F•R•I•E•N•D•S

F•O•U•R

Ishika

I'm going to let you in on one thing; I LOVE the sun.
It's warm rays, blazing summer days, trips to the beach, surfing; I love them all. It's the very reason why my brown skin is tanner than everyone's in my family.

Ever since I was able to walk, I've been obsessed with the outdoors and did everything in my power to stay outside as long as I possibly could.

Summers were my favorite season though; everything would be noticeably heating up and while everyone would run inside to air conditioning units, I'd run the opposite way and enjoy the great, heated outdoors.

Actually, I had recently came inside from my usual nature walk, to have a morning snack.
I am currently licking my spoon from the remaining yoghurt I finished when my sister enters our room.

"Ishi! Mama wants you gone in five minutes!" Sachee informs me.

We were alternate versions of each other, differing in a few areas.
For instance, her hair is jet black where mine is a deep oak brown, she had meat on her bones in all the right places whereas I was plainly thin.

She was older than me by two years but that didn't change the fact that we were extremely close.

"Sa, tell Mama I'll be right down. I have to do something really quick," I tell her, forgetting about my spoon and searching through my drawers.

"Still believing in superstitions?" She cracks a smile, leaning against the door frame.

"It's what's gotten me this far in the first place. Now shoo!"

She leaves the room, chuckling at my 'weird' traditions but respecting my privacy nonetheless.

Eventually my hands grasp the cool, metal object I was hunting, and pull it out slowly.
A silver cross with imitation diamonds imbedded all over its surface lay in the palm of my hand. Clutching it, I kneel at the door of my bed, hands clasped in prayer.

My parents would literally go bizarre if they found out I was a Christian.
That's one of the cons of being Hindu, or having parents deeply raised in the religion; once you're in, it is a disgrace to leave.

That's why Sachee always shakes her head when I chase after my 'superstitions', my prayers to Jesus, because she believes in gods of her own.
Yet, she doesn't judge me for wanting to leave our religion and for that reason, I love her all the more.

My parents, along with thousands more, choose to believe in the reincarnation of our ancestors and worship them.
That's why we're vegetarians; according to them, they can even reincarnate into an animal. The only 'safe' thing I'm allowed are eggs and tofu.

When I'm done praying, I quickly push on my flats, having already being dressed in a slightly fitted light denim dress.
My parents and all four of my siblings greet me at the front door.

Mama and Papa squeeze every ounce of breathe out of me in a hug before letting go, only to instruct me to call them once I'm there, drive on the right side of the road, no speeding, and all of those parental guidelines.

After them, my triplet brothers come and hug my legs, seeing as they were around that height.

Ishaan, Ved, and Avion all look at me with chocolate colored eyes and squeak out their little 'I love you's".

My brothers were so adorable.

They let me go and Sachee walks me to my car while I enter inside.

"Drive safely mí hermaña," she tells me.

An Indian that can speak fluent Spanish; go figure.

"I will Sa, you know me," I roll my eyes and smile.

She smiles back and taps the car door, signaling her letting me go.

"Love you babe."

"Love you!" I shout, backing out of the garage.

I was just about to shift gears when she calls my name once more.

"And Ishi?"

"Yeah?"

"Find yourself out there," she almost whispers, wearing a serious look.

I knew she was talking about me with Christianity, along with the normal process of finding one's self through college experiences.
I knew she was meaning all of those things with just one look.

"I will." I promise.

And with that resolution in mind, I drive off and down the narrow road, on the way to new horizons and opportunities.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Just a few reminders:

-I am not discriminating against any religion there is out there AT ALL!
I am simply conveying the conflict Ishika is facing, which will play a role as the story plays out. I believe every religion is valued in some way, shape, or form.

-If you would like ANY word pronounced, I'd be very happy to do that for you.

-Here are the nationalities/races of the characters.

*Kennedy -African American
*Everly -American
*Mikayla -Korean
*Ishika -Indian

Technically they are all Americans because they're born here, but that's their indigenous race.

-The story is being told majorly from Kennedy's P.O.V, but will sometimes be switched to the other girls' so we can know what they're feeling as well.

Thank you for giving this story a chance! I hope as you read on you'll be able to feel every emotion of these girls, and also appreciate the ones in your own lives as well!

Until we read again,
MissUnderstood