*Lying on the soft grass which was spread through miles across the field, her eyes closed and with a soft smile on her face ,enjoying the cool breeze of the summer wind and the heavenly smell of lavenders calming her soul, Mei was enjoying a perfect summer day in the nature with her grandparents untill a phone ring disturbed her :

*Phone ringing*

Mei got up and saw an unknown number calling her. She was thinking who could be calling at this hour. She picked up the phone

“Hello?…who's this?”

*silence*

“mm…hello?…hello? Anyone there?”

*silence*

"Maybe someone's pranking me …oh gosh…my whole mood is ruined now -_-",she said to herself and hung up the call.

Just as she hung up the call, she heard her granny from the house.

"Mei…mei?…are you outside there?"

"yes granny I'm here"

“oh! There you are !…come in here now dear it's becoming dark ”

“okay granny!…coming!”

She got up ,took her phone and headed back to the house which was just at the side of the river along the garden. It was a large ancient house made of wood and stones. Mei had been told in her childhood that it was her great great grandfather's house.

She entered the house with a gush of happiness and excitement as she smelt the heavenly and savoury smell of fresh baked blueberry pies made by her granny which were her all time favourite.

She sprinted into the kitchen

“Granny! I smell blueberry pie! Where are they!?”

“oh! ha ha my dear calm down and sit here …the pies are being baked ….call ur grandpa to the dining table and come again to help me carry these out…now go!”

"Okay!"

She headed to the hall where her grandpa was watching TV .

"Grandpa! Dinner's ready !…it's blue berry pies and some of your favourite desserts too!"

“oh really?….I think your granny is being merciful today just because you are leaving tomorrow? Haha I think today I'll get to eat without any restrictions! Hahaha”, he laughed

"But it really breaks my heart that my sweet child is going back tomorrow"

"Oh grandpa!..don't worry!.. I'll call you everyday and I'll visit u both every month! And also aunties and cousins are coming na?…you will have a great time with them!and yes about eating without restrictions! You have to be restricted! You have to take care of your health isn't it!?….I'll tell granny not to put much sugar in your dishes!" ,She said

"Ok ok…but I wanted to eat freely with my sweet heart!",he said making a cute face and sad tone

"Ahh! grandpa you know I can't say no when you say like this!…ok! You can have them today! "

“that's like my sweety!haha”

“haha ok now let's go otherwise granny will again shout!”

They went to the dining room and ate and chatted , talking about Mei's journey back and it's preparations.

Dinner was finished. Granny and grandpa went to their beds. Mei kissed them goodnight and came back to her room.

She was done packing luggage . She booked a cab to drop her back to the city. Then she began to recheck her packings in case she missed anything.

"Okay! Now I think everything's packed !..now time to sleep…", she murmured

Just then her phone rang again. It was the same unknown number who called her when she was in the garden.

"Huh!?…this number again!?…now if anyone didn't speak then I'm going to block it off right away!!",thinking this she picked up the call

"Hello?"

*Silence*

“hello!?…listen if you don't have anything to say then don't waste my time ok!”

“Is it Mei Campbell?” ,she heard a young girl's voice

“yes…it's mei…. who are you? ", She asked

“Mei, it's Tiana here.”, Tiana said

“oh!…Tiana! It's been ages since we talked!..how are you and how is your sister Zoey?..Her phone has been showing off for over a week”, she exclaimed

“umm …yeah …I …I...called you to tell about her only…she….she committed suicide …she did that 4 days ago….and….. tomorrow morning is her funeral…I guess tomorrow you are coming back from the countryside isnt it?….so…you have to come in the funeral and also..i have something to give you”, she said in a low and trembling tone

Mei's heartbeat stopped…her hands started to shake ….she stood still as a statue….the words pierced her ears and heart like an arrow….her eyes widened…she wanted to say something but her voice didn't come up and her mouth didn't moved…hardly she said with a trembling voice

“….w-what!?…w-what are you saying!?…Zoey!?..how-how could she-”

Before she could finish her sentence Tiana said ,“Mei sorry I have to hang up …and yes don't call on this number ok?…I had to call from this number bcz of some issues which I will tell you tomorrow at our house….don't be late..”, she said that with a hurry

Mei didn't know what to say….she just heard the voice….and the phone hanged up….the phone slipped from her grasp….she stood there still while her eyes filled with tears and she finally broke down..crying her heart out while remembering all the memories..the laughs..the fights..everything..she could barely talk..she kept weeping while finally she whispered her friend's name ..Zoey...who was no more..

