When all is Torn (AR) - Ch 1 (Pg 1) 19/9

PROLOGUE

The air around turned cold and she felt a shiver pass down her spine. Her claustrophobia caught up with her, and the fact that she was trapped in an open ground with no walls in hundred meter radius did not help. She felt like a prey that was being chased down before the predator would make a final move. It was fun of the chase the latter was enjoying before the big kill. She ran as hard as her feet allowed, not looking back in the process as she entered the jungle.

Frantically waving both hands to push aside the bunch of leaves all around, she managed to reach the clear area, only to realize fate was really out to get to her. Barely stopping an inch away from the edge of the cliff and sensing danger right behind her, she gave into the unsteadiness of her body and made the fall.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. She had always imagined falling this way would set her body free from all inhibitions and restrictions. She would go down in a consistent manner until she had her own big-bang' with the ground. She would see and recall all that was dear to her in the face of death. Her whole life would flash in front of her life in those few milliseconds.

But she was experiencing nothing like that. It was all different - she definitely wasn't going down smooth. The quivers she felt in her body could've given the biggest tornados a run for their money. She felt like the epicenter of an earthquake that was out to take down the whole earth.

With a sudden jerk she was pulled back from her thoughts as she crashed hard into reality. She could hear a distorted voice calling out right next to her, but it seemed too distant she didn't even bother to make sense of it. All she could gather was the person in front of her. 'Hello! Can you hear me? Are you even listening? I have been calling you since the past five minutes. Earth to...' the words fell deaf on her ears and before she knew it, she was running. She ran at a speed she never thought she could and didn't look back until the whole thing seemed like a distant nightmare that was farther than she could imagine.

Ezbee

CHAPTER 1 - Start of Something New

SCENE 1

The early morning rays enveloped the surroundings with the sun's gentle smile. The air was filled with anticipation, eagerness, nervousness, hopes and dreams - after all it was the first day of college again. It was the only day that would see students coming in before time for the classes. After today, being late would trend like a summer fashion.

Students flocked through the gates, their eyes panning all around, looking at who all had changed or not and searching for familiar faces, especially their close ones. They had a myriad of emotions, curiosity standing out all the others, clouding their persona and controlling their behaviour to an extent they didn't even realise.

Two girls passed by, talking in rushed whispers as they stole glances of a group of boys nearby. Another girl came in; she looked down as she walked into the building with a sad look on her face. Three boys came patting each other's back and hi-fiving as their faces displayed the hints of the latest pranks they'd been up to. They were closely followed by two other guys who were busy in an apparently important discussion.

The spectacled guy frowned at something the other one said who pulled up the shades to his head. The latter furrowed his brows in deep concentration before he spoke. He seemed to have nailed it because the former immediately shut up and looked ahead as he restrained himself from any further argument.

They had barely walked a few feet when a ball came flying out of nowhere and knocked the shades off the guy's face.

He stopped in his tracks to pick up and examine the now broken glass. The clenching of his teeth was visible even from the distance. With his fists balled up, he turned to look at the source of his attacker.

A wave of realisation covered his face as recognition of his attacker hit him. The duo walked towards each other without the display of any emotion and stood face to face for a good five minutes. People knew the moment of fight had passed off and they continued towards their classes, except for the spectacled guy who followed his friend.

"I didn't think we were going to meet again, ever," he said as he pocketed his now broken shades.

"You're still all kinds of a dramatic queen, aren't you Raoool?" The attacker smirked.

Rahul instantly leaped forward right when his spectacled friend jumped ahead to hold him back.

"Let go of me Atul. I'll show him what happens when the dramatic queen turns into an action hero," Rahul struggled under Atul's firm grasp.

"Dude! You don't want trouble on the first day back. We're here for something important right?" Atul pulled back his wriggling friend to get a distance from the other guy. His words seemed to have an immediate effect as Rahul had stopped moving, and instead taken a step back. He looked at Atul who gave him an assuring nod as both the guys turned to leave.

"Tch tch tch! You haven't changed one bit Raoool. Turning your back at things is what you've always done best," he tilted his head with an evil grin and slyly pocketed his hands.

Rahul stopped as anger crawled throughout his body. He took a deep breath as Atul gently squeezed his shoulder. He looked back, but his face was void of all emotion.

"It's the curious case of the pot calling the kettle black, but glad to know you haven't changed one bit either. We may be the same people but the situation is way different now," he hissed as the guy's smile grew wider.

