The Birthday Party

It was on the 22nd of November. I was really excited because it was my best friend Aditi’s birthday the next day. I had planned a surprise party for her and I had to do all the preparations after coming back from college. I asked for help from my two very good friends Akshay and Saanvi and of course, they agreed. I packed my bag and moved out of my house for college. I told Akshay and Saanvi to keep their mouth shut in front of Aditi and not to utter even a word about the surprise we had planned for her. While we were in college we decided to invite a few friends from the college itself. We made a list of the people we had to invite and while we were doing that Aditi approached Akshay and asked: “Hey, what are you doing in the evening”? Akshay replied, “I have to go somewhere.” And then he winked at me and I gave him a thumbs up! Then she asked me and Saanvi for our evening plans and we said together “I have to go somewhere too!” and then we gave each other a surprised look! She said, “Okay then, I was free that’s why I asked.” Then she left and it felt queer because she did not ask what we were doing but, we continued with our work. After a few hours of college was over and we directly went to the place I had rented for the party, we all started doing the work. Akshay placed an order for the cake and other snacks, Saanvi started with the decorations and I started calling the people we had to invite. We were done with our work and it was 7:30 and we all had to leave because it was quite late and our parents were getting a bit worried. Thankfully, we had completed the work. We took an Auto and I dropped both of them when they left I was still thinking about the incident that took place in the college. I still found it queer that Aditi did not even ask what we were doing because she was the most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed person in our group but, I still ignored it. I reached home and my mom asked: “Where were you?” I told her about the surprise we had planned. Then I had dinner and I went to my room, I thought I should call Aditi and ask her what happened t but I didn’t, thinking it was just a bad day. I completed some of my homework and went off to sleep because I was knackered. I had set an alarm for 12:00 a.m to wish Aditi. My alarm rang and I woke up in a hurry thinking that I am late for college but then I realized it was just 12:00 and I had to wish Aditi. I called her but she didn’t pick up, I called her 4-5 times but still, she didn’t pick up. I got apprehensive and thought I should call her mom but it was midnight and I thought it’s not right to do so and I slept off. When I woke up the next day I was elated. I quickly got ready for college and was thinking if I had missed out on something but I hadn’t. I reached college and I was a bit late, Akshay and Saanvi were already there waiting for me on the college gate. Saanvi asked, “What happened, you’re late?” I answered, “Yup, actually I couldn’t find an Auto.” Then we entered college and waited for Aditi on the spot we all used to meet. After ten minutes Aditi arrived and she looked jovial, I was relieved. We wished her and told her that we would be taking her somewhere in the evening. She got curious but of course, we didn’t tell her about the surprise. After college we took an Auto and blindfolded Aditi, after twenty minutes we reached the place and took her inside, we removed her blindfold and she was flabbergasted and ecstatic.

Everyone there looked happy except Aditya. He was a friend of ours and a very good student at the college. When I saw him I went up to him and asked: “Is everything okay?” He answered “Umm. Yes, yes everything is okay. Then I moved on to meet our other friends, being an overthinker I was still thinking about Aditya but I couldn’t do anything. Everyone was enjoying the party, dancing and having a blast. Then, after some time I realized Aditya was not there, I started looking for him, called him so many times but I couldn’t find him. I did not tell anyone thinking that he might have had a bad day and left the party. The party was over, everyone was sapped and went to their homes. Aditi thanked us for the surprise and I dropped her to her house. I reached home, jumped into the bed, and dozed off. The next day I woke up late because I was exhausted last night and hurried to college. As soon as I entered college I saw a bunch of cops standing and having a discussion. I asked Akshay about it and he told me that Aditya had been murdered. I was scandalized upon hearing it and kept thinking about the previous night. When the police came for interrogation I thought it was important to tell what happened last night. Then they asked for the list of people who were present at the party and I gave them the list. After interrogating everyone they found out Sanvi had not come to college. We were surprised too, the police visited her house and she had left the house early in the morning telling her parents she is going to Pune for some work. The police started suspecting her and asked us about her as we were her best friends. We told them that she was a very nice girl and she couldn’t murder anyone. They started searching for her and alerted the Pune police, they sent them her photo and all the details. After two days, they finally found her.

She was being interrogated by the police, but she kept saying she did not murder him. The police also tried to find evidence against her but they also found nothing. The case went on for about six to seven months, there were new suspects every time but no strong evidence. So, finally, the police had to give up and close the case. Nobody was happy with the decision especially his best friends except…. I was relieved.