Arshi FF: Jeene Laga Hoon (NOTE pg. 68) - Page 5

By nightfall, the guys had started up a campfire. The breeze that had blown through the day had finally stopped, calming both the dancing leaves on the trees surrounding the site and the restless waves of the lake. After having dinner, the guys had brought ingredients for s'mores: graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows. Khushi was sitting on the large log next to Lavanya and Payal, while the boys sat on the ground adjacent to them. As the gang sat around the fire to roast their marshmallows on sticks, a small argument ensued between the guys and the girls. Somebody (NK) decided to make a small comment that they, the guys, knew more than the girls did. Well, the girls were not going to take that comment sitting down. Payal was the first to take him on.

"Oh come on," Payal said. "NK you are delirious. I think you need to go to sleep."

NK shook his head, "No no my dear Payal! You are out of your senses. Josh mein aao."

Khushi smiled, "Not josh, Nanhe. Hosh."

"Oh, sorry. What Chasmish said."

Lavanya swallowed the bite of her s'more she had just taken and said, "Okay, I admit that you guys know your stuff about some things, but we know just as much, if not more, about things too."

"Is that a challenge?" Akash raised his eyebrow inquisitively.

"Challenge?" Payal questioned. "You want to settle this now? Alright. How?"

"Simple. We'll ask a question and you'll answer. Then we'll answer a question you guys ask," Arnav said as he squeezed his s'more crackers together to the marshmallow oozed out.

"Challenge accepted!" Payal said. "We will go first."

Khushi, Lavanya, and Payal huddled together for a minute trying to figure out what to ask. They glanced at the guys every now and then before finally separating. When they turned their full attention back to the guys, they had serious, quizzical looks on their faces. Arnav, NK, and Akash looked at each other, nodded, and stared back the girls, waiting for the games to begin.

Lavanya cleared her throat, "What is the name of Ranbir Kapoor's debut film?"

Akash smiled, "Saawariya."

Payal's eyes grew wide, "Wait, how did you know that?"

"Di.

"Who's Di?" Khushi asked.

Arnav spoke up, "My older sister, Anjali. She loves Ranbir Kapoor. There isn't anything that goes on in his life that we don't know about."

"Sorry ladies," NK said.

"Whatever," Lavanya laughed. "Just ask a question."

"Who won the Cricket World Cup in 2011?" Arnav asked.

Khushi smiled, "India National Cricket Team."

"Highest-grossing movie of all time?" Lavanya asked.

"Avatar," NK grinned. "One of my favorite movies."

"The year the British Raj ended in India?" Akash asked.

"1947," Khushi answered.

NK pointed at Khushi, "Hey! This isn't fair! You have Chasmish on your side and she's answering all the questions."

"Well she is a girl NK," Lavanya laughed. "And we didn't establish a rule that a person could only answer once. Therefore, she can answer as many questions as she can."

Akash patted NK's shoulder, "Just let this one go."

"Name of Shahrukh Khan's wife," Khushi said.

"Gauri," Akash answered.

There was a pause before Arnav looked over at the girls. In a serious voice, he said, "T.S. Eliot is famous poet."

"Yeah we know that," Payal looked at him with a no duh Captain Obvious' look on her face.

"What does the T.S. stand for?" Arnav finished.

The girls opened their mouths to speak, but fell short. They looked at each other and realized that none of them knew the answer. Even Khushi, who was the most studious of them all, had no idea. Payal signaled them with her eyes that they have to say something. But Lavanya and Khushi remained silent. They knew that giving a ridiculous answer was worse than giving no answer at all. Therefore, they decided to remain silent. The guys took that a sign of defeat.

NK fist-pumped the air, "Whoo! You don't know! You just proved that we know more than you do!"

Akash, NK, and Arnav high-fived each other while the girls tried to justify their lack of a response. However, the boys were not hearing any of it.

NK patted Arnav's shoulder, "My Nanav Bhai is the genius among us. That's why were able to win. He knows everything."

Lavanya stifled her laughter, "Yeah right. He doesn't know everything."

Arnav looked at her, "I know a lot more than you three, apparently."

"You guys just got lucky," Payal retorted. "I bet that we could ask a question and none of you could answer it!"

"A bet?" NK repeated. "You want to bet?"

"What's the matter? Scared?"

Arnav chuckled, "We're not scared."

"Then bet," Lavanya spoke.

"Fine. Bet." NK stated.

"Alright. If you guys answer the question correctly then we will do whatever you guys say for the rest of the trip."

"And if we lose?" Akash asked.

"If you guys lose then..." Payal frowned. "Then...then what?"

"We'll jump in the lake!" NK blurted out.

Akash and Arnav's eyes widened before they yelled, "NK!!!"

NK covered his mouth, his eyes as wide as saucers. The girls looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear.

Lavanya examined her second toasted marshmallow and said seriously, "Very well. If you guys lose, then you will have to jump in the lake."

"No way!" Akash said. "The water is freezing!"

"Too late!" Payal shouted back. "It's done!"

NK could feel Arnav's death glare piercing the side of his face. He gave a nervous laugh as he said, "Don't worry. We won't have to because we will be able to answer the question."

Arnav turned to the girls and smirked, "Alright, what's your question?"

Lavanya and Payal began whispering to each other. They began ruling out questions that they could ask, realizing that the guys would know the answer to each one. Khushi, however, wasn't joining in. She could hear what they were saying, but she didn't put in an opinion. Instead, she was sitting quietly, thinking deeply. Her gaze remained on the bright flames before her. Arnav, who was watching Lavanya and Payal argue with an amused smile, glanced at Khushi. His smile vanished as he saw her sitting there, not being included in the game. He could tell she was in deep thought again, but wondered what was on her mind this time. He was about to ask when she spoke up.

Khushi looked at the guys, and in a soft tone asked, "What is my name?"

Khushi found everyone's gaze on her as they looked at her confused. Lavanya and Payal looked at each other, questioning what was going on in their friend's mind. NK, who had his arm resting on Akash's shoulder, scratched his head.

"Chasmish. Obviously," NK answered.

Khushi shook her head, "Not the nickname. My real name. My full, real name."

The smiles on the guys' faces dropped. Arnav was the first to realize they were in trouble. He remembered he heard her name once, but he still couldn't remember. He still had been trying figure it out all this time. Arnav knew that if he couldn't remember then NK and Akash definitely wouldn't know because they hadn't addressed her as anything other than Chasmish'. He tried to recall if Lavanya and Payal had ever spoken her name, but he couldn't think of a time thus far. He rubbed his temples as he began going through the list of all the girl names he could possibly think of.

Lavanya and Payal were able to tell that the guys didn't know the answer. They were each looking at each other, waiting for someone to answer so they didn't look like idiots. The earlier, devilish grins returned on their faces as they suddenly sat properly and awaited the answer. Khushi watched as Akash, NK, and Arnav struggled to come up with an answer. She didn't know what made her ask that question, but now that she did she didn't feel so great. Khushi had believed that these were people who were going to become good friends with her. But how could they be when they didn't even know her name? Well, she couldn't blame them. After all, not many people know her name because she just blends into the background. If she didn't speak up, they probably wouldn't have remembered that she was sitting there with them. Khushi was so lost in thought that she didn't even realize when the guys admitted defeat. She was knocked out of her thoughts by Payal, who shook her shoulder.

"Khushi," Payal said excitedly. "We won!"

Arnav smacked his forehead and mumbled, "Khushi! That's her name."

Khushi looked up at Payal, a fake smile plastered on her face, and said, "Of course we would."

Lavanya rubbed her hands together evilly, "And now you guys are going to have to jump in the lake."

Akash slowly turned his head to NK, who was innocently looking everywhere but at his cousins, and said, "You should sleep with one eye open tonight."

Arnav was about to smack NK in the back of the head when he caught a glimpse of Khushi from the corner of his eye. He found her watching Lavanya and Payal with a smile that didn't quite make it to her eyes. A serious expression was etched on his face now. He had to squint in order to see the lack of spark in her eyes behind her glasses. She did win, so why wasn't she happy, truly happy? His eyes connected with Khushi's as she looked in his direction. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrow, silently questioning her what was wrong. She shook her head, responding that it was nothing, but Arnav wasn't convinced. Although he hadn't known her that long, he could tell that something was bothering her. He stood up and was about to walk over and talk to her, when he suddenly felt himself being pulled in the opposite direction.

