Chapter 52

Her cheeks turned a deep red, as she hurriedly fled from the place in fear that he might wake up any moment and find her there staring at him like a lunatic while he was sleeping. Panting, she took brisk steps towards the place where all the girls were standing, leaning over each other, of what she knew was Sir Frankin's tent.

Inside the boys tent, Arnav moved about in his sleep, trying to change position, but that erry sensation of being restricted by something reached his mind, and he opened his eyes slowly, still very groggy, them shooting out of his pupils when it travelled around his body. Smeared with shaving cream and and toilet paper all over him, he half felt like shrieking but his scream seemed constricted within his throat as he tried to get up, sitting on his bed, looking in utter surprise and disgust at his messy form. Vague memories of sounds, and words entered his head, but there was little he could make out of it, maybe, he thought to himself, he had heard a distant voice saying the word 'stupid' and he wasn't sure, but he had heard 'love' too, however right now, there was little he wanted to pay heed to those words, since there were bigger problems that he had become indulged in currently.

Arnav shut his eyes tight, slithering in anger, and tried to get up but found himself still restricted by the toilet paper that was so professionally wrapped around him. Tearing it apart, the shaving cream' smell all this while making him nauseatic, he wrinkled his nose once he had partly gotten rid of the mess, and tried to identify the smell of a perfume he was so aware of. Rubbing his eyes and trying hard to concentrate, his jaw slackened and became taut just a second later realizing who had been here. Danm her, he could almost hear himself saying.

Beneath him, he heard the groggy moans Vivek was letting out, and turned his head down to see him fighting a similar battle with the toilet papers and shaving cream, that he had been doing few seconds earlier. Seeing Arnav looking down Vivek looked up, just as puzzled as Arnav was, though mildly angry, as the two of them only seconds later were followed by drowsy headed Mayank and Karan. The four boys exchanged irritated looks with each other, most of them having a good idea who had done this.

"Gupta." Arnav said between gritted teeth, but before he could actually portray the full length of his reaction, Vivek had already blurted out the name of his suspect followed by Karan.

"Chun."

"Priyanka."

Now, all four of them were ideally looking at Mayank, who seemed too bewildered to answer, his frenzy looking eyes narrowing from Arnav, to Vivek to Karan, and then back at the mess he was draped in.

"Stop looking at me like that. I don't know mine. (The stares disintegrate) How do you know its them?" Mayank asked still very confused, most of him trying to recover from the shock, and the combined lethargic feeling that was gripping him, while diametrically opposed the other three boys were fairly alert.

"Perfume." Arnav, Vivek and Karan chanted together, passing weird looks at each other due to the awkward moment that had just passed, and suddenly the room went quiet, Arnav and Vivek on their feet, still smelling of shaving cream but in a lot more better condition then they had been led into. For once both of them were on the same party, their eyes darting to and fro in search of Khushi, and finally rested there, her clinging on to the shoulder of another girl, having a gala time, the two highly pissed off boys, making their way towards her stoutly.

Once they were there, Arnav grabbed one of her arms, while Vivek got hold of the other, both pulling her, highly embarrassed by the way the rest of the girls were giggling seeing them walk like an open shaving cream container.

"The Hell?" Both of them shouted together, but while she was grinning, and surprised at the same time, it took a merry more seconds for Arnav and Vivek to get out of the shock of being counterparts in everything since the time they had woken up. Sluggishly looking at each other, they shook their head, making Khushi literally collapse to the ground due to her laughter, Arnav and Vivek now looking more and more shrewdly at her. It was only a second later that she realized how big in a trouble had she landed herself into by being the ultimate leader. All over the place cream laden boys marched towards the girls bursting in anger, looking at them wheezily, but before Khushi had time to realize what was happening, the fingers were all pointed towards her, a tight lump forming in her throat.

Her breathe seemed to crush within the gloating stare of the boys, their feet growing closer to her, charging towards her, her hands still in the firm grip of Arnav and Vivek who were as disturbed by the entire troop marching towards her as she was. The other girls taking the back seat, looked at her giggling at their prank, it was a revenge on her instead of the boys, it had worked perfectly, just like they wanted, they had fooled Ms.Anita and her together. Khushi glued her eyes to the cluster of girls, her sight unforgiving, as those eyes lingered away from the girls to the boys who were still covering the distance between her and themselves.

"Chun, what the hell did you do?" Vivek whispered into her ears in surprise, and she craned her neck, the fright in her eyes very evident now, the anger and horror of her situation consecutively reflecting inside them.

"I swear, it wasn't my idea. I didn't even know about it, they called me said I was the leader, and told me to put the plan in action." Khushi ushered back speedily, her words mildly reaching Vivek's ear, but he didn't need to hear more, the little he had heard, he knew the plan had doubled back on Khushi.

