Chapter -5:
...Winter Break...
We watched a movie and Dad came home right in time for dinner. We headed to our rooms after the movie ended. My mind stays empty for a while. I soak in the calm of the silence like water, feeling as if the rush of the day had wrung it all out of me. I feel like a sponge, so easily compressible. I lie awake in my thoughts. The only friends I have are in college. I barely get to meet them otherwise. This vacation is going to be torture.
. . .
I just received three texts from
Twyla on my way back from the café.
Twyla: hey!
Twyla: party at my house tonight!
Twyla: you coming?
Indrakshi: I’m not sure.
Twyla: come on! It’ll be fun.
Indrakshi: I don’t like crowds.
Twyla: there are only fifteen people coming.
Indrakshi: that’s still a lot of strangers to me.
Twyla: you coming or not?
Indrakshi: ok fine I’ll come.
Twyla: :)
Right after I replied to her I got a
text from Theo.
Theo: did you get a text from Twyla about a party too. Are you going?
Indrakshi: yes.
Theo sent a thumbs-up emoji and went
offline. I don’t know if he’s going to the party or not. The only reason I
agreed to come was because she insisted, I didn’t want to go otherwise. The
crowd and the noises are just something I don’t like. I walked home and just as
I was about to open the door, I got a text from Theo;
Theo: see you there.
I smile and put my phone back into my
pocket. I had made a trip to the grocery store before heading to the café. I
come home and set the groceries on the kitchen counter, “I got what you asked
for, Mum.” My mother turns to the counter and takes the bag, “thanks, Akshi.”
My mother begins the unpack all the groceries; butter, oil, flour, sugar and
other stuff like that. “Hey mum, Twyla’s having a party at her house and
insisted that I come, can I go?” I ask. My mother looks up at me, “How many
people are going to be there?” “Fifteen,” I tell her. She thinks for a second,
“Are you sure you’ll be fine? I know how the crowd overwhelms you,” she gives
me a look of concern. “I’ll be fine mum, Twyla’s my friend and besides only if
I go out more would the crowds feel less overwhelming,” I reassure her. My mother
bites her lips and nods. “Thanks, Mum,” I say and head off to my room. I know
what I said was right, but I don’t want to believe it. I also have to figure
out what to wear, I don’t exactly have
the best sense of fashion.
I grab a nice blue-grey dress and
some stockings instead of my usual hoody and jeans. I didn’t do much to my hair,
because I knew that no matter how much I combed it, it would tangle in no more
than two minutes. I walk down the stairs, my brother is idly scrolling through his
phone. My father had gone to my grandparents’ house for a visit. I walked over
to my mother, who was going through the course she was going to teach once
schools reopened. “I’m off, mum, see you in a few hours,” I tell her, “alright,
text me when you reach there,” she says. I put my coat on and wrap my scarf
around my neck, it's not my fault I feel colder than the people who already
live here. My brother gets up to close the door, “be nice, alright?” He tells
me. I laugh, “I’ll try, but don’t expect too much out of me.” I get moving. My
brother is right, to be honest. I haven’t exactly been the nicest person around,
especially toward the people at my college.
I call an Uber to Twyla’s house and
get in when the car arrives. Twyla lives quite far away from my house, it’s
about half an hour’s journey there. I pay the driver and get out of the taxi. I
walk up the stairs of the apartment building up to the top floor. I walk up to
the gate and ring the bell, I can hear the music playing inside and already
feel my stomach roll into a knot. Twyla opens the door, she lights up when she
sees me, “You made it!” She gives me a hug and lets me in. “What’s the party
for?” I ask her as I take my coat and scarf off, “My dad’s movie just got
released,” she answers as she fiddles with the hem of her purple dress. “Your
dad’s movie?” I ask, puzzled.
“Well, my dad’s a movie director, he
had been working on a movie for over a year now and it just got released,”
“Oh, nice. What do you want to do in
the future? Be a director just like your father?”
“that’s not a bad idea, but I want to
be a scriptwriter, so my dad could direct my scripts, ya know”
She led me inside. A group of her
friends called her to join them and she went off. I look round the house, it’s
huge. Her father must be some really big director, they’re rich. Not that I’m
comparing or complaining. My father’s a neurosurgeon, that’s a really well-paying
job too. I keep walking around when a waiter comes up with various liquids in
glasses, I take the safest option, a fizzy orange drink that smells like Fanta.
I take a sip and it definitely was Fanta, and I’m not exactly a fan. I finish
it up and hand the empty glass to a waiter.
I keep walking around, it seems as if Twyla’s father owns a few of these flats and has merged them together, to be honest. I stand still against the wall after a while. I get lost in my thoughts. I stand there for a few minutes until someone bumps right into me!
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