Trigger Warning: Mention of death and grief, towards the near-end of the chapter.
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[Morning; The ChaiScript Book-Cafe]
Kartik was again standing outside the cafe, peeking inside, to make sure that his way was clear. As he entered, chewing on his morning snack- Kuruke, family pack- he finally entered the cafe, making the bells on the door chime, a little louder in the morning quiet hours.
On the other side of the cafe, Khushi was standing on a ladder, arranging books on a higher shelf. She heard the bells chime and turned around to greet and welcome their first customer of the day. The moment Kartik and Khushi locked eyes, he seemed to have forgotten his movements. He stopped and stood there with one piece of Kurkure sticking out from his mouth like a Vampire Canine tooth. Khushi sent a smile at him and turned back, to continue keeping the books at their designated places.
In one hand of hers, were a bunch of books, piled up. On the other hand, was an open pocket notebook. The notebook contained notes on the library arrangement of books and was given to her by Aashna. Recurrently, she kept looking at the book and seemed to follow the instructions to arrange the books accordingly. Kartik felt it dangerous for her to stand at a height and carry such heavy books in one hand while focusing on the other. He kept the packet of Kurkure in his bag and walked closer to her in fear that she might fall, which is exactly what happened when both of them heard the bikers howling and speeding away just beside the cafe. They were probably going to their school, on those bikes.
Startled, Khushi's leg slipped from the narrow step.
"CAREFUL!" Kartik ran to catch her before she could fall... and failed.
Khushi fell arms-first on the floor, while Kartik froze at his spot, a few inches away from her, looking at all the scattered books and of course, her.
"Are you okay? Damn those kids, they'll never back down, will they? You... Are you hurt somewhere?" He asked in a concerned voice as he helped her stand up.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm Okay." She said while dusting off her clothes and later bending down to pick up the books. Thankfully, it was a short height that she fell from. Kartik heaved a sigh of relief and bent down, too, to pick up the books.
"You want me to hold some books while you arrange the others?" he asked again as she climbed the ladder to continue her work.
"I'll manage, thanks." She replied.
The bells of the cafe door chimed again, this time opening the door to Aashna and Muskan. Kartik stepped a little away from Khushi and coughed his anxiousness away when Muskan saw him.
She pointed a finger at him to ask, "Kartik? What-"
"All our classes were cancelled, so I'm here. Hello." he didn't want to answer whatever Muskan was going to ask him. "Come. Let's sit there." He pushed both of them to their usual seats.
He did seem suspicious to them, but they were used to him being the weird one. Ignoring him, they sat on their seats while he, again, took out his phone to avoid any further conversation with them.
"Hey! No phones is what we decided that day. Give it back!" Muskan tried snatching his phone.
"Wait, wait, wait! Just a second!" He successfully dodged her and raised his hand higher so she could not reach it. "See what's new in the group!" He said looking up at his phone, almost breaking his neck.
"What is it?" Aashna unlocked her phone. "OH GOD! Online class! In 15 minutes!"
"When they can't conduct any classes, they conduct online classes. Just when I was in the mood for a holiday!!!!!"
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Aktuelle Literatur*MATURE BECAUSE*: It contains serious, sensitive and triggering topics like self-harm, unhealed trauma, assault, murders, etc. Reader discretion is advised. We are all flawed in some way or another, aren't we? How far can we go into our real persona...
