thnx guyz...i wz lik really overwhelmed wid all the support..letz jes hope i cn keep up 2 wat u'll r expectn...it will definitely b a bit diff. frm a lot like love:)..nyways...without further ado...here's part 1!!!
PART 1
Armaan heaved a sigh as he left the exam hall...it was over...thank God!! and d paper had been ok...he coud fill atleast 7 pages worth of crap and that was something!!...however,he should start working hard for his papers from now on, he thought as he leaned against the wall, some distance away from the exam hall...but then who was he kidding?? he'd been promising himself the same thing for the last 1 year..but it was so not happening...he was just not meant to sit with a book in his hand...like seriously!! he felt he was opposing nature when he did that...he was meant to be out there..in the court, playing...in the limelite..that was his thing..that was what he was cut out for...infact, he'd got admission in this university which was supposedly one of the best because of his sports achievements..still..he had to make an effort where his academics were concerned...he couldn't entirely depend on sports...
Armaan glanced at the exam hall again...where the hell were they?? none of his friends had left the exam hall...seemed like they were definitely going to pass...he didn't doubt the girl's capabilities in that area...but Rahul and Adi?? well, if they managed to pass through this paper that means it was possible for him to do it too and then he would seriously have to start working hard academically...
'Armaan!'
Armaan turned and saw Muskaan hurrying upto him, stuffing her question paper in her bag, a big grin on her face...
Definitely had a good paper, Armaan smiled as he watched her paractically bounce towards him.
'How was your paper?' she asked, 'Mine was OK,' she continued, before he could even open his mouth to answer, 'lekin that question no. 7 was little wierd...little nahin..actually wo tho pura his wierd tha...and that too10 marks!! kya jaata us kameene professor ka agar wo humein thoda easy question deta? I'm telling you Armaan-'
'Hey Armaan..Muskaan!'
'Anjie!!' Armaan practically started sobbing in relief...he liked Muskaan..he seriously did...she was a sweetheart.. but sometimes he really wished she would just SHUT THE HELL UP!!
'How was your paper?' Anjali asked.
Wrong question, Armaan groaned silently, he had thought Anjali was smart!!
'Hey Anjie!! As I was just telling Armaan...paper tho theek tha lekin wo question no. was-'
Anjali grimaced and looked at Armaan. as Muskaan babbled on..she kind of figured that she'd asked the wrong question to the wrong person!
Armaan smiled faintly..well, that was Muskaan for you!! even if the question hadn't been put forth to her, she just considered it her birth right to answer anyway.
'Heyy people,' Atul, Adi and Rahul walked out of the exam hall at the same time. Actually Adi and Rahul had finished writing whatever they knew a long time back, however, they had waited till Atul would finish, in the hope that maybe he could show them some answers...they couldn't depend too much on their own knowledge in the subject.
'Hi Rahul!' Muskaan gushed, 'paper kaisa tha?'
Rahul smiled forcibly...Armaan grinned...he knew only too well that Rahul hated it when Muskaan babbled on in hindi...they were in a foreign university and Rahul was extremely conscious about that fact...even though he had told Muskaan about it, the simple punjabi girl couldn't help but add in atleast a couple of sentences hindi... you couldn't blame her for it...she was born and brought up in Punjab, after all and hindi was her mother tongue...
'Yeah it was OK...whatever,' Rahul mumbled as he caught Armaan's eye...it was best to keep answers short and to the point with Muskaan...even a simple question like 'how about you?' would trigger on another explanation from her...
'Hey guyzz!!'
Armaan turned around in surprise...he hadn't even realized when Riddhima had joined them..
'Hey Ridzy...how was your paper?' he asked, smiling slightly.
'It was OK, I guess,' she replied carefully.
Anjali rolled her eyes at Armaan from behind Riddhima...this was one thing she didn't like about Riddhima...why couldn't she just be honest and say that she did her paper well? everybody knew she was very bright academically...so what was with all the modesty??? she was otherwise a pretty frank person by nature... Anjali could never figure that out...she was an extremely frank person herself and if it was she who had written her paper well, she would have just said it outright..
Armaan grimaced as he caught Anjali's eye.
'Ridzy, tera paper teekh tha?? lekin wo question no. 7-' Muskaan began.
'Muskaan..babez..please do us all a favour... shut up for a while,' Rahul said, sarcastically...he first only had a screwd up paper...he didn't need Muskaan to add to it with her constant blabbering...sometimes she really went overboard with it..!!
Muskaan fell silent as everyone chuckled except Riddhima and Atul. Riddhima frowned as she heard Rahul and then as she saw how Muskaan responded to it. She sometimes doubted wether Rahul really deserved someone like Muskaan...she really felt he didn't appreciate her for the warmhearted person she was...he was a nice guy..Riddhima knew he didn't mean any harm...she just wondered occassionally wether they wouldn't have been better off as friends...it was like he was trying to change Muskaan...she knew that he had a problem with Muskaan's constant hindi chatter...she hadn't missed the frown or the frustration on his face when she spoke too much and that too in hindi...and the way he'd behaved right now?? she felt Muskaan deserved a little more respect than that...he would have never dared to say something of that sort to Anjali...maybe it was because he knew she wouldn't take that lying low...as for Muskaan?? she was a chatterbox and yet when it came to saying something in her own defence, it was always Riddhima who did it for her...she just wasn't a very brave person that way..and Riddhima felt, Rahul was taking undue advantage of that fact...it wasn't the first time that he'd snubbed her in front of all of them...if he himself couldn't show some basic respect towards his girlfriend, could she really blame them if Armaan and Adi treated Muskaan the same way??
