CHAPTER 12It was night when we returned to Dhanaulti. After one tiring journey both Mukti and Soha left for their homes. Two days for the Ball went away in a giffy, it was tonight and our young guys were still pondering over what to wear. Aryaman seeked my help while Mukti and Soha helped Abhimanue and Madhyam respectively. " What do you think? A tie or a bow?" Aryaman asked me for the 10 time now." Aryaman i told you, bow is good but i personally like ties.Bows make guys look like waiters." He looked at me from the mirror and replied," Ok yeah i agree, but bow is classy and elegant, and tie would seem so out of place in a Victorian Masquerade Ball Nandini, i think bow is better, what do you think." I glared at him,"Aryaman we've been having this tie or bow debate since one hour now. Every time you ask me this question i give you the same reply that i prefer ties and then you would explain me the importance of a bow in a Victorian Masquerade Ball. If you want me to choose bow, then tell me i will do it." He passed me a sheepish expression and then chuckled," Yeah you are right, you know what i think i will buy both of them." I sighed a relief when Aryaman came to a conclusion, shopping with him was even worse than Mukti. It was already afternoon and the Ball was supposed to start around 6 in the evening. Aryaman proposed to drop me home and i happily accepted it. "So here we are, your stop Madame." said Aryaman with a fake British accent. I laughed at his silly acts and came out of his car but he stopped me in between," Nandini...do save me a dance tonight." he winked at me and then drove away. I smiled at his flirty ways and came inside my house." You are his date Nandini, but that doesnt count as an excuse to be late." I fumbled with the door knock because of the sudden noise and turned around to meet Mukti." Ohh God Mukti! you scared the hell out of me." Bahadur bhaiya was going to have it from me now, i mean he always let my friends in at whatever time they wish to. Its not like thats a bad thing but giving them a spare key to my house is just heights. "Nandini hoe can you be so irresponsible, you know right its the Ball today, and we have Soha to get ready, how could you be so late even then." Mukti said with horror written on her face, i dont know what was it with this Ball, everyone is so obsessed with it. Ignoring Mukti's continous chatter i reached my room. Our dresses were lying on the bed and everything was ready." Now lets start with the most difficult of all, Soha" I chuckled at her remark. Well getting Soha dressed was indeed really difficult, we had to persuade her for 1 hour to take all her piercings out. She always wore that thick kohl around her eyes, removing which was one hell of a task. Soha was a really pretty girl, but the way she dressed always brought her beauty down. Mukti instructed me to untangle her hair and brush it; she got a big box of clips once i was done with it and started off with her hair. No doubt Mukti was one hell of a girl which great patients and eyes which loved to take in beauty. She made Soha's hair into a messy, thick side pleat. That thin layer of kohl on her eyes, the mascara and not to forget the black smoky eye-shadow made Soha look like an angel. But as expected Soha made a disgusting face when she saw herself which obviously made Mukti mumble some -abuses. Soha's dress was a blue- black beautiful Victorian gown with an intriguing masquerade.
SOHA'S DRESS:
SOHA'S MASQUERADE:
Mukti had decided a peach-black masquerade gown for herself and let her down. She needed no help to get ready. Her face had a weird attractiveness, she wasnt pretty but her face was attractive.
MUKTI'S MASQUERADE:
MUKTI'S DRESS:
Getting done with herself Mukti got all her attention on me, my makeup was the most attractive one, so was my dress and masquerade. It was a red colour beautiful gown and the masquerade was one eyed. I think that is the reason why Mukti was working so hard on my eye makeup." Mukti why did you select the prettiest dress and masquerade for me. And why are you working so hard on my make up." Mukti who was busy setting me hair into a messy bun replied with pins in her mouth," I had to afterall you are the most popular girl in school now, the only girl whom Manik and group approached, the one who gave a spectacular answer to a teacher and of course, the one who is the date of one of the hottest guy of the school tonight, you had to tell those freaks that you are worth it and that you are more than just a silly name." I smiled at her explanation, she was still a child despite being elder to me in age. But something that caught my eye was the fact that they knew Manik and all approached me, and something more disturbing was, they were not aware of what i answered to Raghav sir. That is why they were so chilled out about the whole buzz around me, and maybe thats why Soha was looking at me like that. I didnt even realise when Mukti was one with my hair. I never knew i could look so beautiful, i knew i was pretty but right now what Mukti did was something that i never expected. I could see a proud smile on her face when she made both her friends together to get a look of how we looked, she was like a proud mother right now.
