Amidst Our Erred Stars

01

Seerat

“I don't want to get married.”

I think I might just need to get this tattooed over my forehead to get my parents to understand that I have no desire to get married, to a wanna-be gang member to say the least.

If I got a rupee for every time my parents tried to find a potential groom for me, I'd only have one since they were hell-bent on getting me married to our neighbour's son ever since well...I knew of him, no one else even stood a chance according to them.

This is what playing house with your neighbour gets you, I guess.

The little girl who always wanted to be the married one while playing grew up to be running away from getting married, I need a solution. A good solution to get out of this mess.

Mishthi isn't helping right now, I have no idea why I became friends with her, she's as useless as it gets until I end up baking too much in the middle of the night, she can gobble down half a cake and still stay healthy.

"I suggest you run away." She said, ironing the saree my mother wanted me to wear to meet his parents.

"And do what exactly? I can't just disappear and leave my bakery behind!" I reminded her.

"You don't make any profit from the bakery anyway, start fresh?" She shrugged, "I'll help you."

"I don't have a degree, I don't have any work experience, I don't have enough savings-"

"Because you wasted them on buying food for children." She rolled her eyes, "I feel bad for the kids too but you can't buy food for every sad person, Seerat."

Taking a seat on my squeaky chair, I held my head which was throbbing with pain ever since I became an adult.

"I have enough things to worry about right now, don't remind me of my poor life choices." I sighed, should've saved the money.

"Seerat, are you ready?" I heard my mother's voice from the hall, "Jaldi kar, kitna time lagta hai taiyaar hone me?" She asked.
(Be quick, how long do you need to get ready?)

No. "Just ten minutes more!" I answered, taking a seat in front of the vanity table, I need to look horrible. I'm ugly enough but I'm going to use make-up to enhance the ugliness.

Picking up the nude lipstick I ordered online and it didn't suit me at all, I applied it all over my lips, the colour washing me out completely. It's giving concealer lips.

"Seerat, ew. That looks so bad." Mishthi frowned, walking over to me to probably wipe it off.

Swatting her hand away, I chuckled dryly. "Exactly. That's the point."

Mishthi sighed, clearly exasperated. "You can't keep avoiding this forever. You need to confront your parents and tell them how you feel."

"I've tried that, Mishthi and you know that I've tried it a thousand times, they just don't listen. They're too busy making my life decisions ."

"Well, then you need to take control of your own life. You can't let them dictate your future."

As if.

"Okay... I'll...I'll figure something out. But for now, I need to get ready and go and meet that miserable dude who can't find a fucking girlfriend and leave me alone." I sighed, applying three coats of mascara on my lashes, making them clumpy as hell.

Mishthi nodded, helping me wear the saree before leaving for her house since her mother called.

With a deep breath, I stood up from the vanity table, I needed to end this, for good, the fantasy of being a runaway bride had to be kept aside for now.