Transformed - 10. Home Again

We reached the Mangalore Railway Station at 4 sharp. As I got out of the train, my eyes fell on the person I had least expected to see: Rizwan. No one else showed any sign of surprise. When had he arrived from Bombay? Maybe during the three weeks I had been missing. I shrugged. Who cares? I noticed his eyes dart towards me several times after he had greeted my dad.

The new cell phone which Amna had given vibrated in my bag. I sighed. Aaliya was so impatient. I had hidden it from my parents as I knew they would pounce upon it the moment they see it and I would never get to see the cell again. I ignored it for the moment. I could call her later.

As we didn't have much luggage, we all fitted in the one car. The drive was uncomfortable as the roads in Mangalore were not very good. It was the rainy season and the roads weren't built to cooperate with the rain. Rizwan kept shooting glances at me through the rear view mirror, even though my face was still veiled. I don't know why, but it sort of annoyed me. The drive seemed very long, even though the railway station was within a distance of fifteen minutes.

Our grandparents live in a huge, two-floor house in Mangalore. Each floor has four rooms. It's really big, but when my dad and all my five uncles and their wives come visit together, it gets a little crowded. Nevertheless, it is not that bad, except for the mosquitoes that come and irritate during the night.

The car stopped right in front of the gate. Mom got out and helped me get out. I had to act like I was sick for at least a week, so that no one got suspicious. I walked slowly and gingerly, as if every step was torturing me. The car parked into the garage. I heard both dad and Rizwan get out and retrieve the luggage. As we entered, I caught a brief glimpse of the creamy outer walls before a figure banged into me, hugging me tightly.
"I've missed you so much!" squealed my cousin Ayesha, who was my age. "What happened to you?"
"I'm fine, how about you?" I said, imitating my rough human voice perfectly as we walked up the front steps.

"I've lots of stuff I can't wait to tell you! Get off that veil, why are you still wearing it?" She whipped off the black cloth that covered my face, and her eyes widened as she looked at my face. "God, what happened to you?" she nearly yelled.
Rizwan, who had been lifting the luggage, stopped to look at me. The moment he saw my face, he nearly dropped the luggage on his foot. I tried to move, but my front path was blocked by Ayesha, who was goggling at me. Mom stepped in front and gently pushed her out of the way and pulled me into the house.

It seemed as if the whole town had been waiting for my arrival. I waited outside the door into the hall, a bit apprehensive of entering as Ayesha and Rizwan still hadn't got out of their shock of seeing my new face. What if they didn't recognize me? God, I knew I looked more beautiful than what I used to. I could hear all my cousins, aunts, uncles and even some of our neighbors inside the hall. Taking a deep breath, I stepped in.

The sound that had been buzzing in the hall stopped. The atmosphere became so silent in a matter of seconds, it looked as if someone had fallen dead. Everyone was staring at me. The silence was uncomfortable. Then my mom reached out and grabbed me. "Don't stand there, what did that doctor tell you? You have very little energy, you're still very weak." How wrong. "I'm fine, mom." I shrugged. Every one's thoughts were focused on how I used to look and how I looked now.
She looks beautiful! I heard Aunt Shehnaz think.
Did she do a plastic surgery or what? Looks like a model! One of my grandmother's friend mused.

Definitely beautiful. She will be perfect for my son. I heard someone think. I grimaced and tried to ignore the minds that were buzzing around me.
If she looked good before, she looks hot now! Definitely my type! I heard a male behind me consider. I turned around, intending to punch the jerk (even though it was a bad idea as I was still ten times stronger than a normal human), when I saw that it was Rizwan. I stopped in my tracks. Rizwan thought I was his type? Yeah right, my ass. He saw me staring at him and shot me a wink. I blinked and raised my chin. Nutter. If he thought I was going to like him then he was in for a surprise. He was my cousin's fiance. Besides, I preferred someone else. Someone with jet black hair that always fell over golden eyes....

"Rumana!" my mom hissed at me, yanking me away from thoughts of Rehan. She dragged me upstairs to the room that was always shared by me and Ayesha. Looking around, I felt like I had reached home. There were two beds, as usual one covered in pink and the other in blue sheets. Mom put the bag containing my stuff in the cupboard and turned to me. "Rest for sometime, Rumana." she said, ruffling my hair. That felt nice. "If you need anything, just call." saying this she left the room.

Mom ruffled my hair. She ruffled my hair. She showed her love! Usually my mom tried to hide any feelings she had for me. Maybe the shock of losing me changed that.

My thoughts were proven wrong as her real motives were uncovered the very next day.

Thanks to:
R. Khan, Annie, Surabhi, Danielle, Shanie, Jevie, JJ, NKN, Vonni, Firestorm, Amber, Terrie and JJ for commenting.

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