1.1 | Milkshakes For Sale

10 | nutella

⋆ ——————— shaurya ⋮ ⋆

I rolled to my side, rubbing my eyes and stifling a yawn. My eyes squinted to find Sitara but in her place, her peach-coloured socks lay discarded in the most twisted way possible. I assumed she must have gone somewhere. 

Sitara lied to her parents that she was staying at her friend’s and came here instead. We had video-called my sister and ended up talking to her for an hour. Amara was more than happy to do so since she didn’t have anyone to talk to. Both of them had talked about marriage and somewhere in the middle of the saree discussion, I had dozed off. I woke up once when Sitara accidentally knocked the bowl on the bedside table when she fumbled for the switches. Then I'd gone back to sleep. 

I grabbed my phone to check my messages. I frowned at the mail titled RESPOND ASAP and went through the issues the company’s website was facing. I was trying to understand the root of the problem when Sitara’s voice came from inside the bathroom. 

“Shaurya?” She called. “Are you awake?”  She knocked on the door from inside.
 
I stood up from the bed and padded to the bathroom. “What’s wrong?” I asked, standing just outside the door. 

“By any chance, do you think there might be pads here? Maybe in your mother’s room?” She asked. 

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“I just got my period and I didn’t bring any with me,” she said, a little frustrated at the situation.

“Okay, don’t panic. I’ll go get it from the store, okay?” I said. She told me the brand’s name and a few specifications. “Will you be alright in here?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’ll just take a shower. Can you pass me the clothes from that tote bag?”

I fumbled through the bag and took the set of clothes she had clearly stuffed inside hastily. I passed it to her.

“I’ll be back before you are done, okay? Do you need anything else?”

“Heat patches if there’s any available,” she said.

“Okay.”

“And Shaurya?”

“Yes?”

“I love you,” She said and I smiled, leaving the room and grabbing my keys. 

When I was in school, girls would sneak pads from their bags into their pockets and rush to the bathroom. Or when they stained their pants, they would lower the strap of their school bags so that the stain wouldn’t show. We boys knew what it was but no one ever dared to comment on it. It was almost like a banned topic of discussion for both the genders.  

At home, it was exactly the opposite. Ma casually discussed it with Amara in front of me. In the beginning, I would get out of the room whenever the topic came, feeling embarrassed. But when once, Ma forced me to go buy pads for my sister, I had no other choice. I would never forget the look on the shopkeeper’s face when I asked for it. He had smirked at me. I felt so disgusted that I told Ma I wouldn’t go again. 

But she sat me down and explained how there was nothing to be embarrassed about. ‘It is normal,’ Ma had said. After that day, I didn’t mind the period talk anymore nor was I ashamed to get what my sister needed. I never cringed at the word periods, or forced myself to look away when someone slipped a pad to someone else. It didn't phase me anymore. Ma had made sure of that. 

Never had I imagined that that small thing which Ma imprinted in me would catch a girl’s attention and then bridge the way to develop a special bond between us. I was glad that Sitara didn’t have to hide anything from me or turn all shy to talk about it. And I knew that's what the ‘I love you’ she had said was for.