Almost mine

Thank you for taking the time to read this little story. I’m not a professional writer, just someone giving it a shot. Please let me know what you think about the story and plot as we go along. I will post a new chapter every week, but it’s challenging to do it all at once because of my part-time job and family obligations. Sometimes grammar can be a challenge for me because I am dyslexic. I hope you enjoy the story!

The phone rang. I knew who it was. He called me at least 4 times a day in the last week. And if he wasn’t calling me, he would let the other two Duffers call me.

Duffer: stupid, incompetent, goof, clumsy person. Siblings and friends use this word to call their cousins or the friends.

I was really considering throwing my phone away. These three are making me nuts. They don’t realize a girl has school to attend to and work. Trowing away my phone isn’t an option, though. If I did that, I would need to buy a new one. For your information, I do have the money to buy self a new one, but I rather don’t.

So I decided to pick up. ‘Yes, what do you want?’ I said, rolling my eyes, which you couldn’t see through the phone, of course.

“Are you rolling your eyes at me”!?

Of course, he knows, there is no one who knows me better.

“Stop playing, Samira!” “You’re coming and that’s final”. “I talked about it with uncle and aunty, and they agreed on letting you come”. “You lied to me!” “How could you lie to your favorite person in the whole world!” he exaggerated.

It was true, I had lied. I told him Baba didn’t agree to let me go on a mixed holiday with both girls and boys. I let out a small chuckle, hoping he wouldn’t hear, as he could be so dramatic sometimes. Despite that, I really adore my cousin Aafi.

“Aafi I told you I’m not coming this time”. “And you’re not my favorite person in the entire world”. “Get over yourself”.

“You wound me deeply, Mira”(short for Samira). “I’m not your favorite!?” “I will be at your house at 8 am, we’re going to talk about you lying and about you being mean and stubborn”. “See you soon, Mira”.

He hung up the phone before I could reply. Crap! He talked to my mom and dad, who does he think he is? Calling them behind my back. If they already agreed on letting me go, and he is also coming over the house, I won’t have a choice but to go with him and his friends on their stupid trip.

Sometimes, I really dislike him—not really, but kind of. Under normal circumstances, I deeply cherish and admire my cousin Aafi, who is four years older than me. After my little sister Farah, who is 3 years old, he is my favorite person in this world. We have a strong bond like brother and sister. Our mothers are sisters. My mom always says he fell in love with me the moment he saw me. The first time he held me, he wouldn’t let go. He told everyone in the Family and at school, he was a big brother now. We attended the same schools, now I attend the same art academy as he did. He graduated this year. Aafi has been my silly, protective, and somewhat foolish guardian/brother/best friend since the beginning of my life. However, there’s one issue with me being his favorite: he seems incapable of doing anything without me.

Which leads us to this situation I’m in now. He and his two stupid best friends are forcing me to go on their organized friends group trip. A group trip to celebrate these 3 morons Graduation. I don’t know how they did it? They are smart, definitely no doubt about that. I often find myself wondering who would take them seriously, considering all their escapades. Now they are forcing me to come along on their stupid trip. With 6 other friends. Are they mad! Haven’t they met me before?

Tonight, these will be my reasons for not going. He, Sofia, and Mike will have to accept them

I haven’t even graduated from the academy yet; I’m still in my second year. Besides, I’m not really part of their circle of friends. Five days with nine people? No way, thank you! And it’s a mixed trip with boys and girls. I can’t believe Baba agreed to that. Traitor! The most important reason is that I can’t spend 5 days without Farah.

Are they all good reasons? Probably not. Except for reason 5 that is a pretty good reason not to go. Although I don’t consider myself part of their inner circle of friends, I am acquainted with all of them. Aafi tends to drag me along, willingly or not, to almost everywhere he needs to go. Even friends of him try to complain sometimes that he shouldn’t bring me along all the time. They get a scolding or dismissive look from him. I really would prefer to sit this one out and let them enjoy their trip. If it were just him and the other two, I would have seriously considerate accompanying them to Sicily, where they’re staying in a private villa.

Yes, a private villa! The villa has a beautiful view of the sea. I saw pictures of the villa and the location, it is beyond words. If the view and the fact that it is a luxurious villa wasn’t enough. The villa also came with a private pool and a cook. The villa belonged to the parents of one of Aafi’s best friends, Sofia. Her father is a rich man with multiple holiday residences all over Italy. He gifted the stay to Sofia and her friends as a graduation gift. The only thing we have to pay for ourselves is the plane ticket. The rest is all taken care off. Including a freaking cook.

