pov: you are deepak
It should've been me. I'm supposed to be "the oldest", "the leader", "the one he looks up to", "the role model"... It's all bullshit. Pranal can pave his own way. I see the way he looks at me now, scared of who I am, like he's watching an animal at a zoo exhibit, not knowing how to properly tap the glass to get their attention. We'll be fine, it'll just take some time. But sometimes I would wake up and see my parents' feet in the door gap of my room, slowing down every time they passed, the pause of hesitation as if they were about to knock and check-in. They rarely did. Now they've just been hovering around me. I wonder, does Pranal see me the same way they see me? A disappointment? They all practically shunned me when I told them the news. But it's not true. I didn't fail. Although I was never the brightest student, breezing my way through everything like Pranal, I could cheat - very well too. Honestly, ...