When I open my eyes the next morning, the events of yesterday night flashes through my mind and I  sit up grinning like a lovestruck teenager.

The scorching rays of the blazing sun streams in through the window, bathing the room in a golden glow.

Looking at the time , I realize it's already noon.

Why had no one woken me up ?

After freshening up , I knock on the other rooms but there's no response. Slowly turning the knob and peering inside the rooms I find them both empty.

Did they all go outside without me ?

I climb down the stairs but the whole house is deserted with no signs of life.

Anxiety starts crawling through my veins and my mind flashes through everything that might have gone wrong.

I open the front door and peer outside but the porch is also empty.

Going back inside , I try calling everyone in turn but no one responds.

When I call Aleesha's number, her familiar ringtone faintly wafts from the back of the house.

I hear some shushing noise before everything goes quiet once again.

The only place I haven't checked yet is the small backyard behind the bungalow.

I carefully make my way towards the back and peek from behind a wall.

My friend's are standing there and rummaging through a heap of blue and green balloons.

It's not long before Hreedhan finds me peeking from behind the wall and the balloon he was blowing deflates in his hand.

" Oh shoot - she's here ! " he yells in disappointment and drops the now shrunken balloon.

" Nooo it's not ready yet ! " Sehar exclaims as she turns back from fixing something over a table.

" I'm sorry guys, I forgot to put my phone on silent mode. " Aleesha apologizes to them as she fumbles around with the phone in her hand.

" Oii, excuse me. Would you guys stop talking as if I wasn't here? " I say, feeling left out.

They continued bickering without paying any heed towards me.

" Haye what's going on ? Will someone please tell me ? " I yell louder .

Aleesha comes forward and puts her hands on my shoulders turning me back towards where I came from.

" You'll get to know soon. " She answers vaguely.

I try to protest but she's adamant about keeping me away.

A few minutes pass and Hreedhan finally yells at us to come back.

Aleesha puts her hands over my eyes, blocking my view and guides me forward.

At last when she removes her hands and I'm allowed to see what the fuss was all about, I'm left speechless.

The backyard was covered with blue and green shaded balloons scattered all over the ground.

A makeshift roof was made by draping a blue cloth over two opposite poles while the back wall of the bungalow was covered with a silver cloth.

Colorful fairy lights were strung against the backdrop of the silver cloth and a few balloons were haphazardly attached in a dome shape while tiny paper butterflies hung around the exposed surface.

A table sat in front of the wall and a glittering 'Happy Birthday' banner hung around the edge of it.

" Happy birthday to youuu…" They started singing and I just stood there with my mouth open in surprise.

" You guys! When and how did you do all these ? Oh my…I'm speechless - this is amazing ! thank you so much. " I gushed as we gathered in a group hug.

" We finally managed to surprise you. Kind of ." Sehar grins widely.

Everytime someone tried to surprise me I would somehow always find out beforehand. It was very difficult to make me speechless and we had a joke going on that no one would ever be able to catch me off guard.

" Of course I'd be surprised . I wasn't expecting this bolt out of the blue  before my actual birthday even arrived. " I replied honestly.

" It's just one day early. We've started celebrating early. " Aleesha pipes in.

" See how hard we worked ? My mouth is sore from blowing so many balloons. And half of the suitcase was filled by carrying all these decorations. " Hreedhan wipes invisible sweat from his forehead as he whines on.

So that was what all those mysterious materials were.

I pat Hreedhan's shoulder, " Your efforts are appreciated. "

Aleesha and Sehar bring out some trays from inside the house .

They place the food over the decorated table and urge me to come forward as Hreedhan plays some background music.

Aleesha had baked a brownie flavored cake for me and covered it with blue frosting. She drew little waves to paint the surface like an ocean and there was a " Happy 21 Yara " written in bold with whipped cream.

There were bowls placed beside the cake . Each filled with a variety of snacks. My mouth watered looking at the piping hot golden jalebis and fluffy red velvet cupcakes .

" I fried the chicken wings and made the mini burgers. " Hreedhan said proudly with his hands on his hips.

I raised my eyebrows and nodded at him, acknowledging his accomplishment.

" Good thing you informed me, now I gotta be careful while eating those. "

He rolled his eyes and made a mocking face at me while Aleesha snickered knowing I was just joking.