We didnt even realise when it was already 7 and our phones started to buzz. Aryaman and all were calling us to be there. The school was decorated marvelously. The old and magnificent building looked so new today. It actually felt like we were back to the times when the Irish Brothers first started this tradition. The Ball hall looked like a typical Victorian hall. It had a huge chandelier in the middle with candles rather than bulbs, the rest of the room was illuminated by other smaller chandeliers. The candles gave a dim and romantic light to the Ball room. We entered the hall with Mukti in the front and Soha after her. I was going to enter next but i was so lost in the beauty of the place and i was busy peeping in through the window that in a hurry when i turned around i got my gown tucked with the candle stand. Untangling my gown i rushed towards the enterance and reached the huge door which was now closed. Giving it a push i entered, the door made a creaking sound. I descended down the stairs and was lost in the beauty of the magnificent place
when sudden gasps compelled me to look at the source of the noise and found everyone gaping at me. Everyone was staring at me and this made me conscious. I was already not very comfortable wearing high heals and this unwanted attention just made it worse for me to walk. I could see Mukti standing with the group and grinning like an idiot, composing myself i walked confidently towards my group trying not to fall down. The glitter of my dress was sparkling and i could see Aryaman's shocked face. " Ohh my God!!! It worked, the glitter on your hair is sparkling like stars." Mukti exclaimed in happiness while my eyes popped out with this new information." What!! you sprinkled glitter on my hair!! MUKTI!!!"
She gave me a wide smile in reply." You are looking gorgeous Nandini!!" Abhimanue exclaimed with a huge smile and i smiled like a fool. " She had to, afterall i got her ready."
NANDINI'S DESS:
(ignore the masquerade plz)
NANDINI'S MASQUERADE:
Aryaman was standing right besides Abhimanue and was going to something when a boy, Riley i think dragged him somewhere else. I looked at Madhyam who was standing close to Soha but unlike otherdays, even he had that frustrated look on his face and i knew he wasnt pleased to see me. What is it with these guys, why are they so frustrated to meet me, what is wrong?
I was standing there but my eyes were continously trying to look for the group of that five people who always managed to race my heart and the man in there whose one stare was just enough to make me weak. That constant avoidance that i got from Manik and group was irking me now, i wanted him to look at me, at least for just once. Everyone was dancing and so were my friends. Mukti and Abhimanue were swaying with each other, there was this thing with them, they were just so close to each other but then there was nothing of this sort between them and i knew it but they indeed made a great couple. I saw Madhyam and Soha together dancing, it was a treat watching the firece Soha dancing on soft music. Madhyam and Soha never acted the way Abhimanue and Mukti did but i knew they connected with each other the most. Aryaman was missing and then i saw him dancing with Miss Ince on the stage. I smiled at his flirty nature and went to have a fruit punch. I saw everyone dancing, but Manik and his group were not here.So he avoided the Ball to ignore me, wow!!! I dont know what was wrong with him. I know we shared a kiss and it made things awkward but avoiding me to this extent was not at all ethical. "Thinking about me." I jumped in fear and turned around to find those chocolate brown eyes staring at me. I wasnt expecting him here, not at least now. " Ohh so after ignoring me for five days you finally are here to talk to me, wow!!" He smirked at my statement and replied," I didnt know my avoidance could irk you so much that you would end up dressing up like this to attract me in the Ball. And you've been actually counting days!!" I was embarrassed with his allegations. I really did not dress up to attract him and even he knew this, but he unfortunately caught the fact that i had been counting days. " So you think i am looking attractive huh!!" I threw his trick back at him. He twitched his eyebrows, i know he wasnt expecting this answer from me. I saw him devoid of any excuse this time," Answer me, you think i am looking attractive?" He looked straight into my eyes and without any warning dragged me into the crowd to dance with me. He kept his left hand on my waist and softly caressed my left hand with his right while dancing. I shivered at his such gesture and he smirked again," You respond like this to my touches and then ask me if i found you attractive, what about you?" I closed my eyes when i realise that he again caught me and then looking up replied," You didnt answer my question." I saw his smile vanish at my question, then making a straight face he said," I think we need to maintain distance. Whatever happened there was a mistake, lets mend our relations and make a deal to stay away from each other." His reply took all my energy away, i knew this had to happen, i knew it was a mistake but i wasnt ready yet