AR:'IF YOU'RE NOT THE ONE''(VERY imp. note:pg 56)

Heyyyy guyzzz...k I'M BACK!!! hehehe...yea, m back wid a new fan-fic!! i jes can't keep up away frm writing..i would once again like 2 thank all of u'll 4 d tremendous support and encouragement u'll gave me 4 my 1st fan-fic...i hope u'll lik this 1 too...itz completely different 4rm my 1st 1..i havent reli thot much abt the storyline but then again i dint think 2 much abt 'a lot like love' 2 so..yea, jes gna go wid d flow... though I'll try to keep it less intense than the previous fic...i think most of u'll found it too intense..too many emotions n stuff..nyways...I don't know what you'll r expectn..this fic is based on AR college life...so i've written d intro keepn tht in mind..hope u'll like it... will send pms 2morrow...4 SURE!!!😉

Introduction

Armaan Mallik looked up from his books with a sigh...this was it!! he couldn't cram any more last minute notes for his business management paper tomorrow...he was screwd, end of story.

'Armaan, dude...study!!' Atul whispered as he glanced at Armaan lounging in his chair, fiddling with his pen and looking everywhere but at his book.

'I can't,' Armaan protested, 'I can't cram any more notes or I'll forget even what I've learnt,'

'You've only learnt the introduction of the chapter so I'm guessing it won't harm you to take that risk,' Rahul sniggered as he looked up from his own book.

Armaan grinned and shrugging his shoulders got up from his chair...god!! he had been sitting there trying to make sense of those blasted notes for lik the past one hour and that was seriously a loooong time for him...it was practically a record!! Armaan Mallik sitting with a business management book for more than 5 minutes without chucking it away was seriously cause for celebration...!!

'Armaan, be serious!! Tomorrow's the paper,' Atul warned...he could sense that Armaan's 'studying seriously for the paper' time was over...

'This is not my cup of tea, Atul,' Armaan explained, opening a packet of chips lying on the bed and helping himself to it, 'I'm not cut out for sitting with a book and cramming notes,'

'Yeah yeah, we know you're thing is dunking in baskets...stop showing off,' Rahul mumbled while Atul smiled despite himself. Armaan was right...he just wasn't cut out for studying...his thing was sports...basket-ball...the guy could seriously work wonders on the court!!

'Hey!! I'm not showing off,' Armaan grumbled, 'I'm stating facts...I can't be good at everything now, can I?'

'You know what, just shut your face and go make some dinner...I'm starving and your self-praise talks are not helping me study either...go do some useful work instead,' Rahul said and then quickly ducked the pillow and packet of chips that came flying towards him..

'Get your ass of that bed and help me if you want dinner,' Armaan said, picking up a new packet of chips and heading towards the kitchen. Rahul grinned at his retreating back and glady followed him....he was fed up of studying himself!! anything to get away from those books for a while...

'Sooo...what do you wanna eat??' Rahul asked rummaging in the fridge, 'we just have like curd, roti and some left over dal,'

'Ugh!! I think you just killed my appetite,' Armaan groaned, 'Left over dal and curd??!!'

'Adi was supposed to get the groceries this week,' Rahul said as he searched desperately within the fridge for something more tempting to eat.

'Where is he anyway?' Armaan asked, taking the can of beer which Rahul had removed from the fridge and taking a huge gulp of it, 'I've hardly seen him these past few days,'

'Working on some project,' Rahul said casually as he took out cucumber and carrots, 'I think we're gonna have to manage with just a salad today,'

'Project??!!' Armaan nearly spit out the beer he had chugged, 'Are you kidding me?? since when did Adi start taking his projects seriously??'

'His partner is that hot german exchange student,' Rahul said, giving Armaan a knowing look, 'does that answer your question??'

Armaan laughed, 'the sly b******!'

'Yeah I know...how come we never get stuck with hot chicks for our projects??' Rahul asked as he started chopping the cucumber.

'Why don't you ask Muskaan that?' Armaan suggested, 'she'd definitely answer that for you,'

Rahul grinned, 'Or she might just save me the explanation and simply hang me upside down from the fan,'

'Yeah, that seems more likely,' Armaan agreed as he started helping Rahul with the salad.

