Chapter 7
Suhani had to admit, this was indeed exciting, and potentially fatal to her. Not fatal in the deadly sense fatal in the emotional sense.
"So, will you do it?" Rajvir asked hopefully.
"So it's really that serious?" Suhani asked, not convinced. He nodded slowly.
"I won't touch you. And it'll only be around certain people." He said earnestly, his voice was pleading but his eyes were calm. Composure is an amazing thing.
"So why are you doing this?" She asked, silently admiring his calmness.
"Well my mom is trying desperately to hook me up with this girl that's liked me from workshop since two years ago. Her name is Maya. She's nice but I don't like her like that. Maa and Maya will drive me absolutely mad if I don't marry her." He had a slight British accent but it was adorable. It wasn't thick that scratched your ears; it was soft and mellifluous, like honey. She loved his voice already. No! Not now, Suhani thought. She hated this. When she crushed on a guy, she fell hard and she fell fast. She didn't want to trip around here.
"Um. So all I have to do is act…I can do that." She said confidently, she had a surge of power through her. She stared at her shoes. She felt Niharika's courage, Vidya's confidence, and Mahi's strength flow through her. Was all the Suhani gone.
"Thank you so much. I hope they won't bloody eat our ears out. We'll never hear the end of this. Can you imagine? Meeting your girlfriend on a plane a couple of hours ago."
"That sounds fake. We need a story."
"Okay. Let's build a story." He said.
Chapter 9- Aftermath.
"So um…you're up early." Vedant managed out of his mouth. Niharika's muscles froze at his voice.
"I couldn't sleep." She replied happily.
"Oh." Why? Because I was thinking of you. Oh well, that's nice me too. Yeah, about yesterday…Niharika's mind trailed off into the conversation they should have been having instead the conversation went something like this…
"Me neither, it was really hot." Vedant pulled on his collar a little. It was an oven. A blazing all-consuming oven, Niharika had thought Goa would be beautiful but the heat was worse than Benaras and Rajasthan combined. She longed to go home.
"Oh yeah. That. It was pretty hot. Not worse than Rajasthan though. She thought of how as a child she used to splash water on the curtains while her mother yelled about ruining the silk but it was always a relief. She smiled and frowned at once.
"Rajasthan is a desert. What can you say about deserts? They're…hot." He said in a duh tone. She hated that tone, dripping sarcasm wasn't his job. She missed Vidya.
"Is there a computer around here?" She asked suddenly. Vedant nodded.
"Only two. One's mine and one's my mom's."
"Can I use yours?" He nodded, she followed him back to his cabin. It was a mess; t-shirts, boxers, socks…everywhere. Instinct called and she began cleaning as Vedant went and unplugged his laptop.
"What are you doing?" He asked over his shoulder.
"Cleaning. This place is a mess. Do you seriously live here…in this pigsty?" He nodded. "Disgusting." After 15 minutes the room was transformed. You could actually see the floor.
"And here's your reward. My Vaio." He handed her his Sony laptop. Her nana called his laptop his Vaio too, it was cheesy but it made her smile.
"Thanks." She took the slim notebook and sat on the bed. She opened her email to find 22 new emails. They were from the trio…ugh she thought. Vedant plopped down beside her.
"Wow. 22. Magic number. Who are these people? Hani. Mahi. And Vidi? Wow, sound like aliens. Alien stalkers. That's a lot of messages." He said. She glanced at him angrily. Shut up, her look said. He didn't mind, "Open one."
She did. It was from Vidya.
Yo! Guess what. I had the most amazing conversation with Sagar today. Yeah, we actually talked. He's not that bad a person. We called truce. All this over a sunset. Wow, nah? You checked on Mahi and her stalker. I sure haven't. lol. Call me already! I know you've gone and done something dumb already. Tell me what! I'm goin 2 da beach again…I'm workin on getting dat tan ive been wantin…lol. Sike.
Love you babes,
Vee.
She laughed and replied.
No, I haven't done anything stupid…yet. And I'm damn proud of it. You work on dat tan gurl. Don't forget ur sunblock…haha, did anyone pull that one on you…what was it 'I wasn't staring…I just wanted sum sunblock.' Haha. j/k. I cant call im too busy rite now. Volleyball kicks ass. My soccer coach looks like he just stepped outa skool tho…I mean furreal, where did this guy cum frum…
She typed on. "HEY!" Vedant shouted, "I have been out of school for quite a while now. Thank you very much."
"Whatever." She continued typing.
Anyways, im using his laptop and he's breathing downs my neck. Not literally, ha-ha. But I gots 2 go. Much love,
Nihu.
"Nihu? Wow." Vedant laughed. She glared again. Next was Suhani. Could you email from a plane? Or had she landed? She wondered.
I'm doing something exciting. And scary. I'm pretended to be this random guy's girlfriend. He's really nice and cute and genuine though, so I don't mind. Long story, don't ask. I'll tell you when I send you the shoes. I think I might like this guy. I hope I don't. That would make things complicated, nah? You found a crush at camp yet? Your summer love? Ha-ha, no Justin Timberlake don't count. : P love you darling,
Hani
She replied.
Nope, no crush. No summer love yet. Haven't found a guy good enuff. Can't wait till I get the shoes. So Hani has a 'bf' eh? Interesante, muy interesante. Lol. JT is my hubby always and forever, so don't hate. He's got me love-stoned. HAHAHAHA. I'll call eventually.
-Nihu.
Next. Mahi. Oh goodness. This should be filled with whininess. Here goes nothing.
I miss you so much! Guess what? My stalker isn't actually a stalker. He's Alisha's little bro dat I used to b friends wit sorta. He was a geek and I saved him a couple of times. Go figure. Mahi's a universal hero. I kno, no need for applause. (rite…) newayz, I got him mad and I don't kno how to apologize…I feel really bad but I didn't really do nethin…dis is weird. Don't tell Vee. His dad's da commissioner. *sigh* im confused. He wont follow me nemore!
The *NEW* damsel in distress,
Mahi.
Reply:
I miss you too babes! Wow, who knew mahi was an actual superhero…I wont tell Vidya…yet. Hehe, blackmail rox! Wow the commisioner's son. Ur gonna live lyke a princess in ur sasooral. Lol. Jk don't shoot me! Newayz, ur stalker…a geek? I would've never thought. Hehe. Maybe u shouldn't apologize at all, at least he'll leave you alone. Do u want him to leave u alone? Gawd mahi, u and ur indecisiveness! Lol. Miss u and I cant call until later so bye. Call viddi, she'll help. I promise. Tell her b4 I do. (who's alisha again…?)
<3 Nihu.
The next few were junk and a few from people she knew. Particularly the last page had a few emails in it. The first that caught her eye was from Old Dominion University. Where her brother went.
Miss Niharika Sharma,
We are disappointed to inform you that the following student(s) of your relation:
Ishaan Sharma
Have not reported to their dormitory, his/her classes in the past 46 days, and has failed to pay tuition. Failure to report to Financial Aid Office by September 4 will result in eviction. Thank you for your attention.
Best regards,
Yasmin Weathers
Other comments:
We attempted to contact your father and no reply was found therefore, we had to contact you as a last measures. Please try to come in contact with your brother, Ishaan before we must take the action of eviction. Thank you.
God, Ishaan was such an irresponsible idiot. He was a year older than her but so unreliable. He was brilliant though, that is why he graduated valedictorian one year early with a 4.39 GPA. He was a genius by birth and a slacker by choice. After Vinita's passing, he let go of himself and lost all interest in his family. He moved into a dorm at ODU, which was obviously in the USA, away from her. He lived by his own standards and they were awfully frightening. Niharika hadn't seen him in two years. He was still a minor and the dorm was where he lived. If he wasn't there then he had to be…where was he? She worried.
"Ishaan. That's your brother right?" Vedant broke her train of silent thought.
"Yeah. Idiot…I don't know where he is. God…" She pushed her hair back in frustration. "I'm allowed to use my phone, right?" He nodded. She frantically dialed a long series of numbers. She did by memory, she called him often. He never picked up but nonetheless, she called him.
"Pick up, pick up…" She chanted into the empty line. She got his answering machine. She dialed another number.
"Hey. Have you seen Ishaan?" It was her friend, Anjali. Anjali was Nihu and Ishaan's common friend; they didn't have many of them.
"No yaar. It's been a month or so, I haven't heard from him." She sighed. "Why, he said he was gonna go to see someone…I thought he was visiting home or something."
"He's not. I can't find him. He's not at home; he's not in India I don't think. He's not picking up his cell. You know of anyone who's seen him?"
"Nope. I'm sorry Niharika."
"It's okay, Anjali. I'll call you if I find him." The word if made her shudder.
She fell to the bed, she wanted to cry but she hated crying. If one thing crying meant to her then it meant weakness. She was in no manner weak. She was far too good for that.
"I'm leaving, Vedant." She said walking to her cabin. He followed her.
"What? Leaving? Where?"
"Virginia. To find Ishaan. I'm sorry I gotta leave without getting any actual training, Don't worry."
"Niharika." He turned her around by her shoulders. Her knees turned to jell-o by his touch. "Don't go."
"I have to." She paused, "Don't worry, I know. No refunds. I might come next year. I'll see you then?" She hoped she could see him sooner.
"No." He said firmly. She wouldn't see him? The thought made her suddenly more depressed she had the power to be.
"Fine. I won't see you then." She zipped her suitcase shut.
"No. You're going to see me. I will make you see me." I know I'll see you in my dreams. What a girlish thought. How boring.
"How is that? Got magical powers or something?" She asked turning, trying to hold back tears.
"I'm coming with you." He said firmly.
"Vedant, I've only known you for two days. I can't expect you to leave your job and mom for me."
"I'm not leaving them. I'm coming back. And I'm not doing it as a favor. I want to."
"Vedant, don't. I don't want to oblige you…"
"Oblige? I'm going for you," He stroked her cheek, "Not on your request." He kissed her softly. She pulled back.
"I…" He kissed her before completing her thought. She felt his breath pass through her and it sent chills down her spine. In 98 degrees, she had goose bumps. A drop of cold sweat trickled down her spine.
"I know." He smiled. "Your welcome. It is improper for a lady to travel alone anyhow."
"Improper my ***!" He stared a puppy dog face at her. "I can't afford your ticket."
"I'll pay my own way. Hell, I'll pay your way too." He pecked her lightly on the lips.
"Will you stop kissing me already?!?! It's distracting!!!! You can come, okay?!" She said, slamming her suitcase down and frowning she sat down.
"Sorry but you know you like it." He smirked.
"I do? Whoever said that? Your lips are very dry and coarse. You need to work on that." She smiled.
"Whatever. I will." He kissed her again. "Eventually."
Chapter 10- Making Out On The Plane?
"So let's see. You live in Benaras. Ever been to Mumbai?" She shook her head.
"We met online." She stated calmly. "In an art chatroom. You like Van Gogh?"
He nodded. "We planned to meet at a caf but we couldn't cuz…"
"We live in different cities. We met once. On a plane. We didn't know that we were the people we talked to online until…"
"I saw you login to your email and I recognized you."
"And instantly…"
"We fell in love." He raised an eyebrow at her. She burst out into laughter. He joined her.
"That sounds a bit filmi, don't you think?" She said between breathes.
"How about this. We met on a plane. We made out. We got to know each other. So we're going out. A little more believable."
"Me and you making out on a plane are believable?" She asked. She didn't want an answer to that question.
"Yeah. If I kissed you, you'd kiss back, right? Who wouldn't?"
"I wouldn't. That would be a terrible waste of a first kiss…" Suhani had obviously said too much. He looked at her wide eyed.
"Wow." Rajvir said awe-struck.
"I know, I'm such a geek for never been kissed but no guy has ever seriously.."
"You intidimate them." He said calmly. Suhani was a very warm, welcoming but introverted person. She was anything but intimidating.
"How? I'm nice and easy to talk to. Right?" Right, Suhani thought. Mahi was the mean one, she reassured herself. She laughed at her defense statement.
"You're nice, pretty, kind…that's the problem."
"Huh? You mean I'm too nice?"
"No. You're too bloody perfect. It's scary." She looked at him with wide eyes. "Too bloody perfect?" She echoed him.
"Excuse my French." He turned red.
