Their First Spring

14 - new year

Maho was giggling the whole time while checking if they were forgetting anything or not. "For God's sake Maho please stop" Sreya was absolutely fed up. "Okay geez sorry old woman" Maho giggled again, her phone vibrated. Obviously Danish texted her that they were gonna leave in 10 mins. "Ayyyyy let's goooo we're gonna leave in 10 minssssss ahhaaaaa" she laughed nd shouted in joy. "Oh so after Subho and Sreya goes to their home, I have to third wheel you and Danish? OH HELL NOOOO" Abi made a crying expression, thinking about how thick the awkward tension would be between them. "Chalo chalo bachhas they're waiting" Maho clapped her hands to get attention. "They? Who are 'they'?" Abi was confused. Wasn't Danish the only one going with them? "OH GOD ABI STOP ASKING AND LET'S GOOOOO" she dragged her out, along with their luggage.

"What the...." Abi whispered to herself. There were two guys in front of them. "What is he doing here?" she asked Maho in a low voice. "Hehehehe you won't third wheel alone now" Maho giggled and went to Danish. "By the way Danish! Subho and Sreya will be picked up by their parents so can we wait till they get here?"- Maho "Haa haa no problem"- Danish. They all waited infront of the gate and soon Subho and Sreya left with their respective parents. "Acha Dan, you didn't tell me Abi will be coming too" Aditya whispered to Danish. "Won't she go home bro? You have a problem with her or something?" he asked back. "No I didn't mean it that w-" Danish cut him off by saying "You wanna take Abi home? Sure sure as long as she's okay with it". Aditya widened his eyes in surprise and tried to shush Danish but the other two already heard them. " Eiiii yaaaa sure! Abi won't mind!! Will you?" Maho smiled and looked at Abi with a face that said 'If you don't agree with me then I'll kill you bitch'. "Uhm well-" before Abi could speak, Maho interrupted "She has no problem let's go" and started walking out. Danish and Maho were happily walking in front while the other two were awkwardly walking behind them. "Come on I can carry your bag Maho! Give it to me" Danish was arguing with Maho. He wanted to help her with her luggage but she didn't want to give it to him since he already had his own luggage to carry. "No no you're already carrying yours toh! I can carry mine myself" she continued to argue. "What is wrong with these two" Aditya muttered under his breath. "Ay I heard that" Danish glared at his friend. "Why don't you carry Abi's luggage? Go on" smirked Danish. "Nooo nooo I'm fine" Abi shook her head. "See she doesn't want me to" Aditya stuck out his tongue at Danish. They walked till the bus stop. "Should I book a cab?"asked Danish "Bus is okay for me. I mean why waste money on cab when there's direct bus route" replied Maho. "Oi Adi" "Hm?" "Take her her home just like you wanted" "I NEVER SAID ANYT-" "It's okay just shhhhh" Aditya rolled his eyes at his friend.

Maho and Danish went on their way, leaving the other two alone at the bus stop. After a lot of awkward silence (caw caw caw), Aditya spoke up "So um...well this is awkward haha" "I know right lol". Then again silence. Soon Abi's bus came but surprisingly that was Aditya's bus too. "Damn same route I guess" he scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah...uh..yeah" Abi looked out of the window. The wind was somewhat comforting both of them. "Wanna share?" Aditya offered Abi one of his earphones. "Um sure why not" she accepted and he clicked play on his phone. After 15 minutes, Abi took out the earphone from her ear. "My stoppage is arriving soon um thanks for the earphone" she returned him his device and started to prepare to get down. "Ah same" "Same stoppage too? Wow cool haha" the awkwardness was very high. Soon they got off the bus and started walking. To break the tension, Aditya tried to hold a conversation with Abi. "Well you know I'm coming back to home after so long. I'm kinda excited lol" "Did you not come back home on festivals before?" "No I used to stay in the hostel only. This year Dan forced me to go home so here I am" "Achaaaaa. Well I come home on every occasion lol. My parents don't let me spend vacations in the hostel" "I see" and silence again. The wind was calming them down since both of their faces were tinted with a red hue. After walking for few minutes, Abi's house came closer. "Uh I'll go from here. My house is just around the corner" she said, looking at Aditya. "Well mine's just around the corner too.....we live so close....damn" he was kinda shocked by how close they lived. "Oh well I never saw you around though"- Abi " Yeah because I don't come home much and whenever I come I don't get out much lol" Aditya smiled awkwardly. "Well ahhaaha bye then goodnight! I'll get going" Abi waved at Aditya and went on her way towards her house.

