Indu leaned forward, "Tell me all about it, Sam"
Sam put her head on the table. "They scolded me for taking the day off, then it spiralled down... It's the usual, just the things they said hit harder today, after letting in what i let in today."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just... My whole life, all they talk about my future is how I'm supposed to be a good wife. Even when we're talking about my career - oh don't take that, nobody wants to marry someone with that degree! It's boys this, boys that, but also about how I shouldn't date, shouldn't do this, be pure, be innocent - I'm sick of it."
"Mhmm?"
"Even today, they talked about my future husband, and now that I realized that I might not like guys... That I might... have a wife in the future?"
"I get it, Sam..." Indu said, desperately trying to find words to let Sameera know that it would be okay, to let her know that she cared, to cheer her up, somehow. But Sameera's head lay on the table still, her silent sobs clear to the watchful eye. Indu did the one thing she could - not letting go of Sameera's hand.
After an eternity, Sameera wiped her eyes with her free hand, and sat straight. Her breathing seemed normal, Indu noted.
"I'm sorry I dumped it all on you like that..." Sameera said in a small voice.
"Hey! No, no, no. Don't you dare think that, okay? I'm glad I could help," Indu responded promptly, without hesitation.
"Thank you," Sameera almost whispered. She then took a look at her watch and jumped, withdrawing her hand from underneath Indu's. She instantly regretted it a second later, but there was nothing she could do now.
"It's getting late, we should probably go, huh? Thanks again, Indu... I feel much better now," Sameera ended off, before practically sprinting out the door, the cool air touching both her hot cheeks and her tear streaks. Hey, at least she felt better. Indu slowly got out of the chair, and walked home slowly, still processing the last hour. She wondered if she had done enough. It felt weird, wanting to make sure that Sameera was okay. She walked with her eyes firmly on the ground beneath her, zoning out to calm herself down. A thought entered into her mind that she could not push away.
'So, she likes girls... That's nice, isn't it?' Indu felt the corner of her lips curl up. Why?! This didn't make any difference. Not at all. Difference to what?, she wondered. Shaking her head to clear it, Indu looked up to find her house in front of her. She went in, went on her bed and firmly shut her eyes, not ready to do any more thoughts.
She woke up the next day with puffy eyes. She did not, in fact, sleep as she should have. For some reason, her mind decided it would be fun to think about Sameera coming out to her. About all the signs, and her mind also decided it would be fun to make her relive every time she had judged Sameera for being a 'pick-me', or for talking to Raghav the way she did.
At 6.15, Indu remembered that that day was the day of dress rehearsals. Or at least, that was what everybody was calling it in the group chat. They were all bringing various options, dressing themselves up today. Then, one of them would be buying the sophisticated version of it as their actual costumes. Indu hurriedly took some shirts, loose white tops and a dhoti that was lying around somewhere. She got ready as fast as she could, and rushed out of her house and barely made it to the stop when the bus came.
She walked in, and Sameera looked at her expectantly from the back of the bus. She had a seat empty next to her, and she patted it, gesturing to Indu to come. Indu stared at her for a second, the reality of what happened the previous night hitting her. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and walked to the back of the bus. She took the seat Sameera had saved for her. She looked at her, and saw her eyes seemed relatively less puffier than the previous day. She breathed a sigh of relief. But she felt too stiff to say anything.
Last night was the first time she had been in a vulnerable situation since... Well, since the ninth grade. It would be a disaster to go through that again. Her thoughts went dark for a minute on remembering that year.
"Did you sleep well?" Indu's train of thoughts were broken by Sameera's question.
"Huh? Oh yeah, it was fine," she replied, her voice off-handed.
"I broke up with him."
Indu looked at Sameera, and the small smile that was forming on her lips. She looked relieved, and calm.
"I've never done it, you know? Break up with a guy, that is," she continued. "But I did it yesterday. As soon as I got home, pretty much. I gave him some lame excuse, to be honest though, and I don't think he quite believes me. I don't expect him to hate me though, we were dating for only two days, after all."
Indu nodded, a warm feeling creeping up her heart and cheeks. She couldn't stop herself from smiling along.
