Heart of gold (AR ff) part 4-- page 2

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cornelia

@cornelia

Explorer

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

Hi, I was gone from IF for a while and then few weeks back I came back and read a lot of ffs. I've been thinking about this story for quite long time so thought about penning it down. There is no introduction or characters description because I want you all as readers to discover each of the characters as the story progresses. So here it goes. Hope you will enjoy reading it. 😃

Part 1 (Leaving home forever)

"Water bottle, check. Vitamin B tablets, check. Hoodies, check. Plain t-shirts, check... Okay! Everything's packed. What else am I missing?" She looked around while scrunching her eyebrows together. Then it hit her, her diary!

She yelled to Mrs. Gupta, "Mom, have you seen my diary?"

"How would I know where your diary is?" replied Mrs. Gupta who was busy preparing breakfast. Time passes by so quickly, she thought while putting the dry oats into the boiling milk. It had already been seven years since they came to United States from a small town in India. Her daughter, Ridhima had only been 11 years old and now she was 18, a young adult ready to leave her home. She had got into one of the best colleges in the US and Mrs. Gupta couldn't be more proud. She had tried her best to fulfill all her daughter's necessities but there were somethings that she could never give her daughter, one of which was father's love. Another call from her precious daughter broke her chain of thoughts. After turning off the fire, she made her way to the bedroom while shaking her head in disapproval.

"Ridhima, you need to start taking care of your stuff yourself. How would I know where your diary is? Look at this mess! Your books are all over the bed and your clothes all scattered on the floor, and what's up with the bed? At least make you bed!" said Mrs. Gupta while tightening the bed sheet.

Ridhima rolled her eyes at her over dramatic mom. Yelling at her had become short of a stress reliever for her mom. Ridhima was not the careless teenager. Once in a while her room would look like a pig's sty but it was clean most of the time. She was a busy student; she was taking 4 Advanced Placement classes and involved in various clubs and activities including Track and Field. People would often ask her how she managed all that and why she wanted to burden herself so much. However for her, it wasn't burden; she loved all those AP classes and she was extremely thirsty to fulfill her dreams and become successful. Her hard work had paid off when she had received the acceptance letter from Harvard. She had cried reading the letter, "We are delighted to inform you..." All those years of hard work had been paid off through those mere words. She smiled at the same letter that was sticking out from her diary.

"Mom, never mind I found it. It was under the bed."

She pulled out the red leather notebook with a small lock attached to it. One of her aunt had given it to her on her 11th birthday, just few months before she left for the States.

She moved towards her mom who was now arranging her clothes while murmuring her complains about Ridhima's carelessness. She hugged mom from the back and kissed her cheeks.

"Don't worry mom. I will be fine. I will call you once a week. You can give a call too whenever you want."

The drop for tear that threatened to spill, finally made it's way down her cheeks and she held onto her daughter's hands for support.

"I know you will be fine but it's just that I'm going to miss you," saying this Mrs. Gupta turned around and engulfed her gem in her arms. She cried softly letting all her pain wash away through her tears because she knew that this might be the last time she would cry with her daughter underneath the same roof.

She remembered the morning when Ridhima had told her about her decision. Her eyes were puffy and red. The dark circles underneath her eyes and stain of tears on her cheeks were proofs how she had spent the whole night crying.

"Mom, I love you but I cannot live with him under the same roof. I had expected so much from him. I had taken him as my hero. I had so many dreams and hopes and he just crushed all of them. Once, I'm done with high school I will go away and I will never return. I will come to meet you but not where he is." That time, she had hugged Ridhima and promised her that she would support her.

She wiped her tears and while cupping Ridhima's cheeks she said, "I trust you more than I trust myself and I love you. Whatever decision you take I will always be there to support you. "

Edited by cornelia - 12 years ago

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cornelia

@cornelia

Explorer

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

ok since I'm so bored right now and sleep is far away, I'm writing next part as well. Just to point out something, I don't know anything about Harvard except it's one of the top ivy league schools so everything I write here is merely based on my imagination. Harvard is merely a name of this big University that Ridhima attends. Ok, so here it goes...

