Arshi FF: Jeene Laga Hoon (NOTE pg. 68) - Page 3

When they reached their stop, the train clanked to a screeching halt. One by one the friends got out, each grabbing their own bags and stretching after the long ride. As they exited the station the men searched a ride to take them to town so they could get something to eat. Lavanya, who was experienced at such acts from her last vacation in New York City, managed to whistle down someone before the guys did. She found a friendly truck driver passing by that was willing to give them a ride. However, they would all have to put their things and sit in the truck since all of them could not fit next to him. The six of them agreed and quickly piled in. The drive to town was calm and scenic. The man drove through empty roads, windy roads, dirt roads, and so on. As the sun set, the landscape of Manali became illuminated with shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. The trees slowly became taller and taller as they rode along. The mountains became a mere silhouette as the sun disappeared behind them. The wind caressed their faces as they reached closer to their destination. Although the roads were initially empty, random people began popping up on the side of the roads, walking towards town. Other trucks and small taxis began driving in the opposite direction. Pretty soon, the gang was greeted by the small village.

It was picturesque. People were out and about, strolling, eating, even napping on haystacks on the sidewalk. Preparations were already beginning for the Holi Festival later that week as signs were being put up and colored powder was being made. As each member paid the friendly man for giving them a ride, the aroma of something delicious intoxicated their senses. Akash was the first to locate the origin of the smell. It was from a local dabba. There were many people in line and sitting around there, so the food must obviously be good. They walked to the dabba, almost entranced by the smell.

NK held onto his stomach, "Oh man, that smells so good! My stomach is growling!"

"Again?" Akash said. "You already ate half of the snacks you brought on the train."

"And mine," Payal said.

"And my sandwiches," Lavanya added.

NK shrugged his shoulders, "I'm a growing boy. I have to stay nourished."

"You are something else," Arnav laughed under his breath.

"Okay, so how about you guys sit and I'll bring the food?" Payal asked.

"That's a lot of food to carry by yourself," Khushi said. "I'll come with you."

"There's no need," Akash spoke. "You guys find a seat. I'll help Payal bring the food."

Khushi nodded. Akash and Payal decided to order for everyone, while the rest of the gang decided to find a table to sit at. As they took a seat, Lavanya began telling Khushi about how she knows Arnav, NK, and Akash.

"It's a funny story actually," she begins. "Remember that farewell party that the school was hosting for all the graduating students? Well, I was there and dancing with some old friends when I got thirsty. I went to get something to drink and I wasn't paying attention. I turned and the drink spilled from my hand and landed on ASR's white shirt! There was just this giant reddish stain right on his chest. I was so embarrassed and I seriously thought he was going to yell, but instead he laughed. It's odd, but I guess our friendship started like that."

"And then one time Nanav's car broke down and you dropped him back at Shantivan," NK said. "That's how you met me and Akash."

"Yeah! Then college and life got in the way. I hadn't really spoken to you guys for almost two whole summers!"

Khushi glanced over at Arnav and found him fiddling with his camera. He was listening to the conversation because as Lavanya continued to tell her side of the story, she found Arnav smirk or shake his head every now and then. Khushi wondered why she hadn't heard of the guys until now. She had been friends with Lavanya for a long time now. Well, then again, Khushi didn't know a lot of people, even if they knew Lavanya.

Arnav looked through the lens of his camera and took a picture of NK and Lavanya, who were sitting next to each other across from him, arguing about who-knows-what. They were so engrossed in their bickering that they hadn't noticed him taking the picture. He then turned to Khushi, who was sitting next to him, watching NK and Lavanya with a smile on her face. Something NK was saying must've been funny because Khushi burst out laughing, flinging her head back without restraint. Arnav captured a few photos, making note to go back and delete the unfocused images. Khushi saw the flash from the camera and shot a surprised look at Arnav, almost like a deer caught in headlights. He looked at her, shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, and then set the camera back in his bag.

"So how do you know La?" he asked her.

"I've known her for awhile now," she replied. "Actually, some girls were picking on me in school. They kept pushing my books down on the ground, forcing me to pick it up over and over again. Lavanya stepped in and stopped them. I guess we've been friends ever since. I actually met Payal through her too."

"Exactly!" Lavanya interrupted. "We are the three musketeers."

"No way!" NK exclaimed. "Nanav, Akash, and I are the three musketeers!"