Perfect, she thought. Perfect would be like Tyra Banks or Oprah Winfrey. How was she in any sense perfect? Normal people could be perfect. Anybody could seem perfect, but seeming is different than being.
No one was perfect. Except God that is. Even God's perfection was eventually ruined. His kingdom, Heaven was perfect until the rebellion. The rebellion. How can one single moment turn perfection upside down? One Lucifer is all it took to tarnish God's hard work. But letting him win was one thing God couldn't do. So Lucifer was cast out. Was all imperfection cast out? If it was then the Earth wouldn't exist. Unless, the world was God's collection of imperfect castaways.
That made sense.
"I'm not perfect." Suhani proclaimed definitely.
"But you're pretty close. I can't imagine you having any bad habits." Rajvir argued. He put his laptop away and sipped a martini.
"How old are you?" Suhani asked, watching him sip his adult beverage comfortably.
"Eighteen…Oh, this. My older brother is a bartender. Don't worry, I don't drink…that much. Only on special occasions."
"What's the occasion?"
"Finding my perfect girlfriend." He lifted his glass, gesturing a "Cheers" and sipped again.
"Whatever…Let's see. Bad habits. I can't stand alcohol." She glared at the martini. He pushed it away in fear. She laughed. Someone was afraid of her. This was a first.
"I don't like alcohol much either. I don't gamble…often. I'm straight, even though I'm not a big fan of most women…I don't believe in pre-marital sex. Or at least, I don't think so, I've never really tried…" He pondered. Suhani laughed at him. He didn't understand why.
"Okay, so you're a sharif baccha. Let's see. No alcohol. I gamble with my three closest friends. And we never wager money. I've never thought much about pre-marital sex so I really don't know. Oh, bad habit. I'm told I don't know how to stand up for myself. I loathe dangerous ideas."
"No bungee jumping? Bummer. Sharif baccha." He shuddered. Suhani laughed, listening to an Indian man with a British accent say 'bummer' was perhaps the highlight of Suhani's life so far.
"Bad habits…you? You've only told me good things about you so far." Hani couldn't help but smile at him. This guy was… dare she say it? Perfect.
"Oh. Well, I'm outrageous on Holi and Diwali. I flirt terribly without realizing it. I'm a very physical person. That gets me in trouble a lot." Rajvir laughed, as if remembering something. "I remember one year on Diwali, I was at my cousin's house and I was thirteen there. My brother's girlfriend was there and she got me some Pokemon cards that I wanted…I was so excited I kissed her full on the lips." He began to laugh harder, he managed to compose himself a bit, "Anyways, I'm not sure what she was thinking but she started kissing me back. And then," His laughter is unbearable, "Bhaiya walks in. He was like 'What in the name of blasted hell is going on?' He couldn't fathom his younger brother making out with his girlfriend. Can you imagine?" He laughed uncontrollably. Suhani didn't find the humor.
"I have a terrible sense of humor." She admitted. He wiped tears from his eyes, "Me too. That wasn't at all funny."
"Well, whose story are we going with?" Suhani asked sassily. Rajvir looked at her admirably. His mind was a jumble between how this girl could be so many things at once and so real in every aspect of her.
"Yours. Your not the type of girl that would randomly kiss any dude you just met on a plane," He said disappointed. Suhani wondered whether she wouldn't kiss him that made his disappointed or the fact that they would use her story instead. Rajvir thought the same.
"You never know…" She said smirking. What was wrong with her today? It was as if her friends had possessed her body or something. I want Suhani back, she thought.
"We'll have to test the theory out sometime…" He sipped the last of his martini.
Chapter 11- God and Love
"Hey man." Vidya sat beside Sagar; she was really trying to make the truce work. She could try being his friend.
"Hey lovely." He said, smiling. See Vidya? This is nice, no fighting.
"It's hot." Vidya said, thinking out loud. "I'm gonna go swim." Sagar grabbed her hand and handed her a tube. SPF 45.
"I remembered it this time." He smiled. "Waterproof and all." She took the tube from his hand and rubbed some on. Arms, legs, neck...she reached for her back. Dammit.
"Sagar!" She screeched.
"What?"
"Put this on."
"I already did."
"Not on you. On me! I can't reach." He opened his eyes to see Vidya struggling.
"Sure." He slathered some roughly onto her back.
"Thanks. Wanna swim with me?"
"No thanks. Not today." He smirked.
"Why, what's wrong with today? It's beautiful."
"Yeah. But I don't think you can keep up."
"Yes. I can."
"You sure? I swim pretty fast."
"C'mon." She grabbed his arm and pushed him into the pool, Sagar laughed in her face. "Real mature, Vidya."
"Shut up. Race you to the deep end. Go!" She had a 3 second advantage over him and she had less weight (and height) to carry. She got back to the start a minute before him. Panting, she drew her head out of the water. "Who swims fast now?!"
"Cheater…"
"Isn't that Chandni and Annie *gasp* together?!" Chandni was Sagar's current girlfriend. He rarely had one and now, when he did? Annie was the thang-on-the-side.
"What?!" He turned to see, no one was there.
"And I cheat?" Vidya said sweetly. She stepped out of the pool. Sagar's mouth dropped, since when did Vidya have curves? She rocked the purple one piece she was wearing. She had as many swimsuits as she did clothes. She took Sagar's blue towel and dried her hair a bit, she threw it back onto his chair.
"I don't wanna swim in your drool! Get out of the ****ing pool!" A random kid yelled. Vidya sat and read 'Number The Stars' By Avi. She was too old for this book, but it was tragic. She liked tragedies for some reason.
"Ouch. That's a depressing book to read over the summer. Who wants to read about the Holacaust?"
"I do. Everyone acts like it never happened. Well, it did. So what's the point of avoiding it like it was our mistake or something. It's not our fault Hitler was a *******."
"I know. It wasn't. They were Aryans.. so what? That's a good book. It's sad though."
"Yeah. So many people were killed for something so…"
"Pointless? Faith is the largest cause of war among the world. It sucks to be a Jew though. They've always been screwed. History is its' witness."
"Yeah." She agreed without thinking.
"First they were slaves in Egypt, then they left and wandered for a REALLY long time…then kicked out of their own land. Then the Holacaust. Now the Isreal-Palestine Issue."
"Wandering they brought upon themselves." She said, half offended.
"Wrong. It was brought on by their parents. The children must pay for their parents' deeds. Common in every religion, that same concept."
"The basis of all major religion is all the same. Muslim, Christian, Jew. We all have one god."
"We? Aren't you Hindu?"
"Wrong. I'm half Christian."
"That's quite interesting. How can you be a partial follower of a religion? Do you believe there's one God?"
"Yes." She said confidently.
"And his name is?" Sagar expected one of two answers. She could have answered God, or she could have said Brahma.
"God." He was about to say something before she continued, "Is a nameless entity. God is a thousand names. God is intangible. God is everything and God is everywhere."
"Then why do you suppose people struggle their whole lives to find God?" Sagar asked, curious.
"Because they search for God in one name. That name may be Allah, or Brahma or God. But God is beyond a name; God is beyond a race, God is beyond a single religion. And since He is everywhere, people never know where to find Him."
"God is beyond race, and religion, yet the pronoun to describe God is he. Interesting."
"God is beyond pronouns. There is no He, She…He stands beyond race, religion, AND gender."
"So He's everywhere, that's why people cannot find him?" Sagar asked, taking his towel again.
"Yup. Just like love." She snatched the towel back.
"Love? Please. Next you'll say God is Love." He snickered. She stared at him.
"No, that's not what I was going to say. But you seem to ask a lot of questions, don't have your own opinions about Love and God?"
"Nope. I kind of don't follow a religion. And love, I don't believe in." She smiled at him.
"What?" He asked.
"You will." She patted his cheek.
"What?"
"Believe in love. Let that girl come along. You'll believe in love."
"I bet I won't."
"I bet you will."
"Hey lovebirds!!!!" shouted the lifeguard, "Pool's closing!!!! Get out and get a room!!!" Sagar and Vidya, immersed in their conversation were almost less than an inch away from each other. Centimeters away, they could feel the other's breath.
"You need to brush you teeth, Sagar!!!" She pushed him away abruptly.
"You too, Vidya. Gawd, what do you eat?! Onions, garlic and sardines?!"
"I'm a vegetarian!" She kicked him in the shin hard.
"Only half!!!" He picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. He carried her out of the pool.
"You idiot! Put me down! Being friends with you is just like your personality!!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!!" She beat on his back. He placed her in his car.
"A ride home? Of course, I'd love to." Sagar said sarcastically.
"Why thank you so much, King of Idiosyncrasy." Sarcasm was a natural trait in her voice. That is what made her such a terrible singer.
"It's quite okay, my little philosophy professor." He said, smiling.
"You just passed my house, Sagar." She said, annoyed at his stupidity.
"I know." He grinned evilly.
"We're going somewhere else…oh God, Sagar!"
"What?!" He took a quick glance at her, and returned his eyes to the road.
"Where are you taking me?!" She yelled.
"My house." He grinned again.
"What?! No. Why?!" She panicked.
"Have you met my friend, Shabd? He just moved here a while ago. There's this party I'm throwing for him."
"You're friends with the stalker!"
"Huh. Fine. I won't take you to my house then." He pouted childishly. They were pulled over since he wanted to focus on talking to her.
"Thank the Lord. Bach gayi." She laughed out loud.
"Just cuz you said that, you're coming!" He turned the car on and drove up to a huge, presumably 3-storied mansion.
"Wow."
"I know. Not as nice as yours but still." It was true, Vidya's house was bigger and better furnished but she was awe-struck by that someone in this city, besides her, could have a home of this stature.
She walked in, "Surprise!!!" Upon flicking of the lights, a series of disappointed "Aww"'s escaped from many a mouths.
Sagar brought out his cell phone, "Dude, where are you...Where…Who's Mahi…What…Why…Okay, okay." He handed the phone to Vidya, "He wants to talk to you."
"Vidya. Hi. I'm Shabd. I don't think you remember me but…"
"You're the guy that likes Mahi."
"Yeah. About that. How am I supposed to get her NOT mad at me?"
"I thought you were mad at her…"
"Who told you that? I need help, you're her best friend. Help me."
"Come to Sagar's house, right now."
"Okay."
Minutes later, Shabd showed up. The tension in the room turned the party into a casual get together.
"Hey man." Sagar hugged Shabd.
"Hey dude. I look a mess. I know, I am a mess therefore…" He glanced to Vidya, "Thank God, you're here."
"Sagar, can you give us a minute?"
"It's my house. But you can sit down." The three sat at the dining table.
"She hates me." Shabd sighed.
"No, she doesn't. What happened?" Vidya consoled.
"After that day in the coffeeshop…"
"What day in the coffeeshop?" Vidya questioned.
"The day I told her who I was.."
"Oh. Who are you?"
"Alisha's little brother."
"Ah. Continue."
"She came to apologize to me."
"Mahi did?!" Vidya exclaimed.
"Yeah, why?" He asked calmly.
"Mahi never says sorry."
"So she told me. Anyways, can I continue?" Vidya shut up, "After that day, she came to apologize to me."
~flashback~
"Hi Shabd." Mahi said.
"Hey." He said coldly. She sat at the same table as him. "I'll go." He said.
"No. Stay. I just came to say sss…" Sorry, Mahi! It's not that difficult to say. Just two syllables.
"You're?"
"Sor.."
"Sorry?"
"Yeah." She sighed relief. "That."
"For what?" He said grimly. Why can't you just say it's okay, and let us both move on?
"For being such a b****."
"Yes, continue." Shabd said, scratching his ear. You're irking my nerves.
"And being incredibly mean to you." She seeked closure to the statement.
"And?"
"And I'm apologizing and you don't even care…"
"I'm waiting for the point of this entire conversation. I'm waiting for the main sentence."
"Shabd, you're a *******. I was going to say, I'm sorry I shouldn't have treated someone as nice as you like that. I was actually beginning to semi-like you. But you…you're just a…ugh. I can't believe I was actually thinking of making you my friend."
"Mahi, I'm sorry I was just…" Before he could even think of a complete statement, Mahi rushed out….actually in tears.
~end of flashback~
SMACK! "Ow, Vidya?" Shabd rubbed his head in pain.
