A girl was sleeping peacefully in a room. Suddenly a thrill sound was heard which woke the girl up. She sat up on the bed and looked around for the source of the sound. “Ugh! This alarm !” muttered the girl. She switched off the alarm and looked around herself. It was all dark. She checked the time in her alarm clock. It showed 4 a.m.

She then freshened up, took out her books and started to study. She was in 10^th standard, after all. She had to give her board exams. No matter what went in her life, she had always been a good student. After some time she was tired so she closed her books and went downstairs to the kitchen. There was no one in the kitchen. She was quite surprised to see this because usually by this time, her mother was cooking their breakfast and packing lunch. She heard some commotion from the dining room and went to check what it was.

She was astonished to see her father, mother and sister sitting there already having their breakfast. They looked like a happy family talking and laughing together. She went towards them and wished them, “Good morning, Mom, Dad and Prisha!”. They all looked towards her and her mother suddenly said, “Come on Ruhanika, how many times have I asked you not to call her Prisha. She is elder then you, give her some respect and call her didi.”

Ruhanika was sad to hear this but not surprised that instead of wishing, her mother again taunted her. She was used to this. She was busy in her thoughts when she heard the voice of her mother again. “Why are you so late for breakfast? You have your boards this year, try to wake up early and study. Prisha even went to wake you up but you still slept.” Ruhanika looked towards her elder sister who only smirked at her in return. “But Mom I….” Ruhanika tried to tell her mother the truth that her sister never went to wake her up. Moreover, she had as usual been studying since morning but her mother did not even try to listen to her, “Stop with your excuses Ruhanika. Since you were late for your breakfast, it is all finished. Now make your own breakfast or stay hungry. I don’t care! You are turning into a brat day by day. Also wash the plates before going to school. My Pri wanted to go shopping today and watch the new movie that was released so I, your father and sister, we are going out today. Don’t create more trouble for us. ”

Ruhanika was dejected but she did not let that affect her. She didn’t knew why her mother disliked her or always preferred her elder sister. It had always been like that, her mother always supported her sister and never listened to her. However, she didn’t mind it at all and was content with her life. She sometimes did wonder how would it feel to live a life where your family members would give you importance, they would care for you, listen to you. But alas, it seems that it would only remain a dream for her.

She completed all her chores and went to school on her bicycle. Well, it was her sister’s bicycle, to be exact. However, as her sister had thrown a tantrum that she wanted a new bicycle, because this one did not match her status and had gotten too old, she was given a new bicycle and this one was given to her.

Ruhanika was really excited for school. She had always loved to go to school. There were many reasons for loving school. She had always been good in her studies so she got the attention of her teachers, she participated in many debate and elocution competitions and won them. Her classmates loved her because of her kind and helpful nature and mostly importantly she had friends that would make up for the absence of her family.

During school, she met all her friends, studied diligently and enjoyed the attention that she received. After being neglected by her family for years, she had started to crave attention. No matter as bad as it sounds, it was the truth and Ruhanika accepted it wholeheartedly.

While having her lunch with her friends, she noticed that Anirudh and Amrit seemed nervous. “Well guys, I could see that you want to say something. Spill it fast!” said Ruhanika playfully. “We both are shifting to Jaigarh.” Amrit said. Hearing this, Ruhanika was shocked. She knew that Amrit and Anirudh were cousins and belonged to Jaipur originally. They were living in Lucknow from past 8 years but she never expected them to move away. They all were one group but Anirudh, Amrit and her had always been the most closest.

“When will you leave?” asked Ruhanika trying to keep her tears at bay. “Tomorrow.” they replied waiting of her outburst. Ruhanika looked around he other friends who did not seem much shocked. Then it clicked her, “You guys knew about this and you didn’t tell me !” “We are very sorry to hide this from you Ruhi, but we knew that you would be heartbroken so we couldn’t gather the courage to tell you.” Aadrika said nervously and it was the truth. All of them treated Ruhi as a baby because she was the youngest among them and still behave childishly sometimes.

Ruhanika got up angrily and said, “I won’t talk to you guys!”. She ignored her friends for the rest of the day. Even her classmates got to know that something was wrong by the way Ruhi was behaving because she always seemed happy and made jokes. They also tried talking to her but she just brushed them off saying everything was okay. Even her friends tried cheering her but nothing seemed to work.  

After the school got over, she went on her bicycle to home and was very surprised to see a lot of lavish cars parked out of her house. She got curious to know who had arrived at her house so she went inside to see who had arrived.

To be continued....