“why did she do that?”

“was something bothering her …something which I didn't know?”

“why didn't she say a word to me?”

A whole lot of questions were arising in her head…

"No….it's not the time to sit here and grief…I have to find out what happened…what happened which made her take this terrible step!…I have to go to the funeral tomorrow!", She said to herself wiping her tears.

She felt a cool breeze coming from the balcony touching her wet cheeks as she moved towards it . She went to the balcony and sat down on a small couch placed before it…she didn't want her grandparents to wake up so she turned off the lights and kept staring at the moon which was shining brightly up in the star filled sky…

••••

Mei got up as soon as the first ray of sunshine appeared . She had slept on the couch last night while staring at the moon. She wondered why she was there instead of her bed!. Just then she saw the notification of the cab company that the cab will be arriving after 2 hrs and after seeing the destination location, she sat down on the couch and took a deep breath remembering the conversation between her and Tiana, with her eyes becoming wet again , “I have to find out the truth” , she said to herself closing her eyes tightly as the smiling face of her best friend flashed infront of her eyes.... Untill another notification disturbed her

She quickly went and got freshed and dressed herself up ,took her luggage down in the hall. Her granny had already packed some lunch for her to eat through the journey back not knowing where she was actually going.…..2 hrs have already passed…the cab had already arrived at their gate…she thanked her granny and kissed both her grandparents goodbye and got into the cab and started her way back to the city…

She reached her high school dorm. From there she was going to go to Zoey's house. She wore a black dress and headed out. As she was inside the taxi, she looked at the watch…which was showing the time of half past of the time of the funeral ceremony to start. So she thought it would be better to go directly to the church as everyone must've already gone there. She arrived at the Church. People dressed in black dresses and black coats were already there to show their last respect to the departed soul with their heads tilted down. As she moved further ,she could hear Father reciting some spells facing a coffin.

The coffin.… See saw the coffin…..where her best friend, Zoey now laid lifeless……her pace became slower and slower ..untill she stopped right infront of the coffin….she could hear Zoey's mother crying her heart out and screaming her daughter's name ,two women sympathizing her as she cried. Her father , standing and sobbing for their beloved daughter .…and standing by her father's side , Tiana's eyes were also flooded with tears . The atmosphere was filled with cries …as well as silence….Mei , although hearing and seeing all these ...stood still as if she was frozen .…she could not believe her friend was lying lifeless inside the coffin…..with whom she shared so many memories..so many years of happiness..sadness.. and what not.. she didn't know how to react..her eyes were dry…yet red…but she was still there..she didn't speak a word..nor did she shed a single tear…and nor did she move an inch.

She saw her bestfriend being carried away and being burried under the holy earth. Still….she didn't speak a word nor did a single drop of tear appeared in her eyes.

The burrial was done…funeral was finished….people started to go back to their homes…. Zoey's family also went back to their house to do the remaining rituals….but Mei stood there and stared at her bestfriend's grave. Just then…she felt someone grasping her hand…! It was Tiana!..She took Mei to the backyard of their house and told her to wait . After sometime Tiana came back with a blue diary in her hand. Mei stared at the diary then suddenly!…she remembered she saw this diary before!..it was Zoey's diary!..

“Mei, this diary…sister told me to give you ”, Tiana said

Looking down at the diary…she finally spoke in a low voice,“this diary…. Zoey..”

As she opened the first page …she saw there written,“To be only read by Mei and Sakura”

Sakura….this name….mei had heard this name before….just as she was thinking about the name and staring at the diary…flashes of moments and images came in front of her eyes as she remembered the incident from 3 yrs ago**….

