A/N: So... this is another story that I'm moving from another site onto here. I requested for Saara's name to be added to the character list and everything. Arjun and Vrushika are my OCs, you can totally imagine whoever you want because that the whole point of an OC, but personally, Yuvraj Thakur and Vrushika Mehta are absolutely perfect. Happy reading!
Saara's POV
"That is total bullshit!" my best-friend Kriya practically screeches in her cousin's face.
"No, it's not! Finn Rider, whose real name is Eugene Fitzherbert you uncultured swine, is the best Disney prince ever! Along with Kristoff of course," counters her cousin Taani, my other best friend.
"You're the uncultured swine! Imagine thinking Finn Rider, or god forbid, Kristoff is the best when Aladdin and Li Shang exist. Kuch bhi." Kriya then flicks Taani on the forehead for a good measure.
Fuck.
"Did you ju- di!" Taani lunges at her cousin without a second thought.
Double fuck.
And where was I while this tigress fight was going on?
(Yes, tigress fight; my friends are nothing like the adorable little kittens that hide out in closets and claw at your face with their tiny harmless paws, they're ruthless tigresses.)
Well, I was sitting very comfortably on their big comfy couch, but currently, I'm face-first on the floor due to my two best-friends trying to kill each other.
"Guys!" I shout while tearing them from each other, finally gaining their attention. "Can we please just agree that Prince Eric was the worst Disney prince in the history of ever and just watch the damn movie? And how did this stupid argument start anyway? We were watching freaking Bambi for crying out loud!"
Also, Prince Philip was a beast, but I kept that little tidbit to myself.
"I actually don't remember. Di?"
"Oh please! You know my memory."
Ah, the great Shekhawat sisters' short-term memory-loss trick strikes again. My ass! Taani still remembers exactly what she wore on the first day of kindergarten - which wasn't even photographed by the way - and Kriya can recite our history textbook in her sleep.
I plaster the sweetest of smiles onto my face, finally putting a full seven years of acting classes to good use. "Guys, why don't you grab some popcorn and ice-cream while I put on a new movie?"
"Okay," the two innocent yet not-so-innocent souls say in unison.
God, I'm the worst.
"So Jwalu, what movie are we watching?" Kriya asks, handing me a small box of chocolate ice-cream once she and Taani come back with the snacks a few minutes later.
"My favourite movie ever."
"Chak De?"
I smirk the most psychotic of smirks, giving The Joker a run for his money. "Taanu, Taanu, Taanu. That's my second-favourite movie. My favourite movie is The Conjuring."
"What?!" the tigresses shriek, quite possibly damaging both my eardrums and their vocal cords. I innocently bat my eyelashes, hoping that they don't see the evil glint in my eye that I know is there.
"Unless of course... you guys are scared."
"No, I was just worried about my baby sister," stutters Kriya.
"Di, you don't have to worry about me. Besides, I'm only two months younger than you," says Taani, mimicking her cousin's tone.
I bite back a smirk, knowing that the only thing bigger than my friends' strong sense of self is their goddamn pride.
"Alright then, let's watch." With that, I press play, waiting for all hell to break loose.
Halfway through the movie, Kriya, who was now rocking in a corner, starts to yell hysterically.
"Make it stop!"
"Is it over yet?" asks a horrified Taani, her voice cracking a little, hands covering her eyes as she peeks every now and then through her fingers.
I turn off the movie and start laughing to my heart's content. Kriya and Taani, who are notorious for laughing in the face of danger, are both deathly afraid of horror movies while I, proud member and co-founder of team 'better to be safe than sorry' absolutely adore them. We're all weird, our friendship is weird, and the most important thing to note here is that I think I accidentally swallowed someone's nasty strand of hair when I fell face-first on the floor, so this is what they deserve.
They should really clean this place.
The two girls stop their dramatic antics once they realized what was going on.
That's when I stopped laughing and started sweating.
Luckily, the angels began to sing and my saviour had arrived, with two boys trailing behind her, arms filled with groceries.
"Smriti Aunty save me!" I practically leap over Taani's head to go hide behind a petite lady with wild hair and funky glasses. The two tigresses try to come near me, but the boys drop their groceries, taking a good five seconds to let out a sigh of relief, before letting my deranged best-friends murder me.
