Broken Promises

Aaryan Khanna

My widened eyes were glaring downward—frozen with shock. A bunch of landscape sheets were in my hands right in front of my chest. Another guy walked behind me. I stood in front of the teachers’ table at the front center of the classroom painted bluish-white. Other students sat behind me in rows, and the teacher was sitting on the desk in front of me, with a bigger bunch of sheets on her desk. As another guy walked, he stood beside me, moved his right hand frontward, and the teacher, in the dark blue saree, handed him a bunch of paper too. As he stood there, he turned to his left at me. “Aaryan, what happened?”

I glared at the paper, where my name, class and other information was written on the top. The latter half of the page was filled with mathematical calculations, some even covered with cuts and shit. The marks were on the top right with a red pen, ya see.

Twenty-two… out of eighty.

FAIL.

***

Kritvik Bhatt

Sana and I were walking side by side on the silent street filled with nothing but streetlights and still cars—with houses on both sides, obviously. The streetlights were turned on for some reason, even though it was not exactly dark. The sun was setting and it was evening time, but it’d take about half an hour, or even an hour maybe, for the sky to turn completely dark. At that time, it was just a light mixture of blue and black. I wore a red sweatshirt and a blue denim pair of pants, and Sana wore a black fluffy jacket over a pink t-shirt and black pair of pants. She also had her usual black mask which covered half of her face.

“Well, I still can’t believe it…” She suddenly commented, maybe smiling with astonishment beneath her mask. “You… And Vikram…!”

I smiled. “For some reason, you make it sound like we’re in a relationship or some stuff, man.”

“Like, how did you pull this off?!” She turned to her left at me.

I turned my head to her and looked into her eyes. “She… She deserves the truth,” I thought as I looked into her eyes for a couple of seconds, silently, and looked at the shining bead on her left ear.

The image of Sana and I, standing on that sunny summer-like day about a dozen steps away from Aaryan—all of us in our usual uniforms—appeared in front of my eyes.

I then turned my head to the front. “Aaryan… just wanted to bully me by making me do this stuff. But, something just happened… Vikram got to know about Aaryan, he apologized on his behalf, for some reason, and… I decided that I should help a guy like that.”

She nodded. “So, he’s cool? Like, his personality?”

“Yeah, he’s cool. He might not seem like it, but he’s got a strong sense of justice, for some reason.”

She nodded. “Cool. Like, you’re loyal to him, too?”

“Huh? Uh…” I thought about it, turning my head skyward, thinking for a couple of seconds. “Maybe… Maybe yeah, maybe not.”

“Well, what’s that supposed to mean?”

I shook my head. “Dunno.”

“… That’s sad.”

“Yeah, man. But for now, let’s focus on getting to Kavya’s house.”

***

Kavya appeared from the dark stairway of the narrow apartment right in front of the two of us. The road behind us had women with polythene bags filled with vegetables, bread, and other stuff. There were also kids with them. There were also a bunch of teenagers laughing as they all walked. On our right was a four-lane intersection filled with people and cars. The markets of different shapes and sizes lit the intersection, all of them having different boards on top of them. Some were lighted and were bold, whereas others were just printed plastic. People with polythene bags were walking all around. The crowd was bustling, the cars were honking at each other as they walked slowly over the road, and the intersection was packed. It was lighted up and filled with people.

It was about to turn dark in less than a quarter of an hour. The blue sky was filled with darkness. Clouds of random shapes were floating in the sky too.

“What’s up this time, girl?” She asked as she stood on the other side of the rusted metal gate of the narrow apartment. It was so narrow that there was only this little stairway where only one person can walk up at a time. She wore a light blue t-shirt and a brown pair of thick sweatpants. Her eyes were narrowed, and she seemed annoyed by looking at the two of us—especially me, obviously.

Sana replied with a smile, “We have a surprise for you.”

“What surprise?” She asked uninterestedly.

“Well, it’s a surprise, like I said.”

