The following morning, the gang had woken up with a serious sense of excitement. Why? Because it was the day of the Holi festival in town! Payal bought some colored powder in town so on the morning of Holi she could pour it all over Lavanya and Khushi. However, what was surprising was that Khushi's sleeping bag was empty when she had awoken. She looked over to the other side and found Lavanya sleeping with her mouth open and drooling. She was sprawled out with only leg in her sleeping bag. Payal quickly changed into a white shirt and jeans before stepping out of their tent. She peeked out stealthily first, to check if Khushi was anywhere in sight. When she wasn't there, Payal came out.
A few minutes later, she heard rustling in the boys' tent, followed by the unzipping of the folded flap. NK was the first to step out, followed by Akash and Arnav. They each stretched before seeing her. Payal waved at them just as Lavanya surprisingly came up next to her. The boys came up to them. Everyone was dressed in white shirts and jeans.
"Good morning ladies," NK said. "Happy Holi."
"Happy Holi!" Lavanya cheered.
"I can't wait to go into town to celebrate," Akash said. "It's going to be fun."
"I can't wait to color all your faces," NK rubbed his hands together mischievously.
Arnav glanced up from his camera and said, "If you or anyone puts powder on me, I promise you will not survive to see next Holi."
There was a moment of silence as Arnav's threat sunk in. NK took a side-step away from Arnav and behind Payal. Akash smiled at him before he looked around at the others. Suddenly, his smile faded, and his brows furrowed.
"Hey," Akash said. "We're short one person."
Everyone looked around and noticed that Khushi was missing.
"Where's Khushi?" Arnav asked.
Payal shrugged, "I have no idea. When I woke up she was already gone."
"Maybe she headed into town already," Akash said.
"Not without us," Lavanya stated. "That's unlike her."
"Let's just head to town," NK said. "If she isn't there then we will go and find her."
The gang agreed and began heading to the main road. They were going to have to hitch a ride to town, which wasn't going to be difficult since everyone in Manali was going to head into town for the festival. As they climbed up the hill and caught sight of the main road, the gang found a large bus waiting for them. A man with his back to them was polishing the side of the car. When he turned around, everyone recognized him as the man that had given them a lift to the lodge a on their first night in Manali. He gave a crooked smile to the group of five as he threw his towel over his shoulder.
"Hey Bus Uncle," NK said. "What are you doing here?"
"To give you a ride to town," the man said.
"Thanks, but how did you know we needed a ride to town?" Lavanya asked.
"Your friend actually whistled me down."
"Friend?" Payal asked.
Arnav immediately figured out who it was. He looked at the bus driver and said, "Does she have brown hair, fair skin, and wear glasses?"
"Yes. Yes. And no," the man said.
"No?"
"She wasn't wearing glasses."
"ASR," Lavanya spoke. "Do you think Khushi stopped him?"
"Probably, but the man said she wasn't wearing glas- AAH!"
Arnav stopped as he felt something being dumped on him. He heard the sounds of the rest of group screaming and shouting. When he barely managed to open his eyes, he found his friends covered in colored powders of red and blue. It was coming from above them. He moved back and looked up. There, on the top of the bus, with a bowl full of powder in her hand, was Khushi. Arnav almost hadn't recognized her. Her long, brown hair was wavy and flowing behind her. She was wearing a white, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows along with dark jean shorts. Her black converse matched his. She wasn't wearing her glasses anymore, and she was grinning from ear to ear as she dumped the remaining powder on the rest of the gang below. Arnav felt his breath hitch as he took her full image in.
Once the waterfall of color had stopped, everyone looked up and was surprised to see Khushi mischievously staring down at them. She was free of any color. They looked at one another and laughed.
"I can't believe you did this Chasmish!" Akash yelled.
"Who's Chasmish?!" Khushi yelled back.
"The fun is over! Come down so we can go to town!" NK yelled.
Khushi nodded and dived back into the bus. She popped out of the door a few seconds later, and laughed hysterically seeing her friends. They all pretended to be angry with her, feigning glares and standing with hands on hips. She still continued to smile, knowing what they were really up to. What made the smile falter was the look Arnav gave her. There was an unspoken seriousness about it. The group looked between Arnav and Khushi as they recalled Arnav's threat about anyone putting powder on him. NK silently prayed for Khushi's safety, but was grateful that he wasn't going to get it from Nanav. Arnav took two steps towards her and stared at her, as if waiting for a reason for her actions.
Khushi grabbed her ears and pouted, "Don't be mad. It's Holi."
She hoped that he wouldn't be angry with her. After their conversation the night before, Khushi realized that she should enjoy every moment of the trip and not just feel bad for herself. If she wanted happiness, she would have to go for it. And this was her first step, but seeing the look on Arnav's face made her think that this may have been a bad idea. She did not expect what happened next. Arnav's face contorted from serious to mischievous as a sexy smirk appeared on his lips.
"That was good," Arnav extended his arms out to her. "Now give me a hug."
Khushi's eyes widened as she saw what he was getting at. She and everyone else was waiting for him to make his move. Arnav took one step forward and Khushi took one step back. They did that twice more until Khushi's back hit the bus. She gulped. She was trapped.
