We went to the terrace..
Yash :
"This feels nice here."
Ashvi :
"Hmm. I mean, it was fine down there with everyone too, but they were all talking and—"
Yash :
"It's okay, you can say it. You were getting bored down there. It's okay, I was bored there too, that's why I suggested coming to the terrace... And it was obvious on your face that you were bored."
Ashvi :
"What, were my expressions that visible on my face?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
Yash :
"You know, this terrace used to be my favorite spot in your house. Because I just liked being here. You get fresh air here."
"Whenever we all came over, this terrace was the first place we'd come to."
"Ruhaan and Ayaan didn't really like coming here because they couldn't drink freely. Back then they had just started drinking, so they were scared someone would show up. That's why they preferred staying in the room. But me and Runak really loved being here..." He trailed off mid-sentence.
That's when I noticed something — he said a name.
"Runak?? Who's that?" I asked.
He didn't answer right away, but he hesitated.
"Oh, that was... someone. Forget it, come on, let's go that way."
He didn't answer.
Strange. Who is this that Yash doesn't want to tell me about?
Until now I thought Ayaan, Ruhaan, and Yash were friends. But who is this now?
I was thinking about it when Yash called me.
"Ashvi, come here."
"Yeah, coming."I'll have to ask Ayaan about this." I told myself,
(*After few moments*)
Alright, we should get going now. Thank you so much for dinner, we had a great time, Mr. and Mrs. Mehra."
The guests were ready to leave.
"Bye, Ashvi..."
"Bye Uncle, Aunty."
"Bye, Yash."
"Bye, see you tomorrow."
I had been waiting for everyone to leave this whole time. I needed to ask Ayaan something.
And then everyone left.
*A few moments passed*.
I'd been sitting in my room for a while now, thinking about the same thing ____
Just then, I heard some noise from downstairs.
It's 1:00 AM. Who could it be at this hour? (Ashvi murmured)
I went downstairs to check. The lights were off and I was blaming myself.
""Like the heroine in some horror movie's
who asks "who's there?" and goes to check — why did I even need to come check? I was fine in my room, no idea why I got up. Not gonna lie, I'm scared right now. "
(Ashvi was completely regretting her decision)
"No one can mess with me — I'm my own worst enemy."
Just then, there was a sound from the microwave.
And that was enough to make my breath catch.
Ashvi screamed so loud the neighbors who were asleep would've woken up.
And then Ayaan came running — he was scared too.
"What the hell, Ashvi? What happened?" he shouted.
Right then, all the lights in the house turned on. Everyone woke up and came running toward the kitchen.
"What happened? Who screamed so loud?"
"Ashvi, what happened?" everyone asked in a panic.
"There's a ghost in this kitchen, Mom," she replied.
And everyone made this bored face, like no one even cared.
"Ashvi, is this the time to pull a prank?"
"Dad, I'm not pranking. Seriously, this microwave turned on by itself. There was a light coming from it — look, it's still on."
Just then Ayaan started laughing loudly.
Everyone looked at him.
"Why are you laughing? There's a ghost in this house and you're laughing?" Ashvi lashed out at him.
"Ashvi, you're so dumb," Ayaan said, still laughing, "the microwave wasn't working on its own. I turned it on."
He finished and started laughing again.
"Whattt!! What was the need to cook food at 1:00 AM?" she said, annoyed.
"I wasn't making food. I was making hot chocolate. I felt like having some, that's why.""You screamed without even thinking.
Come on, everyone go to sleep now."
Ashvi :
"But if someone's in the kitchen in the dark at this hour, obviously they'll get scared."
Mom :
"That's why I always tell you not to watch horror movies before sleeping at night."
"I didn't watch one this time, Mom."
"Okay, we're going to sleep now. You two go to bed quickly too."
Mom and Dad left.
And Ayaan was still laughing.
"Shut up, Ayaan. This is all your fault," she shouted at her brother.
"You got scared — how is that my fault? You should've checked properly, right?"
"Shut up. Now you'll definitely get punished. Do one thing — make hot chocolate for me too and bring it to my room," she ordered and left.
(*At Ashvi's room*)
"Here's your hot chocolate!!" Ayaan brought the hot chocolate.
And now both siblings sat down to enjoy the hot chocolate.
By then, confusion and questions had already started popping up in Ashvi's mind.
Then she started —
"Ahh... bhai, I wanted to ask you something. Can I ask?" she asked.
"Hmm. If I say no, don't ask, will you actually not ask?" Ayaan said sarcastically.
"No, I have to ask, otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight."
"Yeah, so ask. What do you want to ask?"
Ayaan was super relaxed, calmly enjoying his hot chocolate.
"I wanted to ask you about someone."
"Hmm."
"This... who is Runak?" she asked. And her one question brought complete silence to the room — and that silence was weird.
As soon as she asked that question, Ayaan, who was peacefully enjoying his hot chocolate, suddenly stopped and started sweating.
Ashvi's question hit him like an attack.
He suddenly started panicking.
His hands started shivering.
And Ashvi noticed that.
"Ayaan, what happened?" she asked deliberately.
Just then, the hot chocolate cup slipped from Ayaan's hand too.
Seeing that, Ashvi started panicking as well.
"Ayaan, what's happening to you? Are you okay?" she asked again.
"Yea... yeah, I... I'm okay, I guess. I should go to sleep now, it's really late. You should sleep too."
Just as he was about to get up and leave, Ashvi stopped him because she noticed something else too.
"Ayaan, are you crying?" she asked, worried.
"No," he replied immediately and left from there.
Ashvi was completely stressed out and had gone totally blank too.
What just happened? Why did Ayaan react like that just now? And he was crying — I know it, I saw it.
There's definitely something they don't want to tell me. First Yash, and now Ayaan. This Runak, whoever he is , there's definitely something about him that's related to their broken friendship.
There has to be some past, because I've never seen Ayaan like this before — panicking like that, and also crying.
Yash didn't tell me, Ayaan didn't tell me. Now there's only one person left who can tell me about this, and that's Ruhaan Raina.
I know getting Ruhaan to tell me will be a little difficult, but I have to ask him at least once.