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A loud horn blared.

Sona jumped out of her skin, the book in her hand miserably hitting her face as it fell back on her chest. The train was going to start moving soon and many people were still filling into the compartments. While Sona nursed her sore nose her best friend Tarni laughed at her.

"You look so stupid right now," she snorted, stuffing a large chip into her mouth and chewing it obnoxiously. She had crumbles covering her whole mouth, her fingers stained orange from the masala she had yet to lick off.

"You look beautiful," Sona remarked sarcastically as she held her book back above, stretching her legs as she engrossed herself back into the fantasy world.

"Do you really think you should be reading like that?" Tarni lifted the corner of her lip in ridicule as she crunched down another chip.

Sona groaned, getting up from the seat, she rotated towards her. "Can't I even read in peace?"

Her friend snorted, jerking her neck to the side and making her short hair sway. The way she did her hair flips really worried Sona, she just wished she didn't get a muscle cramp or worst actually break her neck by the way she kept yanking it. "Who said there was peace here? Who is selling it? Can you see it anywhere?"

Tarni's snarky words were greeted with an eye roll and then the disappearance of her chips packet. She shrieked dramatically, her orange coated lips parted as she moved forward to snatch back that was rightfully hers. But Sona had already munched down on a chip that made Tarni wail more.

"What is happening here?!"

The curtains of the compartment was pulled open by a bespectacled woman. Her wrinkled face contoured more as she saw the two girls, with pursed lips she said, "Tarni and Sona, can you not keep quiet and maintain conduct? The train is going to move soon. Also, I see there are only two people here, I will send students who still haven't found seats."

When the woman was out of earshot Tarni was the one to show her aggravation. "What the fuck, yaar! This Rimple ma'am is too much. She is so annoying!"

"Did you expect that only we will share a compartment?" Sona acted like she was talking to a child. Her best friend in response only shrieked to let out her frustration, shaking her head side to side rapidly with her fist clenched.

Sona moved back to her book and Tarni started gobbling her chips again. When she started munching loudly Sona couldn't help pursing her chaste lips, glaring at her with her brown eyes. She blew a strand of her hair out of her face in exasperation and shut the book with a loud thud.

"Tar—"

The bubbled up yell was cut off when the curtains were pulled again. This time it wasn't one person but a bunch of boys. Both the girls knew them, they were on the same campus after all. Though Sona didn't even bother greeting them, Tarni shot up from her seat, running her masala fingers through her hair subconsciously as she smiled.

"Hey, Vikrant," her long eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly.

The said boy gave her a crooked grin, the one she died for. One could practically see the hearts forming in her eyes and bursting thereafter, leaving a hue of fair dust over her as she still gave a masala covered smiled.

"Were you eating puffcorn?" he laughed.

She stupidly laughed back, "How did you know?"

"It's all over here," he pointed at his mouth. "Well, looks like all of us won't fit in here though. See you later!"

Sona bursted out laughing, clutching her stomach, her screwed her eyes shut as if someone was actually tickling her. Her arched eyebrows come together as she contoured her face in mirth, but soon after she started coughing and had to pump in her inhaler.

"What the fuck?" Tarni looked at her like she was a hyena, who seemed to have gained her source of comedy from absolutely nowhere. She was dabbling on her lips with the back of her hand continuously thinking that Vikrant seemed to notice small things about her, that made her give a dreamy sigh.

"He is in love with me. . . ." she touched her forehead with her masala fingers.

"Ay!" Sona exclaimed, "Stop this dreaming! If he was in love with you why would he not sit here with us?"

"Because he doesn't want to be obvious!" her reply was instant.

"No! The real reason is that he probably got scared by the way you look!" More laughter followed after her words.

Tarni's eyes widened, she took out her compact mirror to only scream in horror. Her lips were covered in orange masala, there was masala on her cheek and on her nose and also on her fingers. Some of the masala was even in her hair.

"Miss. Tarni! Do you want to get off the train right now?"

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"No Sona! Shut the fuck up! Don't give me those eyes and get the fuck away from me!" Tarni's incessant cursing stung Sona's ears but she still clung onto her as she walked back to their compartment from the restroom. The moving train was making it hard for them to keep their balance and thus as Tarni took help of the rods, Sona clutched her jacket from behind.

"I am sorry! Don't take revenge on me!"

She snorted, "Of course I have to get you back. Will I be known as Tarni Singh if I don't?"

Sona groaned, she knew this Tarni Singh sure kept her word and now she had said it she had to be ready for the disaster that would soon come. She had to make sure that she didn't leave her books unattended because that was only think she targeted. Her poor books. It wasn't like they did anything to her, right?

The banter between the two friends was always rather funny, they had weird ways of getting back to each other and making up to each other. Sona remembered that once she had deliberately left early at a party Tarni had forced her to go to, and the next morning she was awaken with party music blasting in their dorm room. Nevertheless to say, the other two girl living with them weren't happy at all.