"Mummy sone do naaaa" Abi whined, while her mother started to open the windows to make sunlight enter the room. "It's 11 in the morning! Get up or I'll call your dad!!" she glared at her and left the room. Abi rolled in her bed for a few seconds and got up lazily. The vacation was passing by way too fast. It felt like the school closed just the other day but in reality, it was already the new year's eve. Abi freshened up quickly and checked her phone. The phone read 8 missed calls from Maho, 5 missed calls from Subho, 6 missed calls from Sreya, 172 texts in the group chat. "BITCH DID YOU DIE OR SOMETHING???? I WAS CALLING AND SPAMMING YOU SO MUCH" Maho screamed at her the moment she hopped on the call. "Areh I was sleeping. What is it?" Abi put the call on speaker and started making her bed. "Okay so today 8pm at Subho's. No excuses don't be late. We're gonna sleep there after new year party" Maho spoke in a single breath, not letting Abi talk in between. "Acha ok. Anything to bring?" - Abi "Yes bring Aditya da bye" Maho hung up without saying anything other than that. "Maa can I go to subho's for sleepover? Hmm tonight please" Abi went to her mom to get permission.

"Let's go" Aditya stood up after tying his shoelaces. "Suddenly new year's party?" he asked while walking beside her. "Yeah Maho called me and told to bring you so here we are lol" they walked till the bus stop and got on a bus. "Abiiiii you brought himmm" Maho hugged her and shook her for no reason. "Yoo you came?" Danish came out to greet Aditya. "Yeah she dragged me here forcefully" he sighed in a faking manner. "Couldn't say no her huhhhhh" Danish smirked at his friend. "Stop" he pinched him. "Are you guys gonna stand here for the rest of the night, in front of my house?" Subho gave them a 'get in bro what are y'all doing outside' look and rolled her eyes at them. "Let's go in hehe" Maho smiled sheepishly and pushed them inside the house. They all chit chatted for a long time and had dinner. When they were all waiting eagerly for the clock to strike at 12, Danish whispered to Maho "Ay come to the rooftop I heard there will be fireworks". Maho jumped slightly, surprised by the sudden interaction. "Hm let's go" they both went to the rooftop. "Ohoooo kidhr chale dono" Aditya wiggled his eyebrows at them and went back to doing whatever he was doing in his phone.

"1 minute to go and....and it'll be new year" Danish sighed and looked at a distance. The city looked peaceful. The clock was ticking. 5...4...3...2..."Maho I like you"... 1. There were fireworks in the night sky. No more peace and quiet but the sounds of the firecrackers that were bursting above their head, giving them temporary light. "H-huh?" Maho was utterly speechless. Did she hear it correctly? "I said I like you. May I date you?" Danish looked at her with high hopes in his eyes. Maho avoided eye contact. "Look I'd understand if you need time or if you don't wan-" "Yes. Um I like you too" she cut him off "What..?" "I like you too". They both stared at each other, not being able to say anything. Suddenly there was a sound of shufflings nearby. Both of them looked at the door. Aditya barged in with birthday bombs "CONGRATSSSS UFFFF FINALLYYY AFTER SO MUCH TIME" "What are you doing here" Danish widened his eyes and looked at his friend. "It was his idea to barge in" Abi pointed at Aditya. "Mai toh sirf-" "Oh gosh Adi I told you not to do this". And they all went down from the rooftop. After all, the work was done :)