Chapter 50

chapter 43

                   

                    Swayam saw red. Normally very calm and very much in control of everything life threw his way, he was surprised to find that wringing that raccoon's neck didn't seem such a repugnant idea. From the instant he found out Parth was the transfer student, he knew he would leave no stone unturned to make her life miserable. He would trail after her, provoke her, push her buttons and compel her to revisit the past she had so painstakingly left behind. It was a monstrous blunder on his part to even believe for  a second that this slimeball would heed Rey's threats and back off. But some other level of his brain was angrier on the fact that he had fallen into the trap of trusting this poor excuse for a man to actually keep his end of the bargain.

          As he stood there watching, he spared a cursory glance at Neeti to ascertain if she was unharmed. She seemed to be a little winded but to his relief, wasn't flustered or weeping. Parth seemed to be clutching his side, a fact he found odd. But the moment their eyes connected, Parth stood up straighter and a smile graced his face. That served to infuriate him further when he had just managed to contain his rage and his urge to fling him against the nearest wall. He charged up the stairs, fully intending to translate his thoughts into action when he was intercepted by his sister.

          Niyati knew that it would be fruitless to make her hot-headed brother see any sense while Parth stood there egging him on. And she also knew that seeing  both of them together, her brother was likely to believe that Parth was following her around. "Bhai", she pleaded. "Please jaisa aap soch rahe hain waisa kuch nahin hai. Chaliye yahan se. Dekhiye, main bilkul thik hoon."

          "Neeti, tu ja yahan se", Swayam replied tonelessly without even looking at his sister. He didn't want his resolve to weaken and he knew his sister was trying to do just that. He just wanted to reinforce his threats, just in case Parth believe he was just bluffing. When he first laid eyes on him, granted Swayam wanted to beat him to pulp, but as he studied his gloating face, he realized he couldn't lose the leverage he had. Parth had been judiciously staying under the radar and any fighting with him would buy him sympathy from the students as well as the Board. And Swayam didn't want that at all.

          "Neeti, I promise you, main kuch nahin karoonga. Mujhe bas isse baat karni hai. Tu tension mat le", he said still not looking at her. "Par Bhai", she tried again. This time Swayam looked at dead in the eye and said with a bit of edge in his voice, "Agar tu nahin gayi, toh ye pakka pitega. Choice teri hai". Neeti looked shocked for a second, but knowing her brother, she scurried away reluctantly.

          Once Neeti was out of earshot, he stepped up the stairs till he was at level with his ex-best friend. He continued looking squarely at him in the eye till the silence and the tension grew too much for Parth to bear. He placed his hands on his friend's shoulders and said cheerfully, "Swayam mere yaar! Aren't you happy to see me at all? 2 saal hogaye hain yaar ek doosre ki sadi shaqal dekhe. Tujhe khushi nahin huyi?" When Swayam remained silent,  Parth huffed dramatically rolling his eyes. "Lemme guess? Maine uska dil toda toh tu meri haddiyan todega. Tabhi tujhe khushi milegi right?"

 

          Swayam remained stoic throughout his tirade and ever so slowly removed the hands holding his shoulders. "Teri haddi-phasli ek toh main karoonga hi. Iska koi doubt hi nahin hai." Now Swayam placed his hands over Parth's shoulders. "Par pata hai mujhe khushi kab milegi?" Parth looked quizzically back. Swayam leaned closer and whispered menacingly, "Jab tera dance ka sapna tootega." Parth backed away looking at his childhood friend in disbelief and alarm. Swayam continued feigning surprise, "Kya? Tujhe laga main aur Rey mazaak kar rahe the? Tune jo Neeti ke saath kiya hai uske comparison mein toh ye kuch bhi nahin hai. Aaj uski jo haalat hai, uske liye sirf tu responsible hai. Isliye tujhe last time warn kar raha hoon. Agar Neeti ke aas paas bhi dikha na tu, teri bina Nirma ke aisi dhulai karoonga na, tu bina Ujala ke safed hojayega. Samjha?"  

