Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 05. Shrishti's Birthday Party

Meanwhile, Raghav managed to coax Megha away from Shrishti. Shrishti grabbed Megha's hand gently, 'Wait.'

She grabbed the knife and cut a piece before placing it on a paper plate nearby. She then gently scooped the figurine from the cake and placed it beside the piece.

'Here. Have it.', she said and the girl happily took it from her before grinning at her widely, 'Thank you, Pari Di.'

Shrishti smiled at her. She was so cute. She patted the child's head and looked up, to see Raghav stare at her. If she had not known better, she would have thought Raghav was surprised. But did Raghav even have emotions? He was as good as a robot, as far as Shrishti was concerned. As Raghav walked away with a happy Megha, her Chachi came close to her, 'Why are you so sweet with that brat? They are all blood suckers.'

Shrishti blinked, shocked by the vitriol coming from her Chachi's mouth. Then she remembered. Since her childhood, her Chachi, Bua and Dadi, all had disliked the Malhotra siblings; Raghav, Arpit and Megha. As far as her female relatives were concerned, the trio of siblings wanted her father's money and Shrishti needed to stay away from them. Shrishti had actually believed them and that had colored many of her interactions between her and the siblings. But that was a naïve Shrishti from other life. In this life, Shrishti was well versed with her relatives' nature and now she refused to believe anything they said and would take whatever they said with a grain of salt.

But that did not mean Shrishti felt warmth towards those siblings. She still remembered her past with Raghav. Her reasons for hating Raghav may have changed but she still hated him. But her stance towards his siblings had changed. Gone was the hatred she had for Megha and Arpit, thinking of them as people after her money. Now she felt neutral towards them. Megha had never done anything wrong towards Shrishti. And whatever the actions Arpit had taken towards her, many of them were repercussions of her own actions. This life, Shrishti swore to stay away from those siblings unless her father wanted her to get close to them.

Just as Shrishti made her decision, Arpit came right in front of her. He was here to grab a piece of the cake. Her family had already scattered by then and she was left alone.

The boy smirked at her, 'How are you? I thought you were sick or something.' His words may sound as if he was concerned about her unless one noticed the tone. He was mocking her.

She frowned, 'Why? What do you mean?'

'Shrishti Rai! Missing the college on her birthday!', he gasped, 'That was so shocking. Especially when every year you never missed to come on this day, to see your beloved Sharad.'

Shrishti felt a slight pain at that name but did not show it on her face, 'What is it to you, whether I go or not?'

Arpit shrugged, 'I just missed the yearly drama. You know the one where you stare at him and he ignores you and then you stalk him all over the college and he still ignores you and then he gets fed up and leaves college taking a half day because he would rather miss class than see you and then his friends would gang up and mock you! I miss that yearly tamasha today. Why did you not come?', the boy fluttered his lashes at her, trying to look innocent.

Shrishti turned away and stormed off, ignoring him. But for once, she was not angry at his words. No. Her anger was towards her. Was she so bad? Was she just a laughing stock in front of her college? Did other students too mocked her and made fun of her behind her back every year? Had she become a joke due to her obsession? How low had she fallen!

Shrishti reached the balcony and stormed outside. She leaned on the balcony and took in a gulp of air. She cannot afford to get angry today. It was her birthday. It was also the day she lost her mother. But it was something her father never let her remember and he made it a mission to never see her sad on this day. So she cannot be sad. She took another deep breath. No more. No more will she become a clown for people's amusement. Her relatives, her classmates, everyone saw her as a joke. Not anymore. She will from now on focus on herself and nobody else.