Ananya's POV :

"What's going on here?" Arav came back changed and took the ball from Arjun.

"Arjun is being really unfair" I explained.

"I won the game! So cut the crap", Arjun said.

"Then let's do it one more time and see who wins", I said.

"You're being ridiculous!"

"You're scared", I shot back.

"We made a deal for only one game and I won it".

"This is too much! I can't possibly carry your bag all the way home", I argued.

"You should have thought that before agreeing to play", he said.

"Please Arjun, I have a backache".

"How old are you madam?".

Since I knew cajoling wasn't going to work with my brother,I turned to the only other technique I knew - namely begging.

"Arjun pleaseeeee!"

"No".

"Yes, Ananya. You agreed to play. This is only fair", put in Arav leaning against the wall, his ball under one arm.

"You two are ganging up against me", I said angrily. God! Being three in a house is so complicated! It always results in two on one fights.

"You're blowing this up, unnecessarily", said Arjun.

I raised my hand to strike my brother but he was faster.

He shoved me and I went reeling straight down. My head hit the ground and I could sense a huge bruise taking shape above my left eye. I thought I was going to pass out. But I managed not to. Arjun did not look perturbed. We'd had way worse fights than this. After seventeen years of being his twin sister, it was a wonder that I still had all my body parts, intact.

But that never prevented me from getting angry.I glared at both my brothers. I couldn't get up. I picked up a handful of mud from the ground and threw it on Arjun's face."Ewww! You're such a.." he broke into a fit of coughs.

I smiled in satisfaction.

"Okay that was gross" he said finally, "Now get your ass up and take my bag. Let's go home".

"I'm not coming with you two" I said stubbornly.

"Fine. Then sit here and have fun with the watch man. He's been looking at you for a long time. Poor thing. The only female attention he gets is probably from the sweeper lady".

"Arjun!"

"Come Arav! Let's go home!" said Arjun dragging our younger brother with him, "I can't tolerate this dumbass anymore".

"Yeah get lost!" I shouted behind him, "Get your butts out of here. I hate you both!"

I knew that if they both left, I would have to walk back home alone, but at that moment I didn't have a problem with that.But as I tried to get up, I felt really weak and my head was throbbing like anything. So I went and called my mom from the PCO and asked her if she was free to come and pick me up. She said she was free at the moment and would come in ten minutes.Both of my parents were doctors and they ran their own hospital called Viraj on Mount Road.

It was a combination of my parents names. Usually, couples name their kids by combining both their names but look at my parents genius. They'd named their hospital by combining their names. But that didn't mean I was not proud of it. Hey! It's my hospital too. After all, I'm going to spend my whole life there after I get my M.B.B.S.

I crossed my arms and positioned myself a good distance away from the watch man who kept shooting wary looks at me. I knew I was troubling my mom. She had to come from the hospital to pick me up. And I would probably have to spend the evening doing my homework in the hospital lobby. But anything was better than going back home and seeing the faces of my brothers.

The moment I saw my mom's car come near the gate, I ran out, jumped in and started complaining loudly.

"Mom I have to talk to you. I hate my brothers! You have no idea how they just humiliated me. I don't ever want to see their ugly faces again!"

"Keep quiet Ananya. I have two cases pending. I had to leave them to come here. I'm tired of you three behaving like small kids. I can't leave my cases simply to come here because you people were fighting".

"Sorry, mom"

"And by the way, your brothers came to the hospital actually so you'll have to see their faces anyway"

"What?"

Mom didn't reply. Soon we drove into the familiar driveway.

Mom got out hastily and we walked into the, "Sit in the reception area and do your homework if you want. Just don't disturb me until I finish all my work".

Arav was already in the reception.

"You monkey! Why did you come here?" I burst out at him.

Mom looked terrified, "Ananya!"

Arav chuckled.

"See, you're setting a bad example", said mom threateningly.

"Arav has me to set him a good example mom", said Arjun swaggering into the lobby, slurping a diet coke.

"Yeah, you're a very nice example" mom droned, "What did we say about bringing soda into the hospital?"

"Yeah, he will bring beer here next", said Arav.

"You keep quiet and sit down", Arjun snapped, "Mom, give the soda, a break."

"Okay then", said mom "Let's talk about you and Arav's behavior today. What happened in the basketball court?".

"Your daughter. That's what happened", Arjun said, "She was being a dumb duck as always. I think there's a fault in her DNA".

"Yeah, because it's the same as yours", I snapped.

"Now, there's no need talk about DNA and stuff", mom said hastily. I knew that haste in her voice which came up whenever we discussed blood. Because there was a secret in the family. Arav was adopted. Everyone except him, knew it. And there was a personal agreement in the house that it was going to be a secret until Arav was eighteen.