Heartstrings (HIATUS)

As both of us stand leaning against the cold railing of the balcony, silence reigns upon us. The city light blur ahead of me as my eyes fill up with tears. I usually prefer the silence. It brings calmness to my mind, a sense of sanity. But this one? It is maddening. It lets a storm of thoughts enter my mind. Images of what could've happened; of what can still happen flash across my inner eye. It terrorises me. Haunts me, letting a sole drop of tear run down my cheek. I wipe it away immediately. Even though he looks straight ahead in the distance at the night sky hovering over the city lights, with a side glance he notices it. I'm trying to hide my tears. On other occasions, he would do anything for me to shut up but right then, I know he wants me to say anything. Anything at all. A word, at least. The silence stretches infinitely, tension in the air becoming thicker and thicker with each passing second. After what

Mayra's POV:Dawn breaks sooner than I like. My body's biological clock prevents me from sleeping further so I throw away the lazy thoughts and get ready for the first day of Grade Eleven—Junior Year. Correction– My first day. The others have been there for a week. I guess that explains my nervousness? I make my way down the staircase and into the dining room where the smell of parathas greet me along with the soft patter of raindrops against the glass windowpanes. I immediately understand what the latter means—a gloomy day and hence a gloomy me. I hate monsoons. Surprisingly, I find a familiar figure sitting on one of the chairs lazily feasting on one large paratha and scream in delight. "Coffee!" I yell happily and embrace my elder sister in a back hug. She frowns at the nickname but then smiles. "When did you return?" I ask, "I thought you weren't go

Tania's POV:Mr Murthy keeps blabbering constantly about Laws of Motion while I struggle to keep my eyes open. They drift close every two seconds and I pinch myself repeatedly to stay awake. "If P is equal to zero, the block may slide downwards with an acceleration a," He mutters, pointing the ruler in his hand at a figure he has drawn over the while board. I lazily move the pen in my hand over the page, silently hoping Raina is taking notes. I'm not too worried though, since I know Ahaan will share his notes with me like he always does.Halfway through, my mind gives up and I sleep. He doesn't care anyways—half the class snores as he keeps gliding the chalk against the board, humming a song that drives everyone into a deep slumber. Suddenly, I'm shaken up by my bench-mate Raina. She whispers into my ear, "Wake up, the old man is asking questions." I stifle a

Tania's POV:This is not the first time I've found myself in such a situation. We've all been there and by 'we', I mean Ahaan, Aditya, Raina and me. Aadhya just doesn't hold with such nonsense.I'm not sure who among us started these pranks but if I'm to bet my money on someone—hypothetically, of course—it'd be Ahaan. He's perpetually been the unruly student; never bending to any norms, doing as he pleases. And often this intractable behavior of his has put him into trouble. Like today.Please understand this—our pranks are completely harmless. We may have annoyed a ton of people but never practically harmed any of them. It's all about fun. People watch the prank videos we post, have a laugh and forget about them in a while. And not many really go up and complaint about us. But there have been a few cases as mentioned before.As I stand leaning against t