"What did you do?" they demand, as if it's my fault.
Betrayed my own twin brother along with Kriya and Taani's? God, Kriya's mom really is the only one looking out for me around here.
"Hey, it was only a horror movie, and they brought on themselves."
"Liar!" scream the easily-prone-to-violence-but-I-learned-to-love-them-anyway-god-knows-why cousins.
"Kriya, Taani, I think Saara's absolutely right," says Smriti Aunty.
Only. One. Looking out for me.
"But- maasi, you weren't even here!"
"You and Kriya had a really stupid argument, Saara probably fell on the floor, you guys did your whole memory thing - which is not only stupid but also really annoying, please stop - and then Saara made you watch a horror movie. Same old, same old," she says to Taani, ticking off each point on her fingers.
Is this the part where Smriti Aunty finally adopts me as her own?
Kriya stamps her foot in aggravation. "No fair mom!"
Swayam raises an amused eyebrow at his younger sisters. "Okay, what stupid thing did you guys argue about this time?"
They suddenly start to find the half painted walls of their new condo utterly fascinating as I begin to explain what had happened, looking ever so slightly sheepish once I've finished.
I practically had to will myself to not find it adorable because it was.
"Seriously guys? You were watching Bambi for crying out loud!" my brother exclaims.
"That's what I said. Can you believe -"
Just then, my phone buzzes, rudely interrupting me mid-rant.
It was a text from my cousin Vrushika.
"Where the hell are you guys?! Sharon di's going insane!" it reads. Along with multiple angry, scared and crying emojis. And that weird screaming llama gif, which I'm sure wasn't meant to make me choke; but it's such an accurate representation of Sharon di, how could I not?
I check the time on my phone and realize I was supposed to be home half an hour ago.
"Oh shit!"
"Language," Smriti Aunty says in a feeble attempt to pretend that she can even remotely be strict. It's almost as if she forgot where I learned the word in the first place.
"Me and Arjun were supposed to be home like half an hour ago!" I yell, mentally preparing my funeral as I struggle to stuff my feet back into my boots, nearly tripping over Swayam's and splitting my head open against the doorframe.
"Arjun and I." Swayam thinks it's a wonderful time to be correcting my grammar, only to earn him a blow to the shoulder from Arjun as a result.
"Let's go!" Arjun practically screeches into my ear.
"I nearly died jackass!"
"Oh my god, you're so dramatic, hurry up."
"I'm dramatic-" I fumble since apparently, my left foot hadn't entirely gone into my boot before continuing, "You're not the trying to run as you put on leather boots, Arjun."
"Saara, it is Mumbai, why are you even wearing leather boots?"
"Because it's part of my aesthetic, what kind of a brother are you?"
I can sense Arjun rolling his eyes, even though he's already in his car buckling up. "The kind that's about to make you walk home if you don't get into the car in the next ten seconds. Ten-"
"I hate that you're my twin!" I scream as he continues to count.
"You have two others to choose from, you can take your pick later, six-"
"Are you counting in your head?"
"Yes, two-"
I slam his stupid car door shut and he glares at me as if I've just committed the greatest sin known to man.
"I should've made you walk home," he grumbles before pulling out of the driveway.
I can hear Kriya, albeit faintly, reminding us to come pick her and Taani up tomorrow, but my only thought at the moment is whether or not my brother will live to see tomorrow.
Arjun and I began to quietly tiptoe to our rooms once we entered the house, hoping that Sharon di wouldn't notice.
"Stop right there!"
"Busted," me and Arjun hiss simultaneously.
Remember how I said all that stuff about Taani and Kriya being tigresses? Well Sharon di's a lioness, and right now she's a pissed off lioness, which is a million times worse.
"Heeey dii," says Arjun, dragging out the syllables of each word, something he only does when he's nervous or scared.
"Hey di?" she says, her voice shaking with anger, "HEY DI?! Do you guys have any idea how worried I was?! You were supposed to be home by ten, it is eleven!"
"Di, we're really sorry! We just lost track of time and... I love you?" I say, the 'I love you' coming out as more of a question but whatever, I'm giving her the biggest smile I can possibly muster, I'm safe.
"Aw, come here." Di pulls me into a tight hug.
She shoots she scores!