"Arnav. Hold and Run." Vivek screamed, not at all taking Arnav by surprise who was about to do the same thing, and the two of them took off , dragging Khushi in between them, who was too flustered, frightened, maybe a combination of several emotions to object on anything they did. Trying to get her out of the hands of the furious boys that had now sped after the three of them, Arnav and Vivek skillfully darted in between the trees, heavily panting but not stopping, Khushi still hardly running, because there was little need for her to do so, the pull on her arms was enough to move her forward.

They stopped somewhere in the wide jungle, Vivek and Arnav both cautiously looking around them, Khushi too scared to even breathe, standing groggily on her two feet, as finding the coast clear, both heaved a great big sigh of relief , their eyes now searching Khushi's betrayed fallen face, asking her for a good explanation for what had just happened.

"Those Bitches. Those Bitches. (Getting uncomfortable with Vivek and Arnav's unflinching gaze) Don't look at me like that? Please. I didn't even do anything. For one it was not my idea, it was theirs, They said I should be the leader, I didn't want to, but Ms.Anita said it wouldn't be a problem (Vivek and Arnav's eyes bounce out) yeah she was in it! The Hell I know how the whole thing came on me? (looking down embarrassed) Okay, I did the whole toilet paper, shaving cream thing to the two of you, but I swear to Devi Maiyan I didn't even touch anybody else." Khushi said defensively, still out of breathe, opening her mouth to get oxygen so that she wouldn't feel sluggish and weak suddenly. The boys had no doubt that she was speaking the truth, and both closed their eyes, opening them and collapsing to the ground their backs resting against the bark of the tree, Khushi taking her place between them, still rattling with extreme fury.

"Calm down now. Just calm down okay? Let the two of us handle this from this point, and you don't dare speak a word to anyone else, you understand? Not a word." Arnav warned her, half threatening to shut her mouth in front of the other boys, and she nodded her head immediately happy to throw off the weight of the whole thing on Vivek and him, it was not like she did not know that she wasn't capable of handling this mess alone.

"Absolutely Chun, you don't act smart, and everything will get to normal. Boys can't be angry for too long, plus I don't even think half of them even thought you did all of it. What business would you have with them anyways." Vivek reasoned out into blank space, getting quiet himself, when Arnav and Khushi received his words with completed silence.

"Now do you have anything to clear this shit off? It's disgusting." Arnav spoke out rudely, still glaring pathetically at his shaving cream draped legs and arms, thankful enough that she had spared his face, or else he didn't know if he would think before killing her now.

"I guess that lake it's near by, you can wash yourselves there." Khushi told them, calculating her bearings from their current position to where she thought the lake would be. She got up to her feet, but was immediately pulled down, her bum hitting the ground with such force it pained all over. She darted a sheepish look at the two of them, both together staring at her nonsense in surprise.

"How come you haven't gotten the award for the most stupid person on Earth till now? (Khushi narrows her eyes angrily at him) A hell of an idiot you are. All the other guys would be there washing themselves too, and you want to jump in between all of them?" Arnav told her in a curt tone, shaking his head furiously at her stupidity, while Vivek sat poker faced, not at all impressed by Khushi's presence of mind.

"What? I wasn't going to take you people to the front of the spring. (looking at Vivek) remember that part we were in last night? (Arnav sneers) It's quite far from our camps, the back side of the spring, we'll go there, and then to the camps." She sat, startled at the fact that both of them thought she was that stupid, them still taking a quarter of a moment to consider her instincts but then got up, thinking it was their best shot for now. The threesome of them trotted towards the lake, Arnav and Vivek completely dependent on Khushi's bearings, no talk taking place in between them.

"You think Vishaka ditched you too? She played against you too?" Vivek asked her suddenly, and for a moment she stopped, annoying Arnav a bit since he was least concerned about the whole Vivek-Vishaka relationship but after a few seconds they restored to walking Khushi utterly silent.

"Chun? Answer me." Vivek insisted now, and she briefly turned her gaze from the thick cluster of trees towards him and then back at the trees in front, concentrating on finding her to the lake.

"I don't know. She was part of the plan, but I don't know if she ditched me." Khushi said tartly, not looking at Vivek who was lost in deep thought now, and felt silent once again, them finally finding something else to look at other than towering trees, and thorny bushes the blue lake inviting them towards it. Khushi smiled a bit, as did Arnav sighed in relief, but Vivek was too occupied in his thoughts to portray any reaction and quietly let Khushi lead the way, most assuredly, finding no one like she said, in sight.

