Blooming Flower ✔️

Chapter 1: Nature's Envy

In life, I was really glad that two specific things don't exist; friendship laws and friendship prison. If both existed, then almost all of us would've been serving a sentence greater than ten years. And there were definitely a good handful of people who would've gotten the "death penalty."

However, when it comes to friendship, there were definitely several unwritten rules. The biggest one goes without saying--Don't lie to each other. Sure, that was a general rule of thumb, not just in friendship, but in a lot of other scenarios.

But, rules are meant to be broken. Everyone has broken that rule at least once in their life. I'm definitely guilty, and if that was a law, then I'd probably be given the death penalty.

Hell, I'd be the first one executed.

However, it wasn't even 10 a.m., and I had already technically broken that rule. It wasn't the real problem. My main concern was his reaction to it when he found out about this elaborate plan that went along with it.

So, I stood outside, with the bag of goodies in my hand. My face was inches from the wooden door, with me ready to knock. Keeping this secret from him has been harder than any test that I've ever taken in my complicated lifetime. I was surprised that I was able to keep it in for so long without breaking down and confessing.

Jen was standing right beside me, to follow me into the room after I had knocked. "I'm nervous," I mouthed, as Jen gave me a slight smile.

"Don't worry. You've fucked up worse things in life, so this should be nothing!"

I gave her my signature eye roll.

Typical Jen. Always so falsely reassuring at the weirdest times. "I love you too," was what my sarcastic-filled eyes were trying to say.

I had never felt this guilty in my entire life. Lying to people was something that I would slap myself a hundred times for, and this case was no exception. The guilt was like a hundred termites gnawing on the wooden surface of my conscience, and all I could hope for was that Manish wouldn't get annoyed.

Taking in a deep breath, I rapped on the door.

"Come in," his familiar, gentle voice called. Without another thought of hesitation plaguing my mind, I twisted the knob and walked in. A spark of unmistakable happiness ignited in me when I saw him sitting on his bed, his eyes glued to the laptop, wearing a fairly old t-shirt and shorts. It was weird, considering such a usual image of Manish could cause happiness to arise in me so easily.

The room looked the same like always; neater than my biology lab reports, with the reminders of so many joyous memories sitting on various pieces of furniture. It only made the excitement potion boil more intensely inside of me. I heard Jen come closer behind me, and with that, Manish lifted his eyes off from the laptop.

When they laid themselves on the sight of me, they bugged out like someone had pushed them out from the back of his head. "Jaya?" he said, in pure disbelief.

A chuckle escaped my lips. "Hey, stranger," I told him.

In an almost blurred action, Manish jumped up from the bed, ran towards me, and scooped me up in his arms like I was made of plastic. "You're back!" he said. "You didn't tell me you were coming back this early!"

I started to laugh. The smile on my face widened, while relief washed over me like a large ocean wave. The reaction that I got was thankfully one where I wish it would have lasted a hundred more years. I couldn't help but hug him as tight as I could, as he slowly squeezed any air out of me lungs.

After realizing that he was probably going to kill me if he hugged me any longer, he set me back down so I didn't get nauseous and hurl my breakfast onto the carpet. His joyous brown eyes look deep into mine, as I caught notice of the dark pricks of facial hair, and his typical short, ravenous hair that's slicked up, making it look like a patch of grass. His tanned skin glowed with pride and joy, but he also looked fresh, which only accentuated his nerdy, yet sweet looks even more.

I held up the bag, and said, "I wanted to surprise you, Manish. I'm sorry. I had to lie to you about when I was coming home, but I knew this would make you happy. Not just with a present, but with my presence! I thought of you while I was in LA."

Eagerly, he snatched the bag and started to delve into the contents of it. It was almost like watching a little kid open up his Christmas presents, hoping to find that new XBOX inside.

"Damn, Manish, I'm being ignored again? I see how it is. I guess we're not friends anymore," Jen teased, adding false sniffles for the dramatic effect, which only made my eyes roll even harder.

Manish's gaze directed towards Jen, and, almost as if she had just walked in, he yelled, "Jen! How could I forget you?" Jen gave him her grateful smile, which was almost triumphant considering her little act worked, as they wrapped their arms around each other. Jen gave him the bag of goodies that she got for him with her own money, and Manish took it gladly.

Jen walked closer to me, with the smile on her face growing wider and wider with each gracious step that she took. "You two are the best. Surprising me with so much food and gifts. I missed you both," Sunny said, as he set the gifts down on his desk.

"We missed you too. You should've come with us! LA was really beautiful. We know how much you love sunny weather, and how much you've wanted to go to Universal to meet the real life Spongebob and Frankenstein."

Jen tucked a lock of her dark hair behind her ear, with her blue earring sparkling under the natural July sunshine. "Manish, Ashwini, Jen, come down! Have some coffee!" Sandhya Aunty, Manish's mom, called, which was our signal to laugh and reminisce even more with a cup of good caffeine by our sides.

*******

"How was LA, guys?" Sandhya Aunty asked. She sat down in the seat next to Jen, as I took a sip of the coffee. The bitter taste stung my tongue, almost like a swarm of bees on someone who broke their beehive, as I realized that Sandhya Aunty forgot to add milk to it, but I fought the urge to scrunch my face up.

"It was great. We went to Universal, did some sightseeing. Our favorite thing about Universal was The Simpsons' ride, Harry Potter World, and meeting Hello Kitty, because she gave us huge hugs and didn't let go. We had a lot of fun. But now, we're back in the sunny Bay Area, and it's time to get back to routine," I told her, as Jen pulled out her phone to show Sandhya Aunty the pictures we took.

All these experiences made me chuckle, not only because of how fun it was, but because Jen and I both knew that if Manish met Hello Kitty, he wouldn't have let go for an hour. Sandhya Aunty took her phone, and started to swipe through the pictures that Jen and I took in LA. She flashed her pearly white smile while swiping, as I snuck a glance back at Manish, who just sipped his coffee with a bright smile in his eyes.

She handed the phone back to Jen, just as Manish set his mug down on the coffee table. "Glad you guys had fun. Are you both ready for medical school?" Aunty asked. The reminder of four more years of hell sent goosebumps prickling up my arms.

Jen twitched, as if someone passed an electric current through her, and said, "Ugh, I'm just gonna enjoy the next three weeks of break before Jaya and I drown ourselves in misery again."

Sandhya Aunty let out her hereditary chuckle, as she rubbed her bag accented eyes. "I feel you. School isn't going to be fun. But Ashwini, you're going to Stanford, and Jen, you got into UC Davis medical school, which is so impressive! I've been telling Manish to go for his Master's, but he wanted to start working immediately."

Manish's eyes flashed me the, "Please help me," look, as his lips pursed together.

"Aunty, there's nothing wrong with that. He's making money for the family. He's in a very good place right now."

Sandhya Aunty raised an eyebrow at my support for Manish, to which she followed with, "I suppose you're right. Manish is doing great right now."

Manish's eyes flicked back to mine, and he mouthed, "Thank you." I gave him a slight nod, as I mentally tallied probably the fourteen- thousandth time I covered for his ass.

However, when I looked back at him, with his beaming smile, and with him sitting next to the still blooming flowers I got him before we left, it brought a rarely genuine smile to my face. All the memories we had together, and all the years that we spent together came flashing back in a gust of pleasure.

I tried to conceal that smile with my coffee cup, as I took another sip, but it was also at that moment when I realized I really underestimated how much I missed him.

It was also at that moment that I realized that I still hadn't gotten milk for my coffee.