"You made my best friend cry!"
"Mahi is your best friend?" Sagar asked.
Vidya nodded, "One of them."
"Oh. Shabd man." He said calmly. Shabd looked to him and Sagar hit him too.
"Thanks man. Stabbed me in the back for a girl." He glared at Vidya.
"Do NOT hate up on me! You're asking for my help, are you not?" He nodded.
"Treat her like a girl for once…She may be Mahi. But she's still just a softy. She's a real romantic. Pamper her a little. You're stalking her; you might as well be her not-so-secret admirer."
"A romantic? Mahi? Makes sense why she reads those ridiculous romance novels." He laughed.
"You've seen those, huh?"
"How can you not? She's ALWAYS reading those. She keeps like 3 in her bag at all times." Vidya smiled at Shabd's words.
"Sagar, let's go." She smiled and pulled on his arm.
"What no? You can't make me leave. Shabd!! Leave me woman, I'm a grown man! Stop telling me what to do! I know Tae Kwon Do! Vidya!!!!! I wanna stay at the party! It's my house!!!! Hey!" Sagar whined as Vidya dragged him out.
"Sagar. Shut up."
"You can't make me."
"Yes. I can. I just gotta keep your mouth busy." She said flirtatiously.
"And how, daresay, do you plan on doing that?" He replied, smirking.
She leaned forward and said in a seductive whisper, "Chewing gum?" She laughed and sat on the ground.
"No thanks." He said, irritated.
"You're so hard-headed. We need to leave Shabd alone to think…"
"About?"
"Him and Mahi."
"What's the deal with them anyways."
"They LOOOOOVVVEEE each other, they just don't know yet."
"Love. Yeah, right. They like each other. Or actually Shabd is crazy about Mahi. Who is Mahi anyways? Shabd's never been this in love with anyone…" At the words in love, Vidya smiled at him.
"It's an expression, woman!" He marveled, "So who's Mahi?"
"You've met her. My friend, Mahi. She's short. She's got brown hair. With purple highlights."
"The goth?! He likes the Goth girl!?" Sagar yelled loudly.
"Shh. She's not Goth. She just likes the color black. Gosh. And yes, he likes her. How are we going to get them together?" Vidya plotted.
"We? WE'RE not doing anything. I don't know about you, but I don't play matchmaker. If its gonna happen, it'll happen." Sagar explained. Vidya sat, pouting and frowning.
"Vidya."
"Yeah?"
"I got an idea." Sagar said, near agony. Vidya's face glowed as she sat up and leaned in to hear the plan.
Chapter 12- The Plan
"Why are you here?" Mahi said, annoyed. She stuffed her novel in her bag and got up to leave. Shabd stood before her, holding his ears.
"I'm really really really sorry for being a *******." He quoted her. The sides of her mouth curled up a little as she attempted to be angry. She really was a softie, wasn't she?
"It's okay. Duffer." She sniffed.
"You were crying?" He asked. She shook her head, "No. I don't cry. Especially for some guy I don't care about you."
"Me? Why would you care about me? After all, I'm just…" With each word, he drew closer and closer. Mahi had her breath held. When his lips were 3 mm away from hers, Mahi shouted, "I'm in love with someone else!"
"What?" He whispered, sounding hurt.
"I…really gotta go." Mahi said, eyes welled. Shabd stood there in shock, not even bothering to follow Mahi.
Shabd's phone rang.
"Hi. Is Mahi around there?" Vidya asked cheerfully.
"She just left." He said flatly.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Mahi just said she's in love with someone else." He said coldly again.
"What? I don't know what she's thinking…I'll talk to her."
"Don't. Just leave her alone. And me too. I need to by myself for a while. Bye."
"Hello, Shabd?!" Vidya clicked the phone shut, cursing under her breath.
"We have a problem." She turned to Sagar. "Mahi is [did finger air quotes] in love with someone else." Sagar looked at her puzzled.
Mahi threw herself on the bed and sobbed endlessly. Her computer gleamed, someone IMed her.
nihuheartsyu33: i gots a problem.
mahi_ve9257: me 2
nihuheartsyu33: ishaan's missing. im taking a flight 2 va.
mahi_ve9257: shabd was gonna kiss me & i said i waz in love wit sum1 else.
nihuheartsyu33: R u???
mahi_ve9257: of course not, but I don't want him 2 kiss me either. Any clues 2 ishu's wereabouts?
nihuheartsyu33: not yet. im worried. u think im rite 2 follow/ find him?
mahi_ve9257: yup. u ok by urself?
nihuheartsyu33: i met this guy at camp. vedant. he's comin wit me…
mahi_ve9257: WHAT?! uve only been there 2 days and ur goin 2 a diff country wit him? howd u meet him at an all girls' camp newayz?
nihuheartsyu33: he's a coach.
mahi_ve9257: a coach…isnt he lyke…
nihuheartsyu33: old? no. 18. turning 19 next yr
mahi_ve9257: im not sure bout this but u can handle urself. good luck wit finding ishu
nihuheartsyu33: thanx. good luck wit shabd.
mahi_ve9257: tankU darlin. ill need it :s heard frum hani and vee l8ly?
nihuheartyu33: yah. ill tell u l8er. vedant's callin me downstairs. g2g. love u babes!
mahi_ve9257: luv u 2. bye.
Mahi sat back on her bed and read her romance novel again, crying softly into the pages. She wished things weren't the way they were. She couldn't let Shabd love her, not with her belonging to someone else, someone who she had to be with as a compromise.
She thought about it and hated her father for the idea. She loved her father so much but his occasional greed got the better of his judgment. Besides that, he didn't know her at all. She sighed, thinking of her future. The housewife to some businessman she didn't know. What was his name again…? Oh, whatever like she cared.
She heard a light tap on her door. "Can I come in?" She was taken aback by the voice. She realized the state she was in. "One sec." She squeaked. She washed her face, and changed into something black. No one could see her---wearing pink booty shorts and a grey tank top. She kept the tank on and changed into black booty shorts with only a single pink stripe along the thigh. She hated to admit it but she liked pink. She had thought of getting pink highlights instead of purple but her hair was too dark for that to work. The stylist said she would have to bleach her hair, get highlights and then dye her hair back to its original color. She thought the idea was ridiculous so she bought purple dye and had Suhani do it for her.
"Come in." She croaked. Shabd walked in. He wore a comforting but sad smile on his face. He noted her red, puffy eyes. Crying, he thought.
"Hey." He welcomed himself to sit on her bed. She tried to unnoticeably slide her novel under her pillow.
"You don't have to." He smiled, "I know you read those ridiculous things."
"They're not ridiculous. They're about true love." She defended, childishly.
"True love. Let me guess the plot to this one." He scooted closer to her. "There once was a girl, a different one. She was always angry, but she was a really good person. She had a good heart. She stood up for those weaker than others," She smiled.
"And one day, her prince charming came. He loved her and she was cold and distant to him." He frowned and continued, "And a misunderstanding came between them." He frowned again, bringing his face to her. She pulled away.
"But soon they made up." She said nervously. He raised an eyebrow at her. "They spent time with each other. They were happy." She said in a pained voice.
"But?" He asked in curiosity. There was always a catch, there was no such thing as a happy ending.
"But…" she gulped, "What the prince didn't know was that she was promised to someone else." A tear rolled down her cheek. "No matter how much she liked or loved anyone, the truth was her life wasn't her own. Her breaths, every decision of her life was written off to someone else."
"Oh." He said disappointed, "Well not everything has a happy ending." He got up to leave but instead, he turned to face her. "Mahi. I just wanted to know. I'm sorry for following you and being an annoyance. I just really like you that's why I was acting like an idiot. And when you were apologizing…I was just…"
"Shabd. I really like you. You're a good person. I was wrong. You're totally friend-worthy. I know we started off on the wrong foot but how about we be friends?"
He smiled. "Friends." Excited, Mahi hugged him. When she felt a chill going through her body, she let go. "Now you have to go." She smiled, pushing him out of the room.
"What okay? But you wanna go to celebrate you FINALLY being friends with me?" He pouted pathetically.
"Fine. Where?" She put her hand on her hip.
"Somewhere nice? Fancy? Get dressed."
"I don't have anything nice to wear."
"Wear a nice dress. Go!" He pushed her into the room. Had he just yelled at her to dress nicely? He had the right to? As she stepped into the shower, she pondered what to wear. She put kohl to line her eyes to make them even more almond shaped, with a little eye shadow and clear gloss she was done with her make-up. She put some serum in her wild curls and was done with them too. She never fussed with her curls much; they were frizzy ringlets but they weren't too hard to tame. In her towel; she stared at her closet; a pool of black. And in that black hole, one color stood out. A royal blue dress that went past the thighs that her mom had made her buy for the freshman Spring Fling. Her mom had walked out on her and her father a week before the dance. Mahi refused to go to any school event after that. She never wore that dress. She pulled out a pair of black jeans. She dug through her drawers and stopped when she found a purple tunic. It matched her hair; she scoffed and laughed at the sequins around the neck; which plummeted far too low. She had a nice, proportional chest which she was proud of. What the hell, why not? Pulling on some black heels, which she didn't even know existed and pranced downstairs. Shabd's mouth dropped upon seeing Mahi.
"Wow." He gasped.
"Shabd…How do I look?" She said calmly. "You kinda yelled at me to, so I got scared and got dressed up." She laughed honestly.
"Sexy…" He mumbled. She looked curious, awaiting his answer. Compliment me, idiot!
"You look amazingly gorgeous. Who would've thought you owned anything not black?" He laughed but he knew she owned tons, he knew her favorite color was not black or red or purple; it was in fact…pink.
"Yeah, yeah. Very funny. Where are we going?" She asked hopeful.
"The Beach Bistro." He said extravagantly.
"Eh…That fancy?"
"Yah. Why? Don't tell me you want Taco Bell…" He said jokingly. Her eyes went agleam. "You've got to be kidding me!" She frowned. "Fine! Let's go to the ****ing Beach Bistro." She stomped to the couch and sat there.
"Which Taco Bell do you wanna go to?" He sighed, defeated.
"The one with a drive-thru. Then we can go to the beach." She smiled, appreciating the gesture.
"I need a drink." He sighed. Everybody needed a drink sometime or another but Shabd was just using the expression to make Mahi laugh.
"Hey…you want a screwdriver?"
"A what?"
"Screwdriver…?" She asked in a tone that made him sound stupid to not know what that was. "Orange juice and vodka."
"Oh…" He said with hints of innocence in his voice. Aww how cute, he doesn't know what a screwdriver is. He's so innocent… "No thanks. I was just joking. I don't drink." I'm under age, he was about to add before he stopped.
"Wow. A guy at The Academy that doesn't drink. There's a first." She laughed as she put the orange juice away. She wasn't going to drink if he wasn't. Mahi was a very sensible girl but when it came to rules; she HAD to break them. She had to try everything at least once. When someone told her she couldn't do something, it became her job to show them she could and would.
"Well, I'm sure there have to be other guys that drink. I mean everybody but the seniors are under-age. So not everybody has had to have tried alcohol…"
"Everybody tries everything at the Academy. But you're new here, you'll learn soon enough." Mahi laughed at his oblivion.
"Maybe I will." He said indecisively, "Shall we?" He asked putting his arm out like a true gentleman. Mahi linked her arm with his and left the house. They went to the drive-thru, as promised, of Taco Bell.
"Spicy Chicken Crunch wrap!!!!" Mahi squealed as Shabd pulled into the first window.
"Uh…Fiesta Bowl Minus The Meat?" He asked her.
"You're a vegetarian?" She tilted her head to the left. Shabd laughed as he nodded. "Oh. I'll have the same thing as him…with a Pepsi on the side." She smiled triumphantly.
They sat in the car and ate their food. Occasionally, Shabd and Mahi's hand would go for the drink at the same time and touched, and Mahi would blush idiotically.
"So you're not mad?" Shabd asked. She tilted her head again and shrugged, "About what?"
"About this." He said pointing around to nothing in particular.
"No. I really didn't want that Crunch wrap anyways. Meat isn't all that great…" She lied.
"You know what we're doing here?" He asked, chewing a piece of tomato, covered in guacamole.
"Eating?" She very un-lady-likely used he tongue to get a piece of lettuce out from between her molars.
