BFFs – Chapter 2 & Character Sketch

Hey guys, sorry its late but here is the character sketch and chapter 2
please remember to leave comments, as I need more this time!!

Character Sketch:

Riya Sondhi: 19 year old girl, daughter of Veer and Asha Sondhi. Her mother left her and Veer to move to America with her new boyfriend, as she changed her mind about being a mother to Riya at the last minute. Riya lived in India up until the age of 5, but her father moved her to England to give her a better education. He then died 5 years ago. She was best friends with Aaron Sinha.

Aaron Sinha: Also 19 years old, he is the son of Rishi and Naina Sinha, but his mother died of cancer a few days after he was born. After Riya and Veer left India, he arrived in England 14 years later with his father in order to look for them.

Rishi Sinha: Aaron’s father. He moved to England with Aaron to find Riya and apologise to her. He was best friends with Riya’s father Veer, but he relied on him solely for money, and, as a result, couldn’t accompany him to England. After he heard that Veer died, he decided to work hard and earn for and his son to go to England and find Riya. He is very guilty about his past.

Veer Sondhi: Riya’s father. He moved Riya to England because he thought the opportunities in England were better, having been brought up in England himself. He died in an accident 5 years later.

Nandini Malhotra (Nandu): Riya’s distant aunt and Veer’s cousin. Since Veer had made no will, Riya was passed on to be looked after by her next of kin; Nandini. She is not married and loves Riya a lot. She is Riya’s foster mother, and lives with her in London.

Maya Dhaliwal: Maya is Riya’s best friend. They met on Riya’s first day in primary school and have been best friends ever since. Maya knows everything about Riya’s past and she is probably one of the most important people in Riya’s life.

These will all be introduced later…

Sachin Sondhi: This is Riya’s 24 year old brother. After completing his education in London, he went on to live in America to pursue a career in engineering.

These are all Riya’s friends. They attend the same university as her…

Zayne Malik: An aspiring musician, and the clown of the group.

Meera Aggarwal: A very simple girl, who is always late for everything. She has a secret crush on Saman, but has never had the guts to tell him.

Saman Joshi: He wants to pursue a career in acting once he gets his degree, but his main hobby is cooking. He is also hiding a secret from Riya that everyone else already knows…

Noorie Akhtar: A very loud and vivacious girl. She is very protective of her friends and wants to keep them together at any cost.

Kyran Mander: A geeky kid who wants to concentrate on his studies and make his father proud. This slowly turns into an obsession, the reason for which nobody knows…

Anika Tandon: Anika is the main antagonist in this FF. She used to be friends with this group, until Riya came. She believes Riya to be the cause of her turning bitter towards her ‘ex friends’. Another mystery to unfold…

Chapter 2

LONDON, RISHI’S APARTMENT

Aaron pulled on the zip of his black suitcase, making sure that it was fastened securely. He then picked up his watch, hanky and wallet off the bed, but something floated out of his wallet and towards the floor. . He went to pick it up, and found it was Riya’s picture. He sighed looking at it. How was he ever going to find her? Aaron picked up his luggage off the bed and headed downstairs, slipping the picture into the back pocket of his trousers. Little did he know he was going in the exact direction he wanted to…

LONDON, NANDU’S HOUSE

“Riya! Riya! Riya! Riya! Riya!” shouted Maya as she ran up to her friend and pounced upon her, giving her a bear hug. “Have you heard?” asked Maya, still not allowing Riya to breathe. “A boy named Aaron is coming here to stay! Do you think he might be-“
“Absolutely not!” said Riya, finally managing to get free of Maya’s embrace. “There are probably millions of Aarons here in England. It doesn’t necessarily mean that my Aaron is coming back. And anyway, just because he is from India-“
“He is coming from India?” Maya interrupted. “This cannot be a coincidence Riya! At least you should be a bit optimistic! Do you know his surname?”
“No, Nandu aunty knows it.”
“Let’s go ask her then.” she said, heading for the door.
“Maya, it is not right to simply jump to conclusions. We should not get our hopes up for them to be destroyed in the end.”