to accept it. I found my mouth dry up and difficult to reply," You dance with me like this, touch me like that, flirt with me and then say we should not be together! What are you trying to do Manik?" I countered him with a question and i could very well see that he really didnt appreciate my allegations and was not at all happy with my answer. " If you dont like dancing with me you should have told me earlier." What, when did i say that, i just wanted to know what he wanted from me but he took my statement altogether in a different away!! I was going to clear him out what exactly i meant but he instantly spun me with a force that i lost my balance and would have fallen down if Aryaman would not have caught me," Girl i know i asked for a dance with you but that didnt mean you would fall like this into my arms." I smiled at his joke and looked behind slightly to see if Manik was still there but he had disappeared into the thin air. I looked back at Aryaman and his smiling face once again came as a sunshine for me," Ohh thank you my knight and shining armour." I joked with him, there was something about Aryaman that always made me forget my worries." Well that is me for sure, you know the knight and shining armor for every damsel in distress." I giggled at his dramatic way of flirting,"And this damsel is surely a beautiful one." I felt nice when he called me beautifuland i think i blushed a little, i think the lines were getting clear now, Manik was an attraction, not Aryaman. "Well thank you my knight, and i must say this knight made my day beautiful by dancing with me." Aryaman knew i was doing what he had been doing with me, flirt and in a healthy way. He smiled at me and i did the same." Listen Nandini, wait outisde i will bring us some drinks." Aryaman replied after some minutes and i nodded, even i was really really thirsty by now. I was standing outside i the garden when i felt someone grab my hands and something weird happened. A kind of series of flashbacks rushed through my eyes. I felt like i was re-living my past and then suddenly the scene stopped for a second where Manik and i were entering that old house and he was narrating me the Irish Brothers story. The film stopped and i realised that the person had dragged me to the forest by now, it took me sometime to realise that it was someone i knew." I knew it, i knew it you had met those dogs because no other person knows that story." I looked up and found Madhyam staring into my eyes, his eyes were fierce and his face was really scary." What did you do to me, how did you do that, did you really just made me see my past." I yelled at him, the dark forest and that past incident shook me to the core. " See, i always told you, she would kill us one day but that stupid Aryaman just wouldnt listen to me." I turned my face to right and saw Soha standing there and spitting fire with her eyes. Both Madhyam and Soha were looking dangerous, i was scared to hell. " How did you do that? What are you? Who are you?" I screamed at them but they were just not affected. " You little piece of shit, how dare you meet them, didnt we tell you to stay away from them." Soha remarked with disgust, i was scared and i could feel that burning sensation again, it was getting really fierce, i wanted to defend myself but that heat in my body just did something to me that i just could not understand what to say," Listen Nandini, you better stay away from them otherwise it is gonna get bad for you and i swear no one would be there to help you, do you get that." Madhyam screamed his lungs out at me. Just a second back i was scared as a lamb, but with that increasing burning sensation i could feel my anger rise, it was my life and i had every right to choose the people i wanted to say with." Do not yell at me. It is my life and i would decide the people i want to be with, you both have no say in that. Now tell me, hoe did you do that. How the hell did you see my past Madhyam, What are you, tell me otherwise..." I knew somewhere whatever i was doing was wrong, i was literally shouting at people i knew had supernatural powers, Madhyam just saw my past and fighting with them could mean danger for me, but even when i wanted to stop myself i just couldnt. I was saying things i didnt want to, the burning sensation increased like hell and i literally felt i was gonna burn if i didnt cool down my anger, but to my horror Soha pushed me and replied," Otherwise what huh! what will you do." Soha was continously pushing me and i felt i was going to burst and just when she pushed me for the last time i felt myself burst out, a white flash of light passed through my eyes and i heard Aryaman shouting," Soha no!!!!" and as soon as i opened my eyes again what i saw sacred me. There was fire everywhere, Soha had fallen down and Madhyam was trying to maintain distance from me, i saw Aryaman, Abhimanue and Mukti run towards me, but something that made shiver run down my spine was the realisation that all the light in the forest was coming from. I raised my hand to get the shock of my life, i felt no pain but there was fire on my hands, my hands were burning...i was burning!!!!!
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
