Her long, wavy brown hair flew in all directions as she ran across the grassy plateau. She stopped for a second and turned around. She smiled devilishly at the guy running after her. "Forget it Angad, tum mujhe pakar hi nahi paaoge!" she yelled and laughed. Again, she started running. All of a sudden, two strong hands gently grabbed her around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She yelped. "Let me go Angad! Okay okay baba, I'm sorry…Khush?" She turned around to face the guy. The excitement in her brown eyes matched his and his lips curled into a smile. "Not so easily, jaan" he said. She looked at him, confused. He pouted his lips and leaned forward. The girl blushed, but leaned forward, both closing their eyes. She smiled, and opened her mouth to say something. "ANGAD UTHO!!!"
Angad Khanna opened his eyes and peered at his mother's face. Beads of perspiration lined his face; he had dreamt that dream again. And yet again, he hadn't gotten up in time for college. Quickly he got up and went into the bathroom, leaving behind a confused Naina Khanna.
Angad had been behaving strangely for days. His usually loud, obnoxious behavior was replaced by a reserved, thoughtful conduct.
"It's just the age, Naina" her husband, Dilip, had assured her. "These kids, they're moody. They're going through a lot of changes. He just needs his space." Naina sighed. She knew her son well enough to know that this wasn't just another onset of adolescent mood swings.
Angad took a speedy shower and absent-mindedly put on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Downstairs, he had breakfast in haste before Naina had the opportunity to talk to him. He got into his car and drove towards Bombay University. He parked in his usual parking spot and started walking towards the science building. Angad was majoring in Neuroscience. One of the brightest students to ever step into the University, Angad was one of the two recipients of the dean's scholarship for excellence in academics. By no means, however, was he a geek. Blessed with good looks and an even better physique, Angad kept in top shape by playing varsity sports year round.
Angad stopped in front of a classroom, inhaled deeply, and entered. "Mr. Khanna!" Professor Khan said with mock enthusiasm. "How noble of you to join us this fine morning" Angad offered a sheepish smile and quickly took his seat. Prof. Khan rolled his eyes and went back to lecture. As class progressed, Angad's thoughts again went back to the dreams he had been having. Who was that girl? He could clearly see her face, but he couldn't recognize her. Angad leaned back in his chair and again imagined the girl. Soft brown eyes, an angelic smile, the soft touch; it was all too much for him to take. His thoughts were interrupted by someone snapping their fingers in front of his eyes. He looked up and saw a pretty girl smiling at him. He smiled back. "Hey, Mishti."
Mishti Bose had been Angad's childhood friend. She had always been in love with Angad, but Angad had only regarded her as his best friend, Prithvi's twin sister. Regardless, Angad and Mishti both cared for each other as true friends. She was the only one who knew about Angad's recurring dreams. Mishti was studying to be a psychiatrist, and had taken a keen interest in recurring dreams. Her thesis was that our dreams were just extentions of our lives and personalities with a bit of our fantasies mixed in. They both chatted away as they made their way down the steps of the science building into the mess hall. Two familiar figures were hunched over a table, arm-wrestling. Angad and Mishti smiled and made their way towards them. "Hey Prithvi, Josh" Angad nodded towards his two best friends.
Prithvi Bose and Josh Sachdev were having their ritualistic pre-lunch arm-wrestle. Everyday they arm wrestled and everyday either Angad or Mishti announced a tie after neither could win over the other. Finally, Angad sighed and broke them apart. They all sat down to have lunch, discussing the week's events—their upcoming basketball game, Josh and Prithvi excitedly talked about a new engineering project they were both working on, Mishty chatted away with a few other girls, and Angad was again lost in his thoughts. "Angad! Hey Angad!!" Josh shook him by the shoulders. "What's up man? You look so lost." Embarrassed, Angad shook his head. "Kuch nahi, bas aise hi"
Angad quickly got up and left, making up some excuse so as to not puzzle his friends. He was making his way to his car when he felt a presence around him, a familiar presence. Anxiety gripped his heart—it was HER. He knew it without even having to look. However, when he turned around and looked down the hallway, he was disappointed to find it empty. He blinked a few times and shrugged to himself, he needed some rest. Angad bunked the lectures for the rest of his day, and spent the day at a small cottage his parents owned a few hrs. outside of Mumbai. This cottage was his safe-haven away from home: his parents never came here, his friends didn't know about it, and it was in a secluded area with no disturbance from the outside world. Here, Angad had been spending his recent hours either reading books on dreams or reflecting about what was happening to him. It's not like he'd never had dreams before. But there was something odd about the one's he'd been having lately. He could clearly remember his dreams after waking up; not only that, but he felt as though the dreams were actual events that happened in his life. He could smell her scent, remember her touch—and it haunted him. He knew she existed, she had to. This was no made up character, and Angad was determined to find out who this angel of his nightmares was.
Well, here's the first part...kind of boring right now, but it'll get better once Kripa enters...which will be in another two parts or so...
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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