The first thing Vikram heard when he entered home was the sound of Vaibhav laughing. That was odd. Vikram walked into the living room to find Vaibhav with their mom. This was even odder. Last Vikram knew, Vaibhav had declared a mutiny against their mother and wasn't talking to her.

"What's going on?" he asked as he dropped his bag to the side and walked in.

He noticed Meera had an album of photos in her hand and Vaibhav was sitting next to her, looking at some photos.

"Where's dad?" VIkram asked when he noticed he wasn't with them.

"He's in his room, taking a nap." Meera said.

"What are you guys looking at?"

Meera indicated Vikram to come near and sit next to him so Vikram did.

She showed Vikram some photos that Vikram didn't recognize. There were photos of mountains, beaches, trees, random people, streets, cars and just about any mundane thing.

She flipped the page and Vikram saw the photo of a big house that he vaguely remembered. And then it hit him. It was the photo of the house they'd stayed in when they were in New Zealand and the photos from a few seconds ago were some of the first photos Vikram had taken from his Olympus when he was a kid.

"Where did you find these photos?" he asked, surprised.

"They've always been with me." Meera said. "I was cleaning the room when I found the album."

Vikram had no idea Meera had saved these photos.

She suddenly pointed to the photo a nothing but flashlight on what looked like a window. "Do you remember this?" she asked and Vikram shook his head. He had no memory of the photo.

"It was a rainy night and you were inside with your camera when you saw a cat walk by, through the window. You wanted to take a photo of it so you could show it to Vaibhav but the flash was on and all it caught was the light. Not to mention the cat was so scared of the sudden light that she ran away immediately"

Vikram laughed lightly. How did she remember all this when even he didn't?

They went on browsing a few more photos and Meera had a memory for almost every one of those. Vikram was in awe of the fact that she remembered all of that.

They were about to reach the end when the doorbell rang and she excused herself to get the door.

Vikram turned to Vaibhav. "So you're not mad at mom anymore?"

"Oh I am." Vaibhav said, "But being mad is very exhausting so I've decided to take a break until I approach the topic of me going to school again." he said.

Vikram was about to say something when Meera resurfaced with some files in her hand.

"Sorry boys." she said, taking a seat on the armchair and setting the files on the coffee table. Her hand reached out to her glasses and she adjusted them well after wearing them. "Work calls." she said.

Vikram shut the album and kept it on the table next to the files.

"There's food in the fridge if you're hungry." Meera said and picked up the first file on the table.

Vikram didn't feel hungry so decided to go to his room instead. Vaibhav decided to watch some TV instead of going back upstairs so Vikram let him be.

He was just about to pick his bag up and head towards the stairs when Meera's called him.

"Is this your friend's file?" she asked and Vikram approached her. She showed him the file and Vikram's eyes fell on the name 'Aditya Varma'.

His heart beat louder than he'd want to. Slowly, he nodded. "Yeah, that's Aditya. You met him, remember?"

Hearing Aditya's name even drew Vaibhav's attention to them.

Vikram stood over her with bated breath as Meera read his file, turning page after page.

Once she was done, she set the file back on the table, took her classes off and pinched the bridge of her eyes.

"This is a tough case." she said the next second. "I don't think the board will agree to his scholarship."

Vikram wanted to ask why but Vaibhav beat him to it. "Why?" he asked.

Meera sighed. "His father's history isn't good." he said.

"But his dad isn't asking for the scholarship." Vikram said, "Aditya is."

Meera shook her head, "That's not how it works." She said, "It says here that the only guardian he had is an uncle who he lives with, and he's unemployed."

Well he was also alcoholic but Meera didn't have to know that.

"Even if I say yes, the other board members won't agree."

"Mom..." Vikram said, "You have to find a way because if you don't..." Vikram wanted to tell her about his house and how it was his father's last remaining gift to Aditya and how he'd have to sell it away if this scholarship didn't get through but that would be emotionally manipulating her and Vikram didn't want to do that. "Look at his academic record, okay?" he said instead, "If it was another student, with the same record, but with a better history, would you not grant him the scholarship?"

