Riya and Arjun had known each other for as long as they could remember.
Their houses stood side by side, separated only by a low fence that they had both climbed over a thousand times as children. To everyone in the neighborhood, they weren’t just friends — they were family.
Every morning, Riya would wait outside her house, tapping her foot impatiently, while Arjun came running out, his school bag half open and his shoelaces never tied properly.