The Accidental Best Friend
"Kria. You're doing it again. Stop it."
"Doing what again?" Kria replied without taking her eyes off Roohi who was sitting across the canteen with Swayam. Kria had been glaring at her for the past five minutes.
With an exasperated sigh, Sharon placed her hand beneath Kria's chin and turned her head to face her.
"Stop it!" she ordered.
"I'm just looking at her. Ever since when is that illegal?" Kria said grumpily.
"Just looking at her? Kria, if looks could kill, that girl would be so very dead right now!"
"Looks don't need to kill. There are far more effective ways." Kria said ominously.
"Kria!"
"What? I've thought up five different ways we can kill her without getting caught."
"Five?!"
"Yes. First, we could push her off the top of a staircase. When nobody's around, of course. Simple, yet effective. Second, we could hire a professional. I'm not sure where we can find one of those though... Anyways, third..."
Sharon burst out laughing. Kria did not take kindly to this interruption and glared at her but Sharon Rai Prakash's laughter wasn't something people could easily resist and soon Kria was also laughing.
"I know, I know. It's silly. I just... UGH. I hate her so much."
Kria turned to look at Roohi and Swayam again, almost involuntarily, and there was a look of such loathing on her face that Sharon was stunned. She was also touched because she knew that the only reason Kria could have to hate Roohi was that the girl was messing up Sharon's already-very-complicated love life.
Sharon turned to look at Roohi and Swayam. They seemed to be having a good time; he was showing something on his phone to her and they were both laughing. She tried to think of the last time he had laughed when he was with her. She smiled at the memory; a sad smile because she realized how long ago it was. It seemed like a different lifetime; he was a different Swayam.
Sharon did not feel threatened by Roohi. Jealous, yes, but not threatened. Not yet, anyways. If she knew Swayam as well as she thought she knew him then she felt sure that Swayam was only being friendly with that girl because she was so weak that he felt he had to protect her.
Sharon turned back to Kria who was still staring at the pair with her eyes narrowed.
"Kria."
But Kria continued to stare at them and so Sharon placed her hands on either side of Kria's face and turned her head back and with a very serious look on her face said,
"Stop. You don't have to hate her. I love you for this, really I do, but I'm not bothered by her."
"You aren't?" Kria asked disbelievingly.
Sharon leaned in closer and said,
"No! She's a nobody. We don't care about her or her rose date. We are NOT bothered by her!"
"We aren't?"
"No! And you know why?"
Kria tried to shake her head but couldn't because her face was firmly held in place by Sharon's hands. So she pulled her hands away from her face and then shook her head.
Sharon rolled her eyes and said,
"I already told you! Because she's a nobody. Believe me, Swayam is going to be bored by her in, like, five minutes!"
Sharon leaned back with her trademark smirk and crossed her arms. In that moment she looked so much like "The Sharon Rai Prakash" that Kria had to smile. She couldn't guess if Sharon was really not bothered about Roohi or if she was just pretending to not be. Or trying to make herself believe that she dint care. With Sharon, there were so many different possibilities. In the short span of time that they had grown so close, the one thing that Kria had learnt was that it was always hard to figure out what exactly Sharon was feeling and thinking.
She decided to not push Sharon about the matter. She would talk to her if she wanted to. Throwing one last glance at Roohi, Kria stood up and said,
"I'm hating this place right now. Can we leave? Do you have any work left?"
Sharon, never wanting to look weak, grew defensive and asked,
"Why? Because of them? We don't have to, really..."
"Because of the balloons. And the roses. And the couples. And him."
Sharon knew immediately who Kria was referring to and felt stupid for not having realized before how hard it must be for Kria to be there at the moment. Her heartbreak was fresh and the "Love in the air" was a salt to her wounds.
Sharon gave Kria a sympathetic smile and together they left the canteen. On their way out Swayam waved at Kria and called her name but Kria just walked faster, pretending to not have heard him. Sharon had to hold back a smirk at the look of total confusion on Swayam's face. Again, she was moved by the kind of support Kria was showing her.
Knowing very well that Kria currently wasn't in the mood to celebrate anything, much less Rose day, Sharon had proposed that they get dressed up for the party together. This way she could ensure that Kria actually made it to the party and did not spend the evening alone at home. It felt very important to her that Kria put on a brave face and not let anyone know how broken she actually was. Especially him. Reyaansh.
