Her Final Breath Was a Curse

The next day,

Ami walks through the school gate, earbuds in, hair tied up, mood… decent.

Soha is already by the stairs.

"You're late."

Ami shrugs. "You're early."

"I literally come at the same time every day."

"Exactly. You need change in life."

Soha rolls her eyes but smiles.

They walk in together.

Sneha's already inside the class, arms crossed, leaning back.

"There you two are. Took you long enough."

"What are you? Our supervisor?" Ami says, tossing her bag on her desk.

"Maybe," Sneha grins. "You do need supervision."

They all laugh.

The day rolls on.

Classes. Boredom. A little note-passing between Ami and Soha when the teacher isn't looking. Sneha pretending to pay attention but clearly scrolling on her phone behind a textbook.

Lunchtime hits.

The trio heads towards a table

Ami: plops her lunchbox down "I swear, if today's rice tastes like glue again, I'm switching to instant noodles permanently."

Soha: unwrapping her sandwich "You said that yesterday. And the day before. Yet here we are."

Ami: "Because betrayal by cafeteria rice hits harder than heartbreak."

Sneha: snorts "Okay but what kind of glue are we talking? Fevicol or Elmer's?"

Ami: points dramatically "Fevicol. Industrial strength. Emotional damage guaranteed."

Soha: laughs "Oh no, not the 'Fevicol heartbreak arc' again."

"Yo," comes a familiar voice.

Ami turns to see Saad, carrying a can of soda and grinning like an overexcited puppy.

"Permission to crash the ladies' table?" he asks.

Before anyone replies, another voice cuts in. "If he's crashing, I'm barging."

Dylan drops his tray with a thud and takes a seat beside Soha.

Saad: grinning "Did someone say heartbreak? Because that's my area of expertise."

Dylan: deadpan "And that's how you start a conversation like a red flag."

Sneha blinks at the two boys. "Wait. Who... are these Roblox characters?"

Ami grins. "Allow me to introduce. This---" she points at Saad "--is my lil monkey. Tries to be cool, ends up falling off benches."

"Hey! That was one time!"

"And this," Ami gestures toward Dylan, "is... uhh... Soha's property?"

Dylan nearly chokes on his drink. Soha turns bright red. "Ami!"

Sneha claps slowly. "Wow. That was smooth."

Saad leans forward. "I feel like I'm in a live-action rom-com."

"You're just the comic relief," Ami smirks.

"Unacceptable! I demand a rewrite."

The group bursts into laughter.

They dig into their lunches, trading jokes and side comments.

Dylan asks Sneha, "So what do you do? Other than psychologically tormenting locker thieves."

"I collect karma."

"She's good at that," Ami adds. "Like the Batman of our class."

Sneha gasps. "You did not just call me Batman."

Soha shakes her head. "This table is full of insane people. I love it."

"Hey," Saad grins. "Since we're all nuts already, how about we level up the chaos?"

Ami raises an eyebrow. "That sounds concerning."

"There's a new gaming arcade that just opened near the station," Saad says.

Sneha raises an eyebrow. "And?"

"And we should go. This weekend."

"Ooooh," Sneha perks up. "I'm in."

"Same," Dylan shrugs. "Been dying to try their VR section."

Ami hesitates. "Uh... I've never been to an arcade."

Everyone stares.

Soha gasps. "What?! Never?"

"Nope," Ami says. "My first time. Be gentle."

"Girl," Sneha puts a hand over her heart. "We are fixing that TODAY."

Saad nods dramatically. "It's officially Ami's First Arcade Day. Everyone, behave."

Dylan smirks. "No promises."

They burst into laughter again, the kind that makes you forget for a second how messed up the world can be.