"You're dating someone, aren't you?"
Amisha stood leaning against Shiuli's closed bedroom door with her hands crossed in front of her chest. They had just gotten back from a tiring day at school and Shiuli had plopped down on her bed immediately.
Amisha could sense almost everything different about Shiuli over the past few days. She would rush back home from school and lock herself in her bedroom for the rest of the day. She would then come out for dinner, laugh and chirpily talk to everyone and then go back and lock herself in her bedroom again! Though it made Amisha really happy to see her best friend being all happy and all that, she knew something was going on that Shiuli wasn't telling her. And why!?! Wasn't Amisha her best friend? Aren't best friends supposed to know everything about each other?
"No…" Shiuli looked uncomfortable.
"You know that I know you're lying right?" Amisha sighed and her hands plopped to her sides, "Is this about that blondie Zack who visited you the other day?"
Shiuli's face went blank and after a few seconds, she burst out laughing. In fact, she was laughing so hard that tears pushed out of her eyes and she had to hold her stomach so that it doesn't hurt from laughing too much. Amisha frowned intensely and walked over to the bed. She sat down opposite her best friend and crossed her arms in from of her again. The frown made Shiuli tone down her laughter and taking deep breaths she smiled.
"No silly! I don't like Zack."
"Then who is it?" Amisha's frown turned deeper, "I know it's all about a boy, Shiuli. All that chirpiness on display lately."
"Oh c'mon! You know I'm just grateful for everything I've received from your family. It's just making me happy, that's all!"
"Cut the nonsense!" Amisha was fuming!
Shiuli knew she couldn't hide the truth from Amisha anymore, but she couldn't give her the entire truth as well. One thing was clear, Shiuli could not get away with lying here, so what could she do? Maybe tell Amisha the half-truth? Maybe just cut out the supernatural parts? At least she could give this a try and find out if it worked.
"Okay, Amisha… I'll tell you what's up, but you cannot freak out, okay?"
"I promise to not freak out! I love you, friend! Now, tell me everything!"
"Well," Shiuli started, "I met with Zack the other day. You know, the day after he showed up here and we went to the mall and hung out a little. Remember I told you I was at the library? I was with him."
"Oh no no! Not Zack! I don't get good vibes from that guy!" Amisha's eyes went wide, "Also, why did you lie to me that you were at the library?"
Well, I didn't. Shiuli hadn't really met Zack/Life that day and Shiuli was weaving up a story so that it was believable. Shiuli was really at the library that day and she hadn't lied to Amisha then but was lying now. Shiuli sighed deeply as she prepared to weave a believable story.
"Chill. It's not Zack and sorry for lying."
"You know what? Just continue with the story."
"There at the mall, we were at Starbucks and stumbled upon a guy. He was tall and had silver eyes. He was beautiful!" Shiuli's eyes lit up, "The guy saw Zack and instantly came up to us. Said he was lost and wanted help to get back to his hotel. As Zack was the only white guy other than himself in the crowd, this guy thought he could ask us for help. So Zack and I helped him get a cab. When the cab arrived, the guy introduced himself as Dean and gave me his phone number. I was so happy! The guy was cute and really nice. So I started calling him and we instantly connected."
"It hasn't even been a week," Amisha commented.
"Yes, but you have to trust me on this one! I really like him and I can tell that he is a really nice guy! He is 18 and is going to stay in India for like a year. He has come here to tour and experience the culture and stuff that these foreigners come to our country for."
"Fine! But I have to meet him and you cannot get too attached!"
"Oh my god! I love you, Amisha! You're the coolest sister ever!"
Shiuli hugged Amisha and smiled so bright that her cheeks hurt a little. Amisha was not sure about this and Shiuli's story sounded a little fishy, but she decided to trust her friend.
***
Something didn't feel right. It had been a week and Faith hadn't heard from Love at all. They had mutually decided that they would do all the worrying for their cousin brother and his love, so they could focus on building their relationship. Faith knew that Love had had a meeting with Life a few days back and Love had promised Faith that she would fill her in on the details. But it had been three days and Love was nowhere to be found. Even though creatures could just think about their kin and materialize wherever they were, they could also block this bond when they needed their space. Love was doing the same with Faith and it was so unlike Love!
Faith paced around her little hut in Ethiopia and tried to find ways in which she could contact her cousin sister. She didn't want to worry Death by asking him for his help… who else could she count on?
Time.
She could count on him! He was wise and fair. He would understand the dilemma they were all dealing with. He would know that the Moon's paranoia regarding this entire unforeseen situation is baseless and he would also never side with Life and his cunning ways.
The next instant Faith was in a small empty room. The walls were white and there were two white chairs in the center of the room, facing each other. Faith didn't know where she was, but she didn't care because she knew she was where Time was.
"Didn't expect to see you here" Time's baritone seeped into her ears from behind.
Faith turned around and smiled, "Nice to meet you, brother."
"From the urgency of you showing up here and the look on your face, I presume you're here to discuss a problem."
"You can call it that," Faith frowned, "What is this place?"
Time walked over to one of the chairs in the middle of the room and took a seat. He then gestured Faith to come and settle down in front of him. Faith slowly walked towards the chair and sat down. Time looked tensed and Faith felt fear arising in the pit of her stomach.
"That's not important, Faith. What's important is that I know everything that is going on and I can sense disaster heading our way. We need to form an alliance and stop this storm trying to wreak havoc in our lives."
"What storm? Are you referring to Death falling in love?"
"You being here suggests that you can already sense that I'm on your side. I've seen the human girl and I've talked to both Love and Death. Something tells me that it was all the universe's will and that we should help the universe achieve whatever it is trying to achieve."
"Thank god!" a smile graced Faith's lips, "You have no idea how happy this makes me, brother. I've seen what effect the girl has on our Death. I've never seen him happy, until now. She cured him and what a miracle! I can't believe the Moon doesn't see it! Why is she so against it? Why is she siding with Life when she knows about his corrupt ways?"
"She is a mother. She worries for her son."
"Oh, don't try to defend her, Time. She leads us and she is supposed to be the wisest of all of us. How is she not seeing what we're seeing?"
"She is blinded by maternal over-protectiveness. We cannot really blame her. The only creature to be blamed here is Life. He started this and he is poisoning the Moon's mind further. Before things get more complicated, we have to stop him."
"How? How do you stop someone who has fallen so low?"
A pained expression adorned both the creatures' faces. Time sighed and ran his palms down his face in a frustrating way. He looked at Faith and saw little beads of tears leave her eyes. His heart constricted at the pain all his kin were going through.
"I think Love knows something that is deeply troubling her. She has blocked the bond and is out of reach" Faith continued, "We need to find her and figure out this mess."
"I will go visit the Moon and try to figure out what is going on in her mind. Meanwhile, I will pretend to be on their side. I know this is wrong, but I have to spy on them for all of our greater good." Time waited for Faith's reply.
"And I will search the corners of this planet to find Love."