Part 2 (New Friend in New Place)

James smiled looking at the young girl sitting in his taxi. She looked little young to be a college student with her slight chubby cheeks and the innocence that was radiant on her face. He looked from the rear view mirror and their eyes collided. She gave him a sweet smile and he smiled back.

"Moving in to college?" asked James.

"How did you know?" questioned the surprised Ridhima.

"No, just a guess by looking at your three suitcases and the address you gave me." James looked up at her through the rear view mirror while showing her his dimples.

"Yes I am going to Harvard college."

"Why did you give me the long address. You could have told me the name. It's one of the most popular schools. Oh wait...you thought a driver like me wouldn't have the slightest idea about it, did't you?"

Ridhima felt her cheeks burning feeling embarrassed, "No, I didn't mean it that way."

James cut her off in between, "No, it's alright. It happens with people like us."

She didn't know what to say. She would never judge people like that. She herself didn't give it much of a thought. She thought to apologize even though she didn't mean to hurt his feelings intentionally.

"I'm sorry. I don't--" before she could complete her apology, she heard James laugh out loudly. He must have lost it, thought Ridhima as she saw him laugh while holding his stomach as he stopped the taxi in the red signal.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry. I was just pulling your leg." On seeing the frown on her face, he continued, "Please don't get mad. I was just trying to ease you up a little bit. By the way, I'm James." He turned around to shake his hands with Ridhima.

She finally got the opportunity to look at the man's feature who in actual was merely a guy. She had seen his grey eyes through the rear view mirror but hadn't witnessed his muscular hands. His skin was dark, rough, and young. Another thing, she realized he was tall and big like one of those football players in her high school. She was a curious creature who just couldn't contain her curiosity within herself, and hence she asked, "You are so young. Don't you go to school?"

He let out a chuckle and said, "Yes, I do go to college but I don't think I look so young considering I'm a senior about to graduate this year."

"No, I didn't mean so young but you know, you look too young to be-"

"Be what? a cab driver? Why are so judgmental on-"

"Oh please, will we stop with that!" shrieked Ridhima while putting her hand in her forehead and rolling her eyes.

Both of them laughed and she didn't realize when they reached the iron caste gate of Harvard. She paid James and didn't know if it would be awkward to ask him for his number. As she stepped down, she heard James's voice, "Hey, Riddhi, I'll see you around okay?"

He winked and left the confused Ridhima to ponder upon he had just said.

She was assisted by the former students with their boards saying "welcome to Harvard" Everyone seemed friendly and nice. They all helped her and other freshmen to move their belongings to their respective dorm rooms. She smiled thinking about her new life, the new beginning.

Edited by cornelia - 12 years ago

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cornelia

@cornelia

Explorer

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

Part 3 (Weird)

There was a day left before the classes started. Her room mate had moved in later in the evening. Ridhima knew from the moment her roommate gave her the you-stay-away-from-me look, that they were not going to hit off well. Hence, she decided that it would be better to mind her own business.

She knew it from the beginning that she will have to work and her passion for running would have to be sacrificed. She had searched for good paying jobs in and out of campus before hand. The best among them was "Richie's" which served all kinds of food with alcohol. It was just a block away from her dorm house. Today when she went for her interview, she loved the decorations and the aroma of the cozy restaurant. The friendly smile from the chef and other staff members confirmed to her that she was going to enjoy working at this place. Hence, when her interview had been successful and she got the job, she did the happy dance in her mind. Once out of the restaurant she called her mom to give good news and as usual her sentimental mom had told her how proud she is with her teary voice.

She wanted to celebrate with someone but she didn't know anyone, so she decided to chat with Anjali for a while. It was around late 10 O'clock and Anjali had gone offline because apparently she needed her beauty sleep. Ridhima smiled to herself thinking about her over girly friend. Anjali was extremely pretty. Hence whenever they would go somewhere, Ridhima would notice guys checking her out.

She checked the time and groaned with annoyance. She was trying to sleep but sleep wasn't coming easily as she was missing her comfortable bed at home. She looked at the bed on the other corner of the room. It was weekend so her roommate had probably gone to party. Well, she was part of the sorority group but Ridhima couldn't understand why the college didn't have a separate housing for these party people like other colleges. Then probably she would have gotten a better room mate.