Hreedhan's cooking skills had always been better than mine since our childhood. I'll admit that I used to be a tad bit jealous because of that, but it always helped when we were in the same team during cousins cooking competitions and we ended up winning.

Aleesha was lucky to have a husband who cooked for her whenever she was hungry.

We all chatted for a while and devoured all the delicious food they had prepared.

Sehar , the chosen photographer as always , captured all the precious moments so we could look back on them in the future.

"Remember to send the pictures to khammi, or else she'll get angry." Hreedhan reminds me to share the pictures with my mother and I nod along while stuffing a few more jalebis in my mouth.

I gulp down the last bits of food in my mouth and ask, " When did you guys decide to do this ? "

" We've been planning for months. '' Sehar answers , taking a sip from the sprite bottle in her hand.

" Yeah, Aleesha wanted to go on a vacation and I thought we could just use this opportunity to celebrate your birthday too. '' Hreedhan adds,
" So we choose a place beside the beach since you love the water and all. I know I'm the best. No need for crying. "  He waves his hand towards me in a gesture as if I was an overwhelmed fan of his .

" I'm not crying! " I deadpan, " But yeah not a bad choice. I see you're capable of making wise decisions too."

He sends a mocking smile at me but I know he understood my hidden thanks behind those words.

" Don't take all the credit! I strategically arranged the dates so we could celebrate here as well as hold a proper party with our family back at home tomorrow. " Aleesha puts in eagerly.

" Another party ? Guys I really appreciate all this. Trust me , this was the best surprise ever. But there's honestly no need for any more parties , I'd rather spend my birthday eating and sleeping. Y'all know that. "

" I know. We're not throwing the party tomorrow. Your mother planned that one. Aunty was saying it has been too long since she invited all the relatives over and so wanted to take this chance to hold a get together. " Aleesha informs me.

Great, now I can't refuse that one or else ammu would get hurt.

" Just think about the biryani cooking back at home. '' Hreedhan says , knowing it would immediately make me excited.

" I guess I could sit through a few hours of socializing if there's Biryani included. "

"Couldn't agree more. " Sehar chimes in.

★

It was already late afternoon and we just had half a day left before our vacation was over and we would start our journey back home.

We had decided to have a BBQ party at night.

Everyone was back in their rooms, packing their luggages so that we could enjoy the last few hours on this island stress free and there was no rush at the last moment.

But as always, I was the exception and procrastinated.

I somehow sorted through my luggage in a way that it wouldn't take much time for a final check tomorrow and then discreetly made my way downstairs.

The others were still busy in their rooms and I saw this as a perfect opportunity to carry out my plan.

Tiptoeing to the fridge, I slowly opened it's door, careful not to make much noise and pulled out the leftover cake resting there.

I cut out a huge chunk from the side and placed it in a plate.

After stopping to make sure no one was coming downstairs , I proceeded to walk out of the front door.

★

It was time for the truth to be revealed.

Taking a deep breath to calm down my jittery nerves, I finally plucked up the courage to press the doorbell of our neighboring bungalow.

I paced back and forth and then stood still in front , hoping my anxiety wasn't visible on my face.

My reflection stared back at me from the long glass tinted window beside the door.

Adjusting my shoulder length hair to make it look more presentable, I brushed back the dark loose locks  falling in front of my face.

Just as I tugged down on the blue kameez I was wearing, the sound of the door knob turning clicked through the air and the door slowly popped open an inch.

A pair of hazel eyes peeked through the crack in the open door.

A few seconds passed as he realized who his unannounced visitor was and then the door finally cracked open.

" Hey. " I greeted him nervously," You said we could talk today? About those incidents so -..."

His eyebrows went up as realization dawned on his face and he parted his mouth , " Ahhh right , how about you come in first. "

He opens the door wider and ushers me to get inside and after urgently peeking around outside for something, he promptly shuts the door.

Was coming here alone a good decision?

☠️

I'm very excited about the next chapter ! Because his actual identity will FINALLY be revealed.

In Sha Allah I'll try to post the chapter this week itself before my academic pressure swamps me into a nightmare.

So before the truth is revealed, I'd like to know your thoughts on what Ghostie Boi's secret is .

Who is he ?

The answer has already been revealed ,you just have to connect the dots (: