||The Forbidden Ends|| -Uptd pg 27- - Page 15

He stopped on hearing someone calling his name. He turned around to find Aarav approaching him with a grim but warm smile on his face. ''Yuvi, I need to talk to you.''

''Erm, okay.'' Yuvi shrugged, and Aarav dragged him to another corridor by his shoulder. ''Wait, what's up?'' Yuvi stopped walking.

Aarav turned back with a confused look on his face. ''You're strong.''

''You dragged me all the way here to tell me THAT?'' Yuvi snorted. ''Thanks, dude.''

Aarav sighed. ''Yuvi, I need a favor.''

''What kind of a favor?'' Yuvi asked.

''It's... '' Aarav paused; he had no idea how to explain. ''It's about Ashi.''

''What happened to her?'' Yuvi's head jerked up. ''Is she alright?''

''Yeah, yeah, she's fine.'' Aarav gazed over his shoulder, eyes distant. ''I know I shouldn't go around telling this to someone whom I only met a day ago .. but.'' He met Yuvi's gaze. ''She's in danger, Yuvi. And I need your help.''

''What kind of danger? What's wrong, Aarav? I'll do my best, tell me.''

Aarav was pleasantly surprised at his outburst. ''Relax, Yuvi, let me explain.'' He wiped his hand over his mouth, taking a long pause. ''Listen, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you much about it. I thought I'd just make up a story, but I hate lying to you. All I can tell you is - She's in danger, and we can't leave her alone.''

''But... how? What? Why? Listen, I am with you, okay? But if you can't tell me about the danger, about who she is in danger from, how will I help?''

''Point.'' Aarav muttered. He added gently. ''All I ask from you is... Don't leave her alone. I won't have asked you for this if I wasn't in a different group. I'm elder than her, and I'm going in a completely different bus and stuff. I can't let her know she's in danger, and I can't leave her. And the only guy I trust is you.'' He kept a hand on his shoulder. ''Will you do that much for me? Just be with her, please?''

Yuvi thought for a minute, and nodded warily. ''Fine. I'll take care of her.'' He didn't sound convinced, but one look in Aarav's wary and worried eyes and he knew that he couldn't refuse. ''But, I'm doing it only for you, Aarav. Somehow, I have come to like you, even in this short time, and I can see that you're really worried. And I want to help.''

''Thanks, Yuvi. You are a lifesaver.'' Aarav smiled. He turned and looked at the crowd of students walking outside the school. ''Time to go.'' He shrugged. ''See you later. And-''

''Don't worry; I'll take care of her. She'll be fine.'' Yuvi smiled. ''Enjoy your trip. Your bus is gonna go in a bit.''

''Uh, yeah ..'' He looked at the door. ''Half of my class has already gone. I better run.'' He waved and ran off.

--

Yuvi stood there, a strange smile over his face. He was .. confused, to put it simply. A guy he only met yesterday asked him to take care of his sister in the jungle because she is in some kind of danger he can't tell him about. If it was anyone else, he wouldn't have agreed, he would have taken it as a prank. But ... he remembered the look on Aarav's face, the pleading, the desperation, the concern; it was so hard to refuse him.

He was hardly aware of his surroundings when he heard a familiar voice calling him from behind.

''Yuvi!''

He turned around to see Ashi on the opposite side of the court, walking fastly. ''Have you seen Aarav?'' She looked around in the empty hallway.

Yuvi frowned and patted his pockets. ''Not in here.''

Ashi glared. ''Very funny!'' She looked around; the same look of desperation and worry on her face. What is it with the Rays? This concerned look always managed to win Yuvi over. He shook his head. ''What's wrong?''

''I need to talk to him.'' She muttered something under her breath, and closed her eyes.

''I'm sorry, he's gone. He's-''

''Outside waiting for his bus, I know.'' Ashi's eyes flew open.

''You are so weird.'' Yuvi sighed. ''Sometimes, it's like, you have a telepathic connection with people, your own little world in your brain, you know?''

''What do you mean?'' Ashi demanded.

''Look, remember yesterday when you fainted, and then you woke up and you were behaving jittery and strange?''

''Yeah.'' Ashi nodded warily. ''Look, that was... a sort-of attack.''

''I'm sure.'' Yuvi nodded, unconvinced.

''Don't give me that look.'' Ashi glared. ''And you don't start about my attacks. Remember when you were in the storage room, huffing and panting?''

''Err.'' Yuvi paused. ''Yeah, actually, I was-''

''Bending around on all fours looking for a penny and breathing and inhaling sharply coz you had a sudden attack of Asthma? Yeah right!''

Yuvi looked at her weirdly. ''Are you for real? You can't blame me like that. Remember when you popped up in the locker room when the door was locked from the inside?''

''Remember when you-?'' Ashi paused, thinking. ''Hey, that's not fair. Weird stuff has happened to me twice, while it has only happened once with you.''

Yuvi laughed. ''Hard luck.''

''Shut up.'' Ashi retorted.

''Hmm.'' Yuvi shrugged. ''I guess we should go. I don't know about you but I certainly do not fancy getting locked in this college alone with a weird redhead.''

''And I would rather jump in a 6 ft. swimming pool than getting locked here with a guy who keeps on getting down on his all fours and screams and moans and grunts and- argh!'' She snapped.

''Says the mumbo jumbo girl who faints anytime, anywhere, anyplace.'' He snorted. ''Can we go now?''

''The bus hasn't left yet.'' Ashi crossed her arms against her chest.

''And how can you be so sure?'' Yuvi sighed. ''Oh, of course, madam Ashi and her telepathic connections. You close your eyes, mutter some stuff, and you see a clear view of what's happening outside, don't you?''

Ashi bit her lip. Okay, this was getting too far. The way he was speaking ' it was like, he already doubted her. ''We should go.'' She said, rather gently, which made Yuvi look over his shoulder. He frowned for a second, relaxed and shrugged. ''Okay, lead the way. You're the one with the mental vision.''

''You make me want to hit you.'' Ashi shook her head and answered calmly.

--

Aarav was standing amidst the students from his class. A girl looked at him and smiled. He smiled back and snorted mentally. Women. Some are so easy to please, and some of them-

''Hey sweetheart!'' Someone jumped on his shoulders from behind. He almost tripped and looked behind sharply.

''Do you mind?'' His voice died when he saw Natasha behind him, standing there with a warm smile on her face, eyes twinkling with pleasure.

''Honey, where did you go? I was looking for you!'' She started hugging him again, and he took a step behind.

''Natasha, are you alright?'' He touched her forehead and cheek. ''Are you sure you're not sick or something? I mean, I always doubted you are a runaway from some mental institute but-''

She caught his hand and squeezed it gently. ''Don't talk to me like that, baby. Come on, let's go.'' She started dragging him towards the bus.

''Hey, Natasha, wait, listen-'' His protests were cut short when Natasha slumped on the seat next to him in the bus, his hand still locked in hers. ''Okay.'' He sighed. ''What's this all about?''

--

PS - Yuvi and Natasha are gonna cling onto Aarav and Ashi, now. Yuvi needs to be with Ashi, and so he will keep irritating her and following her. And Natasha needs to work on Aarav's reactions when he reaches the forest. According to her master, wolfs should be anxious, and nervous - which, Aarav will be, since Ashi is all alone, and that might lead to Natasha thinking otherwise, confirming that he's a wolf. And Karan will also be in the jungle - so that gives you a good AY track, too. 😳