If Stars were ever meant to be Together

A week had passed and Shrishti had been ignoring Zara. Hasn't Zara been her best and only friend in school, yes, but not just a friend, also her own, self-created enemy? Zara was a really good friend but also a really bright student, and Shrishti had failed to be like her. 

After ten years of passing school, she had barely talked to Zara, blocked her phone number, and avoided physical meetings like reunions. Why? because of the extreme jealousy, the way people think she is invisible when Zara is around.

 But now she has escaped all of it. There was nothing in which she had to show her down. 

A familiar voice behind her asked "Hey, is that Shrishti...I'm sorry if you are not Shrishti" Shrishti turned back, okay so now she needs to confront Zara. Why was she so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that Zara had seen her and now she was here!

Zara waved her hand in front of Shrishti's face "hello" 

"Hi, I'm Shrishti...but sorry I fail to recognize you" Shrishti lied and was relieved because it meant that Zara isn't so special that everybody would remember her! 

To Zara's intelligence, she didn't try to prove to her that she was an old friend who studied with her and etc but showed her their picture, on her phone, in front of their old school building.

'No, I still can't recognize you' would have sounded lame so Shrishti went for another reaction "Ohhhh, yes, you are Zara, sorry" she overreacted and gave Zara an unwanted hug

"Huh, good that you recognized me Shrishti, first I thought you were playing that trick with me which you used to play in school when you didn't want to show anyone that they are special enough" Zara smiled, Shrishti felt insulted at once, was she so easy to be caught, she thought.

"No way, Zara, never with you' Shrishti lied again 

"But why were you staring like that" Zara pointed to the track where she had been jogging before.

"Huh?" Shrishti again tried to be innocent.

"Yeah, I saw you here under this tree, staring at me blankly, and then when I waved at you, you were like blank, so I came over here just to make sure that you were Shrishti" Zara explained

"Oh yeah, sorry, I was actually thinking about something" Shrishti rolled her eyes.

"No worry! Wait, do you live here, in this apartment?" Zara was over-excited now.

"Yeah, Just shifted, a day ago" again a lie, it's been a whole week and a whole week she had been looking at her at this time from under this, this particular tree.

"Wow, that would be great, won't it be? I tried to call you before but I think you changed your SIM card, but now we could party together and if you wish we could live..." she paused, her smile fading away.

"What?" Shrishti asked, surprised at her behavior's sudden change.

"Ah, um, nothing, anyway I'm having a party at my house tonight, please come, I'll be waiting" Zara was getting nervous now, Shrishti couldn't understand what was happening to her. 

"Yes, I think I'm free tonight, but what is it about, like theme and all" Shrishti had another plan, she won't go and show her that Zara isn't special enough.

"Oh, that...it's a simple party, no theme, just people from Google and friends," she said nonchalantly

"People from Google?" Asked Shrishti

"Sorry I forgot to tell you about that, actually I work at Google, that is why 'people from Google' " Zara smiled, and Shrishti was shocked, Google, wasn't it the place she wanted to work at, but ended up working in a company that people hardly knew and those of who know just say bad things about it. She can't miss this opportunity, dump the plan, now she needs to grow her friendship with Zara and then Zara would suggest her to the company and what if she gets employed there, stars, and what if they send her abroad, stars...

"You're again lost Shrishti, okay bye gotta go, need to do some pac-...work" Zara waved and started to go.

Shrishti hugged her tightly and said "bye..and I'll come in the afternoon only...to help you with the party stuff" 

"No, the party work is almost done...but you can come we'll grab a tea or something like we used to" she gave a wide smile and left. 

Shrishti ran behind her and asked "but what's your flat number"

"Oh, I completely forgot about it, it's B15, sorry"

"That's okay" Shrishti was again shocked, did she say B15, in this apartment, there were two buildings A and B, A building was the one where Shrishti lived, and most of the poor people did, but B building was for rich and famous people. Shrishti mentally high-fived herself. 

                                           1:00 P.M.

"Hi, hope I didn't disturb you. I thought you'll require a helping hand" said Shrishti.

"Uh, nooo, it's fine. And as I told you all the work is already done, just the decorations are left, for which we don't need to care about right now" Zara guided her into the flat, it was a big one, the living room which was the centermost with a corridor starting at one point and a kitchen on another opposite side. 

The living room was unusually empty with just a greyish couch and coffee table and a home theatre in front.  Shrishti could hear noises from the kitchen but the house other than the kitchen was pin-drop silent. 

Zara made her sit on the couch and asked "What will you have tea, coffee, or juice?"

"I think I will be happy with a tea," Shrishti said tea because she wanted Zara to think of their old times when on Sunday afternoons they used to drink tea from a stall near their school. And old memories would surely make their friendship and Shrishti's chance to be an employee at Google stronger. 

"Yeah, I was also thinking about having a tea and see what a coincidence it's Sunday and also afternoon" they both smiled widely, just that, one smile was real and another fake.

Zara went to the Kitchen and asked the maid to make tea and then disappeared into one of the rooms of the big corridor.

Ten minutes have passed, Shrishti had even finished her tea and given the cup back to the ever-smiling maid but Zara was still busy in one of the rooms.

Shrishti was growing impatient now, so she decided to go and check what Zara was doing. She got into the corridor and found all the rooms locked, Zara is a weird girl, Shrishti thought, at last, she found one room unlocked at the extreme corner, from where she could also hear noises. She opened the door and found out Zara taking a wooden box from the top of a cupboard.

"Did I make you wait, sorry" said Zara, cleaning sweat from her forehead "but guess what I found?"

Shrishti came near and saw that the box was full of pictures and at once recognized whose they were. In that room which was gray and had beautiful Zara smiling, her hair falling loose from her bun and sweat flooding down her forehead was a filmsy scene.

They sat on the couch seeing those pictures one by one. 

"See it's the annual day picture, do you remember it? The make-up girl made my face go all red with that lipstick, which won't even come out with soap" said Zara and they both laughed out loud.

"And this one when we won the basketball match against Sir Mike's team, I can never forget his face" Shrishti was now realizing that her childhood wasn't that bad as she had made it look, and at some point also realizing that Zara was just a self-created enemy.

"Wow Shrishti, you found this picture I was trying to find it, remember that day, a girl from Sir Mike's team just threw the ball on my face and then you took me to nurse, I was crying so badly" Zara remembered, and then laughed.

                                            4:00 P.M. 

They had completed seeing all the photos, they had cried that the world isn't as great as it was without having one another by side, they had just kept all the secrets on the coffee table free and open to see. 

"Zara you can stop crying now, now we need to decorate the place" Shrishti rubbed her and this time with a whole heart.

"Sorry Shrishti" Zara said in a broken voice.

"About what?" 

"I want to tell you something" Zara was crying even more bitterly now.

"Comfort yourself, Zara" Shrishti reassured, still rubbing her back

Zara cleaned her face and sat straight, now ready to tell her the secret she had kept all over "I have got a transfer. And I'm going tomorrow morning, and this party today is for the same reason"

Shrishti was blank now, so she can't be saved from her punishment now. All her life she had been keeping a fake friendship and now when she was all good with her friends, there was something for her also. 

Redemption

Redemption

Redemption