Chapter 2

Chapter One

Railway Station, New Delhi

"Attention, please! We would like to inform you that the Rajadhani Express has arrived on platform no.1. We kindly ask all passengers to disembark the train in an orderly manner and to ensure that you have all your belongings with you...."

"Bhaijaan... Wake up... We have reached the station." 

People in the cabin were scurrying to get their luggage out, ensuring they had not left anything behind. The indolence left by the long journey is forgotten temporarily as the destination is reached.

"Azaan, hold this," said a voice from the upper berth. 

The man behind the baritone passed a backpack to the guy standing below and slowly descended the ladder. Carrying their respective luggage, the two men, in their early and mid-twenties, made a beeline to Platform No. 1.  

"Arnav, here," The two men turned to the source of the voice. 

"Aman!" The men shared a quick hug.

"Saw your message after reaching the station; that was indisputably one of the most boring four hours of my life," said an exhausted Aman.

"Tweet to the Railway minister! Let's see if he would send the compensation. Don't forget to attach your UPI ID and Aadhar," Arnav replied, a voice dripped with sarcasm and eyes dancing in mirth. Azaan's loud, boisterous laughter rang in the background as the three men approached the exit.

"Aman Bhai, leave me at the junction. It's Jumma today." "Are you coming, Bhaijaan?" asked Azaan, knowing too well what the response would be.

Arnav looked on with a smile and blinked his brown orbs. Azaan, inwardly sighing, gracefully exited the vehicle.

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Ladies Hostel 5, South Campus

3:45 AM

"I HATEEEEEEEE MATHS," a frustrated feminine voice yelped from the corner of the room. 

"Suit yourself. Who told you to get a Master's in a subject that you love to hate?" another female voice from under a pile of blankets questioned. 

Receiving no response, Anne removed the blanket from her face to scan the room. Her eyes landed on the exasperated roommate who sat in solemn contemplation, with her head down on the table.

The room was bathed in a soft, gentle glow, emanating solely from the table lamp, while the forsaken coffee mugs, left empty and forgotten on the table, cast colossal silhouettes upon the wall.

"Khushi, learn to respect the rules of nature and sleep like a human being at freaking three in the morning. If not for your well being, keep mine in mind and shut up so that I can sleep peacefully."

"I absolutely despise whoever came up with these mind numbing equations. Been sitting with them for the past nine hours! I need some divine intervention here."

" Khush, I feel you, Maths is horrible! Since we have established this, how about we both go to sleep and deal with life problems tomorrow?"

A calculator came flying and crash landed onto Anne's unsuspecting pile of blankets. 

"YOU FEEL ME....?! How do you, a literature student, feel my situation? Stop whining about Maths when the last calculation you did was the one your calculator did! You cannot hate on petty mathematics you did in school! Those were what dreams are made of!"

More incoherent grumbles and plaintive sighs filled the air as Khushi concentrated back on the equation at hand, while Anne nestled deeper into her cozy cocoon of blankets, choosing to catch up on her beauty sleep than indulge in a battle of words with her roommate who is high on three cups of caffeine!

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To be continued...

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Love,

Dorothea