More than anything else, the hostility that she felt currently towards her own best friend was a mark of how much she had grown to care about Kria. She dint think she could forgive Rey anytime soon for not loving Kria back, even though in the back of her mind she knew that it wasn't something that could be helped. If she hadn't known the truth about why Kria had left him two years back, certainly she would have understood his feelings. But Kria had loved him truly then and she loved him truly now. Kria herself had broken her heart then and he had done it this time. No, he wasn't to be forgiven. Not after Sharon herself had witnessed how much in pain Kria was.
Sharon marveled at the fact that Kria could even show that pain, could show her weakness like that. Perhaps the primary difference between them both was that Kria could freely express her feelings- be it love, joy, anger or hurt. She never held back. She never tried to delude herself into believing that she did or did not feel something. Sharon envied her.
Behind the enthusiasm for arranging the most perfect Rose day for the college and the coldness with which she treated Swayam, she had hidden her longing for just one rose, one look, one touch from him. But she knew it was pointless to hope, knew he was far from relenting and so she hated the atmosphere and the activities going on in the college as much as Kria did. But she couldn't admit it. Feelings, after all, were meant to be conquered and controlled. Not left free to wreck havoc in her life.
But lately it seemed impossible to keep them in check. It was his fault. He had broken down her walls, promised her she wouldn't need them. And then he had left her. Now she had neither him nor her walls.
For a moment, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, Sharon couldn't really remember what the point of it all was. The Rose day, the party, getting dressed up. How did it matter? Why did she have to go to the damned party when she did not even want to step outside her room?
She was on the verge of giving up. Of throwing away everything, the image, the reputation she had earned. After all, what did it mean when she didn't have him with her? What did it matter what they all thought of her? All she wanted was for him to think of her. And he didn't. She wouldn't go.
But just as a single tear escaped, she came back to reality. She had to go. She had probably already lost him. What would she be left with if she also lost her image? Who would she be if she wasn't the Diva? With a deep breath and a determined nod at her reflection, she left her room and went to find Kria.
It was well that Sharon had her there because Kria was putting on make-up with such disinterest that she felt sure that if she dint step in, Kria was going to make a complete mess of her pretty face.
"Kria, you look terrible."
In reply she got a glare in her direction in the mirror.
"You do. Brown and blue, love? Seriously? And you need to cover those dark circles better. You know what, why don't you just let me do it for you?"
"Do I have to go Sharon?"
She sounded so miserable that Sharon's heart went out to her. She was in half a mind to let her stay back. And to stay back herself.
"Yes, yes you do have to go to the party. You do not want anyone to know that you're upset. No one can know, remember?"
Kria nodded unhappily and taking a deep breath she said,
"You're right. Do your thing."
Sharon grinned and took over.
"Sharon... Thank you so much. No, not for this. For yesterday. And for everything else too. I don't know what I would do after... after yesterday, if not for you."
Sharon just smiled at her and continued to work. But in her mind she was back to that day before the College day when she had lost all control and had sat crying in the canteen. Sharon was still shocked at that lapse of control. She dint know what had made her that powerless. Maybe it was because she had been missing him so much and she had been so hopeful that he was coming back to her. It had seemed like he was finally ready to forgive her and she couldn't stand it when he had suddenly started being rude to her instead. Now she knew why it was but at the time, not knowing the reason behind his change in behavior, it had scared her and hurt her so badly that she couldn't make herself care of who saw her and what they thought.
Luckily, it was Kria who had found and comforted her then. She remembered how much better she felt. Just knowing that someone cared enough to try to make everything all right for her.
When she was done with Kria's make-up she stood back to admire her work and smiled in satisfaction.
"Rey is going to want to kill himself for letting you go, believe me."
She immediately regretted her words when she saw Kria's face fall at the mention of his name.
"I'm sorry... I just..."
"It's okay! Forget about it. Let's just get done with this party. You're sure they'll let me enter alone right?"
"Yeah, don't worry about that. You're going with me, they won't bother you."
