Riya and Dhriti did the dishes, while Aishi cleaned the table. The girls didn't let us help, so we were on the couch, watching T.V.

The girls joined us in the living room after they were done.

"You guys want to sleep or stay up the entire night? We'll leave by 4:00, and would reach Nandi, maximum by 5:30. The sun rises between 5:45 to 6, and it's beautiful." Aishi gushed.

"We'll stay up?" I asked looking at the boys.

"Yeah, it's almost 12 anyway." Shubman shrugged.

"So, any of you have a boyfriend?" Mayank asked them.

Aishi and Dhriti pointed at Riya, while she raised her hand up.

"Where's he? Why don't you ask him to tag along?" Mayank suggested.

"I would've, but he's in London." She smiled.

"Ooo. Long distance." I chuckled.

"Yeah. It's been five months since I last saw him." She shrugged.

"But we make it work. We skype, call and text everyday. Can't let a two year relationship go for a toss now, can I?" She chuckled.

"Any of you have a girlfriend?" Dhriti asked.

We shook our head, as if saying no.

"Seriously?" Aishi asked, laughing.

"No time, and maybe, just didn't find the right girl yet." Shubman said.

"Why don't you guys have a boyfriend?" I asked them.

"Can't deal with relationships. Yuck." Dhriti said, shaking her head, causing a few of us to chuckle.

"Aishi?" I asked.

"I did have a boyfriend, but it didn't end well. He didn't have time for me. After completing a year it shifted to long distance. Too many excuses from his side for not getting time to even speak to me. He had a problem with me being a free and wild soul. The relationship was toxic. I wasted almost two years of my life." She laughed.

"You would've been heartbroken, right?" Kamlesh asked her.

"Well, not really, seeing that I was the one who broke up. But it's just funny." She shrugged, smiling.

"How's it funny?" He questioned.

"It's funny how we outgrow what we once thought we couldn't live without, and then we fall in love with what we didn't know we could've ever wanted. Life keeps leading us in journeys we would never go on if it were up to us. That's why we should never feel like there's no hope or no exit. There's always something waiting for us." She smiled.

"If love is ever meant to happen again, it will. Searching for love is like searching for yourself. When you find love, you find yourself, because they're the same." She added.

I smiled thinking about whatever she said. It was beautiful in a way.

*

"Everyone seated?" Aishi asked, looking at the rear view mirror of the Inova, Riya had rented.

I sat next to her in the passenger seat, while Riya, Dhriti and Mayank sat in the second row, Manjot, Shubman and Kamlesh sat in the third row.

We were half way through when suddenly Dhriti and Kamlesh had to pee, and Shubman was hungry.

Aishi stopped at a small cafè.

All of us got down and while Dhriti and Kamlesh ran inside the cafè, the rest of us walked in.

It was a cafè and a snacks store, something like two in one.

I was walking around the place when I noticed Aishi wasn't there with us. I then saw her sitting on the hood of the car and smoking a cigarette, through the glass doors.

Buying two chocolate bars, I walked out and sat beside Aishi, giving her a bar before looking up at the sky.

"You know someone once told me that shooting stars are actually just angels throwing away their cigarettes before God could catch them smoking." I said before looking at her.

She smiled at me.

Crushing her cigarette by her hand, she threw it away.

"Didn't that burn?" I asked her.

"If it doesn't burn a little, what's the point of playing with fire?" She asked me, before opening the packet of her chocolate.

I smiled at her, before opening my own packet.

We sat there in a comfortable silence, looking at the sky, until everyone came out.

*

"This is beautiful." Kamlesh explained, looking at the sunrise.

Taking out my phone, I quickly clicked a picture of the sunrise.

Beautiful was an understatement for this beauty.

We could see the clouds with the sunrise.

"Wow." I breathed out.

"I know right." Dhriti said, standing beside me.

"Every adjective is such an understatement." I chuckled.

"I feel you." She laughed.

We joined Mayank and Aishi who were sitting on the ground. Manjot, Kamlesh, Riya and Shubman joined us a minute later.

"Mayank ek selfie le." Shubman told him.

Mayank took out his phone and clicked a few selfies.

We spent a couple of minutes more before heading to Indian Paratha Company.

The girls said, if you come to Nandi Hills, having breakfast at IPC is something you cannot miss.

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Translation-

~ Mayank ek selfie le- Mayank click a selfie.