My family and I - Chapter 24

I stayed up that night, waiting for Sona to come home. I didn’t have to, she had the keys but I just had to know how it had turned out. Of course sleep beckoned and I tried to sleep, getting up every ten minutes to see if Sona was back.

At around 11:30, Sona entered the room. She stumbled around in the darkness trying to touch and feel her way to her cupboard.

“Why don’t you just switch on the lights?” I asked curiously as her leg hit the bed for the umteeth time.

“Oh God! Pinku! You scared me! Why are you awake?”  She switched on the lights making me cringe my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, Sona was in the middle of a swooning twirl. She landed on the bed  and sighed deeply.

“That good huh?” I asked propping myself on my elbows.

She looked at me lazily, “You have nooooooooooooo idea!”

She refused to elaborate further. And I didn’t prod her for details either. I didn’t really see the need to know what all happened. It was enough for me that she had a good time. Anymore information would probably be reserved for her friends where they would dissect and over analyse Samrat’s everyword and come to the same conclusion that I had after one sentence.

Only time would tell.

Sona kept tossing and turning the entire night. I know she was excited, but I really wished  she had taken her excitement to the couch outside! The next morning, both of us were grumpy and red-eyed due to lack of slep.

“What happened to the two of you?” My mum asked as she struggled to wake us up the next morning.

I grumbled and glared at my sister, “She didn’t let me sleep!”

“Pinku make your bed!” My mum ordered me around as she hovered around my sister eyeing her carefully. “So, what happened?” She asked Sona, shooing me out of the room. Very nice, I was being kicked out of my own room.

“At least let me take my stuff.” I protested.

Sona and mum sat around in silence till I picked up my stuff and walked out of the room. Sheesh! Families I tell you!

The door slammed shut once I had walked out. My dad, who was sitting at the dining table reading the paper looked up as I walked by.

“Well don’t you look glamorous today.” he said commenting on my disheveled hair and dark circles.

“Leave me alone, I’ve hardly slept.” I snapped at him, half yawning my way through the sentence.

He laughed a little, “So, do you know this Samrat fellow?”

I picked up my toothbrush and glanced at him suspiciously, “A little. Why do you ask?”

My dad put down his newspaper, “Don’t tell me you don’t know!”

“Don’t know what?” I settled down in front of him, trying to focus.

My dad had this incredulous look of disbelief on his face, “I’m not the last one to know?? This is great!”

“What! What’s going on!! Nobody tells me anything! I’m always the last one!” I vented.

“No, no, I can’t tell you.. ” My dad put up his newspaper to cover his face.

“Dad!!” I pulled it away and observed him critically. Now my dad is terrible with secrets. He can’t keep stuff to himself. At least not with us. The very fact that he was trying to hide it from me, told me it was something serious.

“Is it about Sona?” I asked tentatively. My dad glanced at me with a “I’m never going to tell you” look.

“Is it about Sona and Samrat?” I took his silence as a sign that I was closer to the truth.

“No, no! I’m not saying anything!” My dad got up and started walking away.

“At least tell me whether she’s in trouble?!” I called out after him.

No response.

Sona-Samrat-Parents freaked.

OH MY GOD!