Arnav looked back to see Lavanya pulling him by the arm with one hand to the lake. In her other hand she was holding NK's sleeve. Payal was holding onto Akash and the other arm of NK. The guys were being led to the docks. Arnav glanced back and found Khushi trailing behind them, watching both slightly amused and concerned. Her eyes went from them to the lake, which they all knew would be freezing at this hour. NK was whining and trying to wimp out, but after being the one who gave the girls the idea in the first place, Akash and Arnav were practically shoving NK towards the dock, ready to push him in. The three of them were released once they reached the edge of the dock. The girls stood a few feet back, observing them. The light from the campfire a few yards back illuminated the scene, providing enough light for them to see without the need for flashlights.

NK looked at the water and turned around to look at the girls, "You know, I was thinking that maybe-."

"No backing out NK," Lavanya said. "You dug your own grave. Now jump!"

"But..but I can't swim."

Akash looked at NK, "Yes you can!"

"Shut up Akash!"

"You're not getting out of this one NK," Arnav mumbled deeply. "I sure as hell

won't let you after you put this bloody idea in the girls' minds. Now turn back around and let's get this over with."

NK turned around and whispered softly, "How did we not know her name? Even after all this time?"

Akash shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I even talked to her for a whole thirty minutes earlier today, and I don't remember calling her anything other than Chasmish."

"I thought the two Chasmishs would know each other. But Ms. Chasmish sure-."

Arnav looked at NK and spoke in a dead serious tone, "It's not Chasmish. It's Khushi. Learn her real name before giving her a nickname."

NK was officially silenced. The three of them then looked at the dimly illuminated lake below them, took a deep breath, and jumped in. A few seconds later, their heads each popped up and the first thing they heard was the laughter of the girls. Lavanya, who had stolen Arnav's camera from his backpack, snapped a shot of the three of them in the water. As she ran to put the camera back, Payal went to the edge of the dock to help them out. She first pulled out Akash, who in turn helped her pull out NK. Arnav managed to get out before anyone extended a helping hand to him. As he looked up to see Lavanya and Payal trying to lift Akash, who was trying to catch his breath while laying down on the dock, he found Khushi in front of him.

"Was it cold?" she asked softly.

"Not as bad as you'd think," he scanned her eyes again. "You okay?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

Khushi looked at Arnav to find him trying to read the expression on her face. She could feel that he was trying to figure out what was wrong, because he could tell that something wasn't right. She didn't know how, but already he could sense that something was bothering her. But Khushi was not ready to tell him. The guy was, after all, still very much a stranger in her books.

Diverting the topic, she gave a small smile and said, "You guys should change your clothes. If you get sick, I'm pretty sure Lavanya and Payal would make me leave you guys here."

Arnav could see right through the false humor. He remained motionless as he continued to stare at her, trying to read her expressions. But right now, Khushi's defenses were up and he wasn't going to get anywhere tonight. He sighed in defeat for the present moment. Khushi, seeing him relax a little, was about to relax when suddenly she found him moving closer. She looked at his face to see him leaning in towards her. Her heartbeat began accelerating as she found that she couldn't find it in her to move away. She closed her eyes and felt the nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Hai Devi Maiyya! What is he doing?!

Khushi felt him stop. She slowly opened her eyes to find him next to her, facing the opposite direction. She glanced to her side. Arnav was staring at the campsite ahead of him. The glow of the flames played on his face, causing the droplets of water to shine against the molten caramel skin.

"Arnav?" Khushi said softly, her gaze fixed on him.

He turned his head to look at her. Arnav's brown eyes locked with Khushi's hazel ones. He smirked and whispered, "This conversation isn't over yet, Khushi."

And with that, Arnav went back to the tents to change.

**********

Haha, okay I couldn't stop laughing at some of these parts! Does that make me weird? Anyways, let me know what you think by leaving your comments and feedback below!

Next update: The conversation is definitely not over! Arnav confronts Khushi!

Thanks for reading!