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'Unless you want to sleep on an empty stomach, show some respect to our cooking abilities!' Armaan snapped, bringing in the plates and cutlery.

'Are you serious?? that's our dinner?? dude!! that's like rabbit food!' Atul groaned as he watched Rahul carefully placing the salad on the dining table...after so many hours of cramming, he expected a decent meal atleast!!

'Oye!! Drama queen!! there was nothing else in the ktichen. Adi didn't get the groceries this week,' Armaan explained.

'That Adi!! aane do usko!!' Atul grumbled as he dug into his salad.

'Yeah I know!! He must be having fun there with that chick and we're stuck here eating this ghas-phus,' Rahul added as he took a bite of his unappetizing dinner.

'C'mon guyz, give him a break....' Armaan pacified the two, 'we'll make him treat us for this,'

'Make that five treats,' Atul corrected him as he gave his dinner another disgruntled look.

'I'm sooo flunking in tomorrow's paper,' Armaan admitted as he forked himself some dry lettuce.

'I can explain the first chapter to you, if you want..I just finished it,' Atul offered.

'Would you really do that for us???' Rahul asked, looking at him in shocked wonder...explaining ANYTHING to Rahul and Armaan was an uphill task indeed as they didn't even know the basics to begin with and hence one had to start from scratch...moreover, they kept losing focus after a while and would start fidgeting restlessly.

'Whose the drama queen now?' Atul rolled his eyes...however they may be, they were his room mates and friends and he couldn't let them just flunk which was inevitable without his help, 'now finish your dinner fast, ' he ordered, 'we don't have all the time in the world.'

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Armaan smiled as he glanced up from his book and saw both Atul and Rahul fast asleep over theirs. He had expected this from Rahul...the guy couldn't keep his eyes open after midnight...no matter what happened, he needed his 7 hours of sleep...who would know that better than Armaan??Armaan couldn't remember a single day when he HADN'T known Rahul Garewal.. firstly they had been family friends and even class mates for a couple of years..however,at that point of time they were never the best of friends..maybe the occassional 'hi-bye' or catching up on each other during family functions or gatherings but that was about it...despite attending the same school, they never really hung out with each other..it wasn't intentional..they were just part of two totally different social circles..Armaan was into sports and hence his preferred choice of company were the jocks..as for Rahul, he was more on the creative side..art, music..that was his kind of thing. Understandably, he hung out more with the school band and people from the performing art department. However, things changed when they both came to know that they had opted for the same university abroad. Starting afresh in a new place with totally new people was a little freaky and they were both glad to have each other...they opted to stay as room mates in a flat rented out by the two of them. Staying together, the bonded a lot more and even though they had totally different interests, they still managed to have fun together and find in each other a friend. After the initial few months, Rahul had suggested asking more of their classmates who were seeking accomodation close to the university to move in with them and that's where Atul and Aditya had come into the picture.

Armaan got up, streching himself and grabbing his cup of coffee which he had made for the late night studying, walked up to the balcony for a bit of fresh air.

He remembered he had never really liked Atul initially. He seemed too sensitive...too girly!! Ofcourse, Rahul had sort of bonded with him as even he was into art. They had atleast SOMETHING in common...however, for Armaan, it had taken him a hell lot of time to gel and then start liking Atul as a friend. It wasn't that Atul was a bad person...he was just so different from all the other guys Armaan knew. He had been incredibly shy initially and wouldn't speak much with either Armaan or Rahul. He had totally seemed like a wuss to Armaan back then...quiet, shy, sensitive towards a lot of issues including the environment( I mean which 19 year old cares about THAT??!! Armaan thought), artistic.. However, after a while, Atul gradually started opening up with them..he was a reserved kind of a guy and truth be told he was slightly intimidated by Armaan..the star basket ball player!!...however, once they got to know each other, they got along pretty well...they would probably never be the best of friends but they were FRIENDS and that was enough for now..