**Mei, Sakura and Zoey were bffs since their childhood…but Mei and Sakura were more close to each other Zoey...they all were very happy to have each other…. they talked…laughed…comforted each other….joked…they were all living a simple life with each other by their sides:

“hey! What do you people think of this dress? Does it look good??”

“yeah the dress is good but after you wore it , it has become dull…poor dress tsk tsk tsk”

“oh c'mon guys!!! Hahaha”

But.….something happened…something tragic….which left Mei with a severe mental trauma….her depression and anxiety were taking over her….she had no one to rely on…no one to share her thoughts..her feelings….she began to remain quiet and lost …she thought talking and telling to anybody about her troubles will only increase it and she will get judged….therefore she began to stay away from the people she loved and even rejected help from her family and friends…. she was not talking to anyone….barely been seen outside her house…reassuring people that she is fine and not to worry…:

“Mei?…Are you okay?”

“yeah ..I'm fine…don't worry”

But her best friends….Zoey and Sakura knew her problems and what she was going through…..even though she denied any help from others….they remained by her side and helped her fight through that difficult time….which made their friendship even stronger

“….we will remain by your side no matter what….don't worry….we will get through this together”

“We will always remain best friends !”

“yes! Cheers to Mei and Sakura!”

“and Zoey too!”

“oh yes!! cheers to the friendship of Mei Sakura and Zoey!!hahaha”

But then another shock was waiting for Mei….the thing which Sakura hid from her…she told Zoey about it but not Mei because she didn't want her to get worried…but before that a misunderstanding got into the way and left a huge crack between the friendship of Mei and Sakura:

“why…..why didn't you tell me this!?! WHY!!??”

“I thought you were not in condition to handle this news…that's why I didn't tell..I'm sorry..!”

Zoey tried her best to clear the misunderstandings as she knew what exactly happened….but it was too late…

“hey calm down …it's okay she just didn't want to make you worried”

“U say I'm your best friend and you didn't tell such a big thing to me!…”

“oh just stop it already! Don't you think you are over reacting!?”

“You …..you are not the sakura I used to know….…I…I don't know you…i don't wanna see your face!! Just go away to where you were going!!.”

After Sakura left….Mei had only Zoey …they became close with each other…Sakura and Mei broke all means of communication with each other…but she and Zoey were in contact…she had told Zoey not to tell Mei that they are in still in contact…as Zoey did the same….she didn't tell Mei about Sakura…about them being in contact …and also the truth….because by that time Mei was already recovering from the tragedy happened….she didn't tell her before was because the only thing she wanted to focus on was to make her feel better …and now she didn't want to bring that topic up again .

3 yrs passed by….and now again those dark days had come and were standing before her eyes…..she didn't know what to do…Tiana…who was watching her gazing aimlessly to the ground , gave a tap on her shoulder which made her come back to the present.. “and also Mei...”, she said with tears appearing in her eyes,“sister also told me that when I will be giving you this diary and telling you about her, I should do it silently so that no one can find out…that's why I called you from a PCO...”

“I don't know why she did this…she was happily eating dinner with us…she was even playing with me…I miss her Mei…I miss her very much!”, tears rolling down her cheeks she sobbed

Watching the little girl crying, Mei realised it was not the time to stand still….

“dont cry dear…I'm sure your sister must be watching you right now from heaven and she won't be happy if she will see her little sister crying like this….isn't it?…so stop crying….”she consoled Tiana

“but I'm not able to see her….I miss her”she looked at Mei with wet eyes

" Put your hands here and feel", she said while placing Tiana's hand on her chest

."these little heartbeats that you feel is your sister's heartbeats too….she is always with you...within you….you can see hee..but you can feel her right?…..now wipe your tears and go back to the house….they must be worrying about you"

Tiana wiped her eyes….and with a smile on her face she waved Mei bye and ran into the house….Mei got into her car and went back to the dorm…as soon as she reached the dorm…she put the diary on her desk and laid down on her bed and began to think about the dreadful tragedy she had to experience**……..