Amaira's POV:

The return journey from Ghatandevi Mandir took an hour more because we halted in between for lunch. After lunch, Aayan took the initiative to drive while Reyansh Sat in the front seat and me, along with Manvi, were at the back. It was a silent journey, with soft music playing inside the car.

The vibes of the temple gave off a different type of positive energy, which instantly charged the soul.

Coming back to the farmhouse, we all went to our respective rooms. Me and Manvi freshened up and decided to take a nap, as today we woke up earlier than usual.

After taking a nap, which turned out to be a proper 2 hours of sleep, we woke up fresh and energetic. We freshened up and went downstairs, where Aayan and Reyansh were playing video games on the large TV placed in the main room.

We sat on the side couch enjoying their funny banter. I took a quick glance at Reyansh to find him smiling wide with his eyes fixed on the game.

"WOHOOOOOO I WONNN" Aayan almost screamed his lungs, startling all of us.
As they were again engrossed in the gaming session, I arose from the couch and made my way out of the house.

I went straight to the seating arrangement in lawn that was made at the corner, which faces sunset.

As it was the start of June, the weather was windy, indicating the approach of mansoon season. I sat on one of the chairs, plugged in my earpods, and sat there listening to my favorite playlist.

Time passed by, and when I checked, it was already seven thirty. I made my way inside, and to my surprise, no one was there in the main room. I thought they were all in the actual gaming room but found no one over there, so I returned back towards our room.

There they were, Aayan and Manvi, engrossed in watching something together with earpods plugged to their ears. I went near them only to find them watching something on Aayans phone.

I waved my hand infront of them to gain their attention, and they looked up at me. "What are you both watching?" I asked, taking a seat on the bed.

"Laapata ladies," said Aayan, and I replied with an 'Oh', "without me?" I wanted to ask so badly, but I didn't.

I gave them a smile, which was not my usual one because I faked it. Them enjoying their time together is not my problem, but them watching a movie we all decided to watch together and not bothering even to ask me if I wanted to watch it or not hurts me.

It's not the first time, this movie thing has repeated over a third time now; every time we decide to watch a movie together, and then I get the news of them watching it without me.

I blinked my eyes as fast as I could to stop the tears because, at the moment, I felt left out. I asked them about Reyansh's whereabouts and got to know that he was out to get us dinner.

I nodded my head and turned to leave when Manvi called out my name and asked me if I wanted to join them, but I shaked my head in negative and went out immediately.

As I headed towards the main room, looking nowhere but down and feeling the heavy emotions take over me, which I wanted to brush off, I saw Reyansh coming inside the house.

I made my way on the couch and sat there scrolling through my phone, probably just pretending to, because right now I am not in a state of mind to have a talk with anyone. I saw him keeping the dinner in the kitchen and coming towards the couch with a glass of water in his hand.

I pretended as if he wasn't anywhere near when he sat on the couch and drank the water; I didn't even look up at him. Why am I doing this with him? He is not at fault. I didn't want to burst out my hurt and anger at him, so I kept quiet.

"Um, hey, what's up?" he asked. "Nothing," I said, not taking my gaze off of the phone. "Reading a novel?" He asks, and I just nod my head in the negative.

"Where are Aayan and Manvi?" He asked, and I took a long breath before answering. "They are watching a movie in our room."  "So you don't like watching movies?, Why are you sitting alone? I thought just as much as books, you also might be liking movies,"  he asked, and I shut my eyes, trying to calm me down.

I wanted to scream, "They didn't invite me," but I cannot. Even though this was hurtful for me, it might not be for the world. He might laugh at me if I say anything like that.

"I love watching movies," I said in a low voice, now looking at him; his eyes met mine. "Then, why aren't you watching it today?"

"Not in mood," I lied.

"Mood swings?" He asked,

and I chuckled internally, nodding my head and saying no. "Let's go, then it's already 8:30 pm, let's arrange the food, so we will get more time to play housie today and also we have to go to our next location tomorrow," he said, rising up from the couch.

I kept my phone aside and walked behind him to help him. His being around me did help me get out of the zone I was in before. And I let go of the thoughts. Aayan and Manvi came downstairs, and we all had our dinner.

The Next Day

We reached the Vihigaon waterfall, which was quite near the farm house. Surrounded by greenery, the water cascades from heights. It is definitely a tourist attraction because there were a lot of people enjoying the view, some even swimming and enjoying themselves in the water. The locals were instructing everyone not to go deep inside near the waterfall and enjoy it from afar because it was rainy season, even though it hadn't rained much yet in cities, but here, the case was different.

The stones were covered with algae, and it was all slippery, so we skipped the risk of actually going inside the water; instead, we sat on the stones, dipping our legs in the water, and enjoyed the view.

It was a short trip day as we returned home early. We had our lunch at one of the local restaurants, and the authentic taste was too awesome. The short little trip wasn't much hectic, and even though no one was tired as such, we decided to play some indoor games.

We first played mendicoat, which is basically a game of cards. As time progressed, we moved on to ludo, snake and ladders, and chor chitti. These games remind me of my childhood. It was a really good time.

We decided to play a game called 'answer me' where we have to write some random questions with the names of the player who is writing them, for example, 'What is my favorite color?, manvi' on the cheats, and all the cheats will be mixed up so that the players have to answer such questions by picking one cheat, and if the answer is correct, he'll gain points; if it is incorrect, he'll have to do some task; and at the end, the winner will be rewarded by the party given by the rest of the players.

The game was pretty simple and fun. We made cheats and added them to a big bowl. The round started with Manvi, followed by Aayan, Amaira, and Reyansh. The two rounds passed by, and until now, cheats with my name has been picked up by Manvi, and the answers were always correct.

As the third round began, Aayan picked up the cheat and got my name in it. I was excited to see if anyone other than Manvi actually knows my preferences, and I wanted him to answer it correctly.

After all, I call him my best friend, and he should know me until now. The way I know them both inside and out makes me feel happy.

The cheat says,"My favorite rom-com movie any one, Amaira." He reads out and replies with 'Hasee to Phasee', "Hey, its my favorite; her favorite is Ramaiya Vastavaiya heina Amaira",Manvi says and looks at me for confirmation.

The smile that was playing on my lips until I hear the answer has been replaced by a knowing smile of my place in his life. "He doesn't want you now; he loves Manvi, and she is his priority", My inner mind reminded me, and tears made their way into my eyes, but I was quick enough to blink them off.

"Oh yes, sorry, I totally forgot that," Aayan replied with a smile, as if it's the most normal statement he has ever stated, because I have literally spoken about Ramaiya Vastavaiya more than 100 times with him now, and he forgot.

I just nodded my head, and the game continued. It wasn't the same now, not the game or my relationship with Aayan; he made me feel left out and unwanted not only for one time, but for many since the day he told me about his liking for Manvi.

I stood, excusing myself to washroom. As I entered the bathroom, tears streamed down my face, and I didn't bother to stop them. I tried not to cry out aloud; I don't want any sympathy.

There was a knock on the door as if Manvi understood the way I left the place. She was here calling out my name. I tried to control my sobs, my throat aching. I washed my face, calmed myself, and opened the door.

She engulfed me in a hug as soon as I stepped out. We stayed in the tight embrace for a good 2 minutes. She didn't ask me anything but just hug me, and the relief washed over my chest. It was overwhelming how she knew me so well.

"Are you good now?" she asked me, placing a palm on her right cheek. I nodded with a faint smile.

"You go ahead, I'll be back in some time," she said. "Okay," I replied and turned to leave the room.

"Amaira, Aayan has feelings for me, right?" Manvi said, and I stopped in my tracks.

To be continued...

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