"Don't even think you will touch your books on this trip," Tarni gave her a deviously grin, all her teeth on display as she pushed open their compartment curtains.

Sona shuddered, already feeling cold from the changing weather of the coming Shimla and the changing Tarni. Zipping up her jacket she lunged into her seat and hurriedly put her books away, Tarni who sat opposite to her gave an evil laugh.

Now their compartment was filled with more four girls. Rimple ma'am had in the end sent people their way, very loud and gossipy people at that. Sona didn't really know anyone other than Priya, who unfortunately was great friends with Tarni. So when she saw them whispering she thought the worst, where they planning to attack her together? That made her eyes enlarge abnormally as she looked out the window. Finally she decided to eavesdrop, leaning forward on her knees oh-so-naturally that her hand almost slipped.

"Did you see Vikrant on the way?" Priya whispered, cupping her mouth.

"Yes!" Tarni's eyes were sorrowful. "I just hope he isn't still laughing at me!"

Seeing that she wasn't the source of their talk Sona tuned them off, falling back into the wide seat that was now cramped. She didn't bother talking to the newcomers as she fished out her phone, her data was still not working properly.

But she heard them whispering, in fact whispering a certain name that sounded so much like Abhay Singh.

Sona turned away, trying to close her ears as she kept refreshing the page only for it to display the error message. But she was on her toes, she had just published a new poem on her blog and she wanted to see the response. She was very sensitive when it came to her poetry, she wrote it with everything she had. With all the love she had for Abhay.

The place where she published them was ThePenPlaza, it was an app specially for poetry and she had stumbled on it years ago when she was 15. As a growing teen it was hard for her to control her attraction to her best friend's brother, especially when they didn't even talk properly so she sought to pen down her feelings to people who didn't know her. She felt a little stuffy in the chest and took a shot of her inhaler.

"Are you okay?" Tarni's voice was filled with concern. Now all the attention seemed to be on her and she blushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah," she tucked her hair behind her ear and continued fidgeting on her phone, the stuffy feeling from her chest was still not going away.

"You are Abhay Singh's sister, right?" Sona was stuck by lightning when the girl with cat eyes touched her shoulder. A queasy feeling built up in her throat as horror painted her face.

"No, I am not!" What could be worst than someone assuming you were the sister of the person who you were in love with?

"I am," Tarni raised an eyebrow, her arms crossed into the 'Typical Tarni' stance which only meant one thing : her inner bitch was out. Sona sighed, her inner bitch was always out when anyone talked about her brother, she was very protective of him even though he was older. Sona knew how much she loved him, and she never talked about him in front of her and she never said anything about him either like it was a mutual agreement to not talk about him. Even though her best friend had no clue that she was in love with him, she just assumed she disliked him for how rude he had been to her years ago.

"Oh," the girl looked at her with a big smile. "Abhay and I are just in the same section this semester. If I am right, you are still in first year?"

"Yes," Tarni flipped her hair as she leaned back into the seat. "Why?"

"Nothing, I was just curious," she said, "After all Abhay is so popular because for his excellent performance, I wanted to know if his sister was the same."

"But didn't he say he said two sisters?" the other senior girl said. "What was the name. . . . . ? Sona? Tanvi?"

"It's Tarni," she corrected them with an eye roll. "And yes, that is Sona and she is my best friend."

Sona felt her heart was going to burst, she pressed her hand on her chest when her breathing turned irregular. She took another shot of inhaler and then another. Feeling the sweat melting from her forehead she could feel the sting in her eyes.

"Oh yeah. . . I heard she had asthma. . . . ."

"Sona? What's wrong?" Tarni came to her side, her eyes itched with worry as she bit on her lip. But Sona didn't want to be here, she wanted to run away. All she could taste in her mouth was bitterness, the foul smell of sadness encasing her. She stood up, almost getting knocked down as the train moved. Holding the rod of the seat she excused herself out and Tarni followed her.

"I just feel so stuffy with so many people," she lied after she stood in the empty corridor. "I'll just be by the area near the restroom to get some air. Don't worry about me, okay?"

Tarni looked hesitant but she let her go in the end. Sona gulped down the knot in her throat as she walked unsteadily, trying to push away her tears. She couldn't cry here. Not in a public place. What if someone saw her?

In the end Sona leaned on the wall near the open door, there was no one present and she was relieved for that. As the harsh air picked up the speed inside the moving train she let her tears fall.

At least now she could just say that something went in her eyes.

"Sona?"

Question : What do you think of the first chapter? Are you intrigued to read what will happen next?

A Challenge : Count the number of times Tarni says 'Fuck' (¬‿¬)

I don't know when I will be updating next but I will try to update every week on Friday :)