"A-Arnav," she stuttered nervously. "There's no n-need for h-hugs. I me-."
But it was too late. Arnav grabbed her hand and pulled her into him. Her back slammed against his chest. The next thing she knew, she was being lifted and spun around, rubbed against his chest. The excess powder on him was smearing all over her. He nuzzled his face against hers, which not only made her laugh, but caused her heartbeat to accelerate. His hands moved along her face, and it was now covered with streaks of blue. When he finally released her, Khushi looked like she had bathed in the colorful powders. She looked down at herself before looking back at him, mouth agape. Arnav smirked and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly.
"You had it coming," he stated.
NK, Akash, Lavanya, and Payal burst into peals of laughter. Thanks to Arnav, Khushi's plan had backfired. They continued to praise her on her well-executed plan as they began to climb onto the bus. Soon after, the six of them were on their way to town. As they came a block away from the borders of town, they could already see the colors being thrown around. People's identities became masked as the wore shades of various powders upon their faces. Some bystanders even waved and shouted Holi Hai' to them. Powder was being thrown carelessly in the air, people were throwing it, rubbing it, and smearing it on each other. It was jam packed with people, but the town never seemed more alive. The bus stopped a few blocks short of the town center, and the group of six practically dashed out of it and into the town center.
They had tried to stay together, but with the vast amount of people, the group ended up separating. Unknowingly, they were in pairs. Arnav ended up with Khushi, Payal was being chased by Akash, and NK was obviously having a full-blown powder fight with Lavanya. Every so often, they would catch glimpses of one another, but they hadn't been able to get to each other. The music was blasting through town, and people were dancing in the streets, putting colors on each other. The one thing the gang managed to do together was have a glass of bhaang. They clinked their metal cups together and chugged down one glass.
The one drink seemed to be more than enough for all of them. As they had become separated once again, they each began feeling loose and relaxed. They didn't know if they would remember everything that they were doing, but figured that they may as well enjoy it today. What started as a fun morning turned into an amazing evening. They had partied and celebrated well into the evening, unaware of the hours that had gone by. Akash had gone on chasing Payal down various lanes and alleys with a handful of red powder. What he didn't know was how feisty she could be. Payal had managed to toss a whole tray of red powder on Akash as he turned a corner. His glasses were completely covered, blinding him from seeing her. Payal couldn't help but laugh and neither could he. She gently took off his glasses and cleaned them. He felt touched by the gesture, and smiled as she carefully placed them back properly.
Lavanya and NK were having a full-on Holi war. There wasn't an inch of them that wasn't covered in color. NK had managed to find a bucket of water, which he tossed on Lavanya. She screamed and looked at NK with a when I get my hands on you you are so dead' look. But despite the war, the two of them managed to play without killing each other. Lavanya had gone off to dance with the crowd, and that gave NK a moment to catch his breath. Upon catching it, his eyes locked a girl who was flirtatiously grinning at him. Because of his intoxicated senses, he smiled goofily and stumbled towards her.
Arnav and Khushi's day was much different than their friends. After covering him with powder, Arnav didn't seem to mind when Khushi continued to do so. He did mind if others did though. Not only that, but while in his slightly intoxicated state, he was still protective of her. Khushi had become his friend, and when he caught strange guys looking at her smugly, he found himself keeping her close to him, just to make sure they didn't do anything to her when she wasn't in her senses. Every so often, he found himself taking pictures of the festivities because he knew his Di and Nani would want to know what it was like. Khushi not only played with powder, but she ate from the various vendors that were cooking the delicious dishes that were making her mouth water. She ate and ate and ate. Arnav wondered how she managed to do so and stay so skinny. The woman practically had four stomachs! He gaped at her with his mouth open once, and Khushi didn't understand that it was a look of shock. She thought it was a signal for her to feed him, and she casually stuffed a gol gappe in his mouth. Arnav made sure not to do that again. As the sun finally set, Khushi and Arnav had let loose as they joined the dancing group of people in town center. They were dancing together and singing the lyrics without a care in the world. Arnav found himself glancing over at Khushi as she let her carefree nature break through. And she found herself blushing once in awhile when she would catch him staring at her.
They would have continued this dance between them and their eyes, if they hadn't been interrupted by the sound of Lavanya yelling at them.
"ASR! Khushi!" she yelled running up to them clumsily. "You have to come help!"
"What's wrong, La?" Arnav asked seriously.
"NK...this girl...you have to come help!"
Even though he didn't fully understand what Lavanya was saying, the name NK was enough to get his attention. He and Khushi followed Lavanya down a lane to a small opening, where they found the shock of a lifetime. A small crowd had surrounded the scene before them, and the cause of the scene was NK. He was standing with his arm around some girl's shoulder, talking to some guy, who seemed to be very upset. That guy was the same one who had been messing with Payal on their first night, the same one who's friends sent them on a high expedition chase. The girl with NK began retreating into the crowd in order to try and get away from the drama which was now escalating. Khushi and Arnav managed to find Akash and Payal amongst the crowd. They, too, were watching everything play out. According to what Akash had heard and seen, NK was flirting with the strange girl when the guy showed up. Apparently he's had his eye on that girl all day and thinks NK stole' her from him. The girl stated that it wasn't anything like that, and NK decided to come to the rescue of the poor damsel.