Aditya had been one of the first few friends Armaan had made at the university apart from Rahul. When Aditya had expressed his problem about accomodation, Armaan had been only too happy to ask him if he wanted to join in as their room mate. He liked Aditya...he was fun to hang around with, was into basket-ball and moreover, he and Armaan had a lot of common friends...ofcourse, Armaan was also glad to have a proper friend as his room mate...not that he had a serious problem with Rahul or Atul..it was just that he couldn't relate to them regarding a lot of issues...moreover, he was friends with them because that was convenient...after all, he had to live with them..so he might as well make that extra effort to keep things friendly between them..however, Adi was different..he was a real friend...someone who Armaan liked hanging around with and not just because he HAD to...moreover, Armaan really appreciated the fact that Adi was a really chilled out guy..he had gelled pretty well with both Rahul and Atul...Armaan definitely considered Adi to be the one he was closest to among all his room mates.

Armaan sighed...despite all their differences the four of them were a team. He wouldn't want to trade any of them...true they were all complete opposites except probably a few similarities here and there but that's probably what made living with them so much fun. Ofcourse, when Anjali, Muskaan and Riddhima joined them, it was even more fun. It was amazing how in a span of a year, they had all become so close...

Anjali was introduced to him by Rahul...They had been assigned a project together and they had become fast friends through that and then he had introduced her to all of them. She was wild, crazy and lots of fun and Armaan had instantly taken a liking to her...she lived life on her own terms and that's what Armaan loved about her...she was so unpredictable, so frank and so downright wild!! Atul hadn't really gotten along with her that well...she was too wild for a sobre soul like him...however, he was the only exception..Rahul, Adi and Armaan loved her!!

Riddhima and Muskaan were in the same class as all of them and that's how he'd met them. He hadn't really paid much attention to them initially...they were just two among the many girls in his class...nothing more, nothing less...and therefore they had all be shocked out of their wits when 6 months back, Rahul had officially announced to all his friends that he and Muskaan were a couple...everyone had been schocked..specially Armaan!! Rahul and the blabber mouth were a couple??!!! How?? when?? where?? Rahul had never even breathed a word about her to anybody before this... including Armaan!!...instead he'd just dropped the bombshell straight on their heads!! All Armaan ever suspected about them was that they were friends...casual friends...the 'hi-bye' types...he had never thought they were anything more than that!! He had never really bothered much with Muskaan or Riddhima before this fact was revealed...he knew they were friends with Rahul...he didn't really WANT to know anything more than that about them...not to be rude or anything but they were OK...nothing great...definitely not his types!! However, after the whole Rahul-Muskaan thing he figured he had to get to know them...he owed Rahul that much..he couldn't ignore his roomie's girfriend...she was bound to show up at the house often..ofcourse he hadn't bargained on the best friend...but she kind of came with the parcel..it was like she was joined to the hip with Muskaan...they were always together..like ALWAYS!! it was not even funny...if he didn't know better he would have totally doubted their sexuality...but then, he figured, girls were kind of wierd that way...they needed their best friend...someone to giggle and gossip with...something that Riddhima and Muskaan did all the time..infact the only girl who didn't do that was probably Anjali...she was just so different from any of the other girls he knew( and in a good way!!). Anyway, things had worked out pretty well with him and the stuck-to-the-hip-sisters...that's what he called them sometimes just to annoy them!! they were sweet girls. Muskaan was a blabber mouth...he seriously didn't know how Rahul put up with her...she just wouldn't shut up!! and after sometime it wasn't even amusing!! However, she was also nice..she was conservative, just as Armaan had supposed she would be..but that was cool with him..she was Rahul's girlfriend after all!! for him, she was just his room mate's girl friend...and once he got to know her well, she becames his friend as well...

As for Riddhima...well, she was nice...ofcourse, initially he had been irritated that he would not only have to put up with the blabber mouth but her hip-joined twin as well..she was one of those girls that you wouldn't go out of your way to get to know..the whatever types...the if-she's-my-friend-it's-cool-otherwise-I-don't-care types...he doubted wether if she didn't happen to be Muskaan's friend he would have spoken to her...like ever!! However, since she WAS Muskaan's best friend he had to be nice to her..or that's what he thought initially..however, after he got to know her, he