Arnav and Vivek proceeded towards the lake splashing the cold water welcomingly on their skin, wiping off all the shaving cream thoroughly from their skin, though it was difficult to get rid of it but then finally managed, while Khushi sat behind on the sand watching the two of them clearing the mess she had made. She smiled to herself, observing the two of them, thinking about how life would have been different if they weren't in her life. Maybe she wouldn't be here in the first place, if she knew better, but right now she was glad that she here, because the two of them they were the best things that had happened to her. Vivek, her best friend, the person who gave her a reason to breathe every time she thought it was useless to live, and Arnav the person who knew she couldn't manage life without anymore. These two people from the beginning, the day she had come to Stanford, had been clearing up her messes, sorting her life out and making it a better place to live, and she envied them for being capable of doing that, only because she herself found her lacking behind in this quality.

"Gupta, do you have tissues, napkin a dry towel or anything to wipe the water off?" Arnav shouted from near the lake, and she nodded taking the four emergency napkins that she had started keeping with herself, since yesterday after the whole cutting her forelimb episode. She handed him the napkins, sitting besides him as he wiped himself dry, feeling extremely uncomfortable and yet lovely to have her gaze fixed on him. She watched intently, the whole drying session prompting him here and there where the water still tinkled down his skin. Khushi didn't know if it was just the effect of the water, or her love for him speaking but he did look hot.

"You are hot." She said dreamy eyed, his movements going stationary right at the moment, eyeing her in a weird way, as she realized what she had said, and kept her hand on her mouth, blurting a muffled sorry and fleeing away from his point going towards where Vivek was sitting observing the two of them, her entire face flushing with red color. Arnav looked as clumsily made her way towards Vivek shaking his head at her oddness, and silly behavior a small smile which he was unaware of, creeping up on his face.

"What did you say?" Vivek asked her out of mild curiosity, her looking up in his eyes still too embarrassed to utter what she had said.

"I said he looked hot." She said after sometime, her entire face burning with different shades of red that existed, much to her embarrassment Vivek started grinning at her stupidly, looking up ahead at Arnav who was still smiling, his lop sided smile. Vivek leaned closer towards her, his mouth hovering near her ear as the whisper of his words caused her to tilt her head slightly and look at Arnav smiling, that smile immediately vanishing replaced with his usual gruff look when she looked.

"See I told you he liked your compliment. Had it been another girl he would have scowled." Vivek told her mischievously and she batted her eyes at him, eyeing him curiously for a second afterwards.

"How do you know?"

"You are not the only girl who has told him that he's hot." He said grinning hard, and got up from the sandy shore, dusting off the sand from his back, and extending his hands towards him which she grasped hold off getting up on her feet. She was sure that she wasn't the jealous types, but no matter what she did feel disturbed hearing that someone else had given him the same compliment she did, not that she was not aware of that fact already. But things now were different, and well, she had to admit she was getting possessive now.

Vivek and Khushi walked towards Arnav, him standing up on his feet as well seeing them approach, the red color from her face now mild but still there as they made their way back to the tents.

"You still haven't answered my question of last night." Arnav reminded her, in between their walk, holding her arm towards himself so she was more closer to him than Vivek, who apparently did not seem to have noticed too pre occupied with his own thoughts. Khushi looked up startled at him, his eyes fixed on her, waiting for her to answer, but she tore her eyes away from him, remembering what she had done earlier.

Khushi, leaned forward towards him, her lips barely centimeters away from his cheek and with one last thought, she crept in closer and planted a soft, lasting kiss on his cheeks, drawing her lips away only when she thought she was fully contented with what she had done. Her mouth lingered centimeters apart from his ear, entire body curving in over him, her whispering something into his ear.

"It was you stupid. It was you. *pause* I love you."

"Why do you want to know?" she questioned back casually, trying her best to stop the blush from creeping into her cheeks again, more harder trying not to look at the changing expressions on her face, and concentrate on the path that they were taking.

"Why don't you want to tell?" he countered back, taking her off guard, as her sight caught sharply with his curious look and then quickly turned away the blush stopping mission now becoming impossible to continue.

"Well, it's my secret. I choose who to tell and who not to tell." She answered back flimsily, thoroughly sure that he was not even the finger nail bit convinced with her stupid reasoning but there was little she could do about it, she was not ready to tell him the truth anyway.

"You tell me your secret, and I'll save you from the boys. Deal?" Arnav asked her now pressing the matter more and more, that devilish smirk making his way on his face, knowing that he had trapped her for good now. She glared at him sheepishly, offended by his way of playing it.

"You are playing it dirty." She complained, looking on her side at Vivek who had paced up in front lost in his thoughts, not considerate enough to look back.

"Don't look at him, he's not coming to save your skin this time." Arnav told her in an evil way, that smirk not leaving his lips, enjoying himself thoroughly, seeing his doe-faced beauty tangled in the trap he had made.