Sofia is wonderful, though. She and Aafi were in the same class and studied architecture at the same art academy I attend now. They became friends in their first year at the academy, did many silly things together, and graduated as aspiring architects. Sofia is down-to-earth and doesn’t flaunt her wealth. She’d rather not talk about what her daddy has. Her dad is great too, but she doesn’t get everything she wants just by crying for it. She works really hard for everything she gets. That said, as a rich kid with a dad who doesn’t spoil her rotten all the time, she doesn’t have to worry about her future. If necessary, her dad will give her everything she needs.

Here is a revised version of your text with corrected grammar and improved clarity: In their second year, Mike joined the group. He is one year younger than the other two. Mike is eccentric and easily the most outgoing person I’ve ever met. His claim to fame is his knack for comedy; making people laugh is his life’s mission. He’s my second protector after Aafi. When Aafi introduced me as his little sister rather than his cousin (it’s the Indian way, I suppose), he made it clear to Mike that if he didn’t want me to accompany them, their friendship wouldn’t work out. I belonged wherever Aafi belonged. Mike didn’t hesitate to accept a 15-year-old into their circle. Whenever we’re out together, he becomes my second big brother who looks out for me. While Aafi does his thing, it’s Mike who keeps an eye out for me, so I don’t get bothered by other boys. Our bond grew stronger when I chose to study the same field as him. He’s a graphic designer with incredible animation skills. I learn a lot from him; he gives great advice and is a fantastic teacher.

The fantastic Trio was formed, and I’m their pet baby. How wonderful. Keep in mind that I adore all three of them, and I’m just saying that I’m the baby of this group.

As I ride the bus home, I am thinking about what to bring on this trip. I know, I know, I made a list of reasons why I shouldn’t go. Being honest with myself is key here. Aafi will never accept my No, especially since he has the approval of my parents. I won’t go down without a fight, though. I will talk to baba first, and show him my cute face next to his Farah’s super cute face. He can’t be serous about separating us!

The bus takes about 15 minutes from the train station to my last stop near my house. Another 8-minute walk from the bus stop to reach my front door.

When I get home, it’s almost 5 o’clock and no one is at home. Dad will be home around 7, that’s normal. He works in a home appliance store and gets off at 6:30. “Mom, Farah”! I called out. Nothing. Where could they be at this time? Mom is a stay at home mom since Farah was born. Normally, she is at home at this hour. I kick off my shoes at the door, hang my jacket on a hook on the wall. I decided to bring my bag to my room first. They will be here any minute now, I thought to myself, walking up to my room. After waiting for 15 minutes and still no side of mom or Farah, I decided to call her instead.

Just when I’m about to dial her number on in my phone, I hear the front door.

“Mimi, Mimi!” I’m Home! My little sister calls out. With my big smile just reserved for her, I walked to the front door. As I see Farah, I spread my arms and she jumps in. With Farah in my arms, I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek.

“Where have you been? I asked. No note, no text.”

“We live in 2022, Mom. You have a phone you can use to let people know where you are.”

My mom looks at me and rolls her eyes. “I just went out to get some things from the store, Mira.”

“Is that allowed?” my mom asked. “Or do I need to file for a leave of absence before I leave my own house, in my own car, with my own daughter?” she says sarcastically. “You do understand that I’m your mom, and not the other way around.” As she makes her point and I look amused, she continues, “I’m 41 years old, you know.”

“Sorry mom”. She laughs, and I give her a second kiss on the cheek. “Do you need help, with the bags?” I ask.

She replied with a simple no and requested that I give Farah a quick bath instead.

“Let’s take a bath, you little stinky”. I say to Farah.

“I don’t stink” she says, looking at me with a little angry face.

Before I walked off with Farah to the bathroom, I said: “Mom, we need to talk about this trip with Aafi. I really don’t want to go.”

My mom looks at me with so much love. “Please give Farah a bath”.

This will be hopeless.

“Let’s go Farah”.

After I gave Farah her bath and played with her for a bit, we had an early dinner. Around 7 o’clock, I took Farah to my room, so I could let her sleep. She has her room. But I like having sleepovers with Farah. She would hold me throughout the night, and I liked having her around as much as I could. Knowing I wouldn’t see her for 5 days. After about 15 minutes, she fell asleep in my arms and I put her down in my bed. Turned on a little night light and left the room to talk about the trip with my parents.

Meanwhile, my dad arrived home. Mom and Dad were sitting in the living room as I walked in. They looked so cute together, my mom all cosied up against my dad, who was reading a book.

“Mom, dad can we talk?” I asked. They both looked at me and before one of them could answer, the doorbell went off.

The basted is early. I make an internal angry face at him

curious to get another perspective, take a look at the chapter notes.