Fated to be with you - Chapter 12: BEST-DAY-EVER?? - Page 6

Very nice😃
Loved the 'jhakkas nahi,jack-ass' bit,actually laughed out loud 😆
and when he twirled her at the end😳
Hate cliffhangers but understand the need for them😃
Thank for the pm and hope you update soon!

Also,nice song choices😃

This was awesome, can you please pm the update! :)

fantastic writing yaar :) :) n thanks a ton for updating so quickly!!

Dr,we r waiting 4 ur update. Where r u? Plz update soon.

hyy ur FF is soo nice n diffrent!!

Good job, please pm the updates :)

aww I hate cliff-hangers :( But can't wait for the next part! :)

Hey everyone! thanks for all the posts and replies. Here's Chapter 5. Slightly lengthy, cz I took more time writing it.

Chapter 5 – STUPID

"What's this?" Arohi heard Gurpreet's voice as if from miles away. But it broke the stupor that had been induced by Arjun's gaze and closeness. She quickly looked away from his face. Arjun straightened up, bringing her up against his chest.

"Guys I'm not in the mood to tolerate nonsense like this! Pehle toh both of you dance like robots and now you're doing your own steps!"

Arohi hurriedly pushed away from Arjun, and started adjusting her t-shirt and fussing with her hair, before mumbling a quiet, "Sorry," at Gurpreet.

Arjun, however, seemed far from sorry. "Tu bhi yaar, Gurpreet. Pura mood set kar liya tha. I was teaching this madam here, ki chemistry kise kehte hain." Then he turned towards Arohi and said with a chuckle, "Aur ye bhi ki main jis ladki ke saath chahu, chemistry create kar sakta hu."

Arohi stood absolutely still, the warm fuzzy glow in her chest chilled as if doused with ice-cold water. Arjun was just fooling around and trying to get back at her, but she, what was she doing?

Trying to compose herself, she quickly said, "Big deal. You didn't fool me for a second!"

Arjun tilted his head and looked at her with a disbelieving smirk.

"I just played along, that's all. You think you can work you non-existent charms on me? Dream on!" Arohi folded her arms; feeling oddly satisfied when she saw his smirk disappear and a confused look take its place. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought he actually looked a bit hurt. But now she knew better.

"Okay, if you guys are sorted, let's carry on," instructed Gurpreet.

"Yes, we're fine," said Arohi, looking at Arjun with a calm smile. "Aren't we?"

"Y-yes. We are," he nodded looking slightly muddled.

The next one hour, Arohi danced with a plastic smile, though it was good enough to convince Gurpreet.

However, Arjun got scolded a lot because he kept mixing up his steps. Serves him right, thought Arohi. Around 8 pm, everyone was too tired to dance anymore, so Gurpreet let them all go. Arohi quickly left, not even waiting for Shefali or Simmi.

Back at home, she showered and changed into an old tee and sweatpants. After dinner, when she was helping to clear the table, her mother asked, "Arohi beta, you're very quiet today. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing Ma, just a little tired."

Later, she sat on her bed with her diary, chewing one end of her pen with furious intensity. Even though there was a lot to write today, she just couldn't find the words.

"I've danced with a lot of boys before. But never this closely. And never with a boy that I dislike so much. This Arjun guy, he irritates me so much! I found him annoying from day one. I think God hates me because I don't go to the temple regularly. That's why Gurpreet pair me up with that Sadiyal. Why is he so mean to me? He doesn't even know me, then how can he already dislike me? Do I really look so awful?? And to think I almost wanted him to..." She slammed the diary shut. What was wrong with her? She had to stop thinking about the bugger!

But she was still thinking about the various smart answers she could have given him, when she finally fell asleep.

The entire next week, Arohi barely said a word to Arjun. There were occasions when she thought he was going to speak to her, but to her relief (and disappointment) he did not. This affected their coordination and dance so much that Gurpreet was on the verge of giving up on them. She had sensed the tension between the two, but she was willing to give it a final shot.

"Okay guys," she said after a demanding practice on Saturday evening. "We've slogged all week, how about we go out and chill for some time?" The suggestion was met by loud cheers. "Don't get excited, it's nothing very special, we'll save that up for when we win. Right now we're just going to the Baskin Robbins around the corner and getting some scoops. It's gonna be on the house, out of our student activity fund. Wotsay guys?"

Everyone was up and about in less than a minute. Arohi was going to opt out, but Shefali and the gang dragged her along.