“Riya…” Maya started, but Riya turned her head. Maya sighed. She knew Riya was a very senti person. She also knew that right now, she would be missing her childhood friend, Aaron. From all the stories Riya had told Maya about him, their bond became obvious. Maya was never jealous of Aaron, because she knew that she and Riya had their own unique bond.
Right now, Maya had only one thing on her mind: to make Riya laugh. She turned around to find a framed picture on her sideboard. It was a picture of a 5 year old boy, with frayed edges.
(To the readers, can you guess who it was???)
Yes! That’s right. It was Aaron’s picture, the other half.

FLASHBACK

When Aaron tore the picture in half, Riya had also kept Aaron’s half.

PRESENT DAY

Maya picked up the picture and started talking to it.
“Aaron, can I tell you a joke?”
Riya turned around. What was this crazy girl doing now?

“Okay,” continued Maya, “A child asked his father, “How were people born?” So his father said, “Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.” The child then went to his mother, asked her the same question and she told him, “We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now.” The child ran back to his father and said, “You lied to me!” His father replied, “No, your mom was talking about her side of the family.”
Maya looked towards Riya, who was still standing expressionless. She turned back to the picture to try again.

“Aaron, you didn’t find that funny? Okay, never mind. I can try again.
Wife: “In my dream, I saw you in a jewellery store and you bought me a diamond ring.”
Husband: “I had the same dream and I saw your dad paying the bill.”
This time, even Maya laughed at her own joke. Riya’s lips started to twitch upwards. One more would do it.

“Last one Aaron. If you don’t laugh this time, I won’t talk to you. Okay, a husband and wife were driving through Louisiana. As they approached Natchitoches, they started arguing about the pronunciation of the town. They argued back and forth, then they stopped for lunch. At the counter, the husband asked the blonde waitress, “Before we order, could you please settle an argument for us? Would you please pronounce where we are very slowly?” She leaned over the counter and said, “Burrr-gerrr Kiiinnng.”
Riya burst out laughing at this one. Maya put down the photo and went up to her and hugged her again. She thought to herself, ‘please Riya, stay smiling like this all the time.’

3 HOURS LATER
RIYA’S POV

I must admit, I never found the shrill tone of our doorbell very appealing. Not until today, that is. Today, when I hear it, it comforts me, in a strange sort of way. So much so that I badly want to know who is on the opposite side of the door. Could it be a sciencey nerd? Or a really handsome teen? Or a disabled young man in a wheelchair?

Sorry. I am just that sort of person, who cooks up theories for anything and everything. Everything, according to me, has been done for a reason. Either that, or I’m just really bored!

Nandu aunty wiped her hands with a white towel, sauntered out of the kitchen and unlocked the front door. At first, the stranger’s face was blocked by Nandu aunty’s head. I decided I should stand up, not just so that I could see his face, but also for common courtesy. But, this made no difference to my view. I edged forward. Maya came in from the kitchen after helping Nandu aunty and stood by my side. I could see from the awkward angle that her head was placed at that she couldn’t see either.

“…come in, son. Don’t worry, we have your room prepared upstairs. Riya! Come and help with the luggage.” Came Nandu aunty’s voice.
I and Maya edged forward, giving us a better view of the apparent stranger.
There was something about this guy that drew me to him at first glance. I guess it doesn’t hurt to say that he was a good looking boy; but it was more than that. His raven hair was perfectly tousled, and his green eyes lit up the whole hall. He had a certain sense of familiarity to him, one that I couldn’t make out.
“Riya, Maya,” Nandu aunty started, “This is Aaron.”

Hey! liked it?? I must say, I really enjoyed writing it.
What was your favourite part? Did you like the jokes? What do you think of Maya and her comedy? What about Aaron and Riya?

Also, can you guys please tell me if im confusing any of you, because I know it is quite complicated so far. I will try to make it simpler…
Once again, please comment and tell me how it was…