Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 34: Internalizing

"Don't worry about him, he's just not used to having such a daredevil friend," he teases me as I put the hot pack on my forehead.

"Damn, how would Tusharika feel about this flirting, Naish?" Divya says mischievously as Naish growls back. But I know for a fact that his red cheeks aren't from frostbite.

"Fuck off," he responds snarkily before flashing me a quick sneaky smirk.

"You feeling better?" Divya suddenly pulls me in for an extra warm hug.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me, I'm fine! The water is surprisingly really warm. Like a jacuzzi!" My mind keeps drifting to what I saw. That lady looked exactly like me, and even had the same ring as my mom, but what does that mean? Was the vision tampered, some how? I'm somehow more confused than before.

What happened to them? And who were all those people there?

"Now can you tell us why you became a floaty?" Prashanth taps his foot impatiently. Heh, floh-TEE.

"Guys, I'm sorry. It was just an impulse."

"Impulse? Seriously? You jumped into a magical lake in this weather because of an impulse?" he continues snapping at me and staring at the snow.

"Prashanth, calm down. She's ok, right? She's fine! The water is warm in this weather. She's already heating up," Divya reprimands him, and he gives me a little glance of relief. And before I know it, he grabs my jacket sleeve and pulls me into him, wrapping his arms around me. I hear Divya saying a little "aww" under her breath and giggling like a true hopeless romantic.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so upset. You just- I care a lot about my friends, especially you. You're still vulnerable, after all," he whispers in my ear. My ear has always been a sensitive spot, and his soft crisp voice that enunciates every little sound at the end does NOT make it any better.

"It's ok. I should be sorry. I could've done anything else besides getting hypothermia. I just... I needed an answer to what I've been seeing."

Shanthi lets go of me slowly. His face softens. "What do you mean?"

Oh, right. I may or may not have neglected to tell them that I've been having visions of the lady who may or may not be my mom.

I gulp and tell them everything. I tell them about the vision, what I keep seeing, how my mom told me about her sari, why I jumped into the water in the first place, and finally what I saw. I didn't even get to FINISH that vision, by the way!

I'll still be salty about that.

"You've been having... visions?" Vaibhav says in confusion.

I nod my head unsurely. "Yeah, and they're so vivid. It's like I'm actually a part of them. I was able to move around in them, so I finally got to see it up close."

"And what did you see?" Divya joins in.

But out of nowhere, a gold portal appears.

SERIOUSLY?! People and their timings today.

"I thought the others were coming back in an hour," Vaibhav wonders. I walk towards the center of the entryway, and the moment I see the giant magnolia trees, I know that it isn't the gang.

"Guys, that's not the others."

The others look at each other in confusion before they turn back to me.

And then, in a flash, two people step out onto the snow before the gold gate closes behind them.

My jaw is on the floor. Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?