"Let me spell out the ground rules for you - don't cross my path and stay as far as you can. You do not mess with me Armaan Mallik, you don't get to mess with me anymore," Rahul finished and saw Atul jerk his head so fast he might have sprained a muscle or two. With a flabbergasted Atul following him closely, Rahul took long strides towards the college building making every effort not to break something, or someone.

"This is going to be so much fun," Armaan shook his head in smugness.

SCENE 2

Rahul paced up and down in the empty classroom, muttering every profanity known to mankind. Three pair of eyes bulging out of their sockets stared at him as he abused the soles of his shoes. They communicated through their eyes to come up with a plan to dispel Rahul's craziness, but no one wanted to bell the cat. Finally Atul dared to make a move.

"So I'm guessing you're upset," Atul took a step ahead and patted Rahul's shoulder, only to squirm back to his place at the threatening glare he received. He looked pleadingly at the curly haired girl next to him but she only shrugged and went back to settle down on one of the chairs.

"Muskaan, you're such a traitor," he muttered before turning to smile at the tall girl on his left.

"Nope! I'm on neutral grounds for this one. Sorry sweetie," Anjali kissed him on his cheek before she joined Muskaan at the back. Atul now turned to the last person in the room, who'd been least affected by the whole situation and who was also perhaps his best shot at getting Rahul to calm down. He looked at her only to find her sitting on the desk, chewing her gum and browsing on her phone. He moved towards her but stopped when she immediately lifted her head to look straight at him. He looked at her pleadingly and went to join the other two when she nodded at him in assurance.

Riddhima shut her phone and pocketed it. She looked first at Atul and then at a still furiously pacing Rahul.

"No one needs help here, especially not Rahul. I think he's doing fine. No Armaan or whoever can rattle Rahul out of his mind, right Raoool?" she walked to stand in his way as he suddenly halted to avoid collision. He looked at her as confusion replaced anger and there was an inch of sadness in his eyes.

"Look Rahul. We get it; you're majorly pissed off and probably want to behead someone right now. But walking left and right in this room, blowing off the steam like this isn't going to help anyone. Armaan is here and you've got to face him despite not wanting to. We don't know why he is here, but if you're not ready to seek answers from him, make peace with his presence." She held him by the shoulders. "Moreover, we're all here for you." She earned a small smile out of him.

"The orientation is scheduled for 11 today. I think we should go and prepare for it," she said and everyone nodded. Rahul decided to go check out the technical system while Anjali left the room with Muskaan. Atul was the last to leave with Riddhima, as he mouthed a soft thank-you and happily slung his arm around her neck.

SCENE 3

Armaan walked into the canteen and grabbed the empty table at the farthest end. A skinny lad in blue, whose face was barely visible under his black cap, promptly took his order before disappearing into the space behind the counter. He sat straight, his eyes keenly scanning the room. It was filled with people exchanging their exciting tales and the others listening to them with equal fervour.

His eyes landed on the empty chairs next to him and a gloom ran through him. He suddenly missed all of his friends. They weren't the best of friends one could hope for, but at least their presence never let him feel alone.

As the memory passed away, his eyes flitted to another scene in front of him. A guy was headed towards a table with a tray of food in his hand - which was nothing out of the ordinary, except Armaan had noticed something out of place. Another group had settled closer to the counter, giggling and smirking. He followed their line of vision that shuffled from the food laden tray to another guy on the table who, oblivious of the world around, was deeply engrossed in his book.

Without wasting a second, Armaan grabbed the ketchup bottle on the table, leaned downwards and rolled the bottle towards the scene, bowling style. His sandwiches and coffee were placed on the table just then. He picked those, kept the money and made a hurried exit from the door right next to him, the bottle of ketchup still sliding when he last saw it.

SCENE 4

Armaan examined the product of his handiwork and frowned. The now empty cup stood tall, a straw twisted around its neck and a pair of black dots in place of the eyes. Contradictory to his wish, he couldn't bring himself to draw a curved pair of lips and had ended up having to make do with a single straight line.

He felt a sudden weight on his shoulder and what followed next was nothing less than a mystery for two sets of eyes that had just joined the scene.

Armaan had been caught by surprise and he had acted in a way that came naturally to him. Holding the unknown hand and raising himself on his knees, he'd thrown over the person only to come thudding down in front of him.

Armaan was now prowled on one knee in an attack mode as the guy lay flat on his stomach, groaning, while the other stood a few steps away, his eyes clenched in fear. A few minutes had passed before Armaan calmed down his chaotic nerves and helped the guy off the ground.

"I am sorry", he muttered as the guy looked at him like he had horns.

