Ammamma = Amma's amma = Maternal grandmother

Thatthayya = Grandfather

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"I smell something" Leaving my bag on the couch, I sauntered into the kitchen and found Vamsi's grandmother frying samosas.

"You are the best Ammamma!" I almost squealed in excitement.

She smiled seeing me "I was hoping you'd come today"

"I am hungry. I thought you'd make something for me if you knew"

"I talked to your Amma in the afternoon"

I rolled my eyes "Was she complaining about me again?"

"Just look at yourself. You jump around all day long. How do you have the strength?"

I groaned "Not again Ammamma! Please"

"Girls should not be this slim"

"Who said she's a girl?" Vamsi intervened, stepping into the kitchen sluggishly.

"At least, I'm not like those stupid girls on TV who starve themselves by counting calories"

"Now that's enough for today. Both of you! Wash your hands and take these to the hall" She ordered, offering a plate which I snatched furiously before Vamsi could.

"Nothing for you" I said indignantly, leaving the room.

"An-ja-li!" He whined, following me.

Taking the seat beside me on the sofa, he tried to take a samosa from my plate but I slapped his hand.

"Come on Anju!" He tried again but I bent down covering the plate with my upper body.

"Now you are being ridiculous!" He said, a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"You are ridiculous" I said petulantly.

"You can't have all!"

"Watch me"

"I don't want to hurt you"

I snorted "Like you can! Let's arm wrestle. The winner gets the full plate"

"I won't"

I smirked "Why? Scared?"

He raised his eyebrows "Never"

"Then why not?"

"Because we are not kids anymore" He screamed in annoyance.

"Fine! Then let's play an over and decide who wins" I said wiggling my eyebrows.

"For samosa? No!" He complained, a grimace on his face "Come on Anju! I'm your best friend"

Rolling my eyes, I finally offered the plate "You can't get away with that line, forever"

He grinned taking a samosa from it "I knew that'd work"

I kicked his calf making him groan and repeated "Not forever!"

"Mad girl!" He mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that"

"I know" he rasped, ignoring my glare.

"Shall I get you tea Anju?" Ammamma's voice echoed from the kitchen.

Before I can answer, Vamsi shouted "Stop spoiling her"

"You are jelly" I commented, sticking my tongue out at him and shouted back "Yes, please!"

"You are the best!" I sighed taking the cup from her hands when she brought me tea.

Chai and Samosa.

What more does anyone want on a chilly November evening!

Ammamma may be Vamsi's grandmother but never looked at me any different than she did her own grandson. That had been the way since I first met her.

Twelve years ago.

Originally from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, Vamsi's family shifted to Vizag when his dad got transferred. He joined my school and soon we became friends.

I may be young then but I still remember the first time I came to his house. Vamsi pulled me along with him after school, against my wishes, to see his new home.

That was such a child thing to do. Take your new friend in the new city to your new home.

It was probably the end of June or the beginning of July. Just a couple of weeks since the beginning of a new academic year.

With heavy bags on our shoulders, we stumbled to his house that's a few blocks away from mine.

Vamsi's mother was the first person I met from his family.

She offered me a warm smile and a plate of Britannia cream biscuits. She asked me about school and how my day was!

It wasn't until I met Vamsi's grandparents though, that I actually became envious of him.

To come home to a complete family must be the best feeling in the world!

Not that I wasn't loved but coming to an empty home or staying with the neighbours until one of my parents came home wasn't something I preferred.

But that's how middle class life worked.

My father works in the municipal office while my mother is a government school teacher. Being the only child not only meant undivided attention from both but also loneliness when none of them is home.

Though I was never a shy kid, I was never comfortable staying with outsiders.

Until Vamsi stumbled into my life.

Maybe cause there's no girl child in their family, Vamsi's parents loved me, his grandparents adored me. Though same was not the case with his older brother Vineet.

For some reason he never seemed to like me; his snarky attitude only reserved for me.

Nothing changed from the first time I saw him as his grandfather introduced me to a lanky middle school guy to the last time when I saw him leave to Pune after Independence Day weekend.

Instead of visiting his parents in Chennai, he came to see Ammamma for his extended weekend.

Vamsi's parents keep moving to multiple locations as a result of uncle's constant transfers. Two years after Vamsi's family shifted to Vizag, he got transferred again. 

I almost lost my best friend if not for uncle's decision to leave his sons behind; with his parents.

He was being transferred to a rural location and didn't want their studies to suffer. Thaathayya was also diagnosed with heart disease around that time and the family thought it's better the kids and grandparents stayed in Vizag where everything's close.

It worked for me.

Twelve years later he's still my best friend. His family are the only people I love apart from my family.

I grieved for Thaathayya as much as Vamsi did when he died seven years ago. It was hard on all of us though it was harder to see Ammamma hurt for months.

The woman who always had a smile on her face was suddenly drowned in an ocean of pain having lost her partner of 43 years.

A lot of time and severe toll on her health later, she fell back into a routine that didn't involve him.

She's the most kindred spirit I know. And it's no secret I love her like my own.

Sighing to myself, I treated myself with another samosa when I found Vamsi gazing at me.

"What?" I said lazily.

Shaking his head, he focused his attention back at the one in his hand "Looks like a lot is going on in your head. Tell me it's the project"

I grinned ''Are you worried I'd be a terrible team leader?"

A slow smile spread across his face "I never doubt your capabilities"

"Just for that vote of confidence, I'm going to share another samosa with you"

He chuckled, not saying a word.