"We're on a date." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"No we're not. You only think we are. We're friends. Friends don't date each other." She struggled with the plastic fork. Defeated, she threw it out of the window and used her hands instead. "Better." She sighed.
"Friends date sometimes. But if you say it's not a date, then it must be a non-date." He smiled at the memory. In 5th grade, Mahi went to the dance with Alisha and Alisha didn't show because her on-off boyfriend, Aditya showed up. Mahi ended up walking in with Shabd but she assured him, it was a "non-date." She had repeated it to him so many times in the span of the night.
Mahi looked at him surprised and said, "Shut up."
"Okay. I'm done. Are you?" He looked to see her not even half way through her food. "God, you take forever."
"So I do." After another 15 minutes, the two drove to the beach in silence. At night, there was barely anybody there. Usually, it was all college age students using the place to make out. The two walked past a couple necking shamelessly. They felt awkward and embarrassed for the couple. Shabd and Mahi looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"The beach is a ridiculous place to be at night." Mahi laughed.
"Yup. It's a good place to take your girlfriend," He pondered, "I think Mishti might like it."
"Mishti?" Mahi looked curiously.
"My girl…erm ex- girlfriend in Lonawala."
"When did you guys break up?" Mahi asked in an unexpected pang of jealousy.
"We didn't. I just left. I'm sure that counts as breaking up though." He said drawing a heart in the sand. In the heart he placed the letters M&S. Mishti & Shabd. Or was it Mahi and Shabd? Who's Mishti? Wasn't she a character from her favorite show on Sony?
"Your parents moved here?" She said dragging her foot "accidentally" across the heart in the sand, ruining its legibility.
"Nope. I moved here on my own. I was tired of my house. Every since Alisha left the house, things were crazy. My parents kept saying they only had one child and they'd disown her and what not…so over-dramatic, you know?"
"She eloped." Mahi said in a statement, rather than a question. Shabd nodded. "With Aditya?" Shabd nodded again. Aditya had been Alisha's boyfriend since as long as either of them could remember. She wasn't at all surprised, Shabd's parents hated him.
"She's my sister. I love her no matter what. It was so annoying. Maa and Baba were always saying something bad about her. So I told them if they wouldn't stop, I'd leave. They obviously thought I was bluffing…." He laughed a little. This was little Mr. Chashmish? The boy that couldn't stand up for him left his parents standing up for his sister?
"When did you change so much?" She said unknowingly drawing the heart back into its place.
"The same time the little preppy girl I used to know went all Rocker on me." He laughed. Mahi thought truthfully, he didn't know when he changed. Drastic change occurs gradually, she knew. From experience, she went from a happy, always talking girl to a girl that wore all black, barely ever talked, and was always mad. She and Shabd both noticed, though, when they were together Mahi was the old Mahi. A Mahi few knew.
"Shabd." She pushed him a little, smiling. "Where do you live?"
"Oh. I live in this apartment that Aditya usually lived in, but he moved to Lonawala for Alisha and gave it to me. Fully furnished, and no rent. Great, right?"
"A flat in exchange for your sister. Great deal." She said sarcastically. Shabd laughed in spite of her bad sarcasm.
"Why do you ask?" He inquired. Why did I ask? I definitely don't wanna go home with him. Do I?
"Beach's closing in a while. Plus, I'll puke if I see any more PDA…"
"Same here. Let's go home." He said. Whose home? My house, his house? Does he mean together? Surely, he is going to drop me at my house and then go home.
"Aight. Let's go." She walked slowly to his car. The whole night so far flashed before her eyes. This WAS a date. Suddenly, the whole night seemed like a bad idea.
"My house is near here. Let's walk." Shabd said walking eastward. Mahi followed reluctantly.
"So…we're going to your house…?" Mahi asked, walking awkwardly.
"Yeah. Why? Oh ****, I forgot. You have to go home too. Let's go back." He turned before Mahi took his hand.
"No. It's okay. I'd rather not go home yet. It's only…" Ten? Would I rather not go home?
"Okay. Well we're here." They stood in an elevator, with a tall man that rambled on his phone, which we presumed was off, about he was about to flee to Mexico to become a Mexican hat-dancer named Pedro. Man, what a nut job. Shabd gestured to get off on the 4th floor and stopped in front of 409.
"****" She heard him mutter. He turned to her and pulled the lone pin that held her hair up out of her bun. The cascade of brown and purple fell to her shoulders, which felt abnormally bare. Perhaps her neck was too low. Suddenly, she felt more awkward than before.
With a quick click, he let her in. "Sorry, I forgot my house keys in the car, I only have my car keys with me right now. Don't mind. I'll be a good host in a second, but first I gotta get a second." He fell onto the bed. "Make yourself at home. Sorry, the place is a mess. I live alone."
She looked to a picture of Shabd holding a girl by the waist, smiling in front of him. "Is this your girlfriend?" She asked. They girl was tall and slender, and she stood in a pair of rhinestoned jeans and a tee that read, "Your boyfriend tells me I'm beautiful, what do you think?" Ouch. That's a bitchy thing to say to someone. In Mahi's mind, she already didn't like this Mishti girl.
"Mhmm. I think she is. I haven't talked to her since a couple weeks ago."
"Oh." She said in a small voice that she doubted was her own. "I'm thirsty."
"Kitchen's over there." He said smiling. He sure was a lazy host. Shabd's phone rang.
"Hello?...um hey….Yeah, I know but….I'm not coming back….Well I guess we will….So I guess it is…" She heard hurt in his voice. "Whatever. Same to you." He clicked the phone shut.
"It was Mishti." He told before her asking.
"Oh." She stated, her voice sounding small again.
"We broke up…like officially." He said, heading toward the kitchen.
"That sucks." Mahi stated, sounding cheerier than she had wanted to. Next, Mahi's phone rang. She answered happily, she didn't have a boyfriend that could break up with her.
"Hello?"
"Mahi Ankiteshwari Choudary."
"Oh hi, dad. What's up?" She asked, happily. She wanted to sound extra happy, just to annoy her already ticked off dad.
"What's up? We have company over today. And they've been waiting for you since 8 o clock….Where are you?"
"I'm at Shabd's house…" She said without thinking. Damn, she thought. "Who is this company you speak of? And why do they want me?"
"They're here to see you."
"See me? As in like rishta-seeing?"
"Stop asking questions and get home. Maybe you can make it before they leave."
"I'm not. They can go home, they can stay there, they can go to hell. I really don't care. Bye."
She pressed the end button. She sighed as she fell on the sofa. She was going to Vidya's maybe. She couldn't go home.
"Who was that?" Shabd asked, getting a glass of Pepsi.
"My dad. A BOY is waiting for me at home." He handed her the glass of Pepsi. She took a sip.
"Why?" He took a sip of his own glass.
"To see me." She scoffed, taking another sip.
"Oh. Sucks being you." He said frankly.
"Yeah. It sucks being you too." She said as she searched for a coffeemaker. She put the filter in.
"How so?" He handed her the instant coffee.
"Thank you. Well, you live all by yourself."
"So?" He said, handing her a mug full of water.
"So, it never bothers you being by yourself?" She asked dumping the water into the machine.
"Nope. I'm not a chic that I should get scared or anything." He laughed as he flipped the switch on. She glared at him. Sorry, his eyes said. It's okay, hers replied. She searched several cabinets for a mug and instead, she found a cabinet that was jammed up pretty bad. She tugged at it, until it opened. She had found the liquor cabinet.
"You don't drink?" She asked, humorously.
"I don't. Those are Adi's."
"Oh." She pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. "Good taste he has." She laughed. Unscrewing the cap, she sniffed the bitter liquid and scrunched her nose at the foul smell. Shabd laughed at her. "As long as you don't drink it, you may stay here…"
"Stay here?" Mahi asked, forgetting to cap the bottle.
"Yeah. At my house. Until you go back. I just don't want you to drink." He said thoughtfully. "I don't know if you can handle it…" He regretted saying the last part.
"I can handle it." She said, revealing her headstrong nature.
"I know you can. But I can't." He took the bottle from her.
"Scared much?" She said, challenging him. Snatching the bottle back
"Yes. I'm scared of you, Mahi. You caught my big secret. Now, just hand me the bottle." He coaxed as the police tries to tell the robber to put down the gun. Stubbornly, she took the mug and poured it in. She gulped it. "Ew, it's hot."
"Ew, it's hot? Mahi, you just downed an entire glass of straight Tennessee Whiskey. I'm definitely taking you home."
"I can't go home. You're mad I drank your whiskey? Here, you want some. Sharing is caring." She shoved the bottle into his face. Her words were slurred, she was drunk.
"Sharing is caring. Mahi, you're drunk. Really drunk. I don't want any. You sure you don't wanna go home?"
"Yup. Me no go home! Don't want any? WHY!?! Not man enough to handle it?" She giggled manically.
"Not man enough? I can handle it. I can handle it better than you anyways."
"Prove it!"
"I will!" He chugged down what seemed like a little less than half the bottle. "Gross." He complained.
"Great job…" Mahi laughed like an idiot again.
"Sure. Now, you sure you don't wanna go home?" He was still semi-sober. Shabd had lied a little, he had drank before. He had a higher threshold for alcohol than Mahi, that was deathly obvious. She shook her head.
"Now what?" Mahi asked, sitting on the couch.
"What do you mean, now what? You go to sleep. It's late." Shabd said, getting a little dizzy. The alcohol was quickly going to his head.
"What?! Sleep. No way. The sooner I sleep, the sooner I get that hangover." True, he thought.
"Wanna watch a movie? I only have Hindi stuff." He said opening his entertainment center.
"Sure. Do you have…um…" She thought for a long time. "I don't know. I'll just have to see." She sat on the floor.
"I'll just put something on." He put in the DVD player the movie, Mohabbatein, knowing that she loved that movie. He hoped if she was immersed in the movie enough, she wouldn't notice his eyes on her. It didn't work.
"What are you looking at, Word Dog?" She said, serious but drunk. She used to call him Word a long time ago, when she bugged him for being a geek.
"You're really pretty." He said stupidly.
"Liar." She whispered near his face.
"No, really. You're REALLY pretty. Especially when there's two of you." He laughed. It was a joke, of course. He wasn't THAT drunk. His vision was blurred, he wasn't that drunk, was he?
"There's only one of me, sweetheart. You couldn't handle me any other way. What time is it?" She asked, they both turned their head to see the clocks. They bumped foreheads and laughed.
"Sorry," She said, in a drunken stupor. They were centimeters apart. Shabd breathed in her scent; light of whiskey and an empowerment of roses. Mahi gazed at him; studying his face; he smelt of sandalwood smoke and cinnamon. She felt as if she was about to faint as Shabd drew his lips closer. He came closer slowly, slower than she wished. She'd die of anticipation. She let out a tiny sigh when he finally closed his mouth over hers.
Chapter 13- Going To America
"Niharika!" A voice shook her awake.
"What, huh? Vedant! Don't do that, I was having a really good dream." He raised an eyebrow at her, mischievously, "And no, it did not involve you."
"Man. Lucked out again. How come I never invade your dreams?" He asked irritated. Nihu took that as a rhetorical question and sat awake in an uncomfortable plane seat. She would often go to the bathroom, just to move her legs around.
"Planes give you upset stomachs or something? Why do you keep going to the bathroom? Is it THAT time of month?"
"No. I just need to stay moving. I can't stand sitting in one place. I don't understand how you people do it."
"Just keep yourself busy." He said, turning his iPod on. She snatched it from, yanking the ear buds from his ears. "Okay, for one: Ow. And second of all, what the heck. Find your own pastime."
"You are my pastime." She smiled sweetly. And browsed through his play lists, the clicker stopping occasionally on random songs she found amusing. She handed him on ear bud and took the other. She played a song at random. It was Fanaa Instrumental. She didn't like it. She scrolled through the American music section.
Icebox, Like A Boy, Same Girl….
"Why is all of your music about failed relationships?" She asked, pausing in the middle of the violin portion of Like A Boy, by Ciara. He shrugged. She pulled her iPod out of her duffel bag and flipped through the Songs list.
"Here." She handed it to him. "Happy music." She said happily. He took it to find an array of danceable music; from bellydancing, to techno, to pop…"You listen to this crap?"
