The tangy, coppery scent hit her nostrils and Jiya realized that something was not quite right. She leaned in closer to Maddie. Yes! The smell was arising from her. That's when another thing caught her attention. A dark blue bruise peeked from beneath her collar. Jiya almost gasped but quickly covered her mouth. She brushed a few strands of hair from her neck and a few nastier gashes came into view.
What could have happened? Jiya thought.
But then, the tangy, coppery smell tempted her nostrils. I have to do it, Jiya thought. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The smell charged in through her nostrils and ran towards her head, flicking every neuron present. Darkness clouded her vision. What she saw next was not her but Maddie's vision.
Jiya realized it was Maddie's room. Two nights ago was her birthday and she had hosted a party for her sixteenth year. Jiya couldn't attend it because she was away at her grandparents' house. Maddie's vision was blurry. She heard her grunt and a dark figure was right on top of her. She kept gasping before Maddie spoke.
"Where's Jess?" Maddie whispered desperately. Jess was another of Jiya's friend. Jiya knew that Jessmeen, or Jess, attended her party that night.
"Shh, Shh", the voice above her tried to coax her. It was a male voice. Since it was Maddie's point of view, it was hard to know who it was. Jiya also realized that Maddie was rather drunk.
"Shh", the voice came again as Maddie kept up her futile struggle against the intruder, "Don't worry about her. We're just having some fun, okay?"
"What?" Maddie let out a painful gasp.
"Take it easy", the voice whispered.
Now, Maddie began to scream and grunt, trying to dodge the sheer pressure of being intruded.
"What are you doing?" she cried desperately, "Oh my God!"
Jiya abruptly opened her eyes. Her breathing came hard and ragged at what she saw. Then, she glanced at Maddie who was still in the same position. Jiya checked her wristwatch. It was already fifteen past seven. The tutor had not arrived yet. It was still an hour from school. Jiya scratched her head as her vision clouded with her tears. She brushed them off and placed a hand on Maddie's shoulder. She winced before raising her head.
Jiya noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She frowned and asked cautiously, "What happened? You did not tell me about how your party went."
"Oh", Maddie gave a tired smile as she got lost in her thoughts, "It... went well."
Jiya nodded and frowned, "I missed something great?"
"Yeah", Maddie nodded absently, "The selfie-booth. Why is Sir not coming?"
Jiya shook her head, "Some students are absent as well."
"Did we miss anything?" Maddie asked.
Jiya did not reply. She was busy studying her intently. A cheerful and beautiful girl looked so shabby in front of her. A very terrible thing happened to her. Jiya raised her hand to brush a few strands of hair on Maddie's shoulder. Maddie flinched before realizing it. Jiya was surprised.
"Oh goodness! It's already half-past seven!" Maddie looked at her wristwatch prompting Jiya to look at her own.
"Why are we even sitting until now?" Kinshuk, one of the boys sitting opposite to Jiya and Maddie, banged his fists on the wooden desk, "We should probably leave."
"I think that's right", Anish spoke this time, "We are running out of time."
"Yes", Maddie said in a rather tired voice.
"Then, we leave", Bani, another girl jumped in.
"Yes!" almost the entire room erupted in approval. Jiya glanced at her wristwatch. There were only fifteen minutes to eight. She shoved the notebook and textbook inside her bag, slung it on a shoulder and used her free hand to make a quick call to her Papa.
When Jiya was done with her phone call, Maddie nudged her with her elbow, "Let's go."
Jiya nodded and followed her out of the wooden structure. The boys locked the door and the gate and handed the keys to the house opposite to the block of wood. Jiya and Maddie walked side by side in silence through the narrow alleyway. Maddie, as usual, had her shirt folded up to her elbows. A dark bruise peeked from beneath her left sleeve. Jiya grabbed her left arm and pointed at the bruise, "What happened?"
Maddie yanked herself free and gave a light smile, "It's… nothing. I just… fell?"
"Fell? Really?" Jiya raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah", Maddie waved her hand, "What else could it be? Do you want me to say that I climbed on a coconut tree?"
At other times, Jiya would have laughed. But, after stumbling upon Maddie's 'secret', she had her doubts. But she chose silence.
"Green House? Captain?" Maddie suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Jiya, who was in deep thought, looked her with confusion before nodding at her with a smile.
"Congrats", Maddie extended her right hand which Jiya took happily.
"Thanks", Jiya smiled and forget everything for a moment.
With that, they had reached the end of the alley and Maddie waved goodbye before she crossed the road and disappeared inside another alley. By then, Jiya saw her Papa arrive on his remarkable violet scooter. She hopped on. She had inherited silence from Papa. Their ride was always rather quiet except the honks and the occasional tickles of 'secrets' in Jiya's nostrils.
It took approximately eleven minutes to reach home. Mom had already prepared a hearty family meal. It was family time before school. Jiya entered in through the door.
"I saw it now", Mom said.
"Saw what?" Jiya asked as she shoved her Mats textbook inside her 'school' bag.
"Your tutor had left a message earlier this morning in the group", Mom replied.
"Well…", Jiya walked into the dining hall and sat down on her usual place, "Most of them were present. I guess just a few knew about it."
Mom shook her head and Papa came and sat down. Mom served the chapatis and potato fries on the three plates. Then, she passed one each to Papa and Jiya. Then, she sat down herself. The family time was rather quiet. Jiya glanced at her wristwatch. It was already fifteen past eight.