"Mom, can I have your credit card?" I asked the other Rahul's Mother on Sunday morning. It was for the first time that I called her 'mom'. I usually refused to refer the mother and father as 'mom' and 'dad', because they are not exactly my mom and dad. But I had settled in now. I was even getting used to other Rahul's body.

"Credit Card?" She asked.

"I can't...?" I asked.

"Of course you can, baby." She said. She took out her purse and held the card out to me. I smiled and took it from her and even gave her a hug. I was prepared to keep the Other Rahul's parents happy. They deserved it.

Mother looked pretty happy when I pulled back from the hug. I guess her real son was never that expressive about his love for her.

"What are you going to buy with it?" Mom asked.

"Well, there are a lot of possibilities in this world," I said. "I promise I won't get you broke."

She laughed. She combed my hair. "I am glad that you are a lot happier lately."

"I am?" I asked.

"Yeah. I was getting worried for you." She said. "But you seem back to normal now. Like you were when you were a kid." Her voice trailed away. "When things were whole, and Rhea was alive...."

I nodded. I guess the family did not have a big wound in their heart back then. Things were more perfect. But life does not always stay perfect.

"But we have Aarohi now." Mom said as if telling that to herself. I raised an eyebrow at that. But she went off to wash the dishes.

"I will go out for the day then, mom," I told her.

"Okay."She said, not looking back at me. I wondered if she was crying. I thought it was polite to let her have some alone time to remember her dead daughter. I turned around and walked away.

So well, the thing is, if I am to live I will live like me. I won't be living according to the guidelines put forward by Aarohi. I don't mean to get ruled by her.

So first of all, the other Rahul's hairstyle sucks. It's dorky. The kid is good looking. I admit that. But his hairstyle is just boring. I need to get a haircut. Wax it up and bit to stand up, or maybe colour it. Black is too plain on his face. If we add a bit of dark brown, it will be cooler.

Also, I need new clothes. His old clothes are plain jeans and t-shirts that are slightly boring. I dress according to my style.

So the first thing was the haircut. After cutting and colouring it up, I looked pretty good.

Then I bought all the clothes that I would need. Some shoes. Watches. And other accessories. I was careful not to overuse the card. Because well it was other Rahul's mother's money. I had to keep decency.

But by the end of that day, I was satisfied with the way I looked. I looked good.

In the evening, I went to the hospital my body was and stayed and watched while my body was shifted from the ICU to an ambulance. I watched as my body was wheeled out in a stretcher. I did not look anything like myself. I looked sick and dying.

My mother thanked me for coming over. I told her to take care and watched her and dad get in the ambulance and leave. They had asked me not to follow till the airport. But I did anyway, secretly.

I waited out there, till the plane took off. I watched it soar up into the sky. Taking my body miles away from her.

I breathed heavily. There I was... finally alone, there in someone else's body.

When I arrived home, the family was having dinner. I walked in through the door opened by Aarohi. She was staring at me with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Hey, Mom dad..." I greeted mom and dad.

They blinked at me in surprise, because well I obviously looked different. Way too different. I smiled... They were not saying anything. I walked to them, "here is your card mom." I said, giving her card back. "And here is something for you." I took out a box from the shopping bags in my hand and gave it to her. It was a nice set of earrings I found. Mom opened the box and exhaled a cry of joy.

"I thought you will like them." I grinned. I gave her a hug. She hugged me back. I took a step backwards. "God, I am starving. What's for dinner?"

"Well, sit down and eat." Mom said. "It's all your favourites."

I looked around at the food on the table. They were not my favourites. But I can pretend that they are my favourites.

"So...why the change?" dad asked.

"Just... Needed a change."

"You look nice, dear." Mom said. "So handsome."

"Thanks, mom." I put my hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.

After dinner, I had changed my clothes and was arranging the clothes and stuff I bought into the wardrobe of my room, I heard a knock on the door.

I went to open it. It was Aarohi. And she looked mad. She had her hands folded up and her eyes squinting. She pushed me aside, came in through the door and closed the door behind her, and bolted it.

"Great, are you going to murder me in here, now?" I asked.

