Dedicated this chapter to my favorite author on Wattpad, Sam, because she inspires me so much. 

Months in grade seven pass by quickly. Before Shiloh knows it, the summer vacations are already over and July is in full swing. She has made quite a number of new friends by now. Not exactly new, actually. Most are old classmates she was acquaintances with but now has got to know them better.

There is Kiera. Shiloh really likes her because Kiera likes books too. She is really pretty, with wavy raven-black hair that reach up to her shoulders. She has a faint scar on her nose which looks like a burn, but is actually a birthmark. It makes Kiera look even more striking than she already is. She has the warmest smiles and it makes Shiloh happy.

There is Kiera's friend, Myra. Brown locks tumbling down to her waist and an angelic face, she has a cheery persona and it is fun to be around her. The only grouse Shiloh has that she is a little too girly for her taste.

And of course, there is Akshara.

The only person Shiloh hasn't known before is a girl called Ria. Shiloh and Ria are nothing alike, actually they are quite the opposite. Ria has an effervescent personality and the energy she possesses is several notches higher than Akshara's. She is blunt and amiable. An open-book, one could say.

On the other hand, Shiloh tends to be more closed, keeping to herself most of the time. Her outlook towards life borders on the dull and monotonous. You know a person is boring when all she looks forward to is scoring good grades in her upcoming exams and finishing the Sidney Sheldon novel she is currently reading.

And while Ria is what you would call reckless (she lives on impulse), Shiloh possesses a guarded maturity which belies her age.

So for reasons Shiloh can't quite understand, she finds herself taking an immediate liking towards Ria.

Right now, Shiloh tries to block out Ria's incessant chatter but fails miserably.

It's hot and muggy-typical July weather. She wishes she was somewhere cool, Switzerland, or maybe London, heck even some middle-of-nowhere hill station would do as long as the weather did not cause your back to erupt into prickly heat.

But instead she is stuck here, in this Godforsaken millennium city of Godforsaken India with no respite from this atrocious heat for Weather God knows how long.

She shakes her head. She is usually not this negative. True she tends to be borderline pessimistic often, and she is not a die-hard patriotic but calling her own country Godforsaken? That's a low even for someone like her. Maybe the heat is getting to her head.

After five minutes of staring at a page half-filled with her neat scrawl, she gives up on trying to copy the history notes the teacher is dictating at record speed and turns around in her seat so that she is facing Ria who is seated beside her.

"Will you please shut up, Ria?" she mutters.

"Hey, that's rude, Lo." Ria exclaims.

"Well, I did say "please", that counts for something." Shiloh retorts in half-jest, her irritation dissipating as quickly as water on the ground on a scorching June day. It is hard to be angry with Ria, seeing as she has made a particularly comical face as she tries to feign hurt.

Shiloh laughs.

"Oh, forget it, it is fine. Anyways, I was talking about my brother. You know him right? The Devil? Oh God. He irritates me so much, it's a miracle I have all my hair intact and have not pulled them off my head in exasperation. Just because he is two years elder to me. Two years, and he thinks he can boss me around however he pleases. "Bring me water", "Do my homework" "Clean my room", he thinks I'm supposed to do everything he commands me to. I have never hated someone so much in my life. I hate him. Uggh. No. I detest him. No. Loathe. Loathe is the word. I loathe him." Ria spouts, all in one breath.

"But you love him, Ria." Shiloh reminds her with a half-smile gracing her lips.

"Yeah, well, I love him too, I guess. Love and loathe him. Hey, can you help me finish his Physical Education file? He told me to complete it, it is due tomorrow." Ria asks.

"Sure. But just two pages. And you owe me a treat in the canteen after this" Shiloh says.

"Gold-digger" Ria sneers.

Shiloh shrugs, but keeps her mouth shut. She is not good at comebacks. Somehow, her snarky side is reserved solely for her mother. And anyways, gold-digger or not, she could always do with some free food.

After a particularly exhaustive day in school, no thanks to the layer of sweat which sticks to her body like second skin and the potency of the unbearable humidity, seeping under her skin, heightening her senses, slowing her mind, she feels incredibly sluggish as she slowly trudges towards her home from the bus stop. She wishes the Weather God(s) would stop playing peek-a-boo and make it rain already. She can't bear the weather anymore.

Once she reaches home, after climbing torturous three flights of stairs, she noisily plops down on the sofa in the living room and sighs. It has been a long day. Shiloh sits back and starts reading the newspaper lying on the coffee table, she knows she won't be able to do anything else unless she finishes reading the newspaper, every headline, every news, front page to back. It's a habit she acquired since she was seven and can't get rid of.

The only comfort she finds is in the cool air of the AirCon as it gives goosebumps on her sweaty skin and soothes her over-worked over-heated frayed nerves. She can smell the hot and spicy aroma of Rajma curry (Friday special) wafting from the kitchen. She smiles.

From across the hallway, she can barely hear the voice of her mother as she shouts at Shiloh's five year old brother, Ezra to stop jumping on the bed. Shiloh stifles a laugh. Oh, Ezra.

When her mother comes out of the bedroom, still dressed in a formal looking pair of salwar-kameez that she wears to work, her face is bright pink and covered in a sheen of sweat, partly due to the heat in the bedroom and partly due to the shouting spree. Oh well, nobody said handling toddlers was easy.

Mrs. Daniels is a short, slightly plump women. Fair-skinned with thinning dark brown hair, she is in her early forties but her flawless blemish free only-slightly-wrinkled-near-the-eyes skin begs to differ. Though pleasant enough, she is a woman hard to impress.

Shiloh's hungry stomach can't take the assault on her senses anymore as the familiar scent of curry overpowers her nose. She rushes to her room and changes in to weather-friendly and comfortable cutoff shorts and a black tee which has "Can't talk, need to eat" written in bold across the front.

Of course, food is an ever-present part of Shiloh's life, it comes just next to books, after all. As Shiloh digs into her lunch hungrily, for a moment everything is forgotten, even the intolerable weather which Shiloh seems to hate so much.

A/N Hi guys! So this is the second chapter of the story. I know Shiloh might come around as a selfish person to some, but that is how she is.

Vote and Comment, please. :)

Much love, Sarah