"Yes, I do." She said defensively.
"Okay then." He said, raising an eyebrow. He put on the song "Dosti" by Atif Aslam.
Yaaron yehi dosti hain
Kismat se jho mili hai
sab rang chale
sab sang chale
chalte rahen hum sada
Suddenly, Niharika remembered her other three friends. "****" She muttered as she picked up her cell phone. She quickly typed a text message to Vidya and sent it.
In Benaras, Vidya picked her phone up and read it: happy birthday, baby. im so sorry i cant be there. im wit vedant on a flite to va 2 look 4 ishaan bhaiya. celebrate for me, kay? Quickly and mindlessly, she typed back: kay, thanx.
Niharika laughed to herself. She had forgotten her own birthday, but besides that she had forgotten Vidya's birthday. She felt like a guilty idiot.
"What?" Vedant asked concerned. He saw the urgency on her face to send that SMS.
"I forgot my best friend's birthday." She said smiling but still guilty.
"That makes you smile how?"
"I forgot my own too." She laughed.
"Happy Birthday?" He asked, uncertain. She nodded, "Thanks. I'm seventeen now."
"Wow. One more year and WE can be legal." We? What we was he talking about?
"Legal?" She asked. They were allowed to date. What was illegal at this age? Alcohol, tobacco, marriage, sex…Her mind wandered.
"Never mind. It's a joke. You wouldn't get it." He laughed. She probably wouldn't, teenage boys had the most idiotic sense of humor. Common sense is a precious commodity amongst them.
"Whatever." She replied sassily, finishing the song. She sighed as the landed, pretending not to feel her stomach doing jumping jacks in its pits while landing. She loved airplanes, as a child she had considered being a pilot but she despised two things about planes. Taking off and landing. This was the first flight where she hadn't dug her nails into the arms of one of her famous friends. Instead, she had clenched her eyes shut and squeezed her hands in praying position while the plane did its thing.
Vedant saw her scared and desperately wanted to hold her, but he assumed that would worry her more than she already was. She was stressed and vulnerable, not to mention he sensed she was as impulsively forward as he was. He knew that meant bad decision-making. Vedant wished that off a long time ago. Bad decision making meant bad decisions, and bad decisions meant screw ups. Screw ups were one thing THIS particular girl could not afford right now. She was worried about her brother, about her dad, about her friends, and adding their relationship….even if it was non-existent to it would be wrong.
"You okay?" He asked her at baggage claim.
"Yeah, fine. Just worrying about Ishaan. He isn't very good at making choices on his own. I knew he should've studied somewhere closer to home. I just don't know where he is and it's really frustrating."
"I can understand. You should try calling him again." Vedant answered thoughtfully. Niharika dialed Ishaan's number. And happily with relief, she said 'hi' as someone finally picked up.
"Hello?" She asked with relief. Was this a dream or did he actually pick up? "Hello Ishaan?"
"Hello. Who is this?" Said a female voice from the other end.
"THIS is Niharika. Who are you?" asked Niharika sassily.
"This is Ishaan's girlfriend, Ariana. He left his phone here last month. Who the hell is Niharika? Is he like cheating on me or something?"
"No ARIANA. This is his little sister, Niharika. Do you have any idea where Ishaan went? I've been trying his phone for ages."
"Oh. He said he was going to visit someone. I don't know where he is. Sorry. But where exactly are you? Aren't you in India?"
"I'm at Norfolk International. Can someone come to pick me up?"
"Sure. I'll be there in a second. How will I know who you are?"
"I look like Ishaan. I'm tall and athletic looking. You'll recognize me."
"Aiight. I'll be there." With that, they hung up.
"What's up?" Vedant asked concerned.
"Well apparently my older brother has a girlfriend. And she's coming to pick us up."
"Wow." He said, not sure what to say.
"Um. Niharika?" A lady called from behind her. She stood at 5' 7" with golden hair and a fair complexion. She looked in her 20's, with an adorable toddler, presumably two year old at her side. "Hi. I'm Ariana."
Chapter 14- It Ends Tonight…
"Sagar. You will not believe what I just saw." Vidya said wide-eyed.
"What? Where were you all night? I thought you were going to Mahi's and then right back?" Sagar said, frowning. He had planned a huge, all-night get together. Not many people had showed up. He expected Vidya to come though, she said she would.
"I went to Mahi's. Some boy was waiting for her and her dad was pretty pissed. She wasn't there." Sagar raised his arm as if gesturing a question. "She was at Shabd's."
"Uh oh." He stated. "We didn't need our plan." He smirked.
"Yes. We don't. But I'm afraid it's not that simple."
"What's wrong? Shabd has Mahi." And I have you. What kind of a thought was that, Sagar questioned. The ONE girl that showed absolutely no interest in him was perhaps, the most interesting girl he'd ever met.
"Yeah. But there's a boy around here to see Mahi. I thought since Mahi didn't come home all night, he's leave. But he stayed the night!" She exclaimed.
"So he'll be waiting for her when she gets home?"
"Basically."
After a long moment of awkward silence, Vidya and Sagar proceeded to their usual daily routines which surprisingly, had changed over the last week. In the last week, their schedule hadn't changed much; their routines had been exactly the same to begin with; but now it included the other.
"So Vidya?"
"Yeah, Sagar." She asked, annoyed that he interrupted her reading. She had been fully immersed into Insomnia by Stephen King.
"Let's talk. I'm bored." He said, turning to her casually.
"Okay. My name is Vidya Thakur. I'm sixteen years old. My hobbies are reading and swimming…."
"Your favorite color is green. You are totally into yourself and from your tone of voice; I can tell you don't want to talk to me right now." He completed quite pathetically.
"Wow. You're good at this. Now let me read." She returned to reading as Sagar whistled the theme to Jeopardy. Awaiting a conversation, he was completely attempting to irritate Vidya.
"Bye." She said, as she took her book and got up.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"Somewhere. Not here. Away from you."
"Ouch." He jumped back a little. Vidya, looking concerned stared at her feet, fearing she had trampled his, dramatically he added. "You broke my heart."
"You'll get over it. Devdas ki chautti aulaad." She laughed and stomped away. He trailed at her heels.
He pushed her against a wall, "You can't escape me." He said seriously. She looked at him angrily as she pushed him away. "Don't you EVER touch me!!!" He looked at her puzzled. "Ever!" She added.
"No one wants to touch you!" He yelled behind her. She turned in disbelief.
"You know what, Mr. The World Revolves Around Me? Do not get physical with me just because I don't flirt back!" She shouted, shaking her finger at him.
"Flirt? HA! I have no interest in you, you and your arrogance! Who needs it?! I certainly don't! It's no wonder your boyfriends never last more than three days." He mocked her. That was a personal jab. Too personal, perhaps. It was perfectly true, her boyfriends never last more than three days but it was also true she had only had two boyfriends in all her history. One guy actually, who she had truly liked and he had cheated shamelessly on her with about 7 other girls. And the other had turned out to be just as bad.
"At least I have one boyfriend at a time. Let's not even begin with your relationship issues! Your such a friggin man-wh***. All over the place all the time!" She screamed.
"I get it now! The reason every guy leaves you is because you're such a complete bi***. You deserve to be cheated on!" She looked at him wide-eyed, with hurt rather than anger brimming at her lashes. He felt regret, but mostly satisfaction run through him. He held back his smirk.
She took heavy steps toward him and opened her mouth to say something bitter, and instead SMACK! Sagar felt the sting across his left cheek. It was hard and hot, the slap she had gave him. She saw the red on his face, and she didn't attempt to hold back her smirk. She smiled grimly, evilly, and calmly; a smile that would remind you of the devil.
She began to walk away. Sagar walked up to her; in a fury of rage.
He pulled her hair, forcing her head back. The smile had disappeared from both faces. "Nobody slaps Sagar Pratap Singh." He kissed her hard on the mouth, his teeth grinding against hers in the rough act.
Removing his mouth from hers, Sagar threw Vidya's tiny frame to the floor. He looked down at her and replied smugly, "THAT'S called getting physical, in case you were wondering."
Sitting on the dank, dark ground she cleared so many misconceptions. She was wrong. Completely wrong. Some people were not worth trying with. Sagar Pratap Singh was one of them. Being friends with a person that cares about no one but themselves is anything but possible if you have an ounce or more of self-worth. And self-worth was something that Vidya Thakur had enormous, massive amounts of. Her first kiss had been an act of vengeance, and what a waste it was. It wasn't by some sweet boy that cared for her under a sunset; it was at a public pool with tons of eyes on her as an act of denouncement. She had been humiliated by someone she had believed was a friend. 'Live and let live' flashed through her head and she decided that was the best path to choose as of right now. She would avoid any confrontation Sagar Pratap Singh over the summer; she wasn't the type up for drama anyways. She would keep her resent to herself and go on with her currently not-so merry way.
Sagar, walking away had felt a great deal of…everything. He regretted the way things had taken place but not ashamed of any of his actions. She had started it so he ended it. That was it. Simple and clear. She debased him and now, it was on. Making Vidya Thakur's life a living hell was now his sole purpose.
Their unofficial friendship ended that very moment. Their very official enmity, however, had just begun.
Chapter 15- Morning after…
Mahi felt the pounding in her head, even as she slept. The rays of sunlight tickled her hair as she strained to open her eyes. Five more minutes, she thought as she systematically adjusted her pillow. Instead of her pillow, she found a bare chest beneath her head.
Tight tan skin, stretched across rising and falling muscle. She opened her eyes as she got up. Looking around, she realized this wasn't her room, her bed. And under her wasn't her bed, there in its place laid a forest green comforter. She was entangled in the white sheets, as she untangled herself she found herself bare and sharing a bed. She looked on the floor and found her jeans and purple top on the floor next to a pair of darker jeans and what looked like an American Eagle shirt. She looked beside her, Shabd. She tried to recall the night before but it came to her in bits in pieces.
This was a sick joke, she thought. This has got to be a joke. You have to be kidding me. But her lips swollen and her body sore; she knew it wasn't. This wasn't a movie that Shabd would play such a cruel joke. Instead, fate did. As reality settled, she sat in a fetal position, wrapping the sheets about her. She didn't mean to cry but due to instinct, she did.
"Oh. My. God." She said, thinking out loud, between sobs. Shabd's eyes opened slowly, only to grow large upon finding Mahi there.
"Mahi, what…?" He looked around and sighed, disappointed at himself. "I am so sorry…" He spoke softly and slowly. Mahi could just predict the next statement: I told you, you shouldn't have drunk. Instead he began to move his arm near her shoulder, and debated with himself whether he should or should not touch her. He decided against it.
"How are you?" He asked gently.
"Sore. Embarrassed. Disappointed. Not a virgin?" She said, pulling the sheets around here.
"I'm really sorry." He said apologetically. For some reason, he being apologetic made it worse. She wasn't really upset, really she wasn't. She was more…confused.
"Don't. It wasn't just you. It was equally me. So just drop it, I don't want to talk about it." She said, collecting her clothes from the floor.
"What?" He asked. "Are you going to forget about it?" She wasn't. She definitely wasn't.
"Yes." She lied, looking away.
"Mahi. You mean to tell me. You're going to go home and marry whoever your father tells you to and forget that last night ever happened?" He didn't debate this time, he grabbed her shoulder in anger.
"Yes, I intend on doing just that." She said calmly. He looked at her, she melted. "No, I can't. I don't want to marry him…whoever he is." He pulled her into his embrace. "I want to be with you." She sighed.
"Did I tell you that I love you?" He asked, stroking her hair.
"I believe you did last night. But today's quota has not been met." She smiled.
"Well I love you, Mahi Ankiteshwari Choudary." He mentally snickered at her middle name. It wasn't that bad. Just not something that people in their right mind would name their kids.
"Don't call me that, Shabd." She warned.
"Okay. So…" He wondered. "How are we going to get you home?"
"Oh ****. Just drop me a couple of blocks away from my house and I'll walk and come up with something to tell my dad."
"Just tell him what happened." Shabd said sarcastically.
"Funny. Do you want me killed?" She asked, gathering her clothes. Shabd pointed to the bathroom. "Shut up. What would life be without you." He said romantically.