She moved her hands inside her pockets. “I don’t like surprises.”

“Whatever. You’ll like this one, you see.”

She continued to glare at her uninterestedly for a couple of seconds. I was feeling awkward, for some reason, because of how the situation was unfolding, maybe. I could sense it.

She moved her right hand out and started to rub it on her messed-up brown hair. They all were running from here to there, even though they were tied up in a bun behind her head, maybe. After a couple of such rubs, she moved her right hand inside her pocket again. Both of them were glaring at each other. Sana seemed happy, but her smile was fading away, and turning more and more fake each passing second.

“… Okay,” She finally replied.

“You’re not gonna regret this!” Sana replied with a huge smile on her face.

Kavya pushed the sliding latch of the gate to her right. Bang. She then pushed open the gate. Creeeak. And then she walked out, moving her hands inside her sweatpants again. “Let’s get over with this shit already.”

***

All three of us were walking through the dark street lighted only with streetlights. Some occasional cars stood on the street. The road was smooth. The sun had set, and the sky was completely dark. Maybe it was around seven. I walked in the front, with Sana following me, and Kavya beside her. I had my hands in my pockets, just like Kavya. No one of us was smiling. The situation was tense, for some reason, and every one of us was absorbed in it. The steps of our shoes echoed in the silent street. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

The houses on both the sides were pasted right beside each other. They were wide enough, for some reason, and seemed decent.

As all of us walked, surrounded by the footsteps of our shoes—and slippers, in case of Kavya—I noticed a park on the left side approaching us slowly. No doubt—this was the one.

“I hope she likes it, man,” I thought as I stepped further and further. I stepped beside the green fence of the park, filled with bushes and trees on the other side. There was a footpath between the bushes and the trees on the other side of the footpath. “We’re here,” I announced.

“Cool,” Sana commented as she turned her head to her left, looking inside the park.

Kavya’s narrowed and bored eyes were looking at the front. “Just get over with this shit, guys.”

“Yeah yeah, wait a little,” Sana turned her head to the front. A little smile had emerged on her face. “You’ll never wanna get it over with.”

“I… It’s taking some wrong meaning, girl,” She was a little disgusted.

“Ahaha!”

I turned to my left and stood right in front of the entrance of the park. Sana too stood beside me on my left and turned to the park. Kavya stopped as she stood behind the two of us, and then stepped back and stood on Sana’s left. She had her eyes wide open at the front. The metallic bench, facing straight at the entrance, had the figure of Vikram seated. He had his back tilted to the front and his fingers intercrossed in between his thighs. He was looking at the two of us with his usual dominating figure.

“H-H-He…”

“Vikram he is, man,” I said with a smile. “I wanted you to meet him once, since you were saying that you like him.”

“I told him that.”

Kavya’s cheeks turned pink as she turned to Sana. “What?! Why did you tell him?!”

“So that he can arrange this meeting for you,” Sana turned to her and replied with a smile.

“She lied.”

Kavya turned her face, pink with embarrassment and shyness, at Vikram again.

Vikram too was looking at her. He then stood up, stuffed his hands inside his pockets, and then started to walk toward the three of us. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. His wide white sneakers echoed as he walked toward us, his eyes straight at us, and his face dominating, but containing a little smile on it. No doubt he looked charismatic and cool.

He stood in front of Kavya. Both Sana and I turned to her. “So, y’are the one these two were talking about?

“Y-Yeah, I guess…”

Both Sana and I were smiling as the two talked with each other.

“I heard you’re a fan of my gang?”

“Y-Yeah, I… I like all this fighting shit too.”

“Man, really?” He said with a smile.

Kavya smiled too.

“At a second glance, you do seem like a strong girl, man.”

She turned her head downward in embarrassment, and then turned it up at him again. “I still can’t beat you, though.”

“Get to my level, then,” He smiled. He then turned to his right and said, “Imma just leave now, since I got a couple of things to do tonight.”

“Bye, V-Vikram.”