Meera nodded. There was no doubt that they would immediately sanction the scholarship in that case.

"Then how is it his fault that his father's business failed?" Vikram asked her, without realizing that his pitch was increasing. "Why should he be denied something that he would otherwise get?"

"Vikram..." Meera began but Vikram cut her short.

"No, mom." he said. "You know this is unfair. I am not asking you for a favor or to choose him over someone else. All I am asking is for you to make a decision based on his achievements, not because of his dad's history."

Meera stared at the file again and gave out a heavy sigh.

"Fine." she said. "I'll see what I can do."

Vikram couldn't believe this. "Really?" he asked.

"I am not making any promises." she said, "But I will try"

Vikram didn't even know what came over him but he bent down and hugged Meera, shocking her in the process a little.

"Thank you." Vikram said.

Vaibhav stared at them and tried to hide a smile. "Since you're agreeing to things..." Vaibhav said, "I'd also like to hear a yes on me going to school."

Vikram let Meera go and she looked at Vaibhav. "I will throw you out of the house."

Vaibhav stood up in a surprise. "You will?" he asked. "Mom, that's all I ever wanted."

Meera closed her eyes and shook her head before turning to Vikram. "Take him to his room and lock the door from outside, will you?"

Vikram laughed.

"Fine." Vaibhav said, sitting back down. "But someday you'll agree."

"We'll see." Meera said.

"Oh we will." Vaibhav answered and Vikram knew this could go on forever, so he quietly retreated to his room. At least something was going good.

It was Ruvee who found Vikram in the clubroom the next day after school.

"What are you doing here?"

Ruvee looked at him and smiled. "Just felt like visiting." she said and walked over to the almost broken down sofa and sat down.

Vikram walked over and took a seat next to her as Ruvee placed her head on Vikram's shoulder and breathed.

"Is everything alright?" Vikram asked.

"Yes." Ruvee said, closing her eyes. "I just want to sit here like this, for just a few minutes."

"Sure. Anything you say."

Vikram knew he would give Ruvee the moon and the stars if she asked for it. That's how much he valued her in his life.

"Vikram." Ruvee said after a while.

"Yeah?"

"I think we should break up"

The words sucked the air out of Vikram's lungs. "What?" he asked, "Why?"

Ruvee lifted her head up and looked at him. "You don't want to?" she asked.

Vikram didn't know what to say. He hadn't even thought about it.

"Tell me you feel it too." Ruvee said.

"Feel what?"

"That things are not working out between us." she said, "I mean I love you Vikram, but I don't think we have that kind of love. You know?"

Vikram exhaled. If he was honest with himself, he too had felt that there was something missing between him and Ruvee, something big and significant and important.

And god, had he tried to make it work. But the truth was, they were always more comfortable as friends than they were while dating each other.

He slowly nodded his head.

"Do you hate me?" Ruvee asked.

"What?" Vikram turned towards her sharply and took her hands in his. "No, Ruvee, I absolutely do not hate you. You're one of the best people I have ever had the privilege of knowing."

Ruvee smile. "Back at you."

"Maybe we're just not best for each other?" Vikram asked and Ruvee nodded.

"I think so too." Ruvee said.

Vikram got back to resting his back on the backrest of the sofa and Ruvee pulled near, stacking her head on his shoulder again. Vikram placed his hand around Ruvee's shoulders and held her close.

"We did try though." she said.

"And I don't regret it." Vikram said.

"Neither do I." Ruvee said, closing her eyes.

"Can we still be friends?" Vikram asked.

Ruvee looked at him scandalously. "Of course we can still be friends, why would you think we would not be?"

Vikram shrugged. "I don't know. People kind of stop being friends after they break up."

Ruvee raised her head and looked at Vikram. "I will be here whenever you need me." she said softly.

Vikram met her eyes and saw this magnificent girl, who somehow, was one of the greatest things that had happened to him. Her kindness went beyond her age and Vikram sometimes wondered what he had done to deserve her. In another life, maybe, Vikram would give her everything she wanted, maybe he could make her happy, but in this life, they were not right for each other. Ruvee deserved to be with someone who would promise her a forever, and Vikram knew he wasn't the one to make that promise.