"Idiot." She went into the bathroom. After taking a shower, he dropped her home. She kissed him goodbye and walked into the house quietly: it was pretty difficult sneaking in at ten in the morning. As she stepped in, she heard a voice call behind her.
"Good morning, beta." Beta? What was wrong with her father today? "We have company, come here Mahi beta." She stared down and reported to her father's side.
"Ji Papa?" She said, like an obedient daughter.
"Beta, meet Dilip Khanna and I believe you are acquainted with his son, Angad Khanna." Her eyes shot up to a man, smiling with his hand extended to shake hers. She put her hand out and shook it as she stupidly replied, "You're….you're….do you know who you are?"
Angad Khanna was a star, and the object of Mahi's affection since the show Kaisa Yeh Pyaar Hain had came out. It was a reality show about how he, a conceited rockstar could fall in love with a middle class girl, Kripa Sharma. However, to the producer's misfortune Kripa Sharma ran off with the Spot Boy, Prithvi Bose. What a tragedy, she had thought. Not only had he dealt with the misfortune of falling in love on camera but he had dealt the blow of rejection on camera also. Was she dreaming?
"I'm Angad. And yes, I had that whole identity crisis years ago. Right now, I completely know who I am." He laughed. She had held his hand for too long already, she released it free now.
"I'm Mahi." She said dumbly.
"I know, your dad just told me."
"Oh. What are you people doing here?" She asked, almost drooling. Was she usually this dumb?
"Well…" he stated calmly, "our parents have the vague idea that you and I are getting married…."
"WHAT?!" She exclaimed, snapped out of her dumb daze.
Chapter 16- You're his what?
"Well, here we are…" Rajvir said, gesturing the large marble monument.
"Here?" Suhani asked, still unsure. Instantly, she was overcome by awe. What was this place? "Wow."
"I know. It's an art library. But I guess it is quite magnificent."
"It is, indeed." This was a library? Magnificent was an understatement, this was simply breathtaking. He led her through a narrow hallway to a small room that had desks and aisles set up. This was a makeshift classroom.
"Welcome students," said a lady, old in age but happily, she glared at Rajvir and Suhani. "And latecomers." She continued, "Today we will be doing a natural still life." She exclaimed.
"Goody." Rajvir muttered sarcastically under his breath. "Mom." She cleared her throat. "Oh. Mrs. Goswami." He said awkwardly.
"Yes."
"Can we not draw boring apples today?"
"Actually beta, we were going to draw the lake. But we need to partner up for that. You know the procedure."
"Well I…" A blue-eyed girl from the other side of the classroom before Rajvir interrupted. "I'll partner with my girlfriend…" The girl's face nearly lit up before he continued, "Suhani." He snaked his arm around her waist.
"How rude of me. Will you not introduce us?" Said his mother politely.
"Well Maa, this is my girlfriend Suhani Patel."
"Nice to meet you, Suhani Patel." She added an extra syllable to Patel, lengthening it to sound like Patellll. She muttered something which Suhani made out to be "Is she not Bengali?" She watched Rajvir nod his head in what seemed like shame. Was he not Punjabi? HE WAS!
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Goswami."
"The pleasure's entirely mine, beta. I didn't know my son had such wonderful taste." She said for etiquette's sake. This lady was a snake and Suhani could already see it. She shuddered at what Maya would be like.
"Hi. I'm Maya." A voice called from behind her. It was the blue-eyed girl. She wasn't particularly beautiful, in fact; her indigenous blue eyes now at closer inspection, were contact lenses too dark for her face. She was spectacular in her dullness.
"Suhani." She shook her hands. She had to admit, Maya had one hell of a grip. For a moment the color fled her face as she thought she would have to get her hand amputated due to lack of circulation. In the filing cabinet of her mind, the file that had Maya written on it had been scratched out and replaced by bold, red Sharpie letters that read "The Human Tourniquet."
"You're terribly precious." She whispered. Suhani hated when people commented at her so called beauty. She was normal. Regular, she wasn't spectacular.
"Yeah, she is quite the looker. But what drew me to her is her amazing personality." Rajvir smiled, pulling Suhani closer by the waist.
"Hm, something like that." Suhani smiled.
"Well, let's head to the lake before the shadows come out." Rajvir said eerily. Suhani laughed and noticed him looking at her admirably.
"Sure." With his hand on her waist, they headed out to narrow hallway the used to enter. Maya and Mrs. Goswami exchanged glances and looked especially anguished as the class followed Mrs. Goswami out to the lake.
Chapter 17- The Past Creeps Back Like That Annoying Trail Of Ants
"Vee, kya hua? Why are you crying? Where's Sagar?"
"He's so not worth it, Mahi." She said sobbing on the bed. "He's not a good friend. He's not even a good ****ing person."
"What happened? Did you guys fight?"
"Well we were at the pool and he was bugging me while I was reading."
"Oh God." sighed Mahi. Mahi knew Vidya had a short temper and she is very testy with patience. She always started fights without knowing it.
"So I got up left and he followed me. We were just playing but he pushed me against the wall…" She cried for no apparent reason, but the reason did exist.
"Oh Viddi. He wasn't serious you know." Mahi swung her arm around her and rubbed her back a little.
"No but then I was dumb and started a fight. I slapped him and he kissed me hard and threw me down onto the floor." She revealed her arms, bruises all up and down them, Mahi was sure she had the same bruises on her legs too. Sagar was a strong boy and Vidya was much smaller than him in size. When she had slapped him, she had done it expecting him to be a good enough person not to hit someone smaller in size, especially a girl…especially Vidya. Vidya was a wonderful girl normally but if it was one thing she hated, it was being touched.
"Sagar!" Shabd yelled walking into Sagar's house, practically on the top of his lungs.
"Hey, Shabd. What's up man?" Sagar said casually, sitting on the couch.
"Nothing. What happened with you and Vidya?"
"Nothing dude. The b**** spazzed out when I pushed her into a wall, I was just kidding. Little Miss Perfect thought I was flirting or something."
"Dude. Don't say that about her. She's like my sister. So you pushed her into the wall?"
"Yeah." He clicked his tongue, shrugging him off.
"Even after knowing…?"
"After knowing what?" Sagar questioned.
"Her ex. You know him?"
"No. Some guy from school who she went out with and she dumped him cuz he was cheating or something like that…right?"
"Sort of. But do you KNOW him?"
"His name was Harsh."
"So?"
"Vidya was completely in love with him…"
"And?" Sagar said, unsympathetically. "He cheated cuz she was such a b****?" He laughed idiotically.
"No Sagar…" Shabd sighed. "She was completely in love with him and all he wanted was to get in her pants." He paused a moment. "He cheated on her because he needed someone to sleep with. She was devastated." Shabd sighed. Sagar was yet to see what the big deal was. So he pushed her into a wall? What relevance does her "past" have with this…?
"She went to break up with him at the pool house."
"The pool house?" He asked.
"Yeah. So they met there at night. The pool was her favorite place." Still is, Sagar thought.
"And?" Sagar asked again disinterested.
"Harsh is in jail." So Vidya went out with a convict. Sagar was yet to see the purpose of the conversation.
"She had bad taste in guys?"
"No. He's a sex offender. He tried to rape her." Oh, was the only thing Sagar could think. It makes sense why she hated being touched. And he said she deserved being cheated on.
"You pushed her?" Shabd asked, as if he were about to slit Sagar's throat on the spot.
"Yeah. She slapped me." He said, remaining cool.
"For some reason, we all expected better from you." Shabd shook his head, walking away. Sagar sat there, motion and thoughtless until the doorbell rang. He opened it to find Vidya. It wasn't smiling, shining Vidya. It was pale Vidya with no expression; there were bags under her eyes. She wore a tee shirt that bared a little midriff and Capri's. Her arms and legs were spotted with black and blue. Had Sagar really done that?
"Um…" She started. So much for avoiding. "I needed my iPod, towel, and sun block back…" He looked at her as if mocking her with his eyes. "Never mind, I'll leave."
"No. I knew you'd come crawling back." He said pulling her into the house.
"I don't crawl back for anyone. I'm not…" she gestured air quotes, "Back. I'm here to get my stuff." She snapped.
"It was nice of you to send one of your groupies here to make me feel sorry for you." He grimaced.
"What are you talking about?" She asked.
"You sent Shabd to tell me some made up story about you, how you were such a bechari and what not." He laughed heartily, ridiculing her story.
"Shabd? When? What did he say…?" Vidya asked, her voice suddenly shrinking.
"Poor Vidya with her rapist ex-boyfriend. Good story. But tell me this? If you seriously had been raped, why would you be at the pool every day after that day…?" He smirked.
"I WASN'T raped!" She roared, with tears brimming her eyes. She hadn't. As much as he had tried, she was still whole. She was still pure.
"Of course you weren't. If you had been you wouldn't be wearing these sluttish swimsuits you own, now would you? Plus, if it's consensual, it's not called rape." Sagar was surprised at his own cruelty; he knew what had really happened. He was sure of it, yet here he was testing how far he could push Vidya before she would break. He wanted to see her break.
She recited what she had learned in counseling, "Whatever happened to me wasn't my fault. I shouldn't be punished for something I didn't do. I can go on with my life. I CAN move on." She bit back tears.
"Of course you can, that's why you come to the local pool every day…" He snickered, "every night."
She shot an angry glance to him. And then the glare was transformed to a hurt look, why are you doing this to me? He stood unaffected; he needed to see her break.
"Honestly Vidya, I'm not sure how I managed to spend all that time with you…" He said thoughtfully, "I never intended on being your friend. I never was your friend. You were a good time pass though." Sagar completed. Vidya looked at him in disbelief, she promised herself she wouldn't crumble under his watch. She bit back the tears and swallowed them whole, crying Vidya was gone. Fighting Vidya was back.
"I never intended on being your friend either. I thought I was though," She said whole-heartedly. "And if you couldn't understand what happened to me, then its fine. I don't expect a guy as dumb as you to fully comprehend it anyways." She spat bitterly. "So here's something you'll understand. Yes Sagar, everything you said was entirely true. I was never touched by Harsh," she said his name painfully, "I was only in love with him, that's why I have cigarette burn marks on my neck. Because he NEVER touched me." She said half hurt, half sarcastic. "In fact, that's my favorite hobby. Getting trampled by guys I care about. That's why yesterday, I could barely move. That's why I've been bleeding all night." She turned around, laughing back tears, "I deserve to be cheated on because I refuse to give my body away to any passerby. You were right about EVERYTHING." Vidya choked. She sat and sobbed, making sure to force every last tear out. She wanted to confront them never again.
"So I was…" He muttered, dissatisfied. He had seen her crumble into a pile before him.
He was looking at her sobbing into the black leather of his chair, yet he was sorrowful. He felt something settle into his soul. He sat on the couch across from her, careful not to look at her. For some reason, the sight of her crying was unbearable.
"I don't know why I'm such a terrible person." He said quietly. Vidya quieted, "What?" She asked softly.
"I said I don't know why I'm such a terrible person. It's true. I don't."
"You're not a terrible person." She defended, even though recently he had certainly been acting like one. "You just love seeing me in pain." She laughed, wiping her own tears.
"I don't. I mean I thought I did but really, I don't…." He trailed off not sure how to continue the statement without sounding dumb.
"It's okay," She sniffed, "You like bothering me…It's understandable."
"No but…" He sighed, "I'm sorry."
"About what?" She asked, truly innocently. She had already forgotten what the original offense was.
"I believe you about whats-his-face. I'm a jackass, jerk, and idiot, stop me whenever you want…"
"Nope. Go on." She smiled.
"…imbecile, dumb-assed numskull, insensitive moronic fool…"
"Okay, now stop." She smiled her eyes still puffy and red. "Stand up."
"What?" He asked, confused.
"You want me to forgive you?" She asked, he nodded and obeyed. She kicked him hard in the shin, "Sh**, Vidya. What the ****?"
"That's for kissing me." She punched him with all her force in his stomach, which still didn't do justice on Sagar's large frame. Unfortunately, he had rock hard abs. He winced a little.
"That's for throwing me onto the floor." She smiled weakly and said, "Now I forgive you."
"One second." He went and punched the glass pane on the left window. His hand bled. "That's for being terrible to you."