"No, you're more of a Three Musketeers candy bar."

The statement caused NK to burst out laughing, "I guess I am what I eat!"

Lavanya, Khushi, and Arnav laughed along with NK. This was short-lived by the sight Akash and Payal walking to the table with giants plates of food. The dishes still had steam protruding from them, making everyone's mouth water. Without wasting any time, they all dug in. Within minutes, the plates were practically licked clean. None of them, except NK, realized how hungry they were until they began eating. No one had spoken a word, unless it was to ask someone to pass something. After resting for a few minutes, they got up and slowly waddled away from the dabba. Each of them gave Payal their share of the bill and she went to pay the dabba owner. They stood out of the eating area and waited for her.

"That food was so good," NK said rubbing his stomach.

Arnav looked at Akash and said, "He's like Buddha rubbing his own stomach to try and make a wish."

Khushi, who had heard what Arnav had said, covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. Arnav found her doing so and smirked. Lavanya opened her mouth to say something when she suddenly heard the sound of Payal. She glanced at Khushi to make sure she wasn't just hearing things. Khushi was already looking at her with her brows furrowed in confusion, silently saying that she heard it too. They all looked in the direction of the dabba to find Payal yelling at some guy that was around their age. Some consumers were already crowding around them, and a small scene was beginning to form. Lavanya, Khushi, Arnav, NK, and Akash ran over to see what all the commotion was about.

"Take it easy woman," the guy said. "Come on and join me and my buddies."

"For the last time no," Payal stated coldly.

"Oh, come on. You know you want to."

"No I don't."

The guy was starting to get irritated by her denials. He grabbed her arm, "Stop playing hard to get."

What no one expected was that Akash was the first one to walk over and shove the guy away from Payal, "Hey, she says she doesn't want to go."

The guy looked at Payal, then at Akash, "This is none of your business. Just move along."

"Can't do that. She's my friend."

The guy let out a small laugh and turned around slowly. Suddenly he turned back and in one swift movement punched Akash in the jaw. The sudden impact caused Akash to stumbled back. He held onto his jaw as he slowly set it back into place. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard of a hit and his glasses still remained intact on his face. By this time, Arnav had seen enough. His calm demeanor immediately stiffened as he saw Akash get punched. He handed his bag to Khushi, who was standing beside him. She looked at him and found Arnav's jaw clenched and his fists tightened by his sides. She held his bag to her chest and awaited his next move. Without saying a single word, Arnav wolfed over to the guy and punched him hard in the face. The sound of impact was followed by a loud gasp from the small crowd around them. Lavanya was covering her eyes but peeking through her fingers. NK strode forward to check on Akash as Payal was. The guy froze for a few seconds before spitting out what looked like blood. He looked back at Arnav, furious and was about to punch him too when Arnav blocked it and held him by the collar.

"Apologize," Arnav demanded in a deep voice.

The guy looked at Akash and Payal and grumbled, "Sorry."

"Learn that no means no. Control your ego or it will get the better of you. "Arnav shoved the guy away. "Get lost."

The guy quietly retreated amongst the crowd.

Arnav looked at the small audience watching the scene, "Move along people. There's nothing else to see here."

The command sent the bystanders away like a swarm of birds frightened by the sound of gun fire. Arnav turned back to Akash to make sure he was okay. Being the oldest of Akash and NK, he took it upon himself at an early age to be protective of them. So when he saw Akash get hurt, he was not going to just stand around and let the random guy get away with it. Arnav found Akash laughing and smiling as he wiped the blood from the small cut on his lip. NK was patting his shoulder.

"Come on guys," Akash said. "I'm okay. It's just a cut."

"You really scared us there," NK said. "I've never seen you confront someone before."

"Well Payal is my friend. I'm not going to let people hurt her. I would have done the same for La and Chasmish."

"You sure you're okay?" Arnav asked.

Akash nodded and smiled, "No worries."

Khushi smiled and began walking up to them with Lavanya. However, as her friend reached them, Khushi slowed her pace and stopped as something caught her eye. The guy that was just picking on Payal was walking up to a bar next to the dabba. A group of men were talking to him and looking at his now-bruised face. The men looked like the goons a person would see in films. Khushi suddenly felt a little uneasy.

She looked at her friends, "Hey guys."

