Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Khushi zipped up the suitcase and took a deep a breath. This was it. This was the last of the suitcases. Looking around, she couldn't see anything that she had missed. All her clothes and other essentials were neatly packed into the 3 huge suitcases she would be taking with her. 

She has been packing for over a week now and even had a check-list titled "Things to pack" that she had been ticking off regularly. She liked to be prepared.

She was starting University tomorrow and while she was excited about it, she was also very nervous. Her campus was about 3 hours way from home which meant she would be living on campus. It would be a good thing for her, although it didn't feel like it tonight. She would get to live the whole college experience.

This would be the first time she would be staying away away from home. The thought of it alone was enough to make her stomach clench. The idea of being away from her her home, her family and everything known had been stressing her out over the last few months. 

By nature, she was someone who stressed easily and the only way she could cope with her stress was by being prepared. The more organised she was, the better she felt about any new change. Hence, the weeks of packing. She was only ticking off the last few items in her check-list at this stage.

Unlike someone else.

Her phone rang just as she got up to get herself a glass of water.

She smiled as she saw the caller's name.

Arnav.

"Hey Khush"

She could tell that he had just woken up from a nap.

"Hey yourself. Are you done packing?"

Arnav groaned.

"I haven't even started."

"What? Arnav, we are leaving tomorrow morning!"

"I know, I know. I was going to start this afternoon but then Ryan called me to play football."

Khushi rolled her eyes. Ofcourse, he couldn't say no to football. That boy lived and breathed that game.

"It's 11 in the night. What time did you get back from football?"

"I got back at 4 but I was too tired so I ate something and took a nap."

"Well, sleeping beauty, can you atleast start packing now? We leave at 7 in the morning."

"Yeah, I'm starting now," Arnav grumbled. "Can you come over to help?" he asked, hopefully.

"Now?"

"No, tomorrow morning." came the sarcastic reply. 

"Of course now, Khush. Aren't you listening to me? I haven't even started." he whined.

Khushi bit her lip. She knew her parents wouldn't be okay with her just waltzing over to Arnav's place at this time of the night, even though they were next door neighbours and had known each other since they were in kindergarten. She would have to sneak out. It was not something she was proud of and she felt guilty every time she thought of how disappointed her parents would be if they got to know of this. When it came to Arnav, though, it was hard for her to say no. He was the only one for whom she was willing to break the rules a little bit.

"Yeah, okay, I'll come, but you have to let me in. Last time you forgot and I was waiting outside for 5 whole minutes before you opened the door for me."

"Yess! Thank you! You're a saviour, you know that right?" Arnav said, happily. "And don't worry about the door. I'll be downstairs waiting for you. I can't believe you're still angry about that one time I made you wait for 2 minutes."

"It was 5."

"Let's agree to disagree, shall we? I was in the bathroom taking a piss so you can't blame me."

"Ew! I don't want to hear about your bathroom activities." Khushi scrunched her nose.

"You started the topic."

"I was reminding you of how you left me out in the cold."

"It was summer and bright outside! You're such a drama queen." Arnav scoffed.

"Do you want my help tonight or not?"

"Okay fine," Arnav huffed, "Sorry. There, will you come now?"

"Give me 5." Saying so, Khushi cut the call and quickly  freshened up. Tying her hair up in a messy bun, she tip-toed downstairs. Her parents were fast asleep in their room which across the hall from hers. Her dad was a pretty heavy sleeper so she was not too worried about him waking up; her mom, on the other hand was a slight sleeper and had once even woken up when she had been sneaking downstairs. She had made up a random excuse of being hungry and wanting a snack, which thankfully her mom had bought but Khushi still remembered how hard her heart had thudded the whole time she had look her mom in the eye and lie.

Thankfully, she was able to sneak out the door this time without any interruptions. She was surprised to see Arnav waiting outside her gate with his standard hoodie and a pair of shorts.

"What are you doing here?" Khushi whispered and as she opened the gate to go outside.

"Waiting for you."

"Your place is literally there." she pointed at the next house, "You didn't have to come to pick me up."

"I'm not letting you walk alone at night." Arnav said simply as they started walking toward his place.

She hid a smile; sometimes he could say the nicest things without even realising it. 

"Aw, see you can be sweet when you want to." she said as she bumped shoulders with him.

"Hey, I'm always sweet," Arnav mumbled quietly, as he opened the door of his house and led her in. He quietly locked the door before they trudged upstairs to his bedroom.

Once inside, Khushi surveyed his room or rather the mess it was in. All his clothes were strewn around and his suitcases were open on the floor. 

Arnav was moving to the same University as her which meant that he was also going to be staying on campus. It wasn't something they had discussed. It had almost been like an unsaid rule. After they finished high school and started University applications, Arnav had asked her which colleges she was applying to. When she told him, he had simply applied to same ones himself. 

She has been overjoyed. The idea of experiencing college with her childhood best friend by her side had been like a dream come true, but she had also felt a twinge of guilt. She knew he wanted to study Engineering and there were better colleges out there for him. She wanted him to have the best of everything. So, against her heart's wishes, she had  asked him once if he didn't want to look at other options but he had only looked at her like she was crazy.

"What will I do in a college if you're not there?"

She knew he wasn't trying to be sweet. He was just being honest. They had  pretty much grown up together, attending the same kindergarten, school and now, even college. In a way, they were each other's constants and she understood his need to cling on to that, specially when they were entering into a new phase in their life.

Despite her half-hearted protests, he had gone ahead and accepted his offer to the same University that she would be attending. They had opted for different streams though - she was going to be studying a degree in Arts whereas he had always wanted to pursue Engineering. 

Even then, it was comforting knowing that they would be on the same campus and a stone's throw away from each other just as they had been all their lives.

"I thought you said you started packing last week." Khushi raised her eyebrow at the mess on front of her.

"I meant to," he said, sheepishly.

Khushi picked up his T-shirt and wrinkled her nose as she held it out to him.

"Is it atleast washed?"

"Why don't you find out?" saying so he grabbed the shirt and flung it over her face.

"Hey!!" she squealed but relaxed when she got a whiff of laundry detergent.

Arnav laughed.

"Yes, it's washed. Now are you going to help me pack?" he asked, "I don't know where to start."

Khushi looked around the room and sighed. She pulled out her phone from her pocket, which had her "Things to pack" check-list saved.

It was going to be a long night.

barkha_902020-08-30 04:50:11