          Parth's eyes kept following his friend as he walked away. He could barely recognise him anymore. The Swayam he knew was the most non-violent person in the freaking universe! And what was it with everybody threatening him to keep away from Niyati?! What in the name of heaven had actually happened to her! His face looked troubled for a few moments which was immediately followed by a smirk. Well, now he just had to find out. He would just need a very devious-yet-appearing-innocent-cover-up for his motif. From the very beginning he was always drawn towards things he couldn't get. And now he had a new number one on his list.

 

                                                                                                              **************

                    The boys minus Rey, Bharat and Swayam were getting bored out of their minds. Sitting in the canteen with nothing to do and half of their numbers doing God knows what, they were starting to feel redundant. St. Louis was never this boring! There was always some drama or challenge going on to keep them on their toes. The calm was driving them mad.

          "What the hell guys!" Vicky cried in exasperation. "Maine kabhi sapne mein bhi nahin socha tha ke college itna boring ho sakta hai!"

          "Haan dude", Nil acquiesed. "Aaj kal toh college aane ka man hi nahin karta. No excitement aur drama toh bhool hi jao."

          "Haan yaal", Amar joined in. "Aat tal toh ABP bhi tup taap baithi hai. Koi hungama hi nahin kalti."

          "What?" Both Nil and Vicky asked having failed to understand even a word Amar said.

          "Alle! ABP! Bhool taye tum? Dance te liye kitna paletaan tiya tha. Loz toi naya lule,toi na toi tallenge. Tya din the yaal!" ( Roz koi naya rule, koi na koi challenge. Kya din the yaar)

          "Dude! Ye Bharat kahan hai? Uske bina samajh hi nahin aata ye kya bol raha hai", Vicky said in frustration.

          "Actually dude, you are right. Subah se maine bhi use nahin dekha. Tune dekha kya Amar?" Amar shook his head.

          "That's strange. Aaj kal Bharat hamare saath rehne bhi kam laga hai", Vicky said thoughtfully. "Pehle mujhe laga humse chup kar Vishakha se milne jaa raha hai. But it seems woh bhi Bharat se bohot time se mili nahin hai."

          "Tahin toot toh nahin bol lahi woh?" Amar piped in.

          "What?" Both asked in unison. The next instant Nil seemed to have understood what Amar was trying to say and replied. "No dude! Woh kuch hide kyun karegi? Aur kar bhi rahi hai, tab bhi question remains the same. Bharat kar kya raha hai?"

          Just then, Amar noticed Bharat sneaking out of college. "Eh woh dekh! Bhalat hi hai na?"

          "Kidhar?" Vicky started looking wildly around.

          "Abbe udhal nahin idhal! Dekh, Bhalat hi jaa laha hai na?" Though they couldn't see his face there was no mistaking the cap.

          "Arre haan dude! chal chal pakadte hain usko. Aaj toh uska secret pata karke hi rahenge."

          All the three scrambled outside just in time to see Bharat talking to girl driving a car and the to their surprise clambering into the passenger seat. They stood there open- mouthed till the car got lost in the labyrinth of traffic.

          "Ab ye kya naya locha hai guys?" Nil asked nobody in particular.

          "Kahin ye Vishakha ko cheat toh nahin kar raha?" Vicky asked aloud in fear.

          His question conjured up images prominently featuring Bharat getting beaten to an inch of his life by Vishakha.

          All of them shook their heads and Amar declared, "Humein uthe lokna hoga. Nahin toh uthka band nahin, poola oltestla bajega." ( Humein use rokna hoga. Nahin toh uska band nahin, poora orchestra bajega )

          "For once mujhe teri baat samajh aayi dost!" Vicky proudly said putting an arm around his shoulders. "Aaj se pagalpanti bandh aur detective-panti shuru."

          [NOCOPY]

          [MEMBERSONLY]

anu142016-09-09 22:47:20