“Bye, Kavya,” He replied with a smile as he turned to his right—from where we came from—and started to walk away. Kavya turned to her left as she looked at his dominant back walking away, his white shirt outside his black pants, and his hands inside his pockets.

Kavya covered her mouth with her hands. She then turned to her right at the two of us. Both of us were smiling at her. “He’s cool, right?” Sana asked. “K too says he’s cool, and sweet. That’s why he agreed to meet you at once.”

She glared at both of us smiling happily at her. Her mouth opened a little. Her throat was filled with emotions, for some reason. Then, A drop of tear emerged on the edge of her right eye. “These two… care for me… and… and I…” She thought. Then, she murmured, “I’m sorry…” She turned her head downward.

“K-Kavya, don’t cry here, now. Vikram said you’re strong, so…” Sana kept her right hand on her shoulder. “Don’t cry.”

“Bitch, I… I was wrong all this time. I thought you wanna run away from me, and… and that you don’t care for me.”

“It’s not like we were in a relationship or anything…” She commented. “Don’t cry.”

I was smiling too, content that everything’s fine between all of us again.

***

“Why did you lie to her when she asked why you had told me about her and Vikram, man?”

“Well, she’d be angry if I’d replied that I told you for no reason. It was to save both of us, you see. Anyway, after a couple of days, when things would be fine, we’ll tell her the truth. So, for now, let things be.”

***

Aaryan Khanna

I sat silently on the metallic bench at one corner of the silent dark park. Everything—the bushes, the footpath, the houses surrounding the park—was in the shades of black. I had my head tilted down, with my arms on my knees. My eyes were narrowed and dark, saddened like shit, ya see. In my hands lay two pen-like structures of vapes.

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

I turned my head upward, and looked at the dark figure of Sooraj walking toward me. He was wearing his white cricket jersey. He looked into my eyes, neutral and serious, as he approached me, and then sat on my right. “Why are ya sitting here alone, dickhead?”

“I… failed the math half-yearly…” I turned my head downward again. “The boards are coming in just a few months, and… I still can’t fucking get math.”

“Depressed because of marks, eh?” He nodded, looking at the front. “Sounds just like ya.”

“These fucking exams are so tough, pal.”

“Don’t worry, man. I fail most of them too.”

“Asshole, I don’t spend time in cricket practice and matches like ya do. I got no excuse.”

“Then study.”

“Yeah…”

There was silence between the two of us again. I glared at the vapes in my hands.

“… So what happened in today’s semi-final match?” I asked him. “Did ya win?”

“Nah. We were fucked today, man. They legit had us right from the beginning.” Sooraj turned his head to his right, away from me, and glared at the bushes. “We won the toss and bowled first. They made two hundred and three in forty overs.”

“Seems easy to chase down.”

“The first wicket fell on fifty-eight. Our openers played pretty well.”

“Then you must have gone one down, like always, right?”

“Yeah,” He replied. Then, he went silent for a couple of seconds. A little breeze of wind went past the two of us. I straightened my back and touched the backrest of the bench. “The pitch today had turned dead until I came to bat. A leg spinner was bowling—my legit weakness. He too bowled a fucking flipper.”

“… And ya got out on the first ball?”

“… The team then fell apart. All out for one thirty-six… in just twenty-seven overs, and… we lost by sixty-seven runs.”

I nodded, listening to him silently. Soon, there was this fucking silence between the two of us, ya see, as we both sat on that bench beside each other—his head tilted rightward and his right arm on the armrest and my head tilted downward. “… Kritvik told me that Rohit’s worried about something too.” I started to open one of the vapes in my hands and moved my back frontward again, fixating my elbows on my thighs. “Asshole.” I moved one of the vapes inside my mouth and extended my right hand with the other one at him. “Wanna have a puff?”

“Yeah, I legit need one tonight, man.”

“Ya said ya were quitting.”

Sooraj turned to his left at me and took the vape. “Fuck that, man.”