"Hey, how come Saara gets a hug and I don't?" whines Arjun, pouting.
He is such a child.
"Oh alright," Sharon di sighs, pulling him into our hug. "Now, who's hungry?"
"Ooo, me, I am!"
Pure childlike wonder this one.
"When are you not hungry?" I ask.
"Look who's talking," he fires back.
"Alright, alright. Go freshen up and get Vrushi," says Sharon di, probably trying to keep us both alive, thus preventing our mother from ending her life.
"Okay di," I say as I skip off to my room.
Yes, I skip.
I knock on my cousin's door after getting dressed.
Vrushika Rai Prakash, my other cousin. She's this tiny little bubble of light who I want to shield from everything wrong with this world.
Yes, she's a head taller than me, that's beside the point.
When I entered Vrushika's room, she was painting her nails white. All of them, except for her ring finger. Why? I've never been able to understand.
"Hey sweetie. You gonna' come have dinner with us?"
"Uh, duh! It's food, of course I'm coming. Honestly Saara, I thought you knew me better than this."
How am I related to these people? And why?
"Vrushi, before you get up, I need you to do something for me," I say, as she starts to get up.
"What, no. I want to eat."
"Fine. Then I'll eat your dessert while you're doing the dishes because it's your turn to do them."
This makes her stop right in her tracks. She goes and sits down on her bed like an obedient child, causing me to roll my eyes. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I ask you to. Oh, and no peeking."
She does as she's told and I go and get two bottles of nail polish. After I'm done, I say, "Open your eyes."
Vrushi looks at her at nails and demands, "This is what you threatened my dessert for?!"
I shake my head. "Vrushi, Vrushi, Vrushi... I'd never eat your dessert. And besides, we're having pie. I thought you knew me better than that."
"Saara ki bachi I'm gonna' kill you!" she exclaims, ceasing her attack to ask, "Wait... what kind of pie?"
I scrunch my face in disgust.
"Cherry."
Apple pie is the only saving grace to pies because other than that, pies can die.
"Yum, let's go woman!" Grabbing onto my wrist, Vrushika drags me to the dining room.
"What took you guys so long?" Arjun asks once we've reached the table.
"I was painting Vrushi's nails."
"What?!" Sharon di demands. "Miss Vrushika Rai Prakash let you paint her nails? That too before dinner?"
Vrushika shrugs. "She threatened to eat my dessert."
"That makes more sense," says Arjun.
"Okay, now everyone sit down and eat," Sharon di commands cheerfully.
We all sit down, excited to eat, but the excitement dies down once we see the food.
At least, I think it's food.
"Sharon di, did you... make all this?" asks Arjun.
"Of course!" She sways back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels and back, squealing in delight. "In fact, I've decided to make you guys dinner every night."
Oh shit.
"So, what exactly is all of this?" asks Vrushi.
"Oh, that's matar paneer," which I'm sure has both matar and paneer in it, "those are kebabs," which I still think are potatoes, "and these are rotis," burnt, very burnt.
Again, oh shit.
"Di, why don't you get dessert out, and we'll start eating," I suggest.
"Okay." Di happily makes her way back into the kitchen as I mentally plan the funerals that will be taking place within the next week. Now, whether my cousins and I die from food poisoning or because di kills us for not eating her food is yet to be determined.
Once she's out of earshot, Arjun hisses, "Have her cook for us every night? I'd rather eat my own cooking and I once made an egg explode!"
"We'll figure out what to do about that later. Right now, eat all this food as fast as you can," I command. With that, the three of us start eating, just to please our big sister. Food poisoning it is.
When Sharon di comes back, she's shocked to see that we've finished eating everything.
"Guys, you didn't even leave any for me. I wanted to taste my own cooking." She looks a little disappointed, but happy nonetheless.
"No you don't," mutters Arjun. I kick him in the shin, causing him to glare at me as he holds back the agonizing scream he was about let out.
"Di, I was thinking that you should just let kaka do all the cooking. I really want to spend some time with my favourite cousin," I say, voice syrupy sweet, as Vrushika elbows me for the 'favourite cousin' comment.
"We'll have a ton of time to talk Saara, no biggie."
"Di, what if we all help you cook?" suggests Vrushika.
Say what?
"Yeah, then we can spend time together," adds Arjun.
