Chapter 8

I woke up, Geet was working on her laptop in my room.

I got up, yawned, and said, "Good morning."

"Have you checked the time?"

"When I checked the time, 3 pm I realized I couldn't sleep last night. You know Ranjeet isn't that bad."

Geet was wearing glasses, she plugged charger in her laptop and said, "You do not need me? Everything has changed after last night."

"What are you saying? have you gone mad? I'm exhausted, my body is in pain," I said while stretching.

Geet was looking at me, then she received a call. She answered it and said, "Yes, babe, I'm still busy with work. Yes, I love you too, Umaa!!"

I looked at Geet and said, "Umma! What kind of love is that? There's no need to show all this in front of me, I know I'm single. Don't make feel like this"

Geet looked at me judgmentally and left. I had just come out after freshening up. I hugged my mom and My mom whispered in my ear, "Geet is so adorable, she sleeps with her head on my feet, like a little child."

I looked at Geet; she was drinking juice. Just then, Dad arrived.

"Let's play cricket today, Geet, get ready."

I smiled broadly and said, "Wow, all the best!"

Geet grabbed my hand and took me aside. "I don't know how to play cricket," she said.

"Everyone knows cricket, Dhoni, Virat..."

Interrupting me, Geet said, "Shut up! You talk so much. I'm a fan of FIFA; I don't know this."

"Just catch the ball and don't get out."

"How do you not get out?" Geet asked with a lot of difficulty.

"Shit."

Dad called out loudly, "Payal, tell me which team you're going to play for; I'll join Ranjeet's team."

Dad plays cricket very well, but Geet has no idea. What should I do now?

Just then, Geet fainted. My mom rushed over and supported her. I ran over, splashed water on her face, but she didn't regain consciousness. Geet was laid down in the nearby room.

We called the doctor, and after checking, the doctor said, "Maybe she ate something expired food, she might have had something from outside last night. Dizziness could be due to a bit of acidity, and the heat is also intense."

Dad said angrily, "How will she take care of yourself? She can't even stay in the sun for a second."

My mom's expression changed; I was thinking about pani-puri. After everyone left, my mom went to Geet. Geet regained consciousness.

"Maybe the coke was expired, forgive me, beta."

"No, aunty! I wasn't paying attention."

Just then, I came in and overheard my mom and Geet talking.

"But you enjoyed, right? Today, you're also my friend."

"Friend? No aunty, I'm happy just being with you."

"How about Mom? Silly girl! Okay, forget about it. Whether you stay with Payal or not, you'll come to meet me, right? I make very good pickles; you must come to Ramnagar to taste them."

"Okay ... aunty, I mean..." (paused for a few seconds) "...Mom."

"Come, relax."

As my mom left, I was about to go to meet Geet when she suddenly got up and started dancing. She was very happy. Then I heard Ranjeet's voice, and I quickly went inside the room and closed the door. Geet saw me. She sat down quietly, as if she had been caught lying. I smiled, thinking how much of a drama queen she is.

"Sorry."

"Why did you stop, Geet? Keep dancing; no one can see us now."

"I'm feeling dizzy," Geet said, placing hand on her head.

"Don't overact; you must be a good dancer, but your acting skills are bad. You pretended to faint, didn't you?"

"Then you deserved to be fooled by my mustache."

"So, was this your way of expressing happiness? Dance?"

Geet was very excited as she spoke; she just kept on talking. Her voice was filled with life, like a hidden melody suddenly awakening.

"No, Payal, your mom, she's very sweet. I always wanted a mom like her. She's so nice to me that I feel like I should marry you."

After Geet spoke, she realized she had said too much. I also felt a bit uneasy after hearing that. Later, I asked her about it.

"You can come with me to meet my mom, no matter what the result."

"Thank you. I got the chance to make memories with your mom. Because of you, I'm very happy today," Geet said, her nose turning red as she spoke, just like it had when we had pani-puri that day. Tears started to well up in her right eye.

"Are those tears of joy?"

"Not quite, they're just tears. I feel like finding peace."

"Tears of peace?"

Looking at her tears, I realized how lonely she must be, how much she must crave someone close to her. I don't know why, but it felt like she was missing something, even though she has a girlfriend, someone she enjoys being with. I've never had friends; I've always spent my time writing books. But maybe I've never felt lonely because I have my family – Chipsy, who annoys me but is always there, my mom, who seems innocent but has fun with me. Mom's favorite drink is Coke, we drink together, and she loves playing Ludo. No matter how angry Dad gets, he taught me to shoot, ride horses. I have so many memories. Maybe all these things are missing from Geet's life.

