Indhu's POV
It was a sleepy Saturday morning, and I had zero plans.
I lay on my bed, lazily scrolling through my phone, yawning.
"One day without homework and everyone's gone silent," I muttered.
After lunch, Amma suddenly appeared and said,
"Indhu, get ready. We're going to Mall to buy slippers."
I groaned internally.
"Slippers? Maaalll? For this?"
But before I could escape, I was already on my way, completely unaware of what the day had in store for me.
—
What I didn't know then was that the same mall was somehow pulling everyone in.
Swetha had dragged her mom there too, claiming it was "just window shopping"—which, knowing her, definitely meant buying at least six things.
Aditya was inside the bookstore, deeply focused on a puzzle book like he was trying to solve world peace.
Rohan was at the arcade with his cousin, yelling at the claw machine,
"It touched the toy! I SWEAR IT TOUCHED THE TOY!"
And Charlotte…
She was on the second-floor café balcony, sipping a milkshake and watching people like she was narrating a documentary—very Charlotte of her.
Everything was normal.
Until it wasn't.
As I walked out of the slipper store, adjusting the bag in my hand, I suddenly saw someone familiar stepping out of a trendy shop.
"Swethaaa?"
"INDHUUU?"
We screamed at the same time.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
We said it together—and then completely lost it, laughing like idiots in the middle of the mall.
Before we could even recover, a voice joined us.
"Wait… how are you both here?"
I turned to see Aditya peeking out of the bookshop with a guilty smile.
"Oh my god, no way—Aditya too?" Swetha grinned.
"Where's Rohan now, hiding inside a clothes rack?"
"Whaaat?!" a loud voice boomed behind us.
I turned around to see Rohan stepping off the escalator, holding a sad-looking stuffed banana toy and a juice box.
"This is a fever dream," I laughed.
"This can't be real."
And then—
From above, someone looked down at us like royalty.
"Is this a V5 invasion or what?"
We all looked up.
"NO WAY. CHARLOTTE?!"
She just waved at us with that knowing smirk, like she'd expected this chaos all along.
—
Somehow, all five of us ended up in the food court.
We laughed nonstop—mocking the weirdest mall ads, giving fake names to random strangers, and inventing a "secret menu challenge".
French fries dipped in strawberry ice cream.
Regret was instant.
Rohan grimaced.
"This tastes like heartbreak."
I made a face.
"Mine tastes like toothpaste and betrayal."
Charlotte sighed dramatically.
"This is literally revenge on my tongue."
Aditya paused, then said calmly,
"I… actually like mine."
All of us stared at him.
"GET OUT."
—
As the sun began to set, we walked down the mall steps together.
"Imagine if this never happened," Swetha said softly.
"We would've just stayed home scrolling memes," Aditya replied.
"But this…" I smiled, looking at all of them,
"This accidental meet-up was the best."
"Next time," Rohan grinned,
"we plan an accidental meetup."
Charlotte laughed.
"You can't plan an accident, genius."
But no one corrected him.
We were too busy laughing.
And just like that, a completely unplanned Saturday became one of the most perfect V5 days ever.