I glare at the two idiots I'm somehow related to, mentally crushing their empty skulls with my bare hands.
"That's a great idea Vrushi! Now everyone, finish up your dessert and go to bed. I have some work to do," says Sharon di. I facepalm myself after di leaves and wonder how and why I ended up in this family.
Taani's POV
After Saara leaves, I go to my room to finish unpacking. Wait, mine and Kriya's! That's going to take some getting used to.
The last thing I unpack is my memory box; a box including trinkets and pictures that are sentimental to me because I'm a cheeseball like that.
I take them all out, one by one. The first was a picture of me at age nine, hugging my mom before she left for her last concert. It was her last concert because her plane crashed on the way back.
She looks so peaceful, I think to myself, just… blissfully happy.
The second was another picture, but this time of di and I with bhai during our very first Raksha Bandhan. I think we were most likely five, with bhai being six since he's a year older.
I have never, ever, for as long as I have lived, felt like I was their cousin... because di and bhai never let me feel that way. It's such an intriguing concept - cousins. People who are close enough to include in major milestones like graduation, or create some of your most insane, borderline illegal memories with, but not nearly close enough to expect in your corner when you're having a breakdown and you need someone to hold your hand through the night.
Kriya and Swayam were everything and so much in between.
Next was a picture of when di and I met Saara, our first day of school, where we became friends. I couldn't help but laugh at seeing them awkwardly sharing a bag of pretzels when I saw di throw one at her just last week. Coincidentally, that's also what I was doing in the picture - both the throwing and the laughing, that is.
There was a picture of me at my first violin concert, at the age of ten. I don't know why I even kept this one. I hate it.
Chucking the picture into my dresser drawer, my hand lands on my friendship bracelet from Saara. Saara and I made each other friendship bracelets back in grade school, and when we asked di to make one with us, she said no. She's a stubborn one, my sister. 'Girly things' - her words, not mine - aren't really her thing, but both Saara and I knew that she wanted to make one, she just didn't want to get over her grand canyon of an ego.
After that, I pulled out my favourite ring. Bhai gave it to me last year for Raksha Bandhan, and he gave di a four-leaf clover ring; because di's his lucky charm, and I'm a princess.
Even though he calls us freeloaders and treats us like a nuisance.
Shaking my head, I find yet another picture that I can't believe I haven't thrown away yet. This one was of me and another girl.
Ruhi.
My former best-friend. I wanted to tear it in half and light it on fire, but I just couldn't do it. And then, it was as if that one picture cursed me to find more memories from school, memories that bring me nothing but sadness and anger.
First was a bracelet. A bracelet made from old guitar strings, by an old friend-my best-friend. Next was the stupid necklace that he gave me that I wear every day to torture myself. I hate him. I hate Aarav Saxena. The guy who turned my life upside down. Who changed it for the better. Who taught me how to live life. Who taught me to love music. Who came into my life like he was too good to be true.
Because he was.
I look at more pictures of Aarav and I, some of which I'm not where I even got- wait, Saara! The resident photographer within our strange circle of friends. Girl documents everything from Holi to birthdays (Aarav and I, post attacking each other with cake) to Valentine's Day (for the last time, that rose was a JOKE) to- a random picture of us holding hands… hai Krishnaji, I have the worst friends ever!
I dig deeper into my black hole of a memory box when I find the last thing I wanted to: Aarav's letter, the one he left for me on graduation night, along with the necklace. That stupid, goddamn letter! It makes me angry, it makes me sad, and sometimes, it even makes me laugh at how seriously screwed up my life has gotten. That's what all my school memories are; a sad, painful reminder of what I went through then. I wish whatever part of my brain had control over my memories would just... erase them.
At this rate, I can count on failing APS.
"Princess?" I hear my sister's voice ring out, thankful that it brought me out of my trance.
"Yeah di?"
"What are you doing?"
"Just unpacking," I say, putting everything back in the box.
"More like taking a walk down memory lane," she says knowingly, crossing her arms over her chest, looking like spitting image of her mother. "You're thinking about Aarav again aren't you?" I stay quiet. "Taanu look, I know how important Aarav was to you, but do you really think he'd want you to be sad because of him?"
I let out a sigh, hating that she's right, as usual.
"No."
