Someone Take Me Home

ℍ𝕠𝕞𝕖 - ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝟙

The bustle of the crowds was always a welcome distraction for the students that exited their school, possibly for the last time. Teachers walked back and forth between the various teens that finally completed the first part of their educational journey. Some patted them on their backs, some smiled proudly with no words escaping their lips, and some stopped a few to give a bit more advice. 

A few of the teens, the more traditional ones, went down on their knees, placing their head on the ground in front of their mentors, giving them the respect they deserved. 

A tall raven-haired teen stared out into the rapidly darkening horizon, squinting his eyes and peering down on his phone occasionally. Two other girls and a slightly shorter guy walked up to the raven-head, softly chattering amongst themselves. 

"The Ola's here!! Poorvi, Vaishnavi, Prakash! Stop chit-chatting, the cab's here!!" The tanned teen spoke loudly, catching the attention of not only the three friends, but also of the teachers. 

One of them narrowed her eyes at the male, who started to sweat and immediately turn around and smile awkwardly at the smirking trio. 

"Never mess with us Aditya" Poorvi whispered at the guy who was now getting the glares of more than one teacher. 

Aditya was spared answering when a white car rolled up towards them. Leaning down slightly, he conversed with the driver in Tamil, before nodding to the three to get in. He himself walked to the other side, opened the door to the front seat and climbed in. 

Waving to the rest of their friends, the four turned away and began to talk amongst themselves as the car pulled out onto the main road. 

The past few hours were blindingly intense. Their entire class had just graduated out of twelfth grade, and the school had surprisingly, conducted a farewell ceremony. Surprising, because the current batch they belonged to was one of the most notorious batches the school had ever seen. 

It was an intense evening. It was a bittersweet evening. 

Because, in a class of 54 students, only 53 were present that evening. Only 53 received blessings from their teachers, blessings of a bright future, blessings of a long life, and blessings for a happy one. 

The absence of that one student was never spoken of out loud, but it lingered in the air. 

"So, first stop is Poorvi and Praxs, then Vaishnavi, then me" Aditya said out loud, clarifying their journey to his friends.

"That's gonna take at least two hours for you then right? Are you sure that's fine?" The taller female, Vaishnavi, asked whilst looking mildly concerned. 

"Yeah chill out. Besides, it might storm in the night, so can't have you three waiting for your parents when we can just book an Ola and drive by ourselves" the teen replied, not looking up from his phone. 

The moment the word 'storm' was uttered, the remaining three shuddered, their eyes growing dark to the point where they almost looked paranoid. 

Realising his mistake, the raven-headed boy quickly changed the topic.

"So, has anyone opened their return gifts yet? I know I want to" 

"Nah, I'll open it at home. If i open it here, then I will most definitely lose something" Everyone chuckled at Poorvi's confident declaration. 

"I think I will too. I want to open it with my parents" Vaishnavi said softly, her eyes drooping a little from all the talking she had done in that one evening.

"Then its just you and me buddy. I think i'll open it here" Prakash said, opening the small gift bag that he had been handed by their juniors. Despite not wanting to know what was in the bag, Poorvi leaned over and peered at the contents.