"NK is going to get murdered," Akash stated calmly.
"He can fight right?" Lavanya asked.
"Not much," Arnav said as he began clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Arnav," Payal said. "You don't think that guy will make the same mistake twice right?"
"I don't know."
NK, on the other hand, walked up to the guy in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Look, why don't you and I just shake hands and go our separate ways. It's Holi, after all. Why ruin a good day?"
The guy was furious as he jerked away from NK and grabbed him by the collar, "Not after last time! Nobody gets away with punching me! Nobody!"
NK raised his hands up and looked away, "Not the kela please."
"Kela?"
"Yeah? You know...face."
"You mean cehara. Not kela."
"You know what I mean!"
Seeing NK about to get hit, Akash began running forward, "Sh*t, Bhai! NK!"
"Sh*t!" Arnav yelled as he began running to NK.
The two of them began running to NK as they watched the guy pull his hand back, preparing to deal a serious blow to NK's face. However, they stopped in their tracks as the unexpected happened. Khushi, who had been next to them just a moment ago, dashed passed them and ran up to the guy. She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from NK. Before the guy could comprehend what was happening, Khushi punched him in the face...hard. The guy was down on his knees, holding onto his nose, which definitely had to have been broken by the crunching sound that had resounded when Khushi's fist made contact with his face. There were gasps amongst the crowd, but none louder than those of Lavanya and Payal. They couldn't believe Khushi had punched someone. She had always been against violence, and now she had practically broken a guy's nose! They had never seen her do something so bold and daring. It left them speechless.
Arnav and Akash were no less shocked. Their jaws literally dropped to the floor as they saw Khushi stare down at the guy that tried to hit NK. First, they were trying to figure out if the incident had really happened, but seeing the guy holding his face confirmed it. They were both amazed and impressed by the fight in their friend. They certainly did not know that she was capable of doing that, but now knew that they should stay on her good side...or else. NK stood in the spot he had been in, looking back and forth from the guy on his knees to Khushi. One thought circled his mind: Way to go, Chasmish! Who knew she was capable of that?!
The guy looked up at NK, then at Khushi, before looking behind them and seeing the rest of the gang from the other night. He slowly got to his feet and, without uttering another syllable, scurried off like a street rat to tend to his injuries.
Khushi held her severely throbbing hand, and looked up and NK with a smile, "Are you okay, Nanhe?"
NK threw himself at her as he hugged the life out of her, "Woah, Chasmish that was so awesome! You saved my life! Thank you! I'm not even mad that a girl saved me because that was just so...awesome! I can't believe you did that!"
"Nan..he..choking...can't...breathe."
NK pulled away, "Oh, right. Sorry."
The rest of the group ran up to them as the small crowd dispersed to return to the remaining festivities of the day.
"Khushi that was mind-blowing!" Lavanya shouted.
"I never knew you had that in you!" Payal said. "Where did all of that come from?!"
Khushi laughed, "It must be the side effects of the bhaang. They should put a warning label on that stuff saying: Warning: May give some courage to punch random people in the face.'"
Everyone laughed.
Akash noticed Khushi was still holding her hand and asked, "Hey are you okay? Does your hand still hurt?"
"It'll be fine," Khushi answered. "I've never punched someone before. So it's bound to hurt, right?"
"Is it broken?" NK asked concerned.
"No. If it was broken, I wouldn't be able to move my fingers, but I can." Khushi said as she slowly wiggled her fingers to show him.
Akash nodded, "Let's get you some ic-."
"Khushi!"
Khushi turned and found Arnav running up to her. In his hand was a small packet of ice. He moved forward and gently placed it on her hand, causing her to wince a little before the soothing effect kicked in. She held it on her own as he let go.
He smiled, "Better?"
She nodded, "Thanks."
NK spoke up, "Hey, no pressure here guys. But...um...maybe we should head back to the campsite. The dude did just disappear, and I really don't want him to come back with his bodybuilder thug friends from last time."
Everyone looked at each other and nodded. They agreed they they had had enough fun and excitement to last them the rest of the trip, and that this Holi was perfectly memorable. As they began heading out of town, they found another friendly stranger that gave them a ride back to the campsite. The entire time they talked about what they had all done, but the highlight of the night was the daring punch that came from Khushi to save NK. Even as the effects of the bhaang began to wear off, they couldn't help but laugh thinking about how that guy was going to have to explain to his friends that he got punched in the face by a girl! The laughter was a more than perfect way to end the day of Holi.
**********
That was quite an unexpected Holi! Am I right? Let me know what you thought about this update by leaving your comments and feedback below!
Next update: Swimming and Secrets!
Thanks for reading!
Cricket
Kumkum Bhagya
Tum Se Tum Tak
Sampoorna
Jhanak
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