There was a nostalgic wave and a cozy vibe on that particular evening. The buttery smell of popcorn filled the room and three dorky teens, Aahan, Chandrajit and Sakshi, were in the kitchen preparing snacks. The house was filled with chaos and chatter.

"Alright guys, get into one place, imma take the picture" Aahan's mom said in a sweet manner.

She took the camera and stood in front of them. "Ready?"

Aahan wrapped his hands around Chandrajit's shoulder and held the 'v' sign above Sakshi's head. Then he gave the his goofy crooked teeth grin and faced the camera.

"Aahan stop that!" His mother shouted.

"Okay okay.. I'm not doing it."

"It's okay aunty, you really can't exoect much from a Neanderthal, can you? If he had the ability to think, he would've clicked the picture already. But oh well." Sakshi taunted with a calm yet sharp tone.

Chandrajit pressed his lips into a line, trying not to laugh while Aahan was left speechless.

"Let's click the picture aunty" she said with a sweet smile like she didn't just break the ego of an 16 year old teen just now.

Chandrajit tried very hard not to laugh but eventually he did and covered it up with coughs even though it was obvious he was laughing.

"Hey what'chu laughing at??!" Aahan pulled him close in a way he thought was threatening.

"Nothing nothing I was just coughing"

"Main kya idhar chutiya dikh raha hu?"

"AAHAN LANGUAGE!" Aahan mother shouted at Aahan.

"Neanderthal actually, if you know what that means." Chandrajit teased even more.

"Teri toh..!"

Aahan started chasing Chandrajit inside the kitchen like a cat would chase a rat. While Sakshi stood in the corner, leaning against the wall, enjoying the chase.

Suddenly she felt something creeping on her leg. A shiver ran down her spine. She looked down to see what's creeping on her feet.

And to her horror, it was a cockroach.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH THERE'S A COCKROACH!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and swatted the bug away from her feet.

"COCKROACH? WHERE?" Aahan shrieked and jump onto Chandrajit, holding him tight. Aahan hated bugs, especially cockroaches.

But a certain boy felt tinge of butterflies when the other jumped onto his arms.

"Am I in heaven?" Chandrajit murmured to himself.

"NO CHANDU YOU CANT GO THERE YET!!"

"EEEEEE ITS FLYING!!!!!" Sakshi shrieked.

"WHAT?!?!"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET IN ONE PLACE!!!" Aahan's mother shouted at them but they were too busy running away from the bug.

"AHHH ITS COMING TOWARD ME!! ITS COMING TOWARD ME!!!"

"Us, you mean." Chandrajit said with a dead pan expression. He crushed the cockroach under his slipper and swatted it away with his legs.

"Now are you planning to get down or stay in my arms, not that I complain" Chandrajit teased Aahan while secretly hoping that he is going to stay there forever even though it's not possible.

"Yeah yeah, I'm getting down." Aahan said, a bit embarrassed.

Aahan's mother sighed. These kids are crazy. May lord give her patience cause if they give her strength she is going to need bail money.

"Are you guys done?" She said, her expression dead serious.

Everybody stiffened and came into one place.

"Ready? Class 10 batch 2016, say cheese~"

"CHEESEE" The trio said in union and much triumph. After all they have just given one of the most important exams of their lives, 10th boards. The trio planned to hangout at Aahan's place to celebrate their hard work.

The camera flashed and they took their goofy poses, enjoying the little photo shoot session.

"Hey guys do you smell that?" Chandrajit asked.

The smell of something burning filled the kitchen walls, a black smoke could be seen coming out the pot which was siting over the stove for God knows how long. The trio looked behind them.

"OUR POPCORN NOOOOOOOOO" Aahan cried put dramatically.

"HOLY SHI— TURN OFF THE GAS" Sakshi said as she tried to look for heat resistant glove or kitchen towel.

Aahan's mother put off the fire while Sakshi took the pot aside. When the pot lid was opened all they could see is smoke and black ashes.

Well, their popcorn got burned.

Bright beams of sunlight was peeking through the curtains and fell directly over the face of a careless 15-year-old teenage boy. The fan was buzzing, and his alarm was going off for about 30 minutes. Aahan groans. He squint his eyes and tries to find his phone to snooze the alarm, but he later realized that he was sleeping upside down. Distant voices blur and a beep rang in his ears but Aahan couldn't care less. He tried to reach his phone, but he fell from his bed. Aahan groaned in pain. The distant voice got louder. Suddenly the door slammed open.

"YOU ARE NOT READY YET?!?!"

"Ugh, ma, chilao maat, I am awake.." Aahan said, his eyes still closed yet his hand was up in the air, to prove the fact that he was awake.

No one was buying that act.

"AWAKE MY FOOT! If you don't get ready in five minutes, you are not getting food today. Do you even know how important attendance is this year?"

