Disclaimer – The characters you recognize belong to 4 Lions Productions but the ones you don’t are mine. The concept, story and dialogues belong to me. Please don’t copy this story in part/whole with anyone/anywhere or share it without my permission.
Khushi walked into
the classroom with a radiant smile on her face. The school dance was scheduled
at 8 in the evening and she expected a certain
someone to ask her to the gig. After all, she and Arnav were a part of the
school dance team and had remained partners whenever they performed on stage.
Add to that the fact that they were best friends, Khushi was pretty sure Arnav
would ask her to the dance. She just wished he’d asked her earlier…all this
delay was beginning to worry her about her instincts. Her eyes combed through
the class, where her classmates stood scattered. She frowned, not being able to
locate him.
‘Typical Arnav,’ she thought. ‘When is he not late? I just wish he’d come
earlier today…’
Taking a deep breath
and shaking her head for expecting Arnav to be early once in a while, she made
her way towards her desk and sitting down, she scrunched her eyebrows and
scanned the room yet again. Hey eyes fell on La, one of her best friends , who
seemed to be deep in conversation with her on/off boyfriend – Aman. She smiled,
remembering the countless fights and the chocolates and making up that
followed. As she resumed her search for Arnav, her eyes met NK’s, who was
another special friend. NK raised his eyebrows at her, silently asking her what
was wrong. She shook her head at him, telling him to not worry, which was true,
for she had noticed Arnav walking into the class and making a beeline straight
for her, which brought back a smile on her face.
Arnav walked towards her,
kept his bag down on his desk, leaned towards her and said “I’m thinking of asking Seema out to the dance tonight. What do you
think?”
‘What? This cannot be happening! I was supposed to be the dream
girl…not Seema!’ Khushi’s inner turmoil did not show on her face, as she
managed to keep an impassive expression on her face and reply “Really Arnav? Then why did you take so
long to ask her?”
“Oh…that’s because I was contemplating between Seema and Arathi and
Swati..and a couple of other girls I’d noticed. And then I figured…hey! What’s
a best friend for? So tell me na! What do you think?”
“Decide yourself.” was the steely
reply.
“Okay…..so who are you going with
then?” Arnav asked her curiously.
“Nobod – I mean…..I’m going with
Aman.” Khushi said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Arnav tilted his face
to study Khushi’s expressions ,“Really?
I was under the impression he’d rather go out with his girlfriend Lavanya.”
Knowing she’d been
caught, Khushi quickly backtracked.
“Yeah…I mean, that’s why I refused to go with him and I’m instead going with
NK.”
Arnav raised his
eyebrows and turned and shouted, ”Oye
NK! Are you going with Khushi to the dance today?” in a voice that clearly
told NK to decline what Arnav had pronounced. NK shook his head signifying a
no, and Arnav turned back triumphantly to look at Khushi. “Well? Any other guy you’re apparently attending the dance with?”
“Why should I tell you? Since you’re an expert at knowing what my mind
is thinking…you can decide yourself,” was the curt reply Arnav received
before Khushi turned away from him and sat down at her desk, ignoring him
studiously.
The teacher entered
the class, effectively making Khushi tear her eyes away from the rest of the
class, and sighing, she turned to her books in an attempt to concentrate on
what the teacher seemed to be saying.
The slight scraping
of the desk next to hers announced the arrival of Arnav, but Khushi refused to
look at him. She continued taking notes, when a paper ball with a bright smiley
drawn on it landed on her book. She didn’t have to guess to know who was behind
the act. But she continued to ignore the paper ball. It wasn’t longer when a
whole bunch of paper ball smileys landed on her desk, just as the bell rang,
signifying the end of the class.
“Stop
wasting paper Arnav,” she hissed, annoyed at his behavior.
“Then start talking to me!” was the prompt reply.
“I’ll talk to you when oysters run over the earth!!” was the smooth
reply Arnav received before Khushi got up and stomped her way out of class.
Arnav stared at her
retreating figure, and then jumped into action. He had to know why Khushi
suddenly seemed out of sorts. Had someone misbehaved with her? He had to know.
He approached Aman and questioned him “You
know what’s wrong with Khushi today, Aman? She seemed a bit off color to me.”
Aman was jolted out
of his day dreaming by Arnav’s loud question and with a start, he turned around
to face Arnav and replied ,”Khushi? And
out of sorts? That’s isn’t even possible Arnav! Maybe she’s angry with you or
something…for she seemed her usual self today!”
Now that was unusual.
Khushi always spoke out to Arnav when they had differences, which made Arnav
wonder what had changed between them for Khushi to keep this to herself. So
absorbed was he in his thoughts, that he failed to notice NK coming towards
him. “Well Arnav! Did you ask Khushi out
yet? Or you chickened out at the opportune moment?”
Arnav turned towards
NK with a stern look. “I tried broaching
the topic in an innovative way, but I think
I hurt her feelings somehow.”
“Oh brilliant Arnav! Way to go! First, you delay the whole damn thing
for so long, and then you end up screwing things.”
“Shut up man! Why don’t you tell me how to fix it instead of letting me
know how I screwed it up?”
“I don’t know man’” NK said, shrugging. “Your mess, you clean it up. A word of advice…be unique this time, and
don’t think up senseless innovations instead.” NK walked away, leaving Arnav to his thoughts.
***
Khushi lay crying on
her bed. It was 9 in the evening now and she had dreamt up all sorts of
horrifying scenarios involving Arnav and Seema’s happily ever after. She wiped
her eyes on the pillow cover and sniffling, turned to pour herself a glass of
water when her phone rang. She cast a disinterested look at it, which quickly turned
to anger seeing the caller ID and she disconnected the call and lay down on her
bed again.
Calls after calls
continued, which were ignored continuously. Eventually, the calls stopped and
Khushi’s tears flowed afresh. Suddenly, her phone beeped, signaling the arrival
of a message. Intrigued, Khushi looked at her phone.
‘Come
to your balcony RIGHT NOW WOMAN!! Its quite chilly outside, and I’ve been here
for the past hour!! -_- ’
As she read the
message, faint strums of music caught her attention. It seemed to be coming
from outside. Forgetting everything else out of sheer shock, Khushi jumped up
and ran towards her balcony. As she peeped tentatively outside, she caught a
glimpse of Arnav standing in her lawn, with a guitar in his hand. He cast an
apologetic smile at her, and started singing softly -
Ankhen band kar loon jo main
Dekhoon bas tumhe,
Khwabo mein hi keh sakta hoon
Apna tumhe,
Rehne de
Mera yeh waham pe hi yakeen
Na jaa abhi…
Arnav felt a pang of
guilt as he saw Khushi tentatively walk into the balcony. She had been crying,
all right. Her eyes were red and her face looked puffed up, and yet, to Arnav,
she looked like the prettiest thing in the world, dressed in sweatshirts and pants.
So much for an innovative way to ask her out. But he wasn’t going to let her
sadness last for long.
Pyaar ki yeh raat hai
Ab naa jaa,
Chhoti si ek baat hai
Ab naa jaa…
Khushi felt the ghost
of a smile making its way to her face as she heard Arnav play and out her
favorite song. She signaled Arnav to continue playing and rushed down the
stairs and out into the lawn, taking care not to make too much sound so as to
awake her parents.
As Khushi walked into
the lawn, Arnav walked towards her casually. Khushi made a face at him, to
which Arnav smirked, making Khushi turn her face away from him stubbornly.
Walking right up to her, Arnav tilted his head so that it was in front of
Khushi, and making a beseeching expression she always fell for, he continued to
sing.
Tumhi se hai meri neende
Na bhi ho to kya,
Tumhi se hai meri baatein
Na bhi ho to kya,
Kehne de, taaron ko kahaani ankahee
Na jaa abhi…
There it was. That
smile that Arnav loved. And he felt his spirits soaring as he watched her
approach him, with that radiant smile on her face, and Arnav knew he was
forgiven. Putting down his guitar, he held out his had for her, and grasping it
tightly, he pulled her towards him, and they swayed to the lyrics as Arnav sang
them.
Pyaar ki yeh raat hai
Ab naa jaa,
Chhoti si ek baat hai
Ab naa jaa…
Pal do pal ka saath hai
Ab naa jaa,
Jaadu si yeh raat hai
Ab naa jaa….
Ab naa jaa….. *
They danced under the
night sky, the chilly night not affecting them. Khushi looked up at Arnav and
asked him softly,”So you did not go to
the dance, huh?”
Arnav looked down at
her, and smirking, replied “How could I?
My happiness decided to imprison herself in this house. Besides, we just
danced! It’s the partner that makes the difference, not the setting itself.” he
tilted his head and asked her,” So? Am I
forgiven for my grievous mistakes, madam?”
Giggling, Khushi gave Arnav a hug and said “Well…I guess I forgive you.”
“How sweet!” came a voice behind them and Arnav and Khushi jumped
apart, startled. It was Khushi’s mother, Garima, watching them with a fond
smile on her face.
“Well Arnav, I must say, you do make an impressive singer,” Garima
spoke to Arnav in a teasing tone. ”Why
don’t you come in and sing the rest of the song for me?”
Arnav, ever ready to
show off his talents, readily agreed. However, Khushi was in a mischeivious
mood. Deciding to terrorize Arnav, she spoke out loud “ How about I wake up Dad? I’m sure he would love to hear Arnav sing too!”
A scandalized Arnav
stopped in his tracks and a fearful ‘No’
escaped his mouth. He looked reproachfully at Khushi and turning to Garima, he
said “Thanks for the offer aunty….but I
guess I’ll let you hear the rest of the song when Colonel Gupta isn’t at home.”
And with that, Arnav fled from the scene, leaving Khushi and Garima struggling
to control their laughter.
***
*Lyrics are from the song “Ab Na
Jaa” by Euphoria.
