Trinkets

twelve

˗ˏˋ faint smiles and gentle reassurance 'ˎ˗

➷

Convinced that she isn't going to feel down for at least the rest of the trip, Mahika lets herself flop back on the bed, sighing at the ceiling in contentment.

She almost had reality slapped into her head when Amoli had let go of her hand as soon as the attention of the camera wasn't on them, and avoided her eyes after. But they had somehow ended up in the same car, and if the light, permanent dusting of pink on Amoli's cheeks was anything to go by, Mahika would say she was just embarrassed.

"You sure you don't want to join Naina and I in the garden?" Keerti asks, standing by the bed and looking down at Mahika as she works on tying her hair up in a bun.

Mahika shakes her head. "I'm going to call Dhruv for a bit."

"Okay," she sings, turning around, and adding, "If you change your mind, come find us downstairs" when she's at the door. Mahika nods, thankful that Keerti doesn't ask her to just bring her laptop with her instead.

Mahika might be close to all of her friends, but she shares a special bond with Dhruv and Naina. They all know that and respect it, and Mahika couldn't be more grateful.

She pushes herself out of the bed to grab her laptop from the bedside table, looking around the room while she waits for Dhruv to pick up. The walls are lined with paintings that Akash had told them were all done by indie, small-scale artists by his mother's demands, and there's an undeniable ambiance they bring to the room that adds to its serene air.

There's no way she isn't going to miss this place.

Absolutely no way that she wakes up in her own room once they all go back home and doesn't think about the little windchime by the large, curtained windows that fills this room with sweet tinkles every morning when the air touches it with its cool fingertips.

This place has made Mahika realize that she could feel high from happiness.

She's certainly feeling it right now.

Which is probably why when Dhruv's face appears on the screen, his hand already raised in greeting, Mahika doesn't think too much — or at all, really — when she tries to clear her face of the nervousness that's beginning to bubble in her stomach and says, "Hi, Dhruv. How are you? I like women."

She had said it as a half-joke, half-attempt at 'casually' coming out to him because she already knew that the one person in the world that she could trust to not be homophobic was Dhruv. The only reason why she hadn't told him before was because she didn't think it was important. It still isn't as important, but she needs to talk about Amoli before her chest explodes with all of the words she's been keeping trapped inside it.

Dhruv, being Dhruv, raises his eyebrows at her, but the expression stays on his face for a total of two seconds before he replies, in a tone just as blank as hers, "Hi, Mahi. I'm okay, and you? I'm asexual."