"here we go again.." Aahan sighed.

How could he forget. Today was his first day of class 10. 10th is the year where every Indian student has to give the most important exams of all. The board examination. This examination is a standard test created by the board council. This test alone determines how good your basics are. it's am easy test but everyone hypes it up so much, it often pressurize and leave the candidates scared.

"IF YOU DON'T HAVE 75% ATTENDANCE YOU WONT GET YOUR ADMIT CARD!! And don't get me started on—"

"yes ma, I get it, its important."

"Ek jhapar marungi tujhe...jaldi ready ho, piyush khara haa bahar." she gritted.

"Okay okay jeez…"

His mother left his room and Aahan got up, cracked his knuckles and got ready.

While wearing his tie, his phone was buzzing constantly. He opened his phone and saw a bunch of notifications from the GC. he clicked on one of the notifications.

GC: Failed experiments 🥀🥀

Rajesh: Bro Santa is real, I'm telling you.

manisha: the unc from the creepy neighborhood is not Santa.

Rohan: I can't believe this shit 🥀🥀

Rajesh: I'm legit telling you he is real!!

piyush: son..🥀🥀🙏

Rajesh: OH so what about the time I sat on Santa's lap huh?

Manisha: BOY THAT WAS AN OLD DUDE DRESSED UP LIKE SANTA

piyush:is he fr rn?? 🙏

Rajesh: OH SO NOW YOU ARE GONNA TELL ME THAT ELMO ISN'T REAL.

Rohan: I need to hold you by your ears when I tell you this...🙏😭

manisha: oh God 🙏

Aahan smiles in amusement and sighed. He typed "Isn't this too early for ts?" and pressed sent.

GC: Failed experiments 🥀🥀

Rohan: look who decided to wake up

Rajesh: Aahan tell them that Santa's real 😭🙏

manisha: I'm done with this shit.

Aahan rolled his eyes, his smile got wider. "deal with it yourself bro 🥀" is what he replied. he put his phone down and grabbed his school bag. There was nothing in it.

Well to be fair, he didn't carry anything, even if it was not his first day.

He went down stairs, grabbed some buttered toast in his hand and wore his shoes.

"Bye ma" He said.

"Have you grabbed you—"

before his mother could finish her sentence Aahan slammed the door shut.

"This kid...oh God when I'm gonna have some peace…" His mother sighed.

Outside, piyush was waiting. Piyush Mitra, was Aahan's friend since kindergarten. According to Aahan, he is an understanding and soft-spoken person. He has a dry sense of humor and is the unpaid therapist in their whole friend group. Aahan feels at peace around him. It's like–he could be himself. Aahan tells piyush everything about him, how he likes dogs, his favorite song and how he hates bugs. Though Aahan tells him everything, he knows a little about him. It's made Aahan a bit uncomfortable but he always brushed it aside.

Aahan threw an arm around piyush's neck casually and showed a toothy grin.

"kya haalchaal haa boss?" he said playfully.

"kya yaar kitni der se main khara hu.." piyush sighed. "kya kaar raha tha itni der?"

"Hila raha tha"

A beat of silence passed by. Aahan could see how piyush's face went from irritated to utter disgust. It amused him.

"seriously dude? it's too early for this"

"Early for what?"

"let's just go."

They both went strolling down the street, talking and joking. The atmosphere around them felt light, Aahan felt somewhat free. The sunlight was peeking through lushful green trees and there was a sweet smell in the air.

As they both went strolling down the street, they came across Manisha and Sakshi who seemed to be talking about the stupid beliefs of Rajesh.

"I can't believe that he is going to be 16." Manisha said out of frustration and maybe a bit concern.

"Well, let him be. Let's just not destroy his fantasy world." Sakshi said putting a hand behind Manisha's back to comfort her.

Piyush grinned and elbowed Aahan. "Subha subha bhabi ke darshan ho gaye." He said, teasing.

"shut up." Aahan said, flustered.

Sakshi was Aahan's crush since 5th grade. It was not until 8th grade that Aahan finally had the courage to talk to Sakshi and finally become friends to which Sakshi replied then, "weren't we friends before?"

And that's how they become friends.

Manisha noticed Aahan and piyush and invites them to join them. The four crackheads went to school together, laughing and joking.

All of them arrived at school. Nothing had changed about it. It was the same, old school with average maintenance.

They all went to their classroom. Piyush, Aahan, Sakshi and Manisha were assigned to the same class (10-A) while Rohan, Rajesh and Ritika were assigned to a different classroom (10-C).

The four crackheads couldn't see the other three cause the bell had already rung, though they didn't dwell on that cause there was still lunch break.

Manisha, Aahan and piyush sat together at the last bench while Sakshi sat on the second bench, with a empty seat beside her.

