Chapter 1-Some girls are worth sharing cooties
You know the feeling you get when someone takes last slice of your pizza without even asking you… when your parents give your favourite toy to your younger siblings, without even thinking about asking you, just because you are elder to them.
That feeling of longing and sadness…
That’s exactly how 10 years old Rishav is feeling. He has heard his parents last night, talking about people coming to live in the haunted house of the neighbourhood. The same haunted house which is Rishav’s and his friends’ hide out.
‘Have you heard?’ Rishav’s mother, Anjali had asked his step-father, Dinesh in a child like excitement as soon as they all (Dinesh, Anjali, Rishav, Anish and Shaili) have sat on dining table for dinner last night. All of them started eating without even bothering to reply. They all know very well, whatever it is that Anjali has heard, she is going to share it with all of them anyway, whether any of them wants to hear it or not. And normally none of them were interested except 4 year old Shaili but then again his sister, Shaili is so young and curious everything grown up is interesting to her.
‘A family is coming to stay in the haunted house!’ That certainly piqued his interest.
No… Not the haunted house. It’s his safe heaven!
Someone can’t just come and decide to take the only place he likes in this whole world away without even asking him or even thinking of him as if he doesn’t matter.
He frowns thinking about how everyone takes everything away from him without even thinking of him. Like his toys, his superheroes stickers, his chocolates… even his mother.
‘No one is going to take my place from me’ He decides in his mind and it was his place as far as his 10 years old mind is concerned.
Rishav and his friends, with very brave heart have entered in that house 2 years ago with the hope of befriending the ghost and appear cool in front of their classmates by telling tales of their bravery in school. And even though they haven’t found the ghost or a way to be cool, they have found their hide out. A very dirty and pathetic one but a hiding place nonetheless.
Slowly that hiding place became their safe heaven! That haunted house was their place. Rishav and his friends could come their at any time and rant about their problems, whether it was about why they have to study so much, or about how their parents force them to eat healthy and disgusting food, or about how their older sibling tease them and order them around, about how their moms tell them to do their own chores etc.
And that place has special meaning to Rishav. For him that place was something that he has discovered on his own and something that his mother can’t ask him to give to his half-brother, Anish.
But last night even that happened. Someone is coming to take HIS PLACE away from him.
He can’t just sit still and let that happen!
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‘We need a full proof plan’ Ankan, Rishav’ best buddy, says with a determined look.
‘Even I know that Einstein, but what our plan is going to be?’ Shivam scowls at Ankan.
‘That house is haunted, right? We need to scare those people and make them leave the house’ Ankan narrates the plan. As the brainy one of the group, he is always ready with some plan. Ankan gives a look full of self pride to Shivam, which Shivam returns with a sheepish smile.
So their plan was final and there is no chance of failure, Rishav thinks with a confident smirk. They would dress up as ghosts, Ankan us going to help them with their get up as has been ghost in last year’s fancy dress competition, then all of them will silently enter the house from the back door, that door is always open as the lock on it doesn’t work, then they will scare try to scare them.
‘That will show them that the house is really haunted and they will run away’ Rishav’s friend, Abhishek speaks with a tone of mischief.
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As per the plan, they silently enter from the back door, trying to reach the hiding place on the first floor. Knowing as much as they have come to know about the dark corners of the house is really helpful.
They somehow manages to reach their decided hiding place without getting caught. Their face covered with powder to make them look like ghost and a skeleton drawn on their clothes. Now all they have to do is just wait for someone to come and for them to scare that person.
‘It has been 10 minutes but no one is coming!’ The whiner of the group, Shivam whines.
‘I will just take a peek’ Rishav offers and gets his head out of the corner to see if anyone is coming. But no one is!
‘We will wait for 10 more minutes but if no one comes then we will go to ground floor and try to scare people, OK?’ Ankan announces the plan to which everyone agree by nodding their head.
Just when they have decided that it’s enough and they should go downstairs now. They hear a person coming toward them, humming some song.
