Blooming Flower ✔️

Chapter 3: Cat Fight

In life, there are people that are just so awful that when they went to hell, the devil didn't like them, so they spat them back out. When the devil thinks that person is just so awful, they don't want to deal with them, you know that person has no heart or soul. You know that person would probably set someone on fire and probably sit back and make some s'mores while they burn to a crisp. 

Well, Cactus Nose, or Isha, if I was in a good enough mood to call her that, would probably also get some peanuts as well and roast them over the fire, plus record it and stream it on YouTube. There's a huge chance that she'd also take the smell and make it into a candle so that she could perfume her bedroom with it. That face that was filled with haughtiness and evil was staring Jen and I down. 

Jen and I both stepped in front of her face because we wanted to have a good look at the amount of evil that we were going to be facing that day. When I got closer, I could see the hairs on her nose. They resembled the spines on a cactus, because they were long, thick, and sharp. Getting close to her devilish face stirred the fear inside of me that one of those long spinal hairs would prick my face. 

Isha gave me an undefeated smile, and said, "So, are you ready for Irfan's reception? Jen, I know it's an exciting time. With your brother finally married, you can celebrate fully. But, I'm just worried that you're inviting...this... to the reception."

 My eyes snuck a glance back at Jen, who remained unfazed at the insult. The knife-like insult Isha meant to throw at me bounced back and hit the floor. With our trained ears, we could hear the clash of the insult hitting the ground. 

Not wanting to let Isha win, I said, "Hey, it could be worse. I could be you, with their head shoved so far up their ass that no amount of breath mints can conceal the smell of shit coming out of their mouth." 

I could feel Jen go, "Oh, dang," under her breath, as Isha raised an eyebrow. Cactus Nose crossed her arms, and just went on with her usual bullshit insult tirade. I was prepared to tune her out at this point.  People like her should probably come with a warning label and some ear plugs. 

"Whatever. Thank you, Jen, for inviting Manish and I to the reception. I can't wait for it. And Manish can't either. It's a good way to relax, since he's been going through a lot of work." 

Without missing a beat, I said, "I can imagine. Dealing with you as a sister would drain my energy as well." 

Jen started to cough, probably to hide her laughter at the remark. Isha just gave me an eye roll, while I tucked a lock of my chestnut hair behind my ear. Isha stared at me, waiting to come up with a decent response to my snappy comeback. In that look of death, there was a sprinkling of one almost invisible emotion. 

Vulnerability. 

She felt at risk with all these insults I was throwing at her, because her mind is slower than my mouth when you let it run. I crossed my arms, and said, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to press all your buttons. I was just looking for 'mute.'" 

Isha, with the exhausted look on her face, just let out an exhausted sigh. "This is no fun. You're not getting away with this, Ashwini. Mark my words. But Jen, why are you friends with this one? What ever happened to our friendship?" 

Jen, who happily spectated the whole thing, held her head up high so that she could face Isha with all the confidence that she could hold in that strong mind of hers. It was probably also an attempt to mask the darkness of the unfortunate time they were best friends years ago. 

"What friendship? Just because we were best friends at one point doesn't mean we were good for each other. You were nothing but negative and cruel, Isha, and we know you can speak multiple languages, but we all have heard you speak fluent shit. So go take your negativity somewhere else, where people actually care about your opinion." 

I gave Jen a slight smile, to which she gave me a slight nod. Isha looked at me, with one last deadly glare, and with that, turned around and huffed her way across the street. Who knew where, but it was definitely not hell, because the devil wasn't going to be happy at the fact that he had competition walking through his gates. 

Once she was out of sight to go roast some more victims alive, I turned to Jen, who just had a big fat smile on her face. "Dude, you were awesome! You were literally so savage! I'm proud of you! You're showing Isha who's boss!" Jen squealed, like a 7th grader who shot a cringey "Yo Mama," joke at the school bully. 

I gave her a slight chuckle, and said, "Nah, she's just a coward. She can't handle competition, to be honest. But, enough of that. I don't need her shit to bother me for the rest of the day. Shopping later, right?" I confirmed, to which Jen nodded. 

"Yeah, of course! I have to get a few more things for Irfan's reception, and we can go clothes shopping and get some ice cream while we're at it. Deal?" 

I smiled, and said, "Deal." It was definitely a plan in which I didn't question, and was happy to keep it like that. 

(The next day) 

"Yo, I can't wait for Irfan's reception. It's gonna be awesome," my little brother, Ananth, exclaimed happily. I laughed a little to myself, because he sounded like me ten years ago, when I actually got excited about things easily.

 I stacked my textbooks in the bookshelf, wondering why I hadn't burned them along with the other exam papers. "I can't wait either. Watch me shake it on the dance floor while you run off screaming." 

Ananth then stared into space, with a questionable look smeared onto his face. After staring into space for about 20 seconds, he shuddered. He continued to help me file books, and said, "Oh gosh, no. That's my worst nightmare. In that case, I'm changing my last name. We're no longer related." 

I gave him a chuckle, as I wiped off some of the dust that settled on the top of the bookshelf. After blowing off the dust, the sharp ringing of my cell phone filled the air. I bent over, grabbed it, and surely enough, it had Manish's caller ID displayed. 

I answered the call, and placed it against my ear. "Hey, Sunny. What's up?" I asked, as I leaned against the wall. 

"Jaya? Hey, is this a bad time?" he asked, with a slight pinch of worry sprinkled in his voice. Concern bubbled up inside of me, as I wondered what could be worrying Manish. 

Because worries and Manish were like a flamingo living in an arctic tundra. 

"No. It's almost never a bad time. Everything okay?" I asked, as Ananth gave me the curious look. 

I heard him let out a slight sigh. "Everything's fine. I just had something I needed to tell you," he said, which was no help to the concern boiling in the depths of my emotional factory.