"Nyra is home!!" I shouted, running toward the gates in hopes to be the first to meet Nyra, my bestest sister. Cuddling the teddy bear close to myself I forced my small feet to run faster.

"Adritaa!!" Nyra got out of the car and ran toward me ignoring her parent's advice to not run so fast.

We met in the middle of our garden with smiles so huge they won't even fit our small faces.

My small hands dropped my favourite teddy bear and moved to hug who used to be my favourite person.

"I have saved all my chocolates for you. And Dad promised to take us on a picnic to whatever place we decide, anywhere in the world! Where do you wanna go?" I rambled, not being able to contain myself.

"Really? Then we will go to Disneyland!! I too have brought all my favourite toys. We will have the best holiday!"

And true to her words we did have the best holiday ever.

Playing all day with our favourite toys, watching television, dressing up like princesses, and then built the best memories of my life on our trip to Disneyland. Our summer holiday was any child's dream and our reality.

Nyra and I were not merely cousins but the truest of best friends. Every summer holiday I used to wait for her to come to our house or to go to hers. The holidays we were refused to be together used to be our parent's nightmares cause we won't let anyone live peacefully.

Days went by and we grew older but things never changed between us. Of course, our ways of spending time together altered; watching Disney got replaced with teen movies, playing princesses got replaced with discussing first crushes, and Disney trips got replaced with big girl trips.

And yet we remained the same.

*******

"I believe this is the first time I am seeing an actual frown on your face." A pair of legs dip in the pool dangerously close to mine. Anirudh sits beside me with our legs dipped in the pool water and brings my hand to himself, interlacing our fingers."And now I am sure that your smile is the best expression on your face. Though I would very much like to know the reason for the frown."

I chuckle at his words and place my head on his shoulders, "I was missing you."

"Well, I didn't, because I had a great time talking business with your dad. Now, do you want to talk about the real reason?"

I stay silent.

Huffing out a sigh, Anirudh plays with the water and mumbles, "It's okay. Do you want to know a secret?"

I nod eagerly at him so he smiles and begins, "I don't really know when I got enamoured by you or anything but, the day I got my dream job....Usually, whenever I would accomplish anything there would be a moment of pride. I would never feel this strong urge to go and hug someone, to tell them how I made it. I have always loved winning but this feeling of satisfaction was so new. And then when you stood out of the office waiting for me I just knew I had to hug you, I just knew I had to celebrate with you."

He stares into my eyes and then says something so bewitching yet so perilous. "It was like I had actually won for the first time."

"And right now I feel like the one winning in life," I whisper back.

He grins at my words and presses his lips on my forehead making my heart dance on his tunes.

"And another secret is that I falsely informed grandma of their friends' meeting on the day I asked you out. There were no such meetings."

I stare at him with my jaws dropped on the ground and eyes bugging out of my socket. "That's horrible!"

"Well, she got to meet her friends after a long while so, it wasn't that bad?"

Scooping some water in my palm I splash it on his face. After two minutes of registering my action, he smirks menacingly and pushes the pool water by his leg making what seemed like tons of water thrown in my way, drenching me wholly. Letting out a horrified gasp, I too rapidly started splashing water in his way.

We laugh at our childish actions and stop messing around. I once again place my head on his shoulders, and he places his chin on my head as we bask in each other's essence.

The pool water calms down from our attack and the ripple formation slows down reflecting our slightly jerky image. Another image is reflected by the water; an inverted image of a girl standing in a blue lehenga, just between the image of Anirudh and I. 

***

Author's note:

I love how much I dramatised the last para."