"Sagar!" She quickly came to his side, seeing his bleeding hand. She led him to the sink and washed off excess blood so she could see a few large shards of glass still clinging to his flesh. She brought the first aid kit. "You're so dumb." She muttered, "I said I forgave you."
"This might hurt." She used tweezers to pull out a piece of glass, he winced but his gaze remained fixed on a concerned Vidya that sat and babbled endlessly on how dumb he was and how she would have only hit him in the head a little hard for being so cruel to her.
She finished dressing the wound. She hit him lightly, playfully on his head. "That's for being the idiot that purposefully threw his fist into a window."
He had set them on the table; they had sat there during the entire conversation; her towel, iPod, and half-empty tube of sun block. Suddenly, Sagar had the urge to hide it to make her stay longer.
"Wanna go to the beach?" She suggested happily, reading his mind. She smiled, her eyes gleamed again; even though they were still red and puffy; a reminder of his regret.
Vidya thought to herself, Sagar was right. She was always deeply sorry for what Harsh tried to do with her, but yet, she returned to the pool house every day. She didn't go there at night any more. She went there to swim; and more recently, to meet Sagar. Now, she decided, the beach would be a better place to swim.
Sagar drove in silence, until Vidya turned the radio on. He heard her mutter, Yeh idiot to kuch bhi nahin kehta. Waisa toh badi badi baate karta rehta hai. Sagar Pratap Singh yeh hai, Sagar Pratap Singh vo hai… iski zubaan kahan chali gayi?…She continued under her breath. Sagar laughed quietly to himself.
A song started:
Tere bin
Mein yuh kaisa jiya
Kaisa jiya tere bin?
Le kar yaadein teri
Raatein meri kati
Le kar yaadein teri
Raatein meri kati
Mujhse baatein teri
karti hain chandni
Tanha hai tujh bin raatein meri
din mere din ke jaisa nayi
tanha badan tanha hai rooh
Nam meri aankhen rahe
Aaja mere
Ab rubaroo
Jeena nahin bin tere
Tere bin, mein yuh kaisa jiya
Kaisa jiya tere bin?
Kabhse aankhen meri
Rahan mein tere bichi
Bhoole se hi kabhi
Tu mil jayen kahi
Bhoole na mujhse baatein teri
Bheegi hai har pal aankhen meri
Kyon saans loo?
Kyon mein jiyu?
Jeena bura sa lage…
Kyon ho gaya
Tu bawafaa
Mujhko bata de wajaah
Tere binnnnnnn……mein yuh kaisa jiya….?
Sagar clicked the radio off.
"Hey, I like that song." Vidya whined
"Are you kidding me? That guy's pathetic." He laughed, suddenly his stomach hurt from Vidya's earlier jab. He could only imagine the pain she was in.
"Pathetic? This song is so romantic…" Her voice trailed. "And tragic."
"Atif Aslam's voice is what makes it tragic. How is it romantic? He's suicidal cuz his girl left him…?" Sagar remarked sarcastically. He wondered how Vidya would react to the song, "Beautiful Girl," by Sean Kingston.
"Atif's voice is AMAZING and he's not suicidal. He's just sad…" She defended.
"That his girl left him?" He asked.
"Yeah." She nodded. "Can you imagine loving someone that much and them just…leaving you?" Her voice serious.
"It's just a song Vidya. Half of the world's chicks are in love with Atif Aslam. Even if it was real, I'm sure he'd be fine by now." He laughed at his own dumb joke.
"Well, I'm speaking generally." She slammed the car door shut as she took her shoes off and set her feet in the warm golden sands.
"Before someone falls in love they're alive right?" He asked, she nodded. "Without them?" She nodded again. "Well, it must not be that hard then. Living without a love of your life."
"What would you know?" She spat, trying to take off running through the sand. But each step was painful, her body ached. She felt blood flowing out of her, her steps got heavier and heavier….till she felt her body collapse onto the sand.
Next thing Vidya remembered, was waking in a hospital bed. Mahi sat beside her, and Shabd and Sagar were sleeping on the couch behind Mahi.
"Mahi? Where…wh…what time is it?"
"It's eleven baby. Go back to sleep."
"What happened?" Vidya asked groggily.
"You've been bleeding since yesterday night?" Mahi questioned.
"Yeah. I thought it was just my period, I figured stress made me get off schedule." She stated truthfully. It happened often, nothing too unusual.
"Heavily?"
"Yeah, I guess. Why?"
"You've been internally bleeding since Ours Truly, Mr. Jackass decided to be all tough and throw you onto the floor." Mahi glared at a sleeping Sagar.
Vidya sighed, "Oh. I was pretty sore." She laughed weakly.
"Pretty sore? You've got a set of broken ribs." Vidya shrugged. "How much water did you drink yesterday?" Mahi interrogated. Vidya thought back. One glass, maybe two.
"Exactly. You're dehydrated. And I can bet my left damn foot that you haven't ate a thing since I last saw you." Mahi handed Vidya a bowl of vegetable soup. Vidya put it on the table.
"I can't believe you talked to those two before you talked to me."
"You've been busy with Mr. Angad Khanna, I've heard?"
"Who told you?"
"Shabd." Vidya replied calmly. Mahi raised an eyebrow, "How does he know?" Vidya shrugged.
"What else did he tell you?" She asked in what she wanted not to sound like a panicked tone.
"Enough," Vidya smirked evilly before we continued, "We bonded. I found myself a brother."
"That's…" Frightening? "…nice." Mahi finished.
"Don't worry, you're still the one who's giving me details. So what happened?" She asked excitedly.
"I don't remember. I'm stressed, okay?" She played with her hair, nervously. "SHIT!" Mahi yelled. Vidya knew what she realized. "It's okay. Niharika already called." She hugged Mahi, still in pain.
"It was yesterday. Great birthday present, broken ribs." Mahi glared again at Sagar.
"He didn't know. So what now? I'm older than you! Muhahahaha…" Vidya laughed evilly, waking Sagar and Shabd.
"Oh my god, Vidya are you okay? I am so sorry. This is entirely my fault." He used his right hand to push himself off the couch, not realizing the pain his hand was in.
"Sagar be careful…" Vidya tried to pull herself to sit up, she twisted her abdomen slightly. "Shit." Both Sagar and Vidya muttered, in pain at once. Shabd and Mahi exchanged glances before shrugging the coincidence off.
"So what are you giving my sister besides broken ribs?" Shabd asked half angry.
"Giving…why?"
"It was her birthday and you beat the **** outa her. And she being the forgiving little thing she is, convinced me not to break every mobile bone in your body." Shabd smiled, still wanting to kill Sagar. He was his friend but that didn't give anyone the right to touch his new-found sister. He missed having someone to protect since Alisha left, and though, she had protected him most of his life, he finally got the chance to take care of someone else.
"I had no idea. Vidya I'm so sorry. I had no idea…I'm such an idiot. I…"
"Sagar, I said it's okay. Just drop it. Just don't tell Maa and Papa. They're in France thank God."
"Yeah. Thank God." Mahi muttered sarcastically.
"So, as soon as you get discharged we can throw you a party." Shabd said in a chirpier tone.
"Yeah. But I'll get you a gift soon. A good gift. A non-painful gift." He smiled sheepishly."In fact, you eat. I've got to go." He kissed her on the peak of her head and left.
"He's not that bad guys." Vidya convinced Shabd and Mahi. "Give him a chance."
"Whatever, no one said I have to like your friends." Mahi rolled her eyes. "Anyways, who am I to interfere in your matters." She said coldly.
"Mahi, you can't possibly expect me to choose between you. At least give him one chance."
"Why are you so forgiving? Have you seen yourself, look at what he's done to you!" Shabd exclaimed.
"Bhai, you've known him longer than Mahi and me. He doesn't mean harm." She defended.
"Viddi. He doesn't mean harm. But tell me what did you do to him? You slapped him…because he was wrong. He cannot handle being corrected. I have faith in you, but you can't reform everyone." Shabd tried to explain calmly.
"I love you and Mahi as much as I…" Mahi looked at her, hands on hips, Vidya continued, "as much as I care about him." She sighed.
"Vidya. This is a dangerous game you're playing." Mahi rolled her eyes again.
"I'm not playing games!" Vidya defended.
"Yes, you are. But he's just as good a player as you. Be careful. Don't end up losing yourself." Mahi riddled.
"Okay. I'm supposed to sound like the fortune cookie. He's just my friend…" Vidya said, recomposing herself. "He's just my friend." She repeated, "And I can't stand you people judging him…" She sighed.
"Vidya, I trust your judgment." Shabd said, after patting her head he left.
"And I trust you to use good sense." Mahi said finally.
Vidya couldn't sleep. Her painkillers were obviously non-drowsy. Time zone changes were great. She would call someone. She opened her mouth to congratulate herself on the idea but her words were heavily slurred. She'd tried to call someone anyways.
"Hello?" Niharika picked up on the other line.
"Hey Nihu." She managed to get out groggily, "How's the search for Ishaan going?"
"VIDYA! Oh my god, I haven't got a chance to call you in ever. Why do you sound so…drunk? What's up?" Niharika answered concerned.
"Oh, nothing. It's just the drugs."
"Vidya…?"
"The hospital gave em to me." She laughed.
"Hospital…what happened?" Niharika asked, confused.
"Nothing. Me and Sagar got into a fight. It got a little physical. No big deal, I'm fine…"
"HE HIT YOU?!?!?" Nihu screamed over the phone, Vidya took the phone away from her ear as she yelled at her senselessly.
"I started it. It's no big deal. I forgave him."
"IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!!" Niharika defended.
"He didn't know. By the way, Happy Birthday to you too. Little Miss Seventeen."
"You too darling. I'm still older! I found out where bhai is. I just have to go and drag him back now."
"Wow. Where is he?"
"With his 22 yr old girlfriend and her 18 month old child." She sighed disdainfully.
"Whoa. That's definitely not legal." Vidya mused. "It's not his kid though, right?"
"Of course not. That would be gross. She's a shrink. Yay, right?"
"Totally." Vidya laughed, "Hey you hear about Mahi and Shabd?"
"No. Shabd? The stalker? What did he do?" Niharika asked curiously.
"HE didn't do anything. Well sort of. Him and Mahi go out now."
"Since when?" She screeched.
"Since Mahi and Shabd's little drunk one night stand."
"WHAT?! Nobody tells me anything any more!" Niharika whined, shocked.
"Bhai told me. Mahi's too embarrassed. Especially, since you-know-who is getting ready to be engaged to her."
"Who? And who'd you call Bhai?"
"Shabd. He's like the brother I never had. It's nice not being an only child."
"Yeah, right. So who's Mahi's to be fianc?"
"Angad flippin Khanna."
"You've got to be kidding."
"No!"
"Get out!" Niharika screamed shrilly.
"I can't move!" Vidya screamed, musing.
"Whatever. If she don't want him. I'm always there, available." Niharika laughed.
"No way, MINE! You've got Vedant."
"And you've got Sagar." Niharika defended.
"No way, dude. You know it's not like that." Vidya shuffled her feet gauchely in the bed.
"How is it then?" Niharika reflected, sarcastically.
"Nihu. You know."
"I do know. That's why I said it." Niharika replied cleverly.
"Nihu. I seriously don't like him like that. Sometimes, things get weird. But it's all normal. I swear."
"Awww, so you get Angad?" Nihu faked disappointment.
"Yup." Vidya grinned widely at the thought. "But tell me about this Vedant character?"
"He's nice. He keeps on kissing me. We have a lot in common. He's so cute. You know, how long we talk it's amazing…I didn't know I could talk that much. Because you know I don't talk a lot but seriously with him, I could go on and on…." Niharika rambled.
"And on and on…..? But of course, you don't talk a lot." Vidya laughed.
"Hmmph." Niharika huffed on the phone. "Don't make me hang up on you."
"I'll hang up first."
"NO!" Nihu pleaded. "Tell me about your FRIEND, Sagar." She sarcastically stressed the word friend.
"Well…" Vidya started rolling her eyes, "He's got a pretty bad temper, and he's totally stubborn and childish."
"Like you?"
"Yeah, I guess. And he can be cute at times, but he's mostly just annoying." Vidya laughed.
"And his favorite pastime is beating you up?"
"No. He's a very physical person. He's very instinctive."
"Like you?"