"Why is she sitting away from us?" Manisha asked the other two who were equally confused.

"I dont know" piyush shrugged while Aahan just stared blankly at the empty seat. An undesirable and uncomfortable feeling sparked in him.

"Alright class, settle down" The classroom teacher announced as he entered.

"I'm Aniket sen, your classroom and math teacher this year." he said professionally.

"As you know, boards is an important examination and it alone decides if you make it to class 11th or not. So study hard and give your best. That being said, dont be too hard on yourself. Boards is..." the teacher continued rambling while Aahan kept staring at that empty seat beside Sakshi.

"She is saving the seat for whom..?" The thought kept running in his head.

Aahan finally came back to the present when he felt piyush's hand on his shoulder.

"You okay..?" piyush said a bit concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said rather too quickly.

The classroom door opened again, revealing an unfamiliar student.

"May I..-" the student began but was interrupted by the teacher.

"Right, today, we have a new student joining us today" he looked at the student and smiled "come in"

It was a boy. He was fairly handsome and tall but not too tall, just about the right height. He was lean and a bit awkward, yet he had composed expression.

"Introduce yourself." said Aniket sir.

"Hello everyone, I'm Chandrajit Gokhale. Pleasure to meet you all."

Like a still ocean with treacherous undertow, he appeared calm and composed. He didn't even bat an eye around the room yet every pair of eyes in the room were fixated on him. His uniform was neat and ironed, his hair was styled in a way which enhanced his features but also followed structure and rules of the school. A gold watch flashed on his wrist, catching the eye of everyone.

And just like that, he became the talk of the classroom and soon in school. Whispers and low chatters spreaded across the classroom.

"Amir baap ka beta aya haa."

"He is so handsome!!"

"He looks arrogant af"

"OI! QUIET!" The teacher demanded. The classroom once again fell silent. "Chandrajit, you may go sit..." Aniket sir searched for a seat and found an empty seat beside Sakshi.

"You can go sit beside Sakshi." He said with a smile.

Chandrajit nodded and went to sit beside Sakshi.

Aahan felt his heart drop. He knew it was stupid to feel this way. He knows Sakshi doesn't like him like that but he can't help it either. To Sakshi, he will always be a friend but to him, she will always be his love, his first love.

His heart slowly crumbled when he saw the new kid and Sakshi get cozy with eachother and talk like they are long lost bestfriends. As much as Aahan hates to admit it but he does feel jealous. Alot. Aahan had a crush on Sakshi from 5th grade. It was not until 8th that he finally talked to her and yet it still took time for him to actually talk like friends do.

But this guy? He did that in one day! Not even a day, it took him 2 minutes at most to talk to her. Aahan saw his years of practice and courage crumble down as he saw both of them talk and laugh.

'It's probably nothing' Aahan clenched his hand. 'Yeah. It's nothing' he tried to convince himself. And It worked for the time being.

Piyush noticed Aahan's discomfort. He placed a hand on his shoulders and asked in a gentle voice. "Are you okay?"

Aahan's startled. The way this man could read him was, in fact, scary. "Yeah. Why?" he said, not turning to him.

Piyush pressed his lip in to a line and nodded. "Nothing." It was best not to pry and leave Aahan alone to recollect his thoughts, Piyush decided then.

"Is that why she didn't sit with us?" Manisha asked, curious.

"Let's ask her during lunch." Piyush said.

"I have so many questions." Manisha said looking towards the other two.

Piyush had a bad feeling about this.

"Same." Aahan added.

"who is he?" Manisha said while eyeing the guy.

"Yeah, who?" Aahan added, doing the same.

"Is he a friend?"

"Maybe he is her ex"

"why didn't Sakshi tell us about this?"

"Yeah why? why would she keep it a secret?"

"Maybe he is her 'something something'"

"Maybe they are forcefully engaged"

Both of them spiraled in their own thoughts and theories, Manisha out of curiosity and Aahan out of jealousy. The more questions arose the more Aahan felt his heart clench. The poor guy already imagined them together, in a cozy home, with 2 kids and a pet cat, living their best life.

Piyush was stuck in between them. He could practically see Aahan's anxiety rising as Manisha rambled about her questions and theories.

'Oh God...' Piyush thought, massaging his temples. "Can you guys stop this nonsense? We can just literally ask her about this on lunch break"

Manisha groaned, "party-pooper" is all that she said. Meanwhile, Aahan had his dog ears droop down and his puppy eyes well up. He put his head down, drained.

Piyush felt bad for the puppy. Even though he appears as a chaotic gremlin and as bright as sun, he is fragile puppy inside.

"Hey—" before Piyush could finish his sentence, Aniket sir interrupted him. "OI! NO TALKING."

Great.

"Sorry sir…" Piyush murmured.