Vicky was supposed to meet Sharon at the entrance but he was late. When he did arrive, Sharon almost wished he hadn't. As she surveyed him top to bottom with a horrified expression and began to chide him for his choice of hairstyle, clothes and shoes, Kria- lost in thought, went ahead of them. She dint hear or see Rey but Sharon, who was a few steps behind her, did. When Kria stopped at the entrance counter and was asked if she was alone Sharon hurried forward to let them know that she was to be allowed entrance alone but Rey got there before her. As she watched him slip an arm around Kria's waist she flinched.
Rey was her best friend. He had been for a very long time. But in that moment she wanted nothing more than to tell him off and not in a very best-friend sort of way.
Kria was torn between wanting to stay right there, close to him with his arm around her and running as far away from him as possible. But as his words from the previous day began to replay in her mind, she withdrew from him and began to walk faster. The kiss did not mean to him what it did to her and nothing else- no touch, no word, nothing would matter to him as much or in the same way that it did to her. And so it wouldn't just be wrong, it would be pathetic if she allowed herself to remain close to him when she knew that he did not feel the way she did.
A string of games were arranged for the couples and the one couple that got to the end would win the title of Rose King and Queen. As the evening progressed, Sharon and Kria both realized what a mistake it was to be there. Game after game, one situation after another pushed Roohi into Swayam's arms and Kria into Rey's. While Sharon suffered the anguish of watching Swayam and Roohi so close to each other, Rey's arms had become Kria's personal hell.
And then, in the middle of a game, Kria lost it. In the game, the couples had to place an apple between their foreheads and race to the finish line. Rey had kept urging Kria to get closer to him so that the apple wouldn't fall. Finally, Kria's patience was worn thin and she stepped back, letting the apple fall and then for good measures she kicked it away with a vengeance. There would be consequences, questions would be asked. She knew that, could see it on Rey's face. But in that moment she was far from caring. All she knew was that she wanted to get away from him. She walked away quickly and was soon lost in the crowd.
Sharon-Vicky and Swayam-Roohi were two among the remaining couples. But in the last game, with all of Sharon's attention on Swayam and Roohi rather than her own partner, Sharon and Vicky got out. Sharon hoped against hope that one of the other couples would win the game but as luck would have it, it was Swayam and Roohi who won.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Kria sounded mad.
Standing in the dark, watching Swayam and Roohi being crowned, Sharon hadn't noticed when Kria had joined her.
"Yeah, can you believe it? Miss nobody to Rose Queen." Sharon replied, venom in her voice.
Swayam and Roohi were being led to the center of the dance floor for the first dance of the night. Roohi looked overwhelmed and it seemed like Swayam was trying to put her at ease. Sudden tears sprang to Sharon's eyes and she blinked them back in surprise. No way. No way was she going to cry over this. Not here. Not now.
"Sharon. You okay?" Kria asked her gently.
"Yes, yes of course. I'm absolutely okay."
The pained smile that Sharon sent her way was perhaps what did it for her. The next thing Sharon knew, Kria was walking towards Swayam and Roohi. She followed her hurriedly, but she couldn't stop her.
With a very fake "Oops" Kria Ghai collided into Roohi with a force that sent Roohi sprawling to the floor. Kria also fell to a side, but it was Roohi who was the worst hit.
Sharon, along with everybody else, watched in complete shock for a moment. Then their eyes met and Sharon and Kria both started to laugh. They were soon followed by the rest of the college.
Swayam was helping Roohi up and Rey hurried to help Kria. For the second time that day he put an arm around her waist and, ignoring Kria's protestations, he began to half-carry, half-pull her towards the chairs in a corner. This time Sharon stepped in and slapped away his arm from Kria's waist.
"Leave her to me." She had a non-nonsense tone and look as she said that and then drawing her arm through Kria's she took her away, leaving Rey blinking in confusion. Indeed, Kria was perfectly capable of walking on her own and had said so but Rey, in his hurry to be the perfect gentleman, had failed to listen to what she had to say.
Behind them, Roohi was on her feet again, the crowd as almost silent, the lights were being dimmed, the music was starting to play. The first dance.
"Sharon, keep walking. We're getting out of here."
"But..."
