Indhu's POV
The third day of leave was the slowest of them all.
Yesterday I finally decided to open my notebook to study.
Woah — my book looked like it had faced a hundred heartbreaks.
And worst of all, my bag was in a state of emotional distress.
What else can I expect?
And now I finally managed to study for three hours — wow, it was history!
But I had put my phone on silent. After studying, I opened my phone just to see:
"50 messages?"
When I checked the group chat, they were talking normally… then suddenly Adi noticed I didn't respond and texted in the group. They were even ready to file a complaint stating that I was missing.
Huh. These idiots. Couldn't they just call me? What else can I expect from them?
Finally, I texted them and explained I was studying.
Now today we had nothing to do.
Everyone had already done all they could — slept, ate, scrolled, watched, repeated.
And now… silence had settled in.
The V5 group chat was unusually dry.
Aditya: "Day 3: I've stared at the ceiling for 1 hour straight. It blinked first."
Charlotte: "I arranged all my socks by mood. Help."
Rohan: "I'm considering ironing my old homework just to feel alive."
Swetha: Typing… stops… typing again… stops.
Then suddenly, Swetha's phone buzzed — not a group message.
A personal one. From me.
Indhu: "Look outside."
Swetha blinked and walked to her balcony.
There, on the street below… was me.
Wearing a simple tee and jeans.
A calm grin on my face.
Sitting on my bicycle.
The wind caught my hair slightly, and the way I looked up — like it was the most natural thing in the world — made Swetha smile without realizing.
Two minutes later, Swetha ran downstairs, dragging her dusty cycle out of the storeroom.
No explanation given to anyone at home — just the excitement of being called without words.
As she joined me on the road, she asked, "Where to?"
I shrugged. "Let's find out."
Next stop: Charlotte's house.
We rang the bell and hid behind the gate.
Charlotte opened the door, confused.
Then a paper plane flew to her feet.
Written on it:
"No phones. Just pedals."
She looked up — saw us both on cycles, waving like maniacs.
Five minutes later, Charlotte was on hers too, joining us.
We reached Aditya's street.
No plan.
Just me ringing my bell rapidly like an alarm, and Swetha yelling,
"Come out or we'll sing outside your window!"
Aditya walked out looking half-asleep.
He saw us on cycles and smirked.
"Wait. This… this is something," he said, and ran inside to grab his own.
Last was Rohan.
He didn't answer the bell. Didn't answer his phone.
So Charlotte climbed the compound wall halfway and started imitating a ghost's voice.
He opened the window with a shocked face, saw all of us standing with cycles, and laughed.
"I was just about to start ironing worksheets. Thank god you came."
And just like that, the five of us were rolling through the streets.
No destination. No map. No competition.
Just laughter, wind, pedals, and pauses at ice cream carts.
We stopped at a small lake and sat on the rocks, watching the water shimmer.
Aditya skipped a stone.
Rohan attempted to fish with a stick.
Charlotte pulled out a packet of biscuits she had randomly brought.
Swetha clicked a photo.
And I just watched them all, quietly smiling.
As the sky turned orange and the breeze grew softer, we rode home in a line — one behind the other, our bicycle bells ringing in rhythm.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't wild.
But it was perfect.
The last day of leave didn't need plans.
Just… a start.