Armaan saw him brush the dust off his jeans as the other guy came and stood next to them. He looked past them as the duo seemed fixated with him. He really must look like an alien from the other planet.

His frustration had reached borderline, which was thankfully when the guy he had almost disjointed found his voice.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier."

Armaan narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Kay here told me that you were the one who'd sent the ketchup bottle that caused Rishi to go flying in the canteen," he pointed to the skinny guy next to him.

Armaan nodded in realisation as it finally made sense to him.

"You're welcome," Armaan turned to leave when the guy rushed to block him.

"Hey wait. That's not all. I was wondering if...you know...you're new to the college and I can see you don't know anyone," he said. Armaan scowled to see him pointing towards the coffee cup that he had been working on. "Do you want to be...I mean we can be friends?" he finally finished as he brought his hand for a shake.

Armaan gave him a once over and thought back to the empty chairs in the canteen. The guy seemed harmless, and nice.

"Okay," he said with a smile as they shook hands.

"Great then!" The guy said in a little more than required enthusiasm as his arm rested on Armaan's neck. "I am Dhruv Chopra, and this is Keshav Ghosh," he added with a squeal, pointing to the skinny guy who had till now been a silent spectator. Armaan gave him a cursory nod before he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Have we met before, you look quite familiar?" he asked.

"Now now my dear friend, homeboy here only swings the right way," Dhruv said as his either arm rested across Armaan and Keshav's shoulders, as the duo in turn looked at him with clueless expression. "I mean Kay here wouldn't respond very positively to your cheap pick up line because..." he was unable to finish as both the guys pushed his arm away at the same time.

"Shut up Dhruv" and "Shut up Dee" rang in unison. Dhruv looked sheepishly at them while the guys looked at him with murder in their eyes.

"Hi, I'm Keshav and we met earlier in the canteen when I took your order," he smiled. Armaan took Keshav's held out hand and nodded in realisation.

"Oh yes, I remember now. I am Armaan Mallik. I'm starting first year of Masters of Architecture."

"How cool is that? You're going to be our classmate. It will be so much fun." Dhruv beamed at them.

The bell rang indicating the students to move towards the auditorium. As they walked, Keshav told Armaan that he was studying here on a scholarship and worked part time in the canteen. Armaan inquired about the earlier drama in the canteen. Dhruv opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as soon as he'd started. Armaan had noticed Keshav pass a glare from the corner of his eye but he decided not to question him any further. Dhruv diverted the conversation by talking about how the orientation was a boring event.

Armaan was still importing the fact that this was going to be nothing more than a formal welcome by the Dean, when he felt something hit him in the chest. Everyone was surprised to see him standing, as he'd stumbled back a step and balanced himself. The girl who'd bumped into him wasn't so lucky. The sudden collision caused her to fall back when Armaan grabbed her arm in time to break her fall. Suspended mid-air with only his hand holding onto her, the girl's eyes widened as she simultaneously pleaded him not to let go of her.

Just few seconds had passed before Armaan jerked her arm and she hit his chest. That was the moment when another figure came running towards them, followed by two others, who came to a standstill at the sight, making no effort to hide their shock. An uncomfortable silence permeated through the air as Dhruv and Keshav looked from Armaan to the girl in his arms to the three shocked faces. Finally Armaan awkwardly moved the girl away and took a step towards the couple who'd entered last, and hugged the girl.

Anjali let go of her shock and hugged Armaan back. He leaned back a little and saw her smile causing his face to break into a huge grin.

"I knew you'd be happy to see me."

" am happy to see you, but I am mad at you as well. You know..." She was interrupted when the bell screeched in their ears. "We'll talk about it later. The Dean doesn't take lightly to rule-breaking. Let's go." She said patting his back and walked away. Armaan noticed everyone from his earlier encounter had walked in, except for Keshav and Dhruv who looked at him with question filled eyes.

"Later guys, apparently your Dean won't approve us entering late." He said with a smile as the trio moved inside and sat themselves.

The orientation was nothing different from what Armaan expected. The Dean welcomed them all and talked about the boring stuff - their college was one of the best and offered only the best. The students were expected to make outstanding achievements in their academics, cultural and personal lives as well. Armaan had zoned out sooner than expected. He raised his neck to spot Anjali in the crowd, but she was nowhere to be seen. Next to him Keshav was all ears to the Dean, while Dhruv was busy being clawed down and eaten by the monstrous bear on his phone. Armaan contemplated between telling Dhruv that he sucked at Temple Run or not, and then let it go.

-Ez