Unavoidable Events in One's Life

I woke up to the alarm ringing in the background as usual and rubbing my eyes the first thing I check is my calendar. It became more of a habit over time rather than an obligation to start the day and get things going. My hands stilled on my eyes as they darted across the screen and read the event highlighted in blood-red colour. My heart skipped a beat and leaped out of the bed. Shit, shit, shit... the words ricocheted in my head. I have been dreading about the day for the past three weeks or maybe even before that and when the day has finally arrived I feel like a child on his first day at school, unprepared and full of anxiety butterflies.

I stilled my breath and patted my heart a few times before getting ready for work. It didn't take much of an effort given that I did the activity daily. My mind, on the other hand, went every possible way and roamed the land of past memories like a free school. I came with all sorts of ideas when I thought of tonight and shuddered at every possible mishappening. I breathed among the crowd pf people on a subway train as I travelled back in time and recalled the first day of senior year. For some reason, high school never reaches its ripen age before this particular year and we, me and my two other friends, welcomed the sight with open hearts.

Lavender Public School was an average and normal school in every way normal and average could be but it changed as the school trembled with one last echo from the senior batch of 2010. My lips curved into a lopsided grin as I recalled the highlight of my senior year and no, it is not prom or spring/winter dance. My mind landed back in time when my phone pinged in my pocket.

Chico, ready for tonight.

The text was followed by an emoji with a stuck-out tongue. I shook my head at that.

Yeah. What about the others? I replied.

Dude, don't u ever open the group chat!!! I don't.

I didn't reply and another text flashed on the screen. anyways, I heard Amina is gonna be there... are you excited rrrrrr;)))

Amina, the name never fails to make my heart skip a beat. I like every other boy in my grade and two grades below held her somewhere in my heart and more so in my mind and like every other loser, I never dared to approach her. My heart fluttered even after ten years.

The day went by like a breeze and entered the dawn as my pant-suit got replaced by formal-casual wear for the reunion party. Vivek arrived ahead of time and picked me up and on our way, we took ahold of the third member in the trio, Aisha. Vivek unlike my rooted and bland self resonated excitement and thrill. People felt drawn towards him and if there is any slight popularity I received in my school it was either due to Vivek's personality or Aisha's alarmingly pretty looks. Aisha's brother Raj, was our senior which more than terrified the juniors to make as a move onto her. Her brother beat the shit out of one of his classmates when he started to gossip about Aisha and another senior at school. Raj didn't spare the rumoured senior. I happened to live in the same colony as Aisha and Raj, we grew old together and later when Vivek joined our duo things turned a little problematic for all of us but in a way we always knew we were meant to be together.

Hello, losers! Aisha cheered. I remembered how Vivek entered our lives in middle school as immediately earned the title of a troublemaker. He and I shared the same desk since his roll number was after mine and the guy never once kept his mouth shut. He irked teachers both male and female the same and as a result, he was often spotted standing outside the class with arms raised above his head and a shameless smile sporting on his diamond-shaped face. The girls gushed over his bad-boy attitude but Vivek never spared them a look. His eyes were fixed on someone specific after all. Vivek asked out Aisha a few months later we bonded as a group but Aisha turned him down. It took more than several stitches and few fists, a lot of crying on both Aisha and Vivek's part and a major school accident for our trio to become one again.

The school building changed like the lines on our aged faces and new wings were built just like the wrinkles beside our twinkling and curious eyes. I see faces old and new and greeted the teachers we remembered and friends we spent unforgettable years of my life.

We should check out the science lab...Aisha suggested innocently. I wanted to argue but agreed nonetheless. What worse could happen that the past? I thought to myself.

It took me a few minutes to recall the accident as I looked at the white-washed walls and renovated bars and podiums. The pungent smell of sulphuric acid mixed in the air-filled my senses and a faint hint of ash rewired my brain.

You remember? Vivek asked. How could I not? I nodded.

We were so stupid. Vivek snorted. I didn't disagree. We are still in fact a lot like our past selves, less destructive and impulsive maybe but still as stupid and stubborn as our fifteen-year-old selves.

The fire almost killed you both. Aisha added silently. Her face wore a look of remorse as she blamed herself for the incident once again. It happened because of her, that is right but it was me and Vivek who decided to have the damn fight in the science lab. It happened a few days after his proposal to Aisha and by some illogical reason of his, he proved in his head that it was me who came between him and Aisha. He kept his underlying jealousy for days as me and Aisha cam to school together and went back to the home together, the guy needs to take a hind and understand that we were basically neighbours and happened to be going to the same place. He decided to give me a piece of his mind and tell him to stay away from his girl. He cornered me in the science lab and pushed me inside the room as the hall cleared out. The argument started out as small but it soon but little jabs and pushes turned into fists and punches in no time and it took less than a minute for either of us to collide with the bottles of acid sitting on the shelf of the lab room.

The flames turned into a blaze with both of us clutching one another's shirts by the collars, another firing burning in our eyes. Aisha rushed into the room at right time and slapped some sense in our minds but while pushing us out of the room, the lower side of her arm got burned with the acid lying on one of the counters but what happened to the lab room was incomparable to our scars and burns. The school was evacuated instantly and our parents were called the next day. After multiple warnings and bone-chilling lectures, we were given a week's suspension and with heavy hearts, we went back to our separate ways only for Aisha to stop us by the parking lot and requesting our parents to give us some privacy. They listened to Aisha for some reason, maybe because the poor girl got burned to save her two best-friends or maybe because they thought we were parting ways and it was our final goodbyes.

Aisha didn't run in circles and cut straight to the point. 'Vivek, you are egoistic for thinking that you own me' Vivek snarked but Aisha has just started. 'I am not yours to own and you,' she pointed at me. 'you are stupid for thinking that I cannot look out for myself. My brother never understood it but I expected better from you. I can take care of myself and you don't need to fight other people for me, especially your own friend. I don't know what madness overtook your empty brains but I am not becoming a toy in your stupid love and power game. I want nothing from either of you if ownership is all you want from this friendship.'

Her back turned towards us as she drifted away from us with glistening eyes.

'Sorry' 'Sorry' we both echoed at the same time. Aisha halted in her footsteps but didn't look back. I didn't waste another second before making the run but Vivek had the same thought in his head too. Our shoes created friction against the cemented floor as we ran towards the girl standing in front of us and facing us with her back. My lips wore a sated smile and from the corner of my eyes, I noticed wetness in Vivek's eyes. My foot slowed and my heart paced non-linear as I relaxed my muscles and looked at the pair from a short distance but it felt like I was miles away from the two. My hesitation took the best of me as the envied the smiled sporting on Aisha and Vivek's faced but all doubts withered away like snow on the arrival for sun when Aisha turned towards me and shouted.

'Do you need an invitation now?'