Atul gently placed a hand on Muskaan's shoulder, 'forget about the paper Muski...it's over now...ab tho kuch kar nahin sakte na?'
Muskaan looked at him and nodded her head silently. Atul felt really bad...Rahul shouldn't have just snubbed her like that in front of everyone...he knew that she was extremely talkative and probably overdid it sometimes but there was a way of saying things...if Rahul had a problem, he should have taken her aside and spoken to her..not just snapped at her this way in front of everyone...even if she didn't say anything, Atul knew Muskaan well enough by now to know that she would take this small insult to heart..she was an extremely sensitive and emotional person by nature..Rahul should have realized that by now, Atul thought, after all they had been dating for like around 6 months now...he sometimes felt Rahul took Muskaan for granted and he could see that this would probably create a problem in the future because Riddhima had begun to realize this herself and she was definitely not going to keep quiet if Rahul went overboard with it..and even though Muskaan didn't usually speak up for herself, she would definitely listen to Riddhima...even if it meant Riddhima telling her to think twice about her relationship with Rahul..
'Anyways, do you guys want to come home?' Armaan asked the girls, steering the conversation away in a different direction...he had kind of sensed the tension that Rahul's abrupt snubbing of Muskaan had created..moreover, he knew Riddhima pretty well by now to know that if they let the matter persist she would probably say something to Rahul for talking to Muskaan like that...that was something he disliked about Riddhima...he felt she intefered too much in Rahul and Muskaan's relationship...they were not kids, for heavensake and Muskaan could definitely do her own talking..everybody knew THAT!!he just felt that she got too influenced by Riddhima at times and that's what created most of the fights between Rahul and her...he was Rahul's friend too and had both his and Muskaan's best interests at heart, however, he never intefered in their personal matters..that was between them! he couldn't get why Riddhima couldn't understand this simple fact...she behaved like Muskaan's mum sometimes!!
'Yeah, I don't feel like going home right now,' Anjali replied catching the cue from Armaan, 'let's go to your place,'
Armaan smiled gratefully and led the way to their apartment...it was a five minute walk from their university.
Adi followed him, smiling slightly...the whole diversion wasn't lost on him. He knew Armaan had diverted the topic just in time before things got heated up...Riddhima would definitely have not kept quiet..she would probably have snapped back at Rahul if Armaan hadn't interrupted...it was wierd but even though Muskaan was such a chatterbox, when it came to standing up for herself it was usually Riddhima who did it for her..it was wierd how contradicting thier personalities were and yet they were best friends. Riddhima was a little more on the quiet and reserved side...something like Atul...however, she had very strong opinions which she voiced out openly...he liked that about her...with Riddhima, it was never beating around the bush...she was an extremely frank person..moreover, she was very protective about Muskaan...and unlike Armaan and Anjali, he appreciated the fact that she cared so much about Muskaan that could go to any lengths against a person who hurt her in any way...she was a loyal friend...and a sweet girl...moreover, she was fun..probably not in an outrageous way like Anjali...but in a more subtle and simple way...the only thing about her which kind of irked him was she was too conservative and traditional in her approach...no, she didn't dress up in salwars and sarees 24/7..nobody did that in university anyways!! but it was in the way she presented herself...her thoughts, beliefs, words and actions all pointed out towards her being very conservative in her approach...but then again, you couldn't have everything now, could you??...Adi smiled as he watched her walking with Muskaan, mumbling words of comfort to an extremely dejected and hurt Muskaan... oh yes, he thought, Riddhima Gupta was definitely someone who left an impression on you...
Anjali rolled her eyes once again as she watched Riddhima and Muskaan walking in front of her, conversing softly among themselves...she could just imagine what the scene would be like between them... Muskaan was probably all hurt because of Rahul's open critcism and Riddhima was probably consoling her...she was a real snivelling and desi idiot!! Anjali thought...she really couldn't understand the likes of Muskaan Chaddha and what she couldn't understand even more was how the hell did she end up with Rahul Garewal...they were poles apart!! While she liked Rahul with his open ease and style, she just couldn't bring herself to accept that village idiot Muskaan...she was everything Anjali despised...loudmouthed, extremely conservative, an oversensitive and emotional fool...to be honest, she didn't have any personal grudge against her..she was just one of those people that Anjali couldn't bring herself to like..no matter what...first of all she just talked and talked and talked...and most of what she talked didn't even make sense anyways...secondly, she was such an emotional fool..she so totally couldn't stand up for herself, particularly with Rahul and then when he'd say something she would get all senti...this was something which Anjali totally hated about her..the way she behaved like a door mat where Rahul was concerned...and Riddhima?? well, she was alright...infact, Anjali definitely liked her as a person...she was conservative by nature but she was no pushover...everyone knew that...she made sure everyone knew that...she was honest about her opinions and Anjali liked that...she was definitely not two-faced..however, she couldn't understand why Riddhima had taken it upon herself to 'take care' of Muskaan...she could understand that they were close friends and Riddhima would be genuinely concerned about her...what she couldn't understand was the extent to which she involved herself in Muskaan's personal matters...moreover, she had a very strong influence on Muskaan..anyways, that was between them...why should she bother?? they were best left alone...
'Here we go,' Armaan unlocked the door to their apartment and stepped inside...everyone else followed him..he saw Muskaan give Rahul a reproachful look and go sit next to Atul on the sofa...Armaan sighed..he figured Riddhima and she had probably had one of their 'talks' again in which Riddhima had probably given her a big lecture on self respect and bla bla....which meant another afternoon of Rahul and her behaving wierd with each other..whatever the case..it was going to be a loooong afternoon...
Anupamaa
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