"Sorta. Impulsive. Great swimmer. Like me." Vidya continued before Niharika could say it.
"Continue darling."
"What are you doing?" Vidya asked, sensing a psychological analysis. She did, after all, bring them into popularity.
"I haven't heard a bad thing about him from you. Can I ask you something?"
"Go head."
"How badly are you hurt?"
"Well, I feel fine. I was bleeding for a while. I thought it was my period. But they said I was internally bleeding. I got a set of broken ribs." She stated calmly as if she felt no pain at all.
"You bruised any?"
"All over my arms and legs…" She sighed, loathing the ugly marks on her fair skin.
"He did that?"
"He didn't mean to….I mean he did but he wasn't thinking."
"And he kissed you?"
"Angrily yes." She sighed.
"A man that could bruise you up like that, don't you think he's capable of doing other things?"
"He's not like that. You all are judging him on a moment of bad judgment."
"People commit murders in a moment of bad judgment. Vidya, if he can kiss you trying to get revenge, don't you think it's possible he…" Niharika tried to explain gently.
"He would never Niharika, he wouldn't even think of it." She replied defensively.
"Be careful Vee. I'm worried about you."
"I will Nihu. Trust me. I can take care of myself. Heard from Hani lately?"
"Yup." Vidya could almost hear Niharika smile through the phone. "She found herself a man." She said in a sing-song tone.
"Nu uh."
"Yu huh. His name is Ranvir. An artist. How romantic is that? But there's a catch." Nihu spread disappointment among the duo.
"What?"
"They're only pretend. It's like an agreement. But Hani likes him."
"Uh oh. She falls hard."
"As do you." Niharika's voice dripped with an evil smirk.
"Nihu, drop it. What else do you know?"
"The shoes got lost in baggage claim." Niharika stated sadly.
Vidya gasped a little. They had completely forgotten about the shoes. They were supposed to keep them together? But they were together already. Maybe what they had to learn was to be with each other even without their physical presence. They each had a part of the other within them. They had tried to pinpoint that element with the shoes, but they were in touch with it naturally. Vidya was most excited with the formation of the Sisterhood, but she felt no sadness for the breaking of it. It wasn't broken. They would always remain sisters, shoes or no shoes.
"Tell her its okay. We don't need any dumb shoes to keep us together anyways." Vidya chirped happily.
"O…kay?" Niharika said. "Anyways, I got to go. Vedant can't find his jacket. Cuz I'm wearing it." She laughed, "I better go give it back before he has a cow."
"Bye." Vidya said, clicking the phone shut.
"Who's Angad?" Sagar sat on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest, childishly.
"Someone…" She sighed in a dreamy trance.
"Oh." Sagar said. "Vidya, you know I'm really sorry?"
"You've only told me a billion times. I said it's okay dude." She sighed. It was really getting annoying to see how sorry he was.
"I know. But it was your birthday. I didn't know." He looked down, in shame.
"It's okay." She said tired. Sagar propped flowers he had brought in the vase next to her. He had charged her iPod and brought her a book. He handed it to her. It was fairly thick.
"HARRY POTTER!!!! The last one! Where'd you get this from? It comes out two days from now!" Vidya screamed.
"I got contacts." He shrugged.
"Well, it's a great birthday present! I love it!" She opened the first page and Sagar punched it shut.
"Read it after I leave." He said, with a shrunken voice. "And that's not your birthday present." Vidya frowned. "It's one of them." She smiled again, "There's more than one?"
He nodded. He handed her a jewelry box. It read: To a True Friend. She smiled, opening it she found a silver bracelet with tiny diamonds and rubies crusted along the string. It glimmered by the little moonlight that shone through the blinded window.
"Oh my god, it's gorgeous." Vidya said amazed. Though rich, Vidya was never much the type for expensive jewelry. She struggled with trying to put it on herself but Sagar laughed as he took it from her. He slid it onto her wrist lightly and clicked the clasp shut. Vidya stared at it in amazement when Sagar whispered, "There's more." Upon further inspection of the box she found a matching necklace.
"Sagar, you really didn't have to…" She started as he pulled out another box. A large box, the type clothes go in. "No, Sagar I can't take all this. I've only known you for what a couple weeks now. I can't expect you to spend all this money on me…." She argued.
He looked a bit indignant and said, "You're my friend, Vidya. A true one might I add. The way I've been treating you. You deserve this." He handed her the box. She opened it to find a fire ruby red halter dress. It matched the rubies on the diamond set.
Her eyes gleamed and he was excited when he said, "Look at the bottom of the box."
She lifted the dress completely out and saw tickets.
"Busch Gardens?"
"Yeah. My dad bought me a jet a year back and these weird passes for Busch Gardens that I can use for the whole year and I pretty much booked the entire park. Bring whoever you'd like. I mean I'm not going alone. I thought it would be a cool birthday present for you…." He stumbled upon his words.
"You're spending your tickets on me? No way. It's totally not called for. Sagar…"
"Vidya. Please." He pouted. She smiled and nodded. He grinned widely. "That's so cool. We can bring Mahi and Shabd and even Niharika is in Virginia."
"Uh…what?" Sagar said confused.
"Yeah. It'll be fun. I'm a pig out on those giant coffee ice cream cones. Man, Nihu loves those. Mahi will probably be the first one on the Griffon." Vidya twisted in excitement, and resumed to wince in pain.
"Vidya, be careful. Stop moving around. And who are we taking? I thought we were…" Going alone.
"No way. No fun. What are we going to do alone?" She chirped before thinking. She shuddered a bit. Sagar stared dead in her eyes, unafraid. She looked down quickly.
"Being in an amusement park alone with only two people is so totally romantic," she marveled. "But if that was what you were hinting at, I don't think so." She said sassily. Return of the Vidya. Sagar smiled disappointed and excited at once.
"That is NOT what I was hinting at Little Miss Perfect," He said cockily. "I just don't wanna get jumped by Mahi and Shabd."
"Mahi would never jump you alone and I've specifically given Bhai directions to watch her anyways." She replied playfully.
"Bhai?"
"Shabd Bhaiya."
"Lord, you've all leagued up." He sighed. She rolled her eyes and tried to get up again. Smiling too hard, Sagar knew Vidya was in pain as she walked to the bathroom.
"What are you doing?!" Sagar yells, guiding her back to the bed.
"I need to take a bath." She glared coldly.
"Oh. Well…" His voice trailed off, "wait for a nurse." She smiled. Vidya didn't need a bath. She had been taken aback by Niharika, she felt the need to test Sagar. So far so good.
"Won't you come?" She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. He chuckled and said, "Not tonight babe." Vidya smiled and winked, "Maybe when I'm better."
Okay, now I'm confused. Sagar said to himself. Does she WANT me to be interested or not? Gosh, this girl. "Sagar!" yelled Vidya annoyed.
"Huh?" Sagar asked.
"iPod. I asked for my iPod." She repeated. He handed it to her, turning it on. "What do you have on here anyways?" He inquired, thumbing the arrows making an irresponsibly annoying clicking noise.
"Who's Ernest Mall?"
"A preacher. It's a song sermon." She said obviously, rolling her eyes.
"I'm Hindu man, how am I supposed to know? Who's Linkin Park?"
"Are you kidding me?" She snatched the iPod from his hand. "One of the best bands ever. They're Christian too, sort of. You wouldn't know."
"Right." He said sarcastically. "Let me hear."
"NO! Vidya ke iPod Vidya ke alaawa koi nahin sunta. Got it?" She snatched the iPod away from him. As she turned to get a glass of water, he snatched it away.
"I don't understand injured people." He grinned, flipping through her Songs list. He found an array of hip-hop, r &b and some pop rock. Then he came across an entire list of music he had never heard of. Plum, Seventh Day Slumber….
"What is this stuff?"
"Christian…" She sighed. "Oh." He said. "I'll have to hear sometime."
"You'll have to look it up on your own time. No one listens to my iPod, except me." She replied coldly to his flirt attempts.
"So conceited, so selfish…" He mumbled.
"Whatever." She stuck her hand out. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number.
"Hello?" The voice asked.
"Hey."
"So, how are you now?" The voice asked concerned.
"I'm fine. But guess what Sagar got me for my birthday…." Vidya started excitedly.
"Broken ribs, internal bleeding, and bruises?" The voice asked with sass.
"No dude, besides that. A ruby red dress, diamond/ruby set, the last Harry Potter book and booked the entire park, Busch Gardens."
"Your gonna be alone with this man all day at an empty amusement park? You cannot expect me to give you permission for that? Are you dumb or something?"
"No Bhai. I wanted to invite you and Mahi to come with me. We'll sneak up on Niharika. It'll be fun. Just don't kill Sagar."
"I'll try not to beat him up but I can't promise anything about Mahi."
"Well hopefully she won't jump him alone." Vidya laughed. "Where is she anyways?"
"At home." He replied plainly. She managed to let out a small 'Oh.'
"With Angad." He completed despite Vidya's avoiding.
"Bhai, you know Mahi. She wants to be with you, she's only there because she has to be. You get it, right?" She consoled.
"I'm fine. I trust Mahi. She won't go and fall in love with Angad or anything. Even if he is a rock star and looks better than me…." The last part came out as a question rather than a statement.
"Bhai. You're very handsome. And in case you didn't know, he's on hold for me anyways." She smiled so hard even Shabd could hear from the other end.
"So you've been eying him lately?" Shabd asked.
"Correction. I've been eying him for quite some time.
"Okay phir bhai. Love you. I have to go."
"Love you too, take care. Bye."
Walking towards her was an angry Sagar.
"You actually like that Angad dude?" His lip curled in disgust.
"What's there not to like? He's perfect." She said dreamily.
"He's so...." Sagar looked for words in envy.
"Talented? Hot? Amazing...." She sighed.
"Overrated." He completed, leaving Vidya in her hopsital bed in a trance, thinking of Angad.
Sagar sat on the couch and watched Vidya smile sweetly in her sleep and he smiled until he heard her mutter, "Angad" between her mindless ramblings. He huffed and sat there, pouting. He also heard the words: rainbow, Willie Wonka, tetanus, and rhinoceros. Hmm, random.
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Comments (6)
HOW MANY PARTS U GUYS WANT 2DAY? 1 or 2 or 2.5 (NOT DONE YET ) comment if u care!!! GA ❤️
17 years ago
yes, u are first! Ur a great reader! So loyal, I must say. Thank u very much, I waz hoping ud lyke them. Yes, I wanted Kripa gone b/c Kripa/mahi are both neha bamb and we cudnt have an interesting little triangle is there were 2 neha bambs. Lol. I have Angad booked for sum1 (ME lol jk) but if they don't work out and me and Angad have issues, ill send him 2 u! Yes, I kno. Vidya's very kind and forgiving. The gifts were ideas frum my sister. Yes nihu+vedant= GA ❤️
17 years ago
uve given me comments already? i do not recall. lol. tell me wat u lyked again???? lol jk. thanx 4 hittin me up tho, madiha! GA
17 years ago
LOVED IT!! HAHAHAHA Sagar is so damn jealous!! && Willie Wonka and all taht other crap, boy does she have weird dreams I loveddddddddddddddd itttttttt kiraannnn!! i already read the parts before or i would have given you a huge exxtended comment!! but i alreaady gave that on msn cont soon!! ❤️ Your Blond Twin- Madiha
17 years ago
oh thanx for reminding me, bugs bunny (sry idk ur name) but ur lyke one of da only ppl dat comments nemore. ill be waitin for ur comment! please and thank you , GA
17 years ago
wohoo! im first! those were some awesome parts! i was luaghing so much when i read that kripa ran with prithivi So mahi and Shabd?? theyre going to be togethr... which means angad's available..i'd marry him anyday.. so when it doesnt work out with mahi. he can gimme a ring!!! Vidya still put up with sagar? i cant believe he hurt her!! but all the gifts were so cute! a whole day at a theme park?? thats so cool!! usually the queues are soooooooooo long! Niharika found her brother *phew* now just to convince him!! and she's going out with vedant! awww And suhani!! hahah!! maya and maa sound evil! i cant believe the shoes are lost!!.. but they'll find their way back to the girls! i love the teasing between all the charcters! so cute&funny! am loving it hun, continue soon! bugs_bunny39293.6603587963
17 years ago