I parked my two wheeler in the parking and removed my scarf that was earlier covering my face and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I had bags under my eyes, my hair was a mess, and my shoulders hurt because of the weight of my bag. These submissions and exams are definitely going to be the death of me someday, I thought. After wiping my sweaty face with my scarf I fixed my hair.

I need to look presentable in my house, funny, isn't it? I live in a goddamned cage. My parents are like the typical Indian orthodox family who want to get their daughters married as soon as her menstrual cycles start. I have begged and cried in front of them to give me just five years to complete my LLM program and get the degree. Becoming a successful lawyer was the only goal of my life but my parents wanted me to get married and have a baby as soon as possible. My marriage was the only goal.

I looked at my reflection one last time and gave myself the pep talk about staying calm. This is my everyday routine. I turned on the priority mode on my phone before entering my house. My father has a habit of checking my phone, sometimes. He thinks I am dating someone and probably I have slept with him already.

Little does he know my life sucks to the core. Assignments and exams are the only things that fuck me hard every single day.

I walked into the house taking a deep breath. I looked at my watch, 7.20 pm it read. Shit, I am twenty minutes late! Being twenty minutes late might be normal for most of the people, but for me it wasn't.

"Why are you so late?" My mother asked as soon as I entered the drawing room. Normal parents would be worried about their child for being late but my parents were anything but worried. I could literally feel the anger in her voice.

'Way too greet your daughter. Yayy!' My subconscious mocked.

"Traffic," I simply shrugged and dropped on the couch like a dead person. My dog, Toby, came running towards me and I patted him smiling, he is love!

"I am hungry," I whined as I poked my mother continuously just to tease her. Even though we fight or she keeps nagging about my studies and marriage, I love her.

"Go eat. The food is in the kitchen," she looked at me with narrowed eyes then continued cleaning the house. I dragged myself to the kitchen and hunted for food.

"Ayush's father..... come here," My mother shouted from the drawing room.

Oh god! She knows I am eating still she will call him. Why does she hate me so much?

"What?" I sounded irritated.

"What is this? Take your bag to your room, and look at your shoes, just lying haphazardly in front of the door! I don't know how you are going to manage when you get married...."

"Mom! Stop! I will eat and then clean up the mess, I am tired." I shouted.

"This is not the way you to talk to your mother. If you are so tired, don't go to college. You are not doing a favour by studying. These are the things that are going to help you after marriage. Studies is just for namesake." my own mother said these things.

This is a daily routine. I start taking deep breaths trying to control my outbursts. I just ignore the tears brimming in my eyes and continue doing all the chores she assigned.

I love my mom, I really do. But there is this one point where you just think enough is enough and start questioning your love towards them. In many cases people lose respect in one's eyes and fortunately I have not reached that stage yet.

"How was your college?" my father asked as the entire family sat at the dining table; my parents, Ayush and me. Ayush is my little brother who supports me a lot, he's in 12th grade.

"Hectic!" I said popping a piece of chapatti in my mouth.

"Tell her to behave," My mother complained. "She doesn't help me in any of the household chores and when I tell her to help me all she says is I am tired."

"Why don't you just help your mother Rishita?" My father asked me in calm voice.

"I...I.." I was about to say when my father cut me off.

"You have to do these things after marriage. You know that, right? "

I clamped my mouth shut and just nodded looking at the food my appetite losing. My brother gave me a sympathetic look which I completely ignored.

After finishing my dinner, I went straight to my room with Toby and locked the door. A bed was placed in the middle of the room with a study table on the opposite side. A huge window was situated at the left side with a cupboard next to it.

I walked towards the window and opened it. The cool breeze hit my face and I sat on the window sill looking blankly at the surroundings. Toby was sitting on my lap while I caressed his head.

This is my life! A life where family is my hindrance to live freely! Restrictions are my forced best friends and well curfew my enemy. Being born as a girl in Indian community has always been challenging. I have always been taught how to behave, how to carry yourself in public. What you should wear, what friends you should make, it was more like a Cage. And I was tired with this life.

I was starting feel myself as a burden on my parents because all they want to do with me is get me married as soon as possible. It is like getting out of one cage and falling into another. The only breath of fresh air in my strict world was my brother Ayush and my best friend, Neel Khurana.

The only two people who knows the real me. Knows how to differentiate between my real smiles and fake smiles. A knock on the door interrupted me from my thoughts. I placed Toby on the ground and went near the door.

I unlocked the it and saw my brother Ayush standing in front of me.

"What?" I asked as I opened the door fully and allowed him to come in.

"Hello to you too. You know how father feels about locked doors, right?" I rolled my eyes at his statement.

"Well everything I do is considered wrong in this house," I said lying on bed.

"How was your day?" He asked me as he sat on the window sill where I was sitting first.

"I think you already know," Toby came and started licking my cheek. I giggled a little and patted him. He always does that whenever I am feeling low.

"Oh c'mon di! Forget them, you know how they are. Anyway I came here to tell you that Neel called. You were not picking up your phone. He was asking if you could meet him on Saturday?"

"Ohh shit! I have not checked my phone since morning. I will call him up," I said searching for my phone.

Neel Khurana, my best friend, my advisor. He has been there with me through all the phases of my life. His family and my family were close friends. My mom was okay with me talking to him but my dad was strictly against it. He followed the no talking to guys policy! Irony is he wants me to sleep with a total stranger on the first day of my marriage.

Ayush nodded and started leaving.

"Ohh yes, also I think mom and dad have started looking a guy for you. I heard them talking down stairs," he said with a grim face.

Oh fucking lord! I am so dead! I fucking want to run away from this hell.