Restless Dreams & Torn Seams: Ch 4 & Note pg 14 - Page 4

It seemed like time stopped for an hour or two, but it was really only about fifteen seconds before Arnav got over his shock. His eyes darted back and forth from his sticky bed to Khushi. Finally he muttered angrily, "Clean it up, and then you can explain yourself."

Khushi gulped but proceeded into the bathroom to wet the napkins. She quickly scampered to the bed, picked up all the jalebi pieces, and threw them into the trash.

'What a waste of such good food,' she thought sadly as the remains of her beloved sweet were piled up in the dustbin.

She turned to Arnav slowly and stammered, "I can ask someone to wash your bed sheets for you. I would clean them by hand, but I doubt all the syrup would come off."

"Fine," he mumbled. "Now tell me what you're doing in my room?" He had to ask even though he already knew.

"Uh'the jalebis were missing from the food stand in the living room and then I saw them here, so'" Khushi trailed off, unsure of how to justify her actions without sounding childish. "I just walked in here and started eating them. I know that was rude of me to just walk in, but I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. Then someone slammed the door shut so I jumped and spilled everything."

In the inside, Arnav was applauding himself for playing such a clever prank, but on the outside, he had to like he was disgruntled.

"You never think do you? Why would you walk into someone's bedroom and invade their privacy just because there are sweets on their bed?" he demanded. "Obviously you have no self-control."

Khushi looked up indignantly and spit something out before she could think twice. "Some people can actually eat sweets. Not everyone has to worry about having diabetes!" She regretted it the second it came out and felt incredibly guilty as a hurt and slightly unreadable expression appeared on Arnav's face. It lasted only for a split second before he was back to his furious self.

"Obviously some people are not even worth talking to," Arnav retorted angrily before striding to the door and banging on it. Unfortunately, nobody was nearby and he wasn't about to break his own door. He turned sharply towards Khushi and exclaimed, "Why is that I always get locked into rooms with you?"

"Locked into rooms with me? You're the one who broke the handle in the storage room two years ago!" Khushi remarked defensively. She still felt guilty about her previous comment, but she wasn't about to sit there and accept his accusations.

"Only because you wouldn't listen! You still don't listen to anybody but yourself," Arnav muttered, his back turned to her. "When you talk, you talk too much. When you're quiet, you shut the whole world out."

Khushi stared at his form with her mouth open. "You don't even know me!" She was about to throw in another cutting remark before thinking for a few seconds and replying, "What did you want to tell me then?"

"Now you listen," Arnav looked at her incredulously. "It was nothing."

"It was obviously something. You broke down a door so that I would listen," Khushi replied indignantly, turning away from him. "You don't have to tell me, but at least listen to me now. I'm not a nobody in your house anymore. I'm Akash's wife's sister, so we're related and you can't tell me to stay away." She finished with her arms crossed, feeling satisfied that she had let that last bit out.

"That doesn't mean that you can walk into my room anytime you like," Arnav glared. "Anyway, I just wanted to say two years ago that I never knew that the outhouse building was so dangerous. I need you to believe that."

Khushi gaped, "Are you apologizing?"

"Of course not! I just need you to believe that I wasn't responsible."

"Why should I believe that? You were the one who sent me there," Khushi rolled her eyes. She actually didn't hold that incident against him anymore, but she wasn't about to form some compromise either.

Arnav's eyes flared and he retorted, "I told you that I didn't know, and until you believe that, I'll feel-," he cut off his sentence before he could sound vulnerable in front of her.

"Feel what? Guilty? Sorry?" Khushi urged, sincerely wanting to know what he was about to say. However, he didn't say anything and just walked to the opposite end of his room, picking up his cell phone and dialing the Raizada home number.

Even though silence followed for at least two minutes, Khushi could have sworn she heard what sounded like "Maybe" while the phone was ringing.

Somebody picked up on the other line and just as Arnav was about to complain about the locked door, the power went out and everything turned black. Khushi screamed as she hated the dark with a passion. She heard Arnav mutter, "Damn, the line went dead."

"Devi Maiyya, please keep me safe," Khushi prayed. Even though she knew there was no danger, not being able to see anything around her freaked her out. She took a few step backwards carefully before tripping on something and falling onto it.

"Yuck! I landed in the sticky mess on the bed," she thought with disgust, getting and up and realizing her hair had some syrup stuck to it.

Arnav wasn't saying anything, and the thought of being alone terrified her, so she quietly whispered, "Arnav? Are you here?"

"No, I magically flew through the door," he remarked sarcastically.

"You don't have to be so sarcastic," Khushi replied, feeling slightly annoyed. "I just hate the dark." Saying that, she decided to ignore him for a bit and look for a towel or some sort of cloth to clean her hair. The syrup felt disgusting and sticky, quite unlike how it felt in her mouth.

Khushi tried picturing his room and remembered that there was a towel on Arnav's desk. Deciding that she had to walk northeast, she carefully tiptoed across the room, stumbling slightly as her feet hit a few objects on the floor. Finally she stopped and reached out, feeling something soft and grabbing it to wipe her hair. However, she heard a yelp instead.

"What are you doing? That's my shirt, you idiot!" Arnav exclaimed.

Khushi gasped and immediately let go, feeling herself color. "Whoops."

"Sorry, I thought you were a towel." She realized how stupid she sounded once the words were out.

"Right, because that's normal," she heard Arnav mutter sarcastically.

Just as she was about to comment on how his attitude was annoying her immensely, someone knocked on the door. "Chhote? Are you in there?" she heard Anjali call out.

"Yes Di! Can you open the door? It's locked from the outside!" Arnav shouted, moving so quickly that he bumped into Khushi, who immediately lost her footing and was about to fall just as Arnav panicked and grabbed onto her sleeve, accidently tearing it off. She was even more shocked when he managed to catch her arm, stopping her from hitting the floor.

"I didn't mean to tear that. I couldn't see what I grabbed," Arnav mumbled, memories of their first meeting flooding his mind.

Khushi paled as she realized that along with her right arm, a small part of the front of her dress also ripped off. She covered the exposed area with her arms quickly, feeling humiliated.

"Chhote! I unlocked the door!" Anjali called out impatiently. A split second later, the power returned and the bright light flickered into Arnav's room.

Arnav's gaze stopped on Khushi. He glanced quickly at his hand, which was holding her ripped sleeve and a little bit of her dress as well. Feeling guilty and embarrassed about the whole thing, he handed her one of his shirts lying around.

Without hesitating, she slipped it on and stood still, unsure of what to do. (Author's Note: Scene slightly inspired by a Mayur scene from MJHT) Fortunately, neither had to say anything as Anjali poked her head inside. "The power is back! Thank God!" She stopped abruptly as she spotted Khushi inside wearing Arnav's shirt. "Khushi? What are you doing in here? And why are you wearing Chhote's shirt?" She stepped inside with a bewildered expression.