After 4 periods straight of physics and math, it was finally lunch break. Aahan and Piyush went to the canteen first, leaving the others.

"Hey, you seem..." Piyush tried to find words that would not directly confront his current situation "Not okay..?" is all he could say.

His vocabulary is not fabulous.

Aahan stayed quiet for a second then said in a hurtful voice. "Im not.."

Piyush melted when he saw Aahan hurt. He seemed like a lost puppy.

"is this about..? bhabi—"

"don't call her that! we are not even together!" he snapped.

'He is acting like a kid' piyush thought. He smiled at the thought.

Aahan was taken aback and he was much offended. How could his friend smile when his best friend was hurting. "What are you smiling about?"

"You are acting like a kid." piyush chuckled.

"You are supposed to comfort me!"

piyush chukled, "im sorry.. it's just that..."

"Ugh.." Aahan groaned. He crossed his arms and went quiet.

Piyush stopped laughing and said in a gentler voice, "hey, im sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I get it that you are jealous, but Sakshi has her own life." he turned to look at Aahan, with a soft expression. "She has friends, other than us, and you know that."

"I know...but..." Aahan paused, hesitating. He felt vulnerable and he hated feeling like this. "But it feels like all that work, all that courage, all that i built just be friends...it all feels like it's crumbling down, and I know... I know none of this has anything to do with Sakshi..but I can't help what I feel."

Piyush could practically see Aahan's dog ears droop down and his tail beside him. He couldn't see Aahan in that state.

"Hey, it's okay. I get it how you feel."

Aahan didn't respond. He just nodded.

"But hey, we don't know him yet, he might just be friend, you still got a chance buddy!" piyush said, swing his arm around Aahan's neck in a comforting manner.

"you think so..?" Aahan asked, hoping the response would be something positive. Hope is really a terrible thing.

"I know so!" Piyush played along.

"Okay" Aahan said, his light coming back to him.

"Let me treat you today" Piyush offered.

"really?" Aahan beamed.

"yup."

"Yayyyyy"

They came back from canteen and the group was already there chatting with the new kid.

"Why didn't you tell us about him?" Manisha asked.

"I forgot about it." Sakshi said with an awkward chuckle.

"They are back" Rohan said and everybody turned to look at them. Piyush waved them a hi while Aahan appeared composed.

"Ay guys, meet Chandrajit." Sakshi said as she gestured toward the aloof boy.

Aahan didn't like him, but he had to admit that he was pretty handsome. He hated that. But more than that, he hated the fact that he was getting along with everybody.

"we are actually good friends. We went to the same kindergarten and primary school" Sakshi added.

Chandrajit waved at them. Piyush smiled and introduced himself. "I'm piyush, nice to meet you."

"hm" is all Chandrajit uttered.

"Not really a talker I see.." piyush said with a awkward smile.

he elbowed Aahan who was silent suffocating chandrajit with his eyes, but he seemed rather indifferent about it.

"im..Aahan" he said at last. "nice to meet you."

"Hm"

Aahan quirked up his eyebrow. "Rude.." He murmured.

Sakshi awkwardly chuckled. "he's not really a people's person."

"oh well it fine" Rohan added. "We all started like that."

"Yeah! Rohan was an asshole back when I approached him!" Rajesh said with a laugh. "I remember him saying "don't bother me if you don't have any emergency, leave me alone"" Rajesh said, impersonating Rohan.

"Oh I remember that too–eugh I wanted to punch him" Manisha added.

All of them chuckled, their heartfelt laughter filled the entire atmosphere with mirth and joy.

"Hey, i don't see Ritika" Piyush said, looking around.

"She didn't come" said Rajesh.

"oh"

"when does she ever come?"

"Point toh haa."

The group went back to their chatter, but Aahan couldn't stop looking at Sakshi and Chandrajit. He was glaring at him. They were close. Very close. Sakshi was touchy with him, even though it appeared friendly, he never saw her doing that to anyone.

But then again, he is an old friend. And even if he was not, he knew feeling jealous is wrong. But he can't help it.

Lunch break ended and everyone went back to their classroom. The day went by fast and in a blink of an eye, it was night, everybody were in their homes. Aahan, after dinner, plopped on his bed. it was 10:55 pm. He stretched his arms and legs when his phone buzzed. It was a notification from the Gc.

Failed experiments 🥀🥀 :

chandrajit was added in the group.

Sakshi: I added chandrajit!!

Rohan: welcome to the Gc bud.

chandrajit: Failed experiments...?

Rajesh: Great name no? I came up with it 😝

chandrajit: okay...

Aahan frowned at the texts. An unknown feeling grew in his stomach. he tried to dismiss it as much as possible, but it didn't work. Aahan didn't like this.

He didn't sleep well that night.