"No. Nothing. We're leaving. And when they ask tomorrow, we had a better party to be at." Then after a slight pause she continued in a whisper,
"Plan number 27, poison the roses that are to be given to the Rose Queen. Drugged flowers, Mughal-e-Azam style."
Sharon laughed. She seemed to be doing that a lot that day, considering the circumstances.
"You know what Kria, I don't know why we weren't friends earlier!"
"Because you dint want to know me earlier."
"Haha. Yes, I guess. And the more I get to know you, the more I like you."
"You saying that is the best thing that has happened this week."
"That's a little sad."
They both laughed.
"So where exactly are we going to go?"
Sharon stopped suddenly and turned to Kria with an excited gleam in her eyes.
"I have at least a dozen invites to the most fab parties!"
Kria grinned. "And we can dance the entire night?"
"Totally! Anyways, we were the hottest girls in there. The party is where we are. Men are going to be fighting over us. So, what do you say?"
"I say... let's do it!"
------------TWO HOURS LATER-------------
"Pass me the vanilla." Sharon said, her eyes glued to the TV screen. Kria, unwilling to take her eyes off the dashing, gorgeous, irresistible Damon Salvatore, passed the tub of strawberry ice cream instead which was the first one she could reach. Sharon dint seem to notice.
Less than twenty minutes into one of the "most happening party of the city", they had decided that ice cream and Damon was what they needed, not dancing with complete strangers (no, not even extremely hot ones). And so, here they were on Sharon's couch in their PJs, watching their favorite episodes of "The Vampire Diaries".
At the end of a heartbreaking episode Sharon turned to Kria to find her sobbing into a pillow. She herself had shed a few tears but it seemed like Kria had been overly affected. She consoled her as best as she could and a few minutes later she seemed to have regained her composure.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. I seem to be going from one extreme to another today."
"Hey, it's fine! You have every right to be upset."
"Yeah, being rejected does give me that right."
"Rejected? Kria don't think that way! He just doesn't feel the same way that you do, it doesn't mean that you're rejected!"
"But that's what I feel like Sharon. Rejected, humiliated and..."
"And...?"
"And I feel like I've been used! I can't help but wonder if he cares about me at all or if the affiliation is all he cares about."
"Kria, come on, you know that's not true. He... he might not be in love with you, but he cares about you deeply. I know that for a fact."
"I know, I know. I'm being unfair. I know I shouldn't be mad at him but..."
"Who said you shouldn't be? In fact, we are going to be mad at him for as long as it takes for you to feel better..."
That earned her a smile from Kria.
"You don't have to be mad at him too."
"And you dint have to make Roohi fall, but you did. So I will stay mad at him. In fact, I'm genuinely hating his guts right now. Where does he think he's going to get a girl like you again?"
"A girl like me?"
"Uh-huh. If you haven't noticed, you're a pataka."
This time Kria laughed. It was so unlike Sharon to say something like that.
"Thank you. No, no, let me say this... seriously, thank you so much. You have no idea how much you've helped. He's your best friend! And I'm just your... uhhh, accidental friend?"
Sharon looked guilt-stricken at that reminder of how Sharon had befriended Kria just to impress Swayam. Swayam wasn't at all impressed when he got to know of Sharon's plan in spite of the fact that Sharon had truly grown to care about Kria. Sharon began to apologize again but Kria dint let her continue.
"Arre, don't apologize! In fact, I'm sorry I brought it up. Still too soon to joke about it?"
Sharon sighed. "My stupid plan. I lost him over it. I guess I'm just glad I got a new best friend at least!"
Kria looked thrilled and got the biggest smile on her face.
"Best Friends?!"
Sharon laughed at her child-like enthusiasm.
"Yup. You're my accidental best friend."
Kria leaned over to give her a hug. Then, settling back she said,
"You haven't lost him. I know and he must know this too- you're the only one he'll ever be in love with. If he doesn't know that, he's an idiot. And honestly? I think it's pretty cool that you were ready to go to any extent to get him back. I wish he could see that!"
Sharon grew sad.
"No Kria. He's right and I was wrong. I was wrong a lot of times. He's always been right there for me, doing everything right and I...I always messed it up. Sometimes I wonder..."