She was about to turn on the lights, when she heard giggles followed by whispers. Then a little light cracked in as the door was opened by a tall figure. It was still not bright enough for Ridhima to see who it was. All she could make out was a guy holding a girl by her shoulder as she looked like she was going to collapse any second.

Ridhima realized that he was struggling while searching for the light. She took pity on the poor fellow and turned on the lamp on her table next to her bed. After laying her wasted roommate on the bed, he turned around to thank her when he stopped and kept staring at her face.

Ridhima looked at him confused. He had a smile on his lips and he started walking towards her bed. She didn't know what to do but she found herself lost of words.

"What's wrong with this dude? Why is he looking at me so weirdly? Such, a creep." thought Ridhima as the guy advanced towards her.

"Hey dude, what are you doing? What do you want? Stay away from me!" she had to stop him before he did something wrong to her with her drunk room mate.

He kept moving with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He bent down to her bed, his face just inches away from hers.He brought his hand closer towards her hair and gently brought it back infront of her. Realization dawned upon her she saw the white moth struggling in between his fingers. Feeling her cheeks burning under his intense gaze, she looked down in embarrassment.

The guy lifted her head with his finger and looked into her honey brown eyes. He had seen many brown eyes but none of them had so much emotions in them as these. None of them were as beautiful as these; none of them attracted him as much as these did. He showed her his dimples once again while walking back towards the door. Before closing the door, he turned around, directing his gaze back towards the confused Ridhima and said, "Thanks for the light. By the way, the name's Armaan Mallik."

Ridhima was utterly confused. She didn't no what to make out of it all. She had to admit that he was indeed one of the most good looking guys she had come upon but the way he looked at her made her question his stability of mind. She shrugged her shoulders and went to sleep before murmuring to herself, "So, weird!"

Edited by cornelia - 12 years ago

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sai

@KaSh-Maneet-Fan

Stunner

+ 4

Posted: 12 years ago

Hiii...congrats on da new ff... Interesting concept...awesome update...loved it...loved da entry of armaan...can't wait 4 more...con soon...thanks 4 da pm

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cornelia

@cornelia

Explorer

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

Part 4

"I don't go too crazy but I try to take care of myself, you know?"

She nodded her head and smiled at her new friend Karen who had three out of 5 classes with her. They had hit off instantly and Karen had asked her if she would like go for a jog with her.

They were taking a light jog when a familiar voice called them from behind. It was the same weird guy who had dropped her drunk roommate to their room. She scrunched her eyebrows while looking at him.

"Hi ladies!" said Armaan in his usual flirty voice.

Karen replied back with an extra sweet hello and a little blush. Ridhima just ignored him and kept jogging. She found it awkward the way he just popped out of no where and started talking to Karen as if they were already friends. He wasn't just talking, he was flirting with her and she was flirting back.

"I don't know why am I so annoyed," thought Ridhima.

At one point Armaan had looked at Ridhima and asked Karen if she doesn't talk. Karen had replied back saying, "No, she does but not that much."

She wanted the jog to be over because she felt like she was invisible. They were passing through the library when one of Armaan's friends called him up, "Hey dude, I need to talk to you."

Armaan bid farewell to both girls and went to his friend. Ridhima noticed the creases on Karen's forehead when she had seen Armaan's friend.

"You okay? You don't like that guy, do you?" she asked Karen.

"His name is Max. I went to high school with him. He was one of those jocks and I was the nerd. Oh, and you know the guy I has talking to earlier? the one who jogged with us?"

"Armaan?"

"Yeah, well, he went to the same high school as me too but he hardly noticed me. Him, max and their crew were the hotties of the school. Armaan and Max were the only smart ones though. Isn't he so hot? You know, he is half Italian half Indian."

Ridhima made a face but agreed with Karen.

"Yeah he is hot but he is kind of weird."

Karen raised her eyebrows in amusement as Ridhima told her about the incident in her dorm room.

Edited by cornelia - 12 years ago