"Exactly! Now come on, get up. Time to go help mom make dinner because lord knows bhai can't even boil water."
"Di, he burned water just yesterday, you don't have to tell me twice." I quickly get up and follow my cousin to the kitchen.
"Finally you're both here!" maasi yells once we walk into our disaster of a kitchen - seriously, we need to fix this place up. "This boy is so useless."
"Mom!" shrieks bhai, outraged, while di and I giggle.
"Okay maasi, what are we making?"
"Ooo, ooo, pasta!" exclaims di, jumping up and down.
"Ladki hai ya bandar?" mutters bhai, which causes di to step on his foot. He glares at her and she happily returns the favour.
"I want to make pasta, di let's make pasta. Bhai, go set the table, your utensil placement is on point." I practically push my brother out of the kitchen and towards the dining table.
"Okay, so do we want cheese or tomato?" asks maasi.
I say cheese just as di says tomato. Maasi merely blinks at us, almost as if to say 'are you kidding me right now?' So then I say tomato but di decides to say cheese.
Maasi sighs, throwing her arms up in the air. "Alright, let's go with both."
Maasi boils the pasta while I cut up the vegetables and di gets out the shrimp, chicken, tomato sauce, and cheese. When we're done, it looks and smells amazing, and I'm not saying this because I'm biased, I'm saying it because it's true - other than my mom and Swayam, we Shekhawats are culinary fucking geniuses.
Di and I devour our first helping in seconds while bhai and maasi are still eating the first half of theirs.
"Bloody animals," bhai mutters, which earns him a kick from both of us. He should really get better at muttering stuff if he wants to live to the age of twenty.
Deciding to leave bhai to do the dishes, di and I head back to our room and Skype Saara, mainly to see if she's still alive.
"You look like you're about to puke," is how di decides to start the conversation.
Saara can't even seem to find the energy to glare at her. "Well you see, my wonderful Sharon di decided to cook for us, and she makes Swayam seem like a pro. Her matar paneer didn't look like it had matar or paneer in it, I thought her kebabs were potatoes, and her rotis were so burnt I thought she cooked them over a friggin' volcano."
Di and I burst out laughing at her suffering.
"You guys it's not funny!"
Boom goes our Jwalamukhi!
"Sorry Jwalu, but this is comedy gold," I manage to say through my laughter.
"Of the animals in the world, you guys just had to be hyenas."
"Who you callin' a hyena?" di demands.
"You, who else?" Di glares at her. "Anyways, my cousin Vrushika and my idiot brother made it worse. Now, we have to help Sharon di make dinner every night."
"I said I'm sorry woman!" I hear a female voice, who I'm assuming is Vrushika, yell. I mean, I think she's yelling? Her voice wispy and soft, yet loud enough that di and I can hear it.
"Sorry ain't cutting it!" Saara yells back.
"Oh get over it ya' big baby!" I hear Arjun shout.
"Shut up!"
"We can bring you leftover pasta tomorrow if you want," I say, hoping that my smile was coming across as sympathetic.
Saara dramatically wiping away a fake tear was all the answer that I needed.
"You'd really do that for me?"
I shake my head in disbelief. "Jwalu, you're such a drama queen."
"I know. But you love me anyway."
"You're insane."
"Hey, I have Arjun as a twin brother, and you and Kriya as best-friends. Of course I'm insane!"
"Hello, still here!" di 's voice booms throughout our shared bedroom.
"Oh, there's Kriya. Finally! I was getting sick of that hyena."
"Jwalu!"
"Okay, let's change the topic shall we?" I suggest, weirded out that I was the one playing mediator for a change. That's usually Jwalu's area of expertise.
"You're absolutely right Taanu! I mean, tomorrow's our first day at ! Aren't you guys excited?" says di, her eyes lighting up like a kid in a candy store.
Saara and I exchange a secret smile. These are the rare moments when you see Kriya Shekhawat truly be herself, someone we like to identify as a carefree ball of sunshine, and not the guarded, tough as nails Junior Rani Lakshimibai the rest of the world sees.
"Totally excited!" Saara exclaims.
They both glance over at me expectantly. Look, I may get excited over practically everything, but not going to St. Louis. Why? Because I live and breathe music, and music is the last priority at St. Louis. I did get into SPACE Academy, which is one of the most prestigious art schools in the country, but I decided to go to St. Louis instead. SPACE may have music, but St. Louis has my two best friends in the whole universe and beyond, and I can't live without them.