Suddenly she stopped taken aback at what she had been about to say. She bit her lip, wondering if she should say it out loud, wondering what Kria would think. She looked at Kria, quietly and patiently waiting for her to continue, and decided to say it.
"Sometimes I wonder if he wouldn't be happier with someone else. Someone simple... Like Roohi."
There. She had said it. She looked down, afraid to look at Kria, afraid of what she would say. She hated being like this. Being afraid. But when it came to Swayam, she was. She always was.
Kria was stunned and silent for some time. Then she asked,
"Sharon, why are you so sad about Roohi winning the Rose Queen title?"
Sharon looked up, confused about the question, wondering why Kria was asking her that. Wasn't it obvious?
"I... I'm not actually upset about her winning the title. I'm upset that she won it with Swayam. Ishould've been the one dancing with him. I should've been in his arms. I should've been participating in the games with him. That's what I'm upset about. Who cares about the stupid title?"
A tear rolled down her cheek and Sharon quickly wiped it away, almost angrily.
"But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Sharon don't you see it? Two years back that title meant everything to you! And until sometime back, you weren't ready for everyone to know about you and Swayam. Now, it's not the title that you want, it's just Swayam. Only Swayam. And that, Miss Rai Prakash, is what pure, simple love is."
Sharon smiled as she realized what Kria meant and that it was true.
"Yeah, but who is going to tell that to Swayam?"
Kria sighed.
"Swayam was supposed to be the smart one. Mr know-it-all. Swayam's love for you... it's what legends are made of, you know. I don't just want the old Swayam back for your sake but also because otherwise it's going to be hard for me to ever trust in things like love and magic and fairy-tales again!"
Sharon's smile grew. It was true. Swayam was her love and magic and fairy-tale.
"Oh well. I guess I have to just keep trying. Secretly, I mean. And it helps to have his best friend on my side."
"Yeah, his best friend definitely is on your side. And don't you worry about Roohi."
"What d you mean? You're not planning on doing anything again, are you?"
"No. That'll just make Swayam all the more protective about her. No, let's just leave her alone. Like you said, he'll get bored of her soon. She's not his type."
"Swayam has a type?"
Kria grinned mischievously.
"He does. And there's only one person who belongs to that type. You think you know her?"
Sharon grinned back "I think I do!"
"We just need to think of a plan to make him realize that!"
And with that, Kria launched into coming up with creative and elaborate plans to win Swayam over. A dozen plans, two tubs of ice cream and one chick-flick later, the two girls drifted off to sleep, blissfully unaware of what they were going to have to face the next day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sharon knew as soon as she stepped out of her car. Her senses were fine-tuned in a way such that she immediately knew when people were talking about her and she could also tell if the gossip was good or bad. The covert glances, hidden whispers and half-giggles were enough to make her uneasy. What juicy gossip about her was being circulated now?
Kria, oblivious to what was going on, got out of Sharon's car and beamed at her. Then, noticing that Sharon looked worried, she raised her eyebrows in a questioning look. Sharon took out her mobile phone hurriedly and checked the gossip column of the college's website. Her worst fears were confirmed. It was about her. But not in her dreams could she have imagined the sort of gossip that was written. She stared in shock at the screen. Kria hurried to her side to see what was going on.
Pictures of Sharon and Kria covered the entire gossip page. One was a picture from two years back where they were clearly scowling at each other. Another was from the previous day, taken at the canteen when Sharon had been holding Kria's face between her hands. Another showed them leaving the Rose day party together. In big fonts were written the words "Enemies to friends...Or something more?"
Sharon and Kria looked up in shock and mutely stared at each other. From somewhere there was a flash of camera and they looked around disbelievingly. It then occurred to them what it must have looked like, them arriving together in Sharon's car.
"Wha..."
"I can't believe..."
The next second their friends were there, assuring them that no one actually believed it, it was all a joke, they would get the page down. Swayam and Rey were standing at a little distance, looking awkward and thunderstruck. It was that sight that finally broke them. They started to laugh.
And as everyone stared at them in amazement and wondered if they had lost their minds, Sharon and Kria entered the college together, still laughing. They had enough to worry about, after all. A little humor was exactly what they needed.
Udne Ki Aasha
Kumkum Bhagya
