ever tell you? He lives with me."

My feet stopped walking. "What?"

"Now now, don't think he's like an orphan or something. He's still not recovered from what happened a few years--" Vicky immediately stopped talking, eyes widening. "Forget that. Just don't bring this up in front of Vihaan, got it?"

I nodded knowingly, even though my curiosity was threatening to take over my good judgement. Vicky took in my agreement, yet the look of reluctance didn't leave his face. My mind was filled with a dozen questions just entering into this house.