EP-5
The moment Ayaan stepped into the Sharma residence, he knew something was terribly, painfully wrong.
The living room had been transformed into a Barbie explosion. Pink and purple streamers dangled from the ceiling like candy-colored cobwebs. Glitter floated in the air. A massive, glittering banner stretched across the wall reading:
> 🎀 Happy Birthday, My Handsome Professor 🎀
In the center of the room stood a life-sized cardboard cutout of Ayaan Malhotra. Except... he was photoshopped into a Barbie dress and holding a magic wand.
Ayaan froze.
Tanya appeared behind him, grinning like a lunatic.
Tanya sharma/FL
"Ta-daaa! Surprise, birthday boy!"
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
"My birthday is in December."
Tanya sharma/FL
"And it's July now. So we're halfway there. Don’t you believe in celebrating milestones?"
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“Why is there a skeleton wearing a bowtie on the couch?”
Tanya sharma/FL
“That’s Rahul. My lab partner. He doesn’t talk much, but he shows up for me—unlike someone else.”
Just then, Karthik strolled in from the kitchen with a samosa in one hand.
Karthik Sharma
“Oh good. You’re still alive. I told her not to do this.”
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“AND YOU LET HER?!”
Karthik Sharma
“I thought it was a prank when she asked for twenty helium balloons and a Barbie cake shaped like a microscope.”
Tanya skipped to the dining table and yanked the cover off a giant cake.
It was shaped like a microscope, covered in pink frosting, and had tiny figurines on top:
A fondant version of Ayaan—again in a pink tutu.
A skeleton holding a mini clipboard.
Across the cake, written in bold pink letters:
"To the World’s Hottest Professor — Keep Slaying in Syllabus & Style!"
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“I’m going to sue.”
Tanya sharma/FL
“Oh come on! You’re being dramatic. Be grateful I didn’t order the talking cake that sings ‘Barbie Girl’.”
Karthik Sharma
“She actually tried.”
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
"This is why I don’t give students my personal number."
Tanya sharma/FL
“You gave me detention. I gave you a party. Fair trade.”
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“You turned my lab into a Barbie doll house!”
Tanya sharma/FL
“Correction: a Barbie dream lab. There’s a difference.”
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“I feel like I’m trapped inside a fever dream sponsored by Mattel.”
Tanya sharma/FL
“Now speech time! Go ahead, Sir. Tell us how you feel!”
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“I feel like crying.”
Tanya sharma/FL
“Perfect. Emotion. That’s what makes a party memorable!”
Karthik Sharma
“You need therapy, Tanya.”
Tanya sharma/FL
“I tried, but they ran away after the third session.”
Ayaan stood by the door, cake in one hand, glitter on his shoulders, and rage in his soul.
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
*to Karthik* “Your sister is clinically unwell.”
Tanya sharma/FL
"Smile, Sir! Say ‘Barbie Lab forever!’"
Ayaan Malhotra/ML
“Next time, I'm assigning her 100 pages of handwritten notes on mitochondrial DNA.”
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