They all paused and looked at her. Khushi tilted her head to the direction of the bar. They all turned and saw what Khushi had seen. One of the goon-looking guys was saying something, but from this distance it was inaudible to them. The guy who had just gotten a beating from Arnav suddenly pointed at them. The muscular bunch of men glared at the six of them angrily.

"This can't be good," Lavanya whispered.

"I hope they don't hit my face," NK whimpered.

The men slowly took one step forward and Payal, Khushi, Lavanya, NK, Akash, and Arnav took one small step back. For every step the goons took forward, the gang took one step back.

"On the count of three...we run," Akash whispered.

"Sounds good," NK whispered back.

Khushi whispered, "One."

"Two," Payal counted.

There was a slight pause before the six of them yelled in unison, "Three!"

In the blink of an eye the group of six bolted like lightning. Behind them they heard some people yelling "Get them" and "After them". None of them looked back to find out who said what. They were running away like those men were bulls that were going to trample them to death upon catching them. They ran through various roads and alleys, yelling for people to get out of the way as they dashed on.

"You just had to punch the guy didn't you ASR!" Lavanya yelled as they continued running.

"Shut up!" Arnav exclaimed. "He had it coming!"

"Will you two stop arguing and figure out how we're going to escape!" Khushi yelled. "They're catching up!"

They headed up a small hill where they found a large, wooden cart filled with cabbages. As they heard the sound of the goons catching up to them, NK and Khushi began taking the cabbages and throwing them at the goons! Meanwhile, Payal and Akash jumped on the quickly-emptying cart. By the time the last cabbage was thrown by NK, everyone was on the cart. NK and Arnav pushed the cart to get it rolling before jumping on it as well.

What none of them had noticed was that they were at the top of the hill, and as the cart was pushed, they were going to be descending. They were all looking at the goons slowly becoming smaller and smaller. It was only when Payal turned around that she noticed they were going fall down a very steep hill.

"Guys!" she yelled. "Look!"

They all turned and immediately began screaming. Unfortunately, there were no brakes on the cart, and they were accelerating as they were going down. They all held onto a part of it for dear life. The people in the streets ran to the side in fear of getting run over. No one was able to stop the cart.

"Get out of the way!" Lavanya yelled.

"Somebody stop this thing!" Payal shouted.

"Don't they have a bloody brake on this contraption!" Arnav shouted.

"We're gonna have to jump!" Akash screamed.

"Jump?! Oh god! I'm going to die before the trip even starts!" NK yelled.

"Hai Devi Maiyya! Please do something!" Khushi chanted.

Suddenly, an open truck filled with large sacks of rice and wheat backed into the street. The back was open and facing the direction in which the cart was. Seeing this, Arnav grabbed his bag and looked at everyone else screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Grab your things!" he yelled. "We have our emergency brake!"

Everyone slowly stopped screaming as they saw what Arnav was talking about. They each quickly grabbed their things and braced themselves. As the cart collided with the truck, the impact caused the six of them to launch forward into the truck and onto the sacks. They all let out one more scream as they landed in the truck. The gang looked back to find the goons slowly running down the hill, careful not to roll and get hurt. By the time they reached the steady ground the truck was already driving away down the dirt road.

There was a moment of silence as everyone caught their breaths. One by one they all looked at each other to make sure no one was left behind. And once they were sure everyone was there, roars of laughter and cheer erupted from them all. Khushi was leaning against the blue steel wall of the truck, holding onto her sides as she laughed. NK hid his face in between two sacks. His shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. Lavanya was laughing so hard that when she leaned back she lost her balance and fell on Payal, who was already laying down trying to catch her breath. Akash totally forgot the pain from the punch as he felt his sides beginning to hurt from all the laughing. Arnav was crouching in the sacks and covering his face, trying to compose himself even though he, too, was laughing uncontrollably. He managed to control himself long enough to pull out his camera and take a picture of all of them in the truck without anyone else noticing. He glanced at the picture before putting his camera back and leaning against the wall next to Khushi. The gang continued to laugh and laugh. Even when they stopped for a moment, they looked at each other's faces and burst into another fit of giggles. This was only the first night in Manali! Who knows what else was in store?!

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That's it for this chapter! What did you think? Let me know by leaving your comments and feedback below, please.

Next update: Sleeping arrangements and the first hike!

Thanks for reading!