Up In The Air |✅|

A Memory That Was To Stay

Akanksha Thakur was frustrated.

'But I'm pretty sure he already has many pens.' She argued as she set down a shiny bodied Parker, 'Moreover, you're already giving him one.'
'I thought nerds liked pens. Moreover, he's a writer.' Shweta added.
'He's not a nerd.' Akanksha shot.
'Ooh, look at you. Being all defensi—'
'Shut up, Shweta and help me. If this goes on, I'll have to go to school empty handed tomorrow and—'
'Yeah, yeah. That's the seventh time you've said that today.'
'Whatever.' Akanksha walked out of the store.
They were at the mall and as promised, Akanksha had helped Shweta buy her gift for Karan. But now it was her turn to choose something and they had spent two hours already but could find nothing suitable.

'It's so hard to find a suitable gift for boys!' Akanksha remarked as the two walked through the mall, glancing reproachfully at the shops around them.
'I know, right? If this was for a girl, we would've been done already!' Shweta said.
The two sighed as they continued their hunt for the perfect gift.

As they walked, Akanksha's eyes strayed over to a store at the far corner of the particular floor they were roaming and a thought struck her.
She smiled. She knew just what she was gonna get him.

The well awaited day arrived and as soon as Karan stepped inside the class, he was greeted enthusiastically, if not a bit over enthusiastically, by the three friends.
'Happy birthday, Karan/kid!' Shweta and Kashish cheered in unison.
'Happy birthday.' Akanksha shook his hand and Karan smiled broadly.
'Ah, the glory of being the birthday boy.' Kashish said.
'You and your drama.' Karan shook his head slowly.

Gradually, the other students walked up and wished him too. And obviously, the ritual wouldn't be complete without the class teacher initiated, off key "Happy birthday to you!" class chorus.

It was during the recess, when Karan received his gifts.
'Okay, I didn't think I'd get so many though.' He said, when he already had seven wrapped boxes of different shapes stacked inside his desk.
'So obviously you can't not expect a gift from us.' Shweta said as she handed him the Parker she'd wrapped carefully in shiny blue gift wrap.
'Woah, this must've costed you.' He said, 'Thanks, I love this.'
'Hah!' Shweta said triumphantly, addressing Akanksha who merely smiled.
Kashish handed him a book,
'Um, "Hundred And One Ways To Avoid Being A Dummy"?' Karan said questioningly.
'What? It's foolproof.' Kashish said and Shweta couldn't stop laughing till they dragged her out of the classroom and over to the benches near the fields—the signature place for talking and eating in the recess.

'Where's my gift from you?' Karan asked Akanksha like a little child, looking at her expectantly.
'Here, here.' Akanksha produced a flat wrapped gift and handed it over nonchalantly.
'Oh, a CD.' Kashish said, looking over Karan's shoulder, 'Wait... two?'
The first CD had the best hits of Arijit Singh with "Channa Mereya" on top of the playlist.
Karan's eyes glittered as he smiled kindly.
'But what's the second one for?' He asked.
'It's an empty CD.' Akanksha said, 'For storing the songs that you will sing and record.'
Karan glanced at her for one shy second.
'Thanks, Akanksha Thakur.'

They had a mini party near the benches, where the other students joined in too eventually and they all had the homemade cake Shweta had got, singing for and wishing Karan every few minutes.
By the time, school was over, Karan's mood had gone twenty floors down the elevator. And none of the three friends could help but think, jokingly or not, that Karan was becoming tearful because he had great friends.

'Let's all walk home together today.' Shweta initiated, pulling Kashish along.
'But aren't your houses far away from the route we follow?' Karan asked the two.
'No big deal! It's just for today anyway.' Shweta said, waving a hand and Kashish shrugged, 'We can turn around from the Sagar Railing.'
'Oh yeah, that's a nice idea.' Karan agreed.
The four embarked on their journey.