The group created a huge commotion at the parlour, with everyone calling out for flavours all at once, even when there was clearly not enough staff to serve them all simultaneously. One by one, people found places to perch on, and in some time everybody was happily busy with their ice creams and friends.

Arohi found place to sit beside Shefali, and when she dug into her Bavarian chocolate scoop, she was glad that she had come along. Smiling happily for the first time in the entire day, she leaned against the railing behind her and joined the animated discussion going on beside her. Once or twice, her eyes flitted to the group sitting closeby, Arjun's group. She noticed with some surprise that he had ordered butterscotch. How boring. Butterscotch was like the new vanilla. She'd never order it if she had so many options to pick from! Not only was Arjun a rude person, he was also a boring fellow.

"Haha... Arohi, sunn ye kya keh raha hai," Shefali was laughing at something Romit had said, and trying to get Arohi's attention, she pulled at her arm. In doing so, she managed to upturn the ice cream cup Arohi was holding.

"Off-oh! Shefali dekh kya kiya tune! You spilt all my ice cream!!" Arohi yelled and stood up quickly, trying to avoid getting the ice cream on herself. But in vain. The front of her white cotton top had gooey brown splotches all over it. In disgust and irritation, she flung her empty cup away. To her horror, it landed upside down on an olive-colored jacket lying on the concrete bench at some distance from her, the remaining ice cream in the cup dripping onto it.

"Oh no," she groaned.

"Sorry yaar, so sorry," Shefali was saying, looking worried. "You can have my ice cream."

"Arre I don't want your ice cream. Just look at all the mess," Arohi pointed at herself, then picked up the dirtied jacket as Shefali threw the cup into a trashcan.

Arohi tried getting the stains off the jacket with a damp tissue, but it didn't work at all. She was going to ask who's jacket it was when she heard someone say, "If you were so angry at me, you should've just told me, why take it out on my jacket?"

Before she looked in his direction, Arohi knew it was Arjun. Managing as much dignity as she could in her currently soiled and hassled state, she replied, "I didn't do it on purpose. In fact, I didn't even know it was your jacket!"

"Are you telling me you've not seen me wear it?" Arjun asked her, looking amused.

"Are you implying that I'm supposed to monitor what you wear everyday and memorize it?" she retorted.

Arjun rolled his eyes. "Fine! Just give it back now," he said and held out his hand.

But she couldn't give it back in this state. She'd got chocolate stains over his expensive Calvin Klein jacket. "No, I'll get it dry-cleaned and return it."

"I can get that done, too. Will you just return it?"

"That's my fault it's dirty and I'll return it once it is clean."

Arjun shrugged. "Okay, do as you wish." Before walking away he said, "Rakh mat lena."

Before she could retort, he had joined his gang. Yeah right, I'll keep it and rip it to pieces; that's what I'll do, thought Arohi.

"Where's my jacket? Seems like you've really kept it," scoffed Arjun on a late Tuesday evening post the practice. Gurpreet had taught new steps and Arjun and Arohi were made to stay back an extra half hour due to their usual lack of synchronization.

"It's still at the cleaners'. I'm supposed to pick it up today," Arohi clarified, stuffing her stole into her bag.

"Today? It's already 9 o'clock."

"All thanks to you!"

"Hey listen, it's not my fault that you won't look at me when we dance."

It SO is, Arohi thought.

"Oh nevermind," she said. "The place is open till 10 and I'm picking up your jacket right away."

"Don't be a dhakkan. It's late for a girl to roam about. Give me the receipt. I'll pick it up myself," Arjun countered.

Arohi was a little surprised at his concern. "Actually, the thing is that I lost the receipt. So I'll have to go personally so that he recognizes me and gives the jacket."

Arjun shook his head in disbelief. "You really are a basket-case."

"Hey, I don't regularly misplace things," Arohi defended.

"And you also don't usually go around being clumsy and ruining other people's clothes,' Arjun said in a mocking half-smile. "Just decided you didn't like my jacket, right?"

"Enough, now I'm leaving. Bye," Arohi started walking away. When she reached the door, she realized Arjun had followed her.

"What now?"

"You can go tomorrow, you stupid girl." He was leaning against the door, slightly blocking it.

Infuriated at being called stupid, Arohi tried pushing past him. "I'm going now and that's final. Get out of my way."

"Ok, so it's decided."

Arohi looked up at his face. "What?"

Arjun shrugged, "If you're going right now, I'll come with you."

"What??"

"Are you deaf? Come now, my bike's parked at the main gate."

~to be continued~