I held my mom's left hand and pressed it lightly, as much pressure that my little hands allowed, we moved towards the building , it was not too huge and not too small, just perfect.

My eyes were sparkling at the sight. I was excited about the new place because I'd get to meet new people and make new friends!! Well what else does a 6 year old is supposed to think?

"Mom, This is pretty." I said looking towards her.

"Yes, but not prettier than my baby"

My mom replied with a gentle warmth in her voice.

Her eyes travelled to another kid who was leaning against the railings of the stairs, was a bit shy, and was staring at me for some unknown reason.

" He is the landlord's son, he is around your age, you can be friends with him nat." My mom said encouragingly

" But it was supposed to be my home!!" I asked with irritation.

"Of course it is but we will live on the ground floor and they will reside on 1st floor."

" But I thought whole building is mine." I opposed.

"Will someone help me with the unloading?" My dad asked .

"Comming" Mom went ahead to him a hand.

I looked again at him, the boy, he was leaning in the same way as before, as if he didn't move at all, just like a statue. He was still staring at me. I don't know what went through his head when he looked at me but truthfully I was not completely dissatisfied as I looked towards the brighter side. I could make him my friend.

I got enrolled in a nearby convent school, I wasn't a very bright student, just an average one, I didn't understand why people, especially elders focused so much on academics? I did not dreamed ever to become a doctor or a teacher or anything, I just wanted to be happy, which I was, so why would I do something that would take my happiness away from me?

Big people are simply stupid or just very complex, it was beyond the understanding of my little brain so I solely focused on my goals which were to watch cartoons or play games along with my then new friend Christian, the landlord's child. We became very good friends in a very short span of time, because, well we were of the same age group and shared same opinions, most of the times that is.

Me and Christian were not exactly best buddies because we did face a lot of trouble as well for example if I wanted to play with barbie ,yes I was typically girly although I should not generalize but as a kid I was everything that society would imagine a little girl to be, and Christian was completely opposite he wanted to play games like, frog frog, snail snail, monkey monkey, are you wondering what these games are about? Well they were invented by one and only Christian the great who was obsessed with animals, in all these games the players are supposed to race each other while imitating the animal and that's it that were the games he wanted us to play, so ofcourse we used to get into disagreements quite often and would fight each other as brutally as a 6-7 year old could afford.

I had other friends as well, Christina who was Christian's elder sister and who often intervened when Christian and I played together, she was 11 years old, god knows why she always indulged with both of us, I had a feeling that she didn't liked me much and was uncomfortable with me playing with her younger sibling, then there was Kaitlin who was Christina's best friend, they were almost like sisters , Kevin was Kaitlin's younger brother whom I found very beautiful and for some reason I was very shy around him, he was truly the embodiment of beauty, the sight of him was so mesmerizing that my little heart could not bear it, Daisy was also a good friend, she was very nice to me and I really liked her. Me, Daisy, Kevin and Christian were of the same age group, Christina and Kaitlin were however older than us.

We all played together and with them I felt so blissful, those were the happy days, all nice and shiny, if I could I would have stopped time then and there it self because what came after was a nightmare.

FIVE YEARS LATER

"Oi Nat, what are you doing, look straight." Christina yelled at me. I looked at her, she was furious.

"I told you we are gonna loose, with her in the team, she is so useless." Christian said bluntly looking at me and enjoying every syllable as it left his tongue, I couldn't believe that he could be so evil.

This is life and things happen but I don't know what happened between us that things turned out the way it did. The Christian I used to play with was right in front of me and I could not recognise him. He looked the same but was so different in so many ways.

We were playing a three on three basketball game and my team consisted of Christian, Christina and me whereas the other team consisted of Kaitlin, Kevin and daisy. I admit that I am a very clumsy person when it comes to sports, not athletic kind, whereas Christian and Kevin were both member of junior basketball team, they were also the best buddies.

"What happened nat? Got lost again eh?" I was brought back to reality by Kevin, I looked up at him and my heart literally skipped a beat as I stared at his beautiful hazel eyes, peachy lips and droplets of sweat at his forehead. He was beautiful, one look at him and my mood is all swaying and swinging in the little heaven of hearts.

"Just leave her be Kevin, if you wanna distract someone from the game then choose me, she does not even know the rules properly." I looked up and it was Christian, who was very angry at me may be because I got zoned out again. He is so fixated on winning that he would go to any limits for it, I wonder how I ended up being in his team.

With every basket, the time passed, sun came down and so did the game, we won, ofcourse my contribution to the victory was zero percent but it was Christian who played quite nicely, he always does.

" You were even more pathetic than your usual self, was it because of Kevin?" Kaitlin said while making fun of me. I never liked her, she has always been a bitch to me.

I told Christian about my infatuation with Kevin when we were on good terms, he promised to keep it a secret but now everyone knows it including Kevin ofcourse.

Things weren't like this always, we used to be like normal friends but a year ago my dad got arrested for some reason, my mom never spared me other details but a month ago he returned home. I thought everything will go back to normal but nothing like that ever happened.

Christina and Kaitlin became more meaner towards me, daisy started maintaining more distance and Christian became another person.

It was time to get back home. Home a place where you feel loved and cared, but my home was nothing like that, not anymore. When my dad returned he changed too and that was when I truly understood the cruelty of time. It changes people, and when they change it hurts.

Dad started drinking and became a regular drinker. Both of my parents used to get into verbal fight almost daily like a routine.

I stood outside the door of my house, not wanting to open it as I could hear the voices already.

"You bitch, I won't eat your food take it away from me" my dad yelled.

"Oh really, then why don't you make your own food? I don't care about you anymore, you make me sick..." Mom argued.

" You want me to make my own food? Alright, I will, atleast I won't poison myself to death"

" Poison? Are you blaming me for something like this how...."

" Yes I am, and why won't I both of us know you want me dead, so that you can go and have..."

"Shut up derek, I won't hear anymore, you are pathe.."

" How dare you shut up me? Eh? Am I your dog?"

" Please stop it or else.."

"Or else what? You can do nothing you weak shrimp..you despicable woman I will make you..."

I slipped past both of them completely unnoticed. I closed the door of my room and as I locked it, I felt the wetness in my eyes created by the sorrowful tears. I closed my eyes and felt the tears dropping down my cheeks. I went up to my bed and squeezed the pillow to my chest and cried for an hour or so, somehow my whimpering resonated with their fighting.

After a while my eyes started to feel heavy and I was feeling sleepy, but I could not sleep because I was hungry as proof of it my stomach growled loudly and I just squirmed around on the bed in order to silence it's rumbling.