"Hello? Taanu?" Di delivers an echoing clap in front of my face.
I shake my head, pulling myself away from my thoughts and back to the conversation. "Sorry guys, my bad."
"Oh my god, don't apologize stupid." I smile widely at Saara's words, dangerously close to a fit of giggles. "Although," my smile falters, "you have been spacing out a lot."
"And we all know why."
"Aarav again?"
"Yeah."
"Hello? I'm right here," I remind them, frustrated that they were talking about me as if I wasn't even there.
"Sorry," they both say, causing me to roll my eyes. Krishnaji! Aarav is hardly my only problem.
Saara's cousin yelling - man she can yell! - at her to go to sleep is what caused me to come out my own world.
Great, I spaced out again.
"Gotta' go guys."
"See you tomorrow," says di, as she turns off our laptop.
She then turns to me. Almost as if she'd been reading my mind, she asks, "Taanu, is this about your dad?"
"No, why?" I was surprised that she'd mention him. I mean, Aarav may not be my only problem, but my dad hasn't been a major concern for me in a while.
"Well, you may have been just a tad pissed off when you couldn't change your last name from Bakshi to Shekhawat."
Oh, that.
"It's not that big of a deal."
Kriya snorts. "Taani, I know when you're lying, especially to me. I've known you the longest out of every single person in your life. We shared a crib for god's sake!"
"Okay fine, it's a huge deal! I just don't want to have any relation to that man." Anger floods me as the thought of having one last remaining connection to my father begins to taunt me.
Di moves closer to me and envelops me in a tight squeeze, which any other person would find strange because she doesn't seem like the type of person to enjoy physical contact of any kind, but that applies more to Saara and I. We love di's hugs because they make you feel like the safest person in the whole wide world, and suddenly, any sort of wall that you've ever put up crumbles because as soon she's got her arms around you, it's impossible not to break down.
"Taanu, even if you're still legally a Bakshi, you'll always be a Shekhawat to me. To all of us."
"Thanks di. For someone who constantly puts her foot in her mouth, you always know what to say." I bite back the tears threatening to spill.
Like I said, impossible.
Di is quick to take note of that action. "And for someone who's always telling me that crying is healthy, you seem to be allergic to it." I stay silent. "Tomorrow's a big day, so just get some sleep okay?" Di gives me a chaste kiss on the side of my head before making her way to her own bed.
Except she doesn't.
I tug at her hand and feel like we're ten years old again. When my mom died and all I wanted to do, all I ever did, was cling to her and never let go. She doesn't hesitate for a damn second before curling up beside me, resting her chin on my head as I bury my face in the crook of her neck.
This is why I can't live without my best friends. They're everything to me, and I'm nothing without them.
A/N: Like it? Hate it? Little bit of both like me?
I know a lot of people kinda' don't like the whole "insert-name-here's POV" thing that a lot of writers, including myself, use. But it just clicks really well for this story in my opinion, and I try not to do it too often. Also, if anyone's curious about disclaimers, I'm a lazy bitch, so I put one up for all my stories on my profile, and I hope that that still counts.
Oh, and a few things to clarify, Kriya's only two months older than Taani, but Taani very lovingly calls her 'di' because they have that big sister/little sister dynamic. Sharon, on the other hand, is a year older than her cousins, so it makes total sense for them to be calling her 'di.'
Translations:
"Kuch bhi." - I mean, I honestly think the closest translation of this is smh. Like, literally the verbal, Hindi version of smh is what this is, there's no other way to describe it.
"Ladki hai ya bandar?" - Translates to "Is she a girl or a monkey?" and it's funnier in Hindi, so we're just gonna' roll with it.
"Jwalamukhi." - Literally means volcano, and I promise that Jwalu as nickname will make more sense (hopefully) as the story goes along and I swear the reasoning behind is pure and wholesome.
Musical Inspiration: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Miley Cyrus (let the 'Cyndi Lauper's version was waaay better' arguments commence; I know it is, this version just suits the story better in my opinion, sue me), Shake It Off by Taylor Swift and Hold Onto The Memories by Corey Tynan
