"Have some more chapattis," Anita offered to me.

I waved my hand. "Oh no, thank you but I'm already full," I said, covering my mouth as I chewed the food.

"You keep doing that and you'll remain sickly thin," Maya jibed at me.

"Shut up!" I hit her softly.

"So," Ben said from across the table as he poked the chicken with the fork. "How is it there in America?"

"So very different from here," Andrew said, then looked at me, smiling.

"Must be so amazing to live in America, na?" Anita said, passing the bowl of chicken to Sid.

"Nothing beats home, aunty," I smiled at her.

"Obviously. Mera bharat mahan!" She joked, and we laughed along. I reached for the water bottle on the table at the same time Andrew did, and our fingers brushed together. We both drew away quickly, as if the touch had ignited a spark. Our eyes met, surprised, and I immediately looked away.

I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. Why was I being so awkward?

I found Maya staring at me. When I gave her a sceptical look, she smirked at me and nodded her head subtly towards Andrew and raised her eyebrows, amused. I shook my head at her, telepathically telling her to stop doing or assuming whatever she was doing. She simply gave me a small, close mouthed laugh and looked away.

Maybe I should tell her about me and Andrew. I hadn't told anyone, and it was becoming hard to keep it inside my stomach.

And it wasn't helping how Andrew was sitting right beside me and I could smell his scent – something that I had always appreciated, but now, it seemed that I wanted to smell it, to feel it, around me.

After having dinner and getting myself bloated by all the thousand different dishes Anita had created, me and my mother finally got up to head home. Having gathered my luggage, we walked towards the door. I bid farewell to Ben and Anita and my friends, who walked away in the other direction. After sharing a hug with Andrew - which lasted a little too long for my liking - me and ma started walking down the road.

My mother started asking me endless questions about my life in America as we walked towards our house. It was late, and the road was completely empty. Our voices resonated around the neighbourhood.

"Did you keep a boyfriend there too?" Mom asked when we reached our door.

"Ma, what nonsense." I unlocked the door and walked in. I took in a deep breath, the familiar smell of my house overpowering my nostrils.

"Feels good to be back in your own little home, doesn't it?" My mother said as she closed the door.

"Yes." I turned towards her, and a sudden burst of emotion in my chest caused me to hug her tightly. "Did I tell you that missed you? It doesn't feel so good living without you, ma."

"Yes, my Koko," she replied, brushing my hair with her fingers in a soothing manner.

I let her go and looked around my house. Distantly, I could here my father snoring.

Huh.

I didn't even have the energy in me to feel disappointed, or to feel, in general, anything.

"Okay. I'll be sleeping now, goodnight."

I walked into my old bedroom. Everything was just as I had left it; the posters on the wall, my study table, the stickers on the almirah.

Even though it had been just a year, for some reason I felt like it had been a decade since i walked into my room.

Smiling to myself, I sat down on the bed, and smoothed the bed cover with my hand.

I felt larger, and I felt stronger. And the feeling was good.

Morning came, and it was the day of Sunburn.

At the crack of dawn, Andrew and I had to get ready and travel to Vagator Beach, which was an hour distance from Panaji.

The whole morning went by doing souncheck. Surburn was an EDM festival, and even though we were far from EDM, they had invited us. I didn't know how many tickets we sold; honestly, for some reason, I wasn't feeling so hopeful. But they had put us with Jonas Blue, who was going to remix our songs into something that sounded like EDM.

Right before going onstage, I sat in front of the mirror in the dressing room, making sure my makeup was alright. I was humming the tunes of our songs when I heard someone walk into the room. I turned around to find Andrew.

And he was standing with his hand on the doorknob, looking at me with a dumbfounded expression.

"What?" I asked, amused, and stood up.

He closed the door and took a few steps towards me, his eyes never leaving my face. "You look different," he said.

"Yeah?" I turned towards the mirror and gazed at my exposed stomach and thighs. "I don't know, I feel like. . .this is the most skin I've shown onstage. Ever. It feels weird."

I put my hand on my stomach. It was flat, but I couldn't help but notice the tiny bloating. As I inspected my stomach, I felt Andrew move closer. I stopped my actions and turned towards him. He gently tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear, and smiled sweetly. "You look beautiful."

Mentally, I was reduced to a mush. I didn't know why I felt like this around him everytime nowadays. Like I didn't have any control over my heart or my head.

Physically, I returned his smile, gazing into his eyes. "Thank you."

The smile dropped from his face and he stared at me for a while longer before shaking his head and looking away, leaving me puzzled.

"It's time," he said in a ragged tone and walked swiftly towards the door, exiting the room. I turned towards the mirror, wondering what was that.

We had a last minute mic check and then we plugged in the earphones. I took Andrew's hand in mine, and squeezed it. He gazed at me for a while before nodding and squeezing it back, and together, we walked up on the stage.

Immediately, the deafening noise of the crowd hit my eardrums, and I felt a tiny bit faint from the blinding lights that shone upon us. Plastering a huge grin on my face, I waved at the audience, throwing flying kisses here and there.

Jonas was standing at the back of the stage, playing his DJ instruments. He smiled and nodded at us in greeting. I waved back at him and turned towards the audience, and then I started singing.

I would be lying if I said I didn't like the remix versions of our songs.

And I was pretty sure no one in the crowd knew the songs. I wasn't even sure if they knew us. But at least they were dancing and jumping in the crowd, a sign that they are enjoying, and that was all I needed.

I played with my hair a little as Andrew and I roamed around the stage, singing. I waved at Maya, Sid and Anton when I found them on the front seat. Maya threw a bunch of flowers towards me, her arms flailing around her in a wild manner, and I giggled a little.

All in all, the night was a success for The Urban Mantra.

•••

Next chapter - next Saturday at 10pm IST.