Rishav again gets his head out to see who is coming and gets happy seeing a pretty girl of almost their age coming toward them with a small box in her hands. At the age when boys think that girls have cooties, Rishav couldn’t have been happier to see that victim of their prank is going to be a young girl. He imagines her screaming and crying once she saw them with their ghostly get up and for a moment he thinks of this pretty girl in distress because of something he has done, he doesn’t like the image in his head.
But then he thinks of his hiding place and then with new determination he hides back in the corner and informs his friends ‘She is a girl of our age’.
All his friends take a relieved sigh because even though none of them wants to admit, they were terrified thinking about what will happen if someone elder will catch them.
With the relief and joy apparent on their face, Rishav and his friends get out of the corner and laugh in ghostly tone. ‘Buaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaaaha…. Buahahahahahahahaha’
The evil laugh roared in the quite corridor but there was no expression on the girls face. Shivam and Abhishek started scoffing because of laughing this loudly but still the girl doesn’t even raise her eyebrows let alone screaming.
When they couldn’t laugh anymore, they stopped it and look at the girl with desperation which was thankfully covered by layers of powders on their faces.
After two minutes of awkward silence, the girl gives them a wide smile and for a second he wonders how nice it will be to have someone this pretty and brave, who won’t get scared be ghosts, as neighbour.
‘Mumma…. Mumma! Come here!’ Fear of getting caught replaced the thought about having her as neighbour in Rishav’s head.
‘AAAH’ A beautiful and tall lady screams after seeing them as if she has seen a ghost… Oh, wait! They were looking like ghost. This girl has totally shaken their confidence.
‘Mom, why are you screaming?’ Yeah well girl, that’s what one does when one sees ghosts in their house, Rishav wants to say. ‘They will not like it’ The boys were already not liking the scenario they are in.
‘Who are they?’ Her mom asks looking more in control, now that she has realized they were really not ghosts.
‘How would I know?’ The girl frowns ‘but they are the first ones to welcome us in our new home and all of them look so funny’ The girl giggles, making Rishav and his friend angry. They weren’t supposed to look funny, they were supposed to look scary.
The lady looks at her giggling daughter with love and orders the boys to follow her.
‘Khanak, why don’t you put your stuff into your room and then come downstairs’
Rishav and his friends knew that they are in trouble now.
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‘What was that? What were all of you doing?’ The woman asks with a lot of irritation.
‘We were just trying to prank our new neighbour’ Ankan answers. While all of them were praying to get out of this without involving their respective parents.
‘And why do you have so much powder on your face?’ By now all of the irritation is gone and is replaced with humour.
‘We were supposed to be ghost’ Rishav answers, relieved that the lady finds it funny and also angry at Ankan for suggesting this plan and get up.
‘You kids really need to work on your fancy dress competition skills’ The lady answers with a smile similar to her daughter.
‘I won 2nd prize for this get up last year’ Ankan grumbles.
‘I am not complaining this to your parents this time but something like this happens again and I will tell your parents, alright?’ Her voice firm, even though she is trying her best to not smile at the little boy’s answer.
‘OK Aunty’ Everyone answers with relief clear in their voice and starts to turn to get out of the house.
‘When will Papa come?’ The girl, Khanak asks her mother.
‘Khanak, I told you dear. He won’t be coming back’ Khanak’s mother answers sadly.
Rishav knows what does ‘he won’t be coming back’ means. His mother has told him all about how his real father is someone else and why he won’t be coming back. But this Khanak, obviously doesn’t understand that judging by the look on her face.
‘He will come back and then I will tell him all about this incident’ Khanak’s face was red with anger, her big black eyes filled with tears. She yelled and stomped on stairs to go back upstairs.
Few minutes ago he would have given anything to have this girl and her mother leave this house but now all he wanted to do was go upstairs and make that girl giggle again even if it is to laugh on his ghost attire.
For the first time something is more important to Rishav than himself and what he wants. First time he has thought that even if girls have cooties, some are worth sharing cooties.