~2~

Ava's pov:

As Every Sunday evening, the kids in the colony gathered near the bamboo trees, for the most awaited game of the week. Everyone is waiting for teams to be made as they ran here and there making slight squishy noises on the wet grass, while I was waiting for Priti who was convincing the new boy to come. It shouldn't take much time as he is her "cousin". I am still processing the new information about Priti and Darsh.

"Ava will be in my team no matter what and if anybody dares to throw the ball at her I will break their hands", came Abhi's threat that made me roll my eyes. "You have to be kidding me!? throwing the ball at your opposite team members is the main part of 7 stones and don't you dare ruin the game like last week or this will be the last time you play with us," I said quite irritated by his cliche possessiveness.

He overreacts so much that no kid here dares to hurt me even unintentionally. He is the reason I have only three friends in this whole colony of kids. Priti and Kyra were the only people I can be comfortable with and they both share the same gender as me. He even made me tie Rakhi to Virin, Kyra's twin brother, who is the only other boy allowed, to be near me.

My sour mood lightened a little when I saw the two people I was waiting for join us. "Now as everyone is here, meet Darsh, my new neighbor. They just moved here from Mumbai". A few greetings and smiles came from everybody as I introduced him and Abhi looked him up and down. "Darsh, I hope you know how to play 7 Stones", Asked Kyra my other best friend besides Priti. Darsh looked around and saw the 7 stones that were placed as a block beside a ball.

"No, this is the first I have heard of it". Came his reply. "Okay it's simple, there will be two teams, and each member of the team will get a chance to knock those stones. The team which knocks the stones first will have to build back the block all while dodging the ball from the opposite team members. If a person gets hit by the ball while placing the stone opposite team wins. You will understand more after one match it is not that complex". Explained Kyra while we chose the teams.

Abhi, Kyra, her twin brother Virin, and the other 2 kids from our building are in one team. I intentionally avoided Abhi being on the same team as me, because all he does is protect me from the ball and anyone crashing into me as we run.

Priti was the first one to stand in line from our team, She knocked the stones on the first try and all 12 of us scattered immediately. We were building back the block, my team members were trying to dodge. Excited squeals can be heard as everyone was running around with adrenaline.

I was searching for the last stone to place, anxiously looking out for the person who got the ball. I prayed for everyone on my team other than me when I saw Abhi throw the ball harshly.

It came right at Darsh and hit him in the stomach with a violent thud which made us stop. He didn't even make a sound but, his eyes turned red and tears of pain formed in his eyes. I was beside him in a flash and asked if he was okay. " I am totally fine," he said with a strained voice.

I feel this strange pain like I am the one who was hit. "Do you have to throw the ball that harsh?!" I yelled at Abhi. "What? Throwing the ball at your opposite team member is the main part of the game, isn't it?" He replayed my words back at me. I was glaring at him when Virin exclaimed, "I don't mean to be rude, but we won!"

Kyra smacked him on the head which made Darsh laugh even with the pain. We continued to play while Darsh took a break for one match. We played 5 matches and only won 2.

Then came the time to return home. I was walking with Darsh when Abhi dragged me back by my forearm.

"what is it now?", I asked him tired of fighting with him. He laced his fingers through mine and said, "You are walking with me and that's final". I laughed at his immature behavior which turned into a frown when I saw Kyra and Darsh smiling at each other. No...!

                       ~~~***~~~

Hey you lazy person! Yeah you, come here and read this note before scrolling to the next chapter.

If you haven't got used to the names yet,

( Priti, Kyra, Virin )----> best friends of Ava(female lead).

(Abhi, Darsh)------> well male leads I guess. 😅

Simply put 6 friends one pair of twins(Kyra and Virin), one pair of cousins(Priti and Darsh), and one pair of... Haven't thought yet (Abhi, Ava).

If you still get confused. Umm, please read the note again it might work as a revision. 😁