"Have you gone mental?" She hissed at me as if she was suppressing her urge to yell at me ever since I came back home. "You... You complete asshole. You promised me to stay as Rahul."

"Well, I have not been found out by them yet, right?" I asked.

"So? Why the hell are you...not being like him?" She asked. She looked up at my face. "What the hell have you done with his hair?"

"It looks better this way," I said.

"No, it does not."

"It does," I said smiling at her. "Admit it. It does. You can't deny that."

She opened her mouth and closed it and had nothing to say. I smirked.

"But...this is not Rahul. He would never do something like this. And...your behaviour to aunty, it's way too unnatural. Rahul did not, would not just suddenly buy his mother a gift."

"Well, it's not my fault if he was an asshole to his mother," I said.

"He was not an asshole to his mother." Aarohi snapped. "He has issues with her." The last part was as if an excuse. As if she did not want to tell me these 'issues' Rahul had with his mother. "The point is," Aarohi continued, "You can't behave like this. You will be found out."

"No. I won't be. They will just think my personality has changed a bit brighter because I had a near-death experience." I said.

"But-"

"They took my body to the USA today," I said, sharply.

Aarohi's eyes widened. She did not know.

"Yeah," I said. "To one of the best hospitals in the world, according to my mom. Maybe I will recover there. Maybe I will die. But I don't care anymore. I care that I am alive right now, and I am not going to waste my life in fear of living according to your rules."

"So easy of you, right?" She asked. "To not care about him. To not care if he is dead or gone..."

"I fucking don't care about him," I yelled at her. "Why should I? If not have been for that idiot boy I would have been alive in my own body. That asshole caused this all. Why the hell should I care about him? I don't care if he is fucking dead."

I saw a spark of hatred and anger in her eyes. It was at a higher level than I have ever seen before. I knew I crossed a line. I had. And I regretted what I said immediately.

Aarohi's eyes lines with tears. I wanted to do something, take it back. But it was too late.

"You are such a dick." She hissed to my face. And she turned around and left the room.

I could not sleep. I knew I was wrong. I should never have said that. I wish I had not said that. I regretted it terribly.

So after a couple more sleepless hours, I got up and went to Aarohi's room. I knocked on the door. I wondered that she would be asleep and not hear me. If she is asleep I could go back to the room, because apologizing was not such an easy matter. But she opened the door. She was not asleep either.

"What?" She asked.

"Look, I am sorry," I told her. "I never should have said that."

"But you did." She said.

"Yeah. I am sorry." I said. "I am. Really... I know you care about him. You love him. You should. But trust me, if I had any idea how to bring him back, I would have, but..."

"But you refuse to even search for him."

"Come on, Aarohi, it's not like that. It's not like we can take a torch and search for him in this world. He is not visible. If it works that way I am happy to search with you. But it's not... Then what the hell can we do? Other than just waiting for him..."

She looked at me with that squint in her eyes again.

"I am sorry I said that I don't care if he is dead. I don't want him dead, exactly."

"Really?" She asked with suspicion.

"Yes. I tried to save him, you know...at the accident."

Her eyes were filled with less contempt now.

"We cool now?" I asked her.

"Depends." She said.

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on the sincerity of your apology. Because how do I know you are not saying all this just to get me to forgive you. Because you need my help. Or because you want to get in my pants."

I raised my eyebrow.

"I've seen how you look at me." She said, plainly. Playing me... Taunting perhaps.

"How do I look at you...?" I moved closer to her, staring into her brown eyes. She did not reply. She just looked into my eyes. Then she stepped back. I did too. I took a step back.

"It's true that I want to get into your pants," I said. She looked surprised at this revelation. Maybe she did not expect me to say that out loud. "But I am going to hold off my desires. I promise." I continued..., " We can't walk in that direction...because you are his sister, or family or whatever... And things will get awkward. And we are in this awesomely fucked up situation, where I need your assistance in performing as your Rahul. And then there is the parents and real Rahul etc...Many complications." She was now looking at me interestingly, and I was drawn to those eyes again. I so badly wanted to kiss her. "So I will control the urges with difficulty." I stepped back. "Good night, Roh. See you tomorrow."

I turned around and walked away to my room.