And I'll try to fix you
Chapter-5
Riya locked the door and switched on the lights.
She had gotten the house cleaned from before.
And everything was the same as she had left. Yet something was missing. And she knew it was him…..It's always been him.
She dropped her bag on the side table, taking in the sight in front of her eyes. Those couches, where they had bickered about Football or some stupid stuff, that staircase reminded her of when he would carry her upstairs or sometimes, chased her down.
She could hear their talks and actually they flashed in front of her eyes, as if it was yesterday only! Riya clamped her hands on her ears to stop those noises that her mind was playing and slumped on the ground, clutching her head on her hands. And she let herself cry; allowing tears to flow down her cheeks and no one was there to wipe it away.
She was left alone…… like always.
She was the girl who had lost her loved once too soon and she loved…recklessly and endlessly even it consumed her.
Riya was merely 19, just a returnee from USA, when she had lost her parents. It was Riya's birthday and some nauseated terrorist had bombed the car her mom and dad were in.
And she had been left waiting in the venue for her parents, later to know that they had left her for good. Her whole world crashed down but then, he was there with her. Her only comfort, her only family, her only friend, her Dungu.
Arjun and Riya had been the best of friends from day one. There was a silent connection this two shared and it grew as the time passed by.
Arjun was the only person she could say that cared for her. But not anymore.
He was his only hope…. But not anymore.
She suddenly felt a pang of anger rising and harshly wiped her tears. No, she won't cry…she can't cry. She was stronger now, not the fragile Riya who depended on him. No, she wasn't that Riya anymore…and she could never let herself to be that vulnerable again.
She had moved on and so did he! And Roshni would be happy! That's worth it.
She stood up, carrying the bags to the kitchen. All she needed was a good sleep but before that she had to feed this growling stomach.
Well, as they say, "When in distress, eat Maggi noodles!"
Ravi Lodge
Arjun slumped on the chair. Finally, he let the indifference mask he had worn the whole day, came melting down. Now, there sat the broken man…. Who lost his loved once and ended up alone in life.
He thought he had distanced himself enough, but no, she made all the memories crushing down on him. He felt guilty.
Guilty because life had played a joke..a hideous joke with him and he could do nothing about it.
He knew he loved Riya…more than he could ever love someone. But he could never tell her that. And he ended up hurting her.
Then there was Roshni who loved him and somehow he had loved her in a certain inadequacy too…but what did he do? He failed to protect her.
He failed to protect and cherish the two most important person in his life and lost them.
And all that there was left in his life was vengeance….from Sikander. For his dead wife and for Riya.
Arjun took out a picture frame from the drawer. It was a picture of him, Roshni and Riya, taken at his 20th birthday; both ladies kissing him on his cheeks. He smiled and wandered his fingers on their happy faces.
"You were a flirt. Weren't you?" a soft voice spoke out.
He looked to his left to see Roshni grinning at him. She looked at the photo and smiled.
"Oh..yeh wala photo is my favorite." She beamed. "Yaad hai, kaise Ri ne tumhari sakal woh pura vanilla cake se nehla diya tha?" She giggled, Arjun joined her.
"Aur tumne bhi toh uski saath diya tha." Arjun complained.
"haan toh main apni bestie ka saath toh dungi hi nah." Roshni said. "Maan lo ACP, humari saamne tumhari ek bhi nehi chalti thi." She stuck her tongue.
"How unfortunate!" Arjun mocked. She giggled and then got serious faced. Arjun noticed it. "Kya hua?"
"Kya tumhe lagta hai ki woh mujhe maaf kar payegi?" she asked him, taking his hands.
Arjun didn't know what to say. He, himself wasn't sure…..but Roshni always meant more like a younger sister and somehow he knew she would end up forgiving her but him, never!
"Tumhari koi galti nehi thi Roshni." He said. Roshni just shrugged her head off. "Khair chodo…main toh bas yeh dekhne aayi thhi ki itni saal baad apni shonu se milke Dungu ka kya haal hai. Kuch baat bani?" She asked.
"She hates me Rosh." He said as Roshni rolled her eyes.
"Ri can never hate you Minion. Even if she wants to." Roshni said with a smile while Arjun gazed at her, hoping she was right because, it tore him to pieces every time she saw him with apathetic eyes.
"Accha mujhe nah uparwale ki saath date pe jaana hai. So if you'll excuse me!" Roshni said making Arjun smile a little. She kissed his hair and whispered a good night.
"Aur haan. Iss bar jo miley ho, phir se usse matt khone dena. Samjhe ya samjhau?" with that she vanished, leaving Arjun in thought again. And he panicked.
