Gehna, of all people, knew that apologizing was difficult business and she gave Eram points for it. ‘I was making fun of you, ass. But if I can’t make fun of you, then who can I? You’re my best friend.’

‘Isn’t that girl Yamini your best friend?’

‘She’s my other best friend. I get to have two because I’m cool like that. Also, I’m taking one of these pigs as your way of saying sorry to me.’

‘Yeah, see, the thing is, they’re highly social animals. If you separate them, they die. You can have ’em both if you like.’

‘I accept.’ Gehna immediately opened the cage door and lifted the guinea pigs out, one in each hand. She set them down on the ground. ‘Shoo,’ she said, nudging the fatter one gently with her foot.

Eram stared at her. ‘What’re you doing? They’re not dogs, you don’t have to walk them.’

‘They’re mine now, so I’m emancipating them. I’m like the Abe Lincoln of guinea pigs. Shoo,’ she said again. The rodents, not sure what was expected of them, stayed put. ‘Fly. Go free. Dream big.’

They didn’t move.

‘This is so typical. You’ve broken their spirit with your cage and your lettuce.’

In the end, Gehna had to manually place the guinea pigs inside a nearby bush. They disappeared rapidly after that. Gehna and Eram stood in silence for a while, watching the rain slow and then stop. Hazy yellow light spilt on to the courtyard from the surrounding street lamps.

‘Oh, hey, did you want a minute to say goodbye to them? I forgot to ask.’

‘You know that guinea pigs are basically laboratory-bred, right? They have no survival instinct. All you’ve done is made some stray cat very happy.’

Gehna shrugged. She was in a philosophical mood. ‘I emancipated them. What they do with their freedom is up to them, and karma.’

‘I’ll walk you home. Keep an eye out for those two.’

They went the long way, following Eram’s usual running route past Otters Club to avoid the mess and madness of Linking Road. Gehna was feeling playful, what with the breezy weather and the relief of not being in a fight any longer. She hated being all angry and wound-up like that. At one point, she stepped into a small puddle on the pavement and stopped, horrified.

‘I think my water just broke,’ she said.

Eram freaked out, yelling to a middle-aged couple walking past to call an ambulance, waving at cars to get them to stop, searching frantically for his phone. Then he tried to pick Gehna up. He stopped, confused, when he noticed that she was giggling uncontrollably.

‘It’s too soon,’ he said. ‘Your water didn’t break.’

‘Sorry. Pregnancy joke,’ Gehna said. She wiped her eyes. ‘Way to stay calm under pressure though. You were all manly and masterful. Eram-in-charge. Was it your plan to carry me to the hospital on your shoulder?’ She doubled up as fresh waves of laughter hit her. ‘Oh, my stomach. Make it stop.’