This, right here, sitting as friends felt comfortable and familiar and right. Vikram's heart had been heavy with guilt after that kiss with Aditya, about which he still hadn't told Ruvee. But if anything. Ruvee didn't deserve someone like Vikram in her life.

With various such thought swimming across his mind, Vikram fell back into silence, holding Ruvee close to him. After a while, she spoke up again.

"Are you and Aditya talking again?"

"No." Vikram said, sadness engulfing his voice. "We are not."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"I don't want to." Vikram said.

"Why?" Ruvee asked. "He's lonely, you know?"

Vikram turned to her in surprise. "How do you know?"

"I can see it on his face." she said. "I can see he is suffering."

Vikram turned silent. He didn't know what to say to her.

"I think he'll be fine as long as I stay away from him." Vikram said before he could understand what he had spoken.

"What makes you think that?" Ruvee immediately asked. "I don't think that's true. I think he's more miserable staying away."

If only Vikram could tell her the truth. Even if they had broken up, Vikram knew it would still hurt her to find out what Vikram had done.

"Vikram." Ruvee said, turning to him and placing her hand on his. "I think you should talk to him."

Vikram shook his head. "I have tried. But it's not as easy as you think."

"Okay." Ruvee said and breathed out. "I didn't want to say anything because it's not my place but you're in denial and I think you should snap out of it."

"Snap out of what?"

"Whatever is keeping you away from him."

Vikram stared at her in shock. "Wh... what are you talking about?"

Ruvee cocked her head and pursed her lips. "Why do you have Aditya's used library card in between your books?"

A wave of panic ran over him and he looked Ruvee. She had seen that?

"That's..." Vikram began, "I... I just found it lying in the library and thought I might return it to him later."

Ruvee gave out a light laugh. "You're such a bad liar." she said. "You know you've sent me all the photos you've taken from the football matches, right?"

Vikram nodded. "Yeah, so?"

Ruvee raised her eyebrows at him. At first, Vikram didn't understand, but then it dawned on it.

"Fuck!" he said and Ruvee laughed. "Fuck!" Vikram said again.

He hadn't even realized what he had done. He was supposed to filter the photos and send them to Ruvee, instead he had sent her the entire folder. 95% of which were just photos of Aditya.

"It's..." Vikram stuttered, "No, Ruvee it's nothing like that."

"No?" Ruvee asked in amusement. "Then what is it?"

"It's..." Vikram didn't know what to say. He didn't know what it was either.

"I'm not..." Vikram said, shaking his head. What was the word he was looking for? Gay?

He was about to say that out loud when something struck him. "Wait." Vikram said, taking a pause. "Is this why you broke up with me? Because I swear it's not what you think."

This made Ruvee laugh. "No you idiot." she said. "I broke up with you because we were not clicking together. It has nothing to do with anything else."

"Okay." Vikram said, a little relieved. "But you have it all mixed up."

"Alright." Ruvee said, "I will believe what you tell me, but are you sure you're honest with yourself?"

Vikram shook his head again. "There is nothing to be honest about."

Ruvee placed her hand on Vikram's cheeks. "Vikram, you were smiling like an idiot looking at a library card. I am pretty sure there was no joke written on it, was there?"

Vikram closed his eyes. He didn't know what Ruvee was asking. He didn't know what to say to make her understand.

"It's really not like that, Ruvee."

Ruvee sighed. "Okay!" she said. "If you say it's nothing, I believe it's nothing. But I still want to tell you that even if it was, it would be completely okay."

"I..." Vikram faltered. Would it really be okay? Maybe he was in denial, like Ruvee had said because he went on to deny it some more. "You are getting it all wrong. It's just mere exposure effect and interpersonal attraction"

Ruvee laughed so hard hearing this that she fell back on the armrest of the sofa.

"Do you..." she said, paused in between, "Do you know what they are?"

Vikram nodded at first, but who was he kidding? He slowly shook his head.

"Oh Vikram!" Ruvee said, reaching up to him, "Maybe you should find out before you go blaming everything on it"

"What is it?" Vikram asked.

