POP - Chapter Three (Short Story By Sadhika Menon)

The bungalow was humungous with three floors of concrete with functioning loos on every floor which was an absolute necessity with drunken teenagers all over the place. There was a lawn and a pool right in front of the bungalow. Ira had arranged for the entire place to be done up with fairy lights and lamps. The place looked beautiful. It was a pity that by the end of the party the place would be trashed beyond recognition.
Ira went through all the tiny details to make sure everything was in place.  She checked the number of people who had RSVP and almost everyone on the guest list was showing up. That was a good start. The food, the music, the decorations – Ira made sure everything was in place for her best friend’s birthday.
She walked around the place. Meher had already gone up to one of the rooms to change. Ira kept checking her watch. It was 6.30 pm. There was no sign of Sameer. He was supposed to be at the venue an hour back.
“Where the hell is this boy?” she thought to herself.
She tried calling him but there was no answer. Maybe he was driving, she thought. She felt it to be weird that he would not bother to inform her why he was late. Today, of all the days.
She decided to go upstairs and check on Meher. Meher was trying on her different outfits. She did not seem to like anyone of them. Ira knew this would happen. She went through her bag, and took out the dress she had picked out for Meher.
“Try this on, “said Ira.
Meher looked at the dress and jumped to give Ira a big hug.
“How did you know I wanted this outfit? This is amazing E,” said Meher.
“I saw you drooling all over it when we went to the mall. Now go on and try it on. You know you will look stunning in it, “said Ira.
Meher tried it on and it looked perfect on her. She was very happy with her best friend. Ira quickly changed into her outfit. It was 7pm now and people would start coming in, so they decided to go downstairs.
“Did Sameer die? Let him get his sorry ass here. He was supposed to be here hours back,” said Meher.
“He must be on his way,” said Ira.
They walked to the lawn and saw Sameer chatting up with the sound vendor. Tall and well built, he was wearing a kurta and his clown pyjamas. Ira never understood why he had to always dress like a hobo. He smiled the moment he laid his eyes on Ira. He adored her.
“Why are you so late? And why have you not been picking up my calls?” said Ira.
“You look lovely E. And I am sorry, I was picking up something for us,” said Sameer.
“Hello? It is kind of my birthday. Today you should acknowledge my presence, even if this goddess is in front of you,” said Meher, punching his chest.
“Happy birthday, my love. So are you ready to lose your dignity in front of everyone we know today?” asked Sameer.
“Oh yes, without a doubt. Listen I need to check with the sound guy if the music is sorted. I will catch you guys in a bit,” said Meher.
Meher ran towards the sound vendor dropping her bangles.
“She is mad. So what is this thing you went to pick up for us?” said Ira. She was dying to know.
Sameer took out a small piece of foil from his wallet and handed it to Ira.
“What is this?” asked Ira. She was really confused.
“Open it,” said Sameer.
Ira unfolded the foil and saw four tiny pieces of what looked like blotting paper. The moment she looked at it she knew what it was.
“So we are really doing this huh?” asked Ira.
“Hell yeah! It will be amazing E. For the next eight hours, bye bye reality,” said Sameer.
It was 8 PM. Both of them took a stamp each of the acid and folded the rest of it and kept it away.
Ira was happy. She was with Sameer. She was happy.