Chapter - 5

All the friends were now inside the house, and everyone was scolding Emma for revealing the part of the surprise. They all stopped with the scolding when they noticed Ziya coming in the house and before they did any more damage on the already damaged scenario and exposed themselves before presenting the surprise.

Apparently, all the girls decided to surprise Ziya by preparing the snacks they usually have in group study sessions to keep up with the studies and to not get distracted by anything.

Usually, snacks are always prepared by Ziya's mother but this time it is a bit of a different story. We did not want to talk about this to Ziya and make her sad. It was really hard to take the news for her and we wouldn't want her to go through the same pain again by reminding her. So, they all decided to cook something for the snacks as they all know they don't know how to cook, they had to learn it first and then prepare it.

Sarah was against this idea and suggested that she would make her mom cook instead of her as she will be a disaster cook. So, we all started scolding her and punished her to hop her entire way to Ziya's house and one person had to be the witness to check if she completed the punishment along with assigning her the easiest task in cooking by asking her to bake a bite-size bread pizza.

She finally agreed after we harshly scolded her and, in the end, she learned the basics of cooking. I hope it turns out well. I am still doubtful of her cooking but it's for Ziya and she needs it now more than ever.

Ziya has always been the leader of the group and when it was her birthday or something and needed advice the second or co-leader was either Ava or Ella. Ziya is normally a very cheerful and happy-go-lucky person. A person who is always positive no matter the situation.

Ziya is the kind of person we all look up to when we have any problems, and she happily resolves them for us. It was high time to pay her back for all the help we had from her by doing something for her when she needed us the most.

Ziya is very meticulous, be it studying or helping friends. We all did help her to cope with the news but, I can tell that a part of her is missing as if she has shut off that part of herself and locked it deep down. She isn't the same person anymore, but she is trying hard and I for once want to help by supporting her as much as I can.

She has suffered a hard blow and lost both her parents at a very young age. The worrying part is she hasn't talked about her parent's death or it's as if she has totally avoided that phase of her life and doesn't want to talk about it anymore but, she has to get it out of her system to move on.

I know it is very hard for her and we all are here for her to support her, console her, cheer her up but she is in a denial phase right now. If we force her then I wonder what she will do and I for all don't want her to regret her decision ever.

She has done a lot for us, and we all are deeply indebted to her. We wonder how our life would have been if not for her to be in our lives and guiding us all on the right track. We all want to be her friends and not just any friend who will forget each other but the kind of friend where we all will be each other's bridesmaid on their wedding day.

"Alright let's start our study session girls." Ella's voice boomed loudly with a clap.

It was as if her voice had given them some kind of encouragement to kick start, everyone stood up and Olivia asked, "Zee where are we studying this time? In your room or the study room??"

Ziya replied smilingly looking at her excited friends; "We are studying today in the study room. I have a board and notes all prepared for today's session. Let's get started now, shall we???"

Everyone nodded in unison and headed towards the same destination of the ultimate study room of Zee.

"Before we start the studies, I have some news to share," said Ava, and Ella nodded.

Ziya looked confused at them and said "Okay, what is it??" Ziya looked at both Ava and Ella, the twins who might seem notorious at times but are very mature and logical.

Ella said, "We both will be staying here with you until our exams are finished and we graduate. We are not going back to our home till we pass with good grades and have a graduation ceremony."

Ziya looked at the twins and said, "You are always welcome to my humble abode at any time and however much you want but, if you guys fought with your family again then it's a no."

Ava and Ella replied in unison stating, "we didn't fight, our parents are the ones who suggested we stay with you to improve our scores."

Ziya said; "It's good then, you guys can stay here."

"Anyone else is staying here with me or the rest of the group is going back?" Ziya asked, looking at the other 3 people.

"If Ava and Ella are staying then we all will be staying too. It's very rare for us all to be together though, isn't it??"

Ziya acknowledged their statement and agreed.

The group entered the study room and started with their studies. Whenever any of the girls had doubts; Ziya was more than happy to help and clear all the doubts and queries. Suddenly, Sarah said to Ziya "Zee I am thirsty and hungry, would you be able to bring us something to drink and eat while we study??"

Ziya said, " I might have something to cheer us up and fill up our stomachs too. I will be back shortly. "

" I know that, it has always been my mom who would prepare us our snacks for the study break sessions but since you know the recent events, I have decided to create few snacks and give it a try. "

" It was supposed to be surprise for you guys but since you guys are planning one for me, I decided to reveal it beforehand. "

Ziya further added, "I know how much you guys loved to eat snacks prepared by my mom and I know that we will never be able to taste her snacks ever again, but I tried to recreate the moment similar to those days and prepared the snacks by myself."

" Please give it a try and let me know how it turned out to be. "

Ziya winked before leaving the room and finally heading towards the kitchen where she has already prepared all the snacks for the study sessions.

As soon as Ziya said this, she left the study room and bolted right towards the kitchen where she prepared all the snacks for their study sessions.

Just as Ziya went to the kitchen, all the girls started preparing a surprise, they, first of all, took out all the food and spread it on the table with a tablecloth. Sarah prepared a blindfold for Ziya so she can be more surprised by the view.

Sarah went to the kitchen and applied a blindfold on Ziya from behind to cover her eyes and said softly; "Zee, let's go together. This is also my punishment decided by them so please forgive me."

Ziya hummed positively and complied with her weird blindfolds.

When they reached the entrance of the study room, Sarah halted and looked towards Ziya saying, "Zee, this is where we part and at the count of 3 I will slowly remove your blindfolds."

Ziya took a deep breath at the mention of the blindfold being removed. She prepared herself for the best or worse outcome. She said "Okay, let's do it. I am ready."

As soon as she said that sentence; Sarah counted backward with 3….2…...1