Ruvee shook her head and tried to control her laugh. "I am not the right person to ask. I think you should ask someone else, like Aditya?"

Vikram scowled at her. "I will ask Vaibhav instead." he said.

"Okay." Ruvee said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "But do it as soon as possible. You're in for a surprise."

Vaibhav was playing on his PS2 when Vikram walked into his room.

"What are mere exposure effect and interpersonal attraction?" he asked and closed the door behind him. At first, Vikram was absolutely lost, not sure who he should talk to about everything that had been going on with him. He didn't know where to begin but as he walked out of the library after Aditya had caught him watching him, his eyes fell on the Psychology section of the library and just like that, Vikram knew where he had to begin looking for answers.

"Hello to you too." Vaibhav said, hitting the pause on, Vikram turned to look at the screen, some game where people seemed to be in a... dungeon? He didn't know and he didn't care either.

"Tell me." Vikram demanded, not entirely sure why he was yelling.

Vaibhav set the controller aside. "Okay, sit down."

Vikram followed.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just..." Vikram began, "... was curious."

Vaibhav raised an eyebrow at him, not believing what he said but decided not to dwell on it. "Alright." he began. "Just to satisfy your curiosity, mere exposure effect is a phenomenon when you have an affinity towards something that you are exposed to it."

"Explain."

Vaibhav sighed. "Let's say there's a new song that has come out from a band you've never heard of. At first, you wouldn't care for it, probably not even like it. But the more you keep hearing it, the more familiar it gets and the more familiar it gets, the more you might be inclined to like it. That's mere exposure effect."

"So you're saying, the more someone comes across something, the more they tend to have a liking for it?"

Vaibhav nodded.

"Even people?" Vikram asked.

"Especially people"

"How so?"

"That's where interpersonal attraction comes in."

Vikram waited for him to continue.

"Attraction can result because of various factors, a person's looks, the similarities you share, how close they are to you, both physically and mentally and finally. But it is familiarity that plays a big role in attraction. The more familiar you become to something or someone, you feel yourself drawn to it naturally. And the more drawn you are to them, the more you start to like them"

Vikram was still lost so Vaibhav continued.

"The more you start to like them, the more inclined you are to want to have some sort of relationship with them. Interpersonal attraction has various facets and interpretations but the most common, when it comes to people is their desire to form a relationship with someone else. In short, the more time you spend with someone, the more you are inclined to like them and want to be in a relationship with them. It can be just a friendly relationship or could be romantic."

"Romantic?"

Vaibhav nodded.

Vikram froze. No, no, he said to himself as he shook his head. It wasn't romantic.

Perhaps it could be that Vikram just wanted to be friends with Aditya, right? That would make absolute and the most logical sense. And it wouldn't hurt anyone or be something people will look down upon?

But if that was true, why was Vikram so hung up on the word 'romantic' when he left Vaibhav's room and retreated to his own?

Sitting on his bed, Vikram retrieved a textbook from his bag and opened it. He pulled the library card out and read the name on top of it. 'Aditya Varma, Class 12 B'.

What kind of friend collected souvenirs like this? What kind of friends kissed each other and liked it and wanted to do it again? Vikram had kissed Ruvee too but the pull he felt towards Aditya was undeniably strong. Friendship didn't work like that.

Shruti was his best friend, or so he thought, but when she decided to stop being friends with Vikram, he wasn't bothered. Mohit had moved across countries and it didn't affect Vikram much. And yet, there this boy was, who had stopped being his friend and Vikram thought he couldn't breathe. Aditya had stopped talking to him and Vikram felt like it was the end of the world. When Aditya had ignored him out on the field in the evening, Vikram felt like someone had reached into his chest and ripped his heart out.

This was not just a friendship.

This was something else. This was more romantic than Vikram cared to admit.

And for the first time, Vikram admitted to himself what he had been denying for a long time now. That he really, really, really liked Aditya. And in ways that seemed impossible.

Vikram flopped to his bed with the card in his hand.

He drew it to his face and inhaled the faint smellof musk on them. It was what Aditya smelled like. A smile drew up Vikram'slips.