New Beginnings

4- Meeting the new family

I tried my best to converse with my Aunt but as minutes passed by, looking at her face was getting more and more unbearable.

Muttering an excuse, I stopped the conversation and looked out of the window. She sighed but didn't protest.

Instead of seeing the scenery outside, my mind showed me the images of the past.

Dad loved trains and used to travel in them, just for fun. He always said that trains and buses of India were equal to the rides of amusement parks. Though he never got on a train when it was peak time or else he would definitely get crushed by the regular passengers.

Sometimes he even took me with him, much to the annoyance of Mom. She would never even dream about travelling in train.

She was a typical rich lady. Loved designer clothes, fancy cars. Even our mansion was of her choice.

Though their likes were poles apart, both of them were understanding. They truly loved each other and respected each other's quirks.

A smile came upon my face thinking about them. Soon that smile vanished when I remembered that they weren't beside me to make more such memories.

Don't know how, but the long ride seemed so short when I was remembering them. We soon reached our station.

After getting down from the train, I asked my Aunt if she hired a cab.

To which she replied, "Rajveer is coming to pick us."

I nodded. Having no idea about how he looked, I stood there silently while Aunt kept looking here and there for him.

"Oh! here he comes. Veer, we are here." She started yelling, waving her hands crazily.

People turned towards her after hearing her voice and I just felt like hiding somewhere out of embarrassment.

Uncle came towards us, slightly shaking his head and smiling widely, probably entertained by Aunt's actions. He hugged Aunt and then forwarded his hand towards me for a handshake.

I awkwardly shook his hand and greeted him politely, hoping to make a good impression as they were going to my guardians from now on.

We resumed walking. Both of them started talking animatedly while I walked silently behind them.

Not seeing his car, I asked him, "Have you parked your car, somewhere else?"

The place was empty for the most part, I didn't think there was any need to park elsewhere but still asked him out of curiosity.

"We don't own a car. Actually we don't even need one, seeing that everything here is in walking distance," he replied with an awkward smile.

I just gave him a small smile in response whereas I was screaming in my mind.

If everything was near, then that just meant one thing - there wasn't much here.

Just as he said, we reached their house in few minutes.

Looking at the house was enough to make me sweat in horror. No, it wasn't horrible or anything.With a grayish, light blue paint, the house gave out the peaceful vibes. Not to mention about the small green side that surrounded the porch area. Actually the house was really beautiful. I would have cooed and awwed at it, if not for the fact that five people were supposed to live in it. It wasn't even 1/4 th size of my mansion.

Just as we rang the doorbell, the door was opened by a shirtless guy. I quickly closed my eyes while Aunt screamed at him to go inside and wear a shirt.

I so knew things like this were gonna happen, the moment Aunt told me that she was a mother of two boys. It may seem overacting to others as he was my brother, but I had never met him so brother or not, he was still a stranger. Plus I had never encountered a shirtless guy, so my reaction was justified.

Aunt muttered a sorry and we all stood in the living room.

The guy came down from his room, this time wearing a shirt, along with a mirror. Well not really a mirror, but along with his twin who looked exactly the same.

We all sat on the couch in the living room and introduced ourselves, albeit awkwardly. I felt better knowing that I wasn't the only person who was feeling awkward.

From the introduction, I came to know that the shirtless guy was Rishi while the other twin was Raghav.

"Come Trisha, I will show you around the house," Aunt said with a smile.

Not wanting to sound rude, I agreed. Although there wasn't much to see anyways.

The whole house was visible from the living room itself. On the left was kitchen. The dining table was strategically placed as it was placed in middle of kitchen and living room,dividing the rooms. On the right was a closed door, probably a bedroom and there was another room upstairs from where the twins came down.

After the short tour, Uncle told Aunt and I to freshen whereas the other three would start with dinner preparations as everyone was famished.

Even though the house was small, it wasn't stuffy. They had organized it quite well. Now the only tension in my mind was where would I sleep, seeing they only had two rooms. Hopefully, not on the floor.

Shrugging my thoughts, I freshened up and went to join the others in the kitchen.

"Can I help with something?" I asked, not wanting to look like a freeloader.

"Oh yes!" Rishi agreed looking relieved to have some help.

His happiness didn't stay long as Uncle interjected, "No she won't be helping today."

While turning towards me, he said, "You must be tired from the journey. Go and relax for a while, dinner is almost ready."

Nodding, I went and sat on the couch. I could see Rishi and Uncle arguing, from where I sat, told you the whole house was visible at one glance. Thinking their fight wasn't any of my business, I turned my attention elsewhere.

Looking here and there, I wasted my time until they called me for dinner.

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