"Did you bring the clothes for today?!" Sameera changed the topic, visibly excited.
"Yup, just a couple options. I had to steal a dhoti from my grandfather's cupboard in my house," Indu replied.
"I raided half of my closet today morning, and then realised that so many of my clothes are too fancy for this. I'm happy Mirzab reminded us late at night, though. I would have absolutely forgotten otherwise. What is that boy doing up at that time? I bet Swara is going to chew him out for that," Sameera laughed. Indu smiled. That seemed so much like Sameera as she knew her.
In class that day, however, a change occurred. One that was definitely overwhelming for Indu. Sameera had entered the classroom before her, and was standing right over Indu's desk, waiting for her. Her face apologetic, she asked to sit with Indu. "He seems to be mostly fine, but he's pestering me about why I broke up with him... So is Nur. I'm not ready to tell them, but I said I'd come and sit here. Is that okay with you?" Indu looked over at Raghav, but he didn't seem as fine as Sameera made it out to be. Nur was looking at them rather quizzically, as if she was wondering when and how Sameera became this close to Indu.
"Umm... I'm not sure Sam, -" Sameera's face fell and Indu couldn't stop herself, "- but maybe it's okay for a day or two. Just till they stop pestering you right?" A wide smile came on Sameera's face, and she nodded excitedly.
Throughout the day, Indu had to get used to this alien feeling of having another person sit beside her for more than a period or two. People generally avoided her, sitting next to her only when the teacher had made them to. She felt on edge, jumping at every small thing. She wanted to get away, feel the same way she had felt the previous month - not worrying about why this did not feel repulsive as it would have. Sameera also ate lunch with them, and Indu was exhausted by the end of the day, not having had any time to herself, if you weren't counting the two times when she went to the washroom.
It was finally the end of the school day. It had dragged on and on, but it was just an hour of practice now, and they'd be done. Archana ma'am was visiting them after a long time and she had promised to help them choose their outfits. Even Indu reluctantly admitted to herself that she too was excited to see the costumes come together. She walked out of the class with Sameera, only to find Siddhu already waiting at their classroom door like an excited puppy, clutching the straps of his evidently filled bag.
Sameera, by this point, was very conscious of Indu's discomfort. She tried to hide it, but it was baffling. Part of her wanted to shake Indu's shoulders and ask her to stop being so hot and cold. Was it the previous day? Was that what happened? Or was it today? Was her precious 6-inch-wall pushed? Another part of her, however, could not be mad at Indu at all. This was all new to her, after all. She shook herself, and walked to the seminar room. Her heavy bag weighed on her, and she saw she was not the only one who had been mildly overexcited with the clothes. Even Mirzab had a separate plastic bag filled with clothes in different colours. It seemed like only Swara and Indu had been modest with the number of dresses they had brought to try on.
Indu walked in soon enough with Siddhu, and threw her bag down. Mirzab clapped his hands in excitement, sat down cross-legged and started removing his clothes from his bag and started laying them out.
"Let's get all the options, guys. We'll choose one or two sets and see how they look?"
The rest of them nodded. Sameera noticed Swara smiling at Mirzab's excitement. He really did seem to be in his element here.
Rubbing his hands together, he turned to Swara, who was standing right behind him, "What do you think? Which one do you like?"
Swara pointed a muted brown top and said, "That might fit better while you're playing Sam's dad - but it really doesn't feel like you, does it?"
Mirzab nodded, "I know, but I need to look like the character right? I was thinking I'll go for a brighter look while playing Indu's dad - oooh! How about this purple top, maybe with a silk dhoti! That'll scream opulence, don't you think?"
"It would!" Swara laughed.
Siddhu cleared his throat loudly, "I thought we were asking everyone's opinion, Mirzab?"
"Okay Siddhu, how do you like these options then?" Mirzab put on his most mocking smile, making Siddhu roll his eyes. "Good only," he said in an off-handed tone, before both of them burst into laughter.
Before long, they had all made trips to the washroom and changed into the clothes they picked. After getting Archana ma'am's approval, and her instructions for the pieces of costume they would rent, they made their way back to the seminar room and started their practice.
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