Vamsi switched on TV when I strolled through the house to find Ammamma lying on her bed "How's your knees?"

Spotting me, she smiled "Bearable"

"Do you want me to massage them?" I said, sitting by her bed.

"No Anju thalli. I will tell you if I need. Ok?" She said softly, using Thaathayya's nickname for me.

"Sure" I said, leaving her.

When I found Vamsi watching Animal Planet, I sat beside him on the couch and said "Shall we start working on Networks record?"

He groaned "God!"

"I hate it!" I mumbled weakly.

"I swear I hate nothing more than Networks. Twenty pages of code for a single program. Are they kidding?"

"Yeah"

As if he understanding something's wrong, he tilted his head to watch me apprehensively "What happened to you?"

"I miss Thaathayya" Seeing Ammamma alone still hurts. They had been inseparable.

He sighed, pulling me into his arms as I laid my head on his shoulder "Me too. Sometimes"

"She called me Anju thalli"

Laying his head on mine, he said slowly "You do know he loved you the most! Of all of us"

I smiled slowly "Because I'm a girl"

"Yeah. Kind of hard to believe he thought you were" His teasing voice made me pull back and slap his shoulder as he chuckled.

"Come on Anju" He said, still chuckling as I put my bag on my shoulder to leave.

"I'm going home" I announced, kicking his left leg in the process when he pulled my bag backwards making me fall all over him.

"Mad girl!" he grunted, his tone complaining as he tried to lift both of us off the couch.

"Your mistake" I threw a glare in his direction, finally disentangling from his limbs.

"I wouldn't have pulled you if you didn't leave abruptly"

"I wouldn't have left if you didn't tease me"

His accusing stare didn't last long and he sighed deeply "Your short temper is going to get you in trouble one of these days"

I stuck my tongue out at him and took a step when he blocked me from moving.

"We have Networks record" he reminded.

"I don't care"

Against my arms, he pulled away my bag and dropped himself onto the couch dragging me with him.

"Don't fidget" He said, tightening his arms around my middle.

"Leave me alone"

"Stop acting bitchy. What's going on?"

I paused shuffling against him "What do you mean?"

"You didn't want to go to college in the morning and you have been grumpy all day. Your period isn't until next week. What's with the mood swings?"

"I don't have mood swings during my periods"

"That's what worries me. You are like a dormant volcano that no body knows when it will explode. You don't want me to have a premature death, do you?"

"Stop being a drama queen" I faced him, getting comfortable on his lap "I'm the girl, remember?"

Rolling his eyes, he said "What's going on?"

His look of earnestness brought back the memories of my dream and suddenly his touch on my belly felt familiar.

The same fingers that touched my cheeks so tenderly in the dream now rested carelessly on me. Looking into his eyes regained the familiar fluttering in my heart.

What if? The questions hung in my mind like they always do; the days I wake up to that fantasy.

What if there's more between us than just friendship?

What if we have a chemistry that neither of us bothered to explore?

But never did I voice my doubts as I'm embarrassed at his reaction.

We are good as friends. No use exploring something that's not there. My mind warned.

I must be crazy for having such ridiculous thoughts. Just because I feel good being with him doesn't mean anything.

He is comfortable, warm and-------mine; the odd, yet familiar thought crossed my mind. I have always thought of him as mine. Even if it is out of sheer innocence that he's my best friend. Just mine.

What do I want? I have no idea.

His voice put a stop to my confusing thoughts "What's going on in that big head of yours?"

"Nothing"

He gave a disbelieving look "You expect me to believe that?"

"Don't then"

"Anju!"

"Fine! I will tell you"

No way I'm going to confess anything. Thinking quickly, I added "I was thinking how to take revenge on Prof Srinivas"

"Are you kidding me?" he looked appalled at the idea.

"He loves his car very much, doesn't he?"

"Anju! Don't even think about it"

"May be I should put a banana in the exhaust pipe"

"No"

"How about a hole in his fuel tank?"

"No!"

"I will cut his break wires then"

"Do you know where break wires are?"

"No, but I can always Google"

"No! You can't use Google for bad stuff"

"He's a bad person. He hates girls"

"You hate girls"

"I don't. I just don't feel comfortable around them. There's a lot of difference"

He sighed against my shoulders "One of these days you are going to be the death of me"

"How do I take revenge?"

"You can forgive" He said hopefully.

I snorted "Yeah, that's gonna happen. He failed Gayatri because of her attendance while Pranav passed inspite of having lesser attendance than her"

"I know but you can't do those things to a Professor"

"Mark my words, I will have my revenge before I leave college"

Probably deciding it's better to deviate my attention instead of arguing with me, he reminded me of Networks records and we began working; sprawled on the floor of his living.

It got dark by the time we are done writing lengthy pages of code and he offered me to drop home though I insisted I can go alone.

"Promise me you won't do anything" he said quietly when we reached my house.

"I will not"

"Anju...."

The desperation in his voice made me relent a little "Fine! I promise I won't kill him"

He threw me a look making me add sweetly "Or damage him"

He waited for me to finish but I stood in silence when he said "Is that the best you can give?"

"Your negotiation skills are terrible" I complained making him chuckle.

"Fine. I can live with that" he surprised by pulling me in for a hug "I just don't want you to do anything that can get you in trouble"

"I will be careful"

"Whatever you plan, keep me in the loop. Don't do it alone"

"Ok" I agreed, dazed to find him stare at my face as if he's unable to decide if I'm speaking the truth or not. With a shake of his head, he let me go and kick started the bullet.

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- JANAKI