I don't understand why, but I hugged Geet and said, "I'll stay with you. You'll never be alone."

I don't know what happened to Geet; she hugged me tightly. I also placed my hand on her head. The feeling of tightly hugging her was like hugging a soft, warm pillow. Her heartbeat was racing, she was dancing so much that it felt like her heart was dancing too. We had been hugging for more than a minute; it didn't seem like enough time in words, but we don't usually hug someone for more than 25 seconds. When I tried to gently release myself from the hug, I realized that she was holding on very tightly. She didn't want to let go of me; she had rested her head on my shoulder. My shoulder was getting slightly damp, I didn't realize she was crying. I just stood there until Geet was ready to let go.

Tears started to fall down my eyes lightly, as if I could feel her pain. She was crying silently, not making a sound. I wiped my tears and then hugged Geet.

There was a knock on the door; Ranjeet was knocking. Geet gently made me realize. Her eyes were slightly reddened, her lashes were still wet, but there wasn't a tear on her face. I gestured for Geet to stay quiet. Ranjeet left, and then I gave Geet a bottle of water. After drinking, Geet said,

"I should go to sleep; I always get a headache after crying."

"Shall I give you some medicine for your headache?"

"No, Payal, you go. 'I might get used to you."

"What do you mean, used to it? Whenever you miss me, just come over."

Her voice was very calm now, speaking very slowly.

I gently held Geet's head, and she lay down on the bed as she wanted. Not once did she refuse when I gently massage her head. I applied some balm, and she began to relax. She placed my hand under her cheek and fell asleep. She made a pillow with one hand, while the other rested on her head. I had never cared for someone this much before. I was being good to her, and it made me happy to know that I wasn't all that bad. I dimmed the lights; her eyes were closed.

Geet started speaking as if she wanted to tell me everything, and I didn't know how to handle her. She's always so emotional, especially around me. She seems to carry so much pain. I wonder why she always gets emotional around me. I remained silent.

"After mom died, everything became difficult, I did hear mom's voice. I always felt like my mom was calling me. Until I was 10 years old, whenever I saw someone's mom, I wanted to rest my head on their shoulder, have someone take care of me, call me their daughter, feed me with love. Dad was there, but he worked all day and came home at night. He didn't send me to school. Dad taught me at home. When I went to college, I developed social anxiety. I was so scared to talk to people, especially if there were judgmental people around, calling me names like "Chash-Mis," "stutterer," "crybaby." I got many names, but even if I made friends, I couldn't stay with them. They never fought for me, and I didn't have the courage. It hurt so much when I found out I am a lesbian. I just wanted to die because my society is very cruel; it doesn't let normal people live so how can I? All I wanted was to talk normally, be a normal girl, but I never had a normal life. I thought a lot, and then I realized that there's no such thing as normal. I spent nights sitting in a corner, telling myself, 'I am normal, everything is normal.' I loved using the computer; it was my joy. Playing games and watching movies on it gave me excitement. I started to feel happy, and because of that, I didn't mind being called 'Chash-Mish' because I liked wearing my glasses. When I hate the world, I can blur it out. I have a superpower."

Her eyes welled up again, as if she wanted to cry remembering old wounds. Her words were too painful for me to listen to; there was so much pain in her voice that I was holding back tears. I mustered the courage to comfort Geet. She kept talking, and I silently listened. After a while, I wondered what I could do.

I said to Geet, "Can we be friends?"

Without responding to my question, she had already fallen asleep. I remained in that position for 2-4 hours, feeling pain in my back. I was getting bored, not knowing what to do because both my hands were busy. I thought about sleeping too, but I couldn't because Geet started snoring for some reason. She fell asleep after snoring like she didn't have a care in the world. I got really angry and looked at her face in annoyance. Her hair had fallen over her face, so I brushed them aside with my hand, and her snoring stopped. It was the first time I noticed that her eyes were brown, and the kajal on them looked really nice. Her lips had pink glossy lipstick on them, which suited her well. Her light eyebrows, slightly larger nose, all suited her face. After staring at her face for an hour, I felt like covering it with a cloth because she started looking attractive to me, Me? Do you believe that. which I had never felt before. I covered her mouth with a blanket.

She started snoring again, I closed my ears so I wouldn't hear her snoring, but it was bothering me a lot. Eventually, I had to remove the blanket from her face. Then I tried to ignore her, but I found myself staring at her face. Suddenly, I caught myself smiling like an idiot. Why was I smiling? Do I have a soft spot for her, even though she doesn't care about me? Come on, I should be rude to her. But I can't. She may appear strong in front of others, but she's such a crybaby around me.