Riya was back.
His Riya was back and her life was in danger too.
Riya's house
Riya opened her bedroom door and could feel that nostalgic feeling coming back again.
After her parent's death, she moved permanently to Mumbai. This apartment was a gift from her parents for her birthday. She remembered how Arjun and Roshni had decorated this whole house and surprised her and the pillow fight that went on afterwards. She smiled through her tears that welled up in her eyes. Yaadein sirf dard hi nehi, kabhi kabhi honton pe muskaan bhi chod jaati hai.
She looked at the picture frames that still adorned the wall. There were pictures of him, Roshni and her. Her eyes fell on the pretty girl dressed in a white anarkali smiling back to her in the picture.
Roshni.
2nd close person she had.
Riya and Roshni had been the best chic friends and yes, it meant only trouble for Arjun.
Roshni meant a lot to Riya. Roshni was the younger sister Riya had always wanted. Maybe that's why she gave her everything she had…including him.
Well, he was never his, TBH! Riya reminded her. Though she would never forget how much he had done for him. But it was all out of pity, wasn't it? Well, that's what he said.
*flashback*
It was raining heavily as if even Mother Nature was mourning over what was happening.
Riya and Arjun stood under the downpour. Both defeated.
"So that's it? You have been there for me all these years because you felt sorry for me?" Riya quoted him, asking him again.
It took everything in him to say a simple yes that day.
And when he did…their worlds changed.
*flashback ends*
Riya had no other reason to stay back after that. Roshni had stopped talking to her too as she thought Arjun had broke up with her coz of Riya. This was partially true too. So Riya could never blame Roshni for the way she acted.
Well, not most of the times. Roshni seemed invidious everytime Arjun would do something for Riya from the beginning. Not that she didn't want well for Riya but because she wanted Arjun all to herself.
*Flashback*
It was the last day of their stay in Washington DC orientation. All the participants were leaving for their designated host states. This meant departing for one whole year. One sad moment of life.
Roshni had already started to have feelings for Arjun and Riya, as her roommate, knew it. Actually, Riya even helped them spending time alone! But Arjun always tagged Riya along which irked Roshni.
Morning went well with orientations. Then they had to wear traditional clothes for cultural presentation. Riya, Roshni wore saree where the boys were in traditional clothes too.
Riya wore a red and white saree in Bengali style and Roshni a purple and green saree in Marathi style. Arjun, he had opted on wearing a black kurta with red works on it.
They all looked grown ups and gorgeous of course! (Arjun hawt)
"Wah ladies. Looking gorgeous!" Arjun complimented them, looking mainly at Riya.
"For a change, you are looking good yourself" Riya said, making Arjun roll his eyes slightly. Roshni was too shy to say something. They performed and yes, they were the best team! (Cheers)
They were supposed to have lunch and then head down to white house. Riya had her lunch with her other exchange friends, looking for Arjun. Strange, he was no where to be seen. She thought, he'd be with Roshni. Chalo koi na.
But then she saw Roshni coming, with her friends and Arjun wasn't there. Riya got tensed and started looking for him. Then she saw him getting off the lift, his face was dull. Ohho…toh janab is already homesick, Riya thought.
Riya walked up to him, he gave her a meekly smile. "Lunch kiya?" She asked, pointing at her plate.
"Nehi. Teri plate se kar lunga." He said taking her plate.
"Oyee..mujhe mera plate de" She said, faking anger.
"Class mein sikhaya na? Sharing is caring." Arjun said, tugging at her hands, making her laugh.
Both sat on a table with other students, chatting and having food from the same plate; unaware from the fact that someone was watching them and wasn't happy about it.
Arjun and Roshni were talking something on the life where Arnav Singh Raizada, another devilishly handsome participant was flirting with Riya, who seemed quite happy about it. But Arjun somehow didn't like it. Roshni noticing him was getting more annoyed.
As they were walking down the corridor, Roshni, annoyed, had pushed Riya out of her way, making her tremble and then twisting her ankle. But Roshni felt bad afterwards.
But it was too late. Riya slumped on the floor, crying out in pain. Arjun and Arnav turned and saw her on the floor. Arjun heart sank.
He hurriedly came to her and saw her holding her ankle. He touched it slightly, making her hiss with pain.
"I'll get ice" Arnav said. Roshni just stood there.
"Jyada dard ho raha hai?" Arjun asked, concerned. "thoda" came her reply. Arnav came back with ice and pressed it on her ankle, making her grip Arjun's hand.
By then more people had crowded over there, asking what happened. Arjun stood up and held out his hands for Riya. Riya took them and with a tug, he pulled her up, making her crash on his chest. He lowered his hands to carry her. "No I can walk."
"You sure?" Arjun asked. "Yeah"
She took some steps but stumbled again, howling in pain. Arjun carried her in his arms before it hurt more.
He carried her to her room, asking Roshni to open the door, which she did half-heartedly. She was jealous and there was no doubt about it.
Arjun made Riya sit on her bed and then kneeled down, taking her ankle in his hand. Riya put her left hand on his shoulder.
To distract her, Arjun asked,
"If given a chance, would you kiss me?" he asked, looking at her.
Riya surprised by his question, "What?" Both Riya and Roshni said.
"Answer me Dammit!" Arjun put on a serious face. But before Riya could answer, he had twisted her ankle back in place, making her scream. But voila! It didn't pain like before.
Arjun smiled at her flabbergasted face and stood up. Saying a cocky "You're welcome", he left the room.
Riya couldn't go to the white house visit so Arjun and Roshni were gone.
Riya had been strong all these days, not crying, mostly because with Arjun she didn't feel homesick but when they officially concluded the orientation, she realized that within 5 hours, she was leaving him and won't see him for next one year and that thought brought tears in her eyes.
But she wasn't the only one crying. Every one was sad leaving their friends. That's what exchange is all about.
Exchange is change. Rapid, brutal, beautiful, hurtful, colorful, amazing, unexpected,; overwhelming and most of all, a constant change. Change in lifestyle, country, language, friends, parents, houses, school, simply everything. Exchange is realizing that everything they told you beforehand are wrong, but also right in a way. Exchange is going from thinking you know who you are, to having no idea who you are anymore to being someone new. But you are still the person you were before but you jumped into that ice cold lake. You know how it feels like to be on your own. Away from home, with no one you really know. And you find out that you can actually do it.
Exchange is thinking about what's right and what's wrong. About how stupid or rude you just were to someone without meaning to be. About the point of all this. About the sense of life. About who you want to be, what you want to do. Someone you didn't even know a few months ago. And about what the hell that guy just said.
Exchange is people. Those incredibly strange people, who look at you like you're an alien. Those people who are too afraid to talk to you. And those people who know your name, even though you have never met them. Those people, who tell you who to stay away from. Those people who talk about you behind your back, those people who makes fun of your country. All those people, who aren't worth your giving a damn. Those people you ignore. And those people who invite you to their homes. Who keep you safe. Who become your friends.
Exchange is uncomfortable. It's feeling out of place, like a fifth wheel. It's talking to people you don't like. It's trying to be nice all the time. It's cold, freezing cold. It's homesickness, it's awkward silence and its feeling guilty because you didn't talk to someone at home. Or feeling guilty because you missed something because you were talking on Skype.
Exchange is great. It's feeling the connection between you and your host parents grow. It's meeting people from all over the world. It's having a place to stay in almost every country of the world. It's cooking food from your home country and not messing up. It's seeing beautiful landscapes that you never knew existed.
Exchange is falling in love with this amazing, wild, beautiful country. And with your home country. Exchange is frustrating. Things you can't do, things you don't understand. Things you say, that mean the exact opposite of what you meant to say. Or even worse... Exchange is understanding. Exchange is unbelievable. Exchange is not a year in your life. It's a life in one year. Exchange is nothing like you expected it to be, and everything you wanted it to be.
Exchange is the best year in your life so far. Without a doubt. And it's also the worst. Without a doubt. Exchange is something you will never forget, something that will always be a part of you. It's something no one back home will ever truly understand. Exchange is growing up, realizing that everybody is the same, no matter where they're from. That there is great people and douche bags everywhere. And that it only depends on you, how good or bad your day is going to be or the whole year. And it's realizing that you can be on your own, that you are an independent person, finally. And it's trying to explain that to your parents.
Exchange is everything. And exchange is something that you can't understand unless you've been a foreign exchange student!
Roshni came to Arjun, hugged him and cry. Arjun hugged her back, asking her not to cry. Then he saw Riya crying too. She looked at him and he motioned her not to cry and come to him.
Arjun spread his other arm for Riya, still hugging Roshni. Riya came and Arjun just wiped her tears with his free hand.
"Usse jaane ko kaho." Came Roshni's voice. That was the undone for Riya. She ran into her room leaving Arjun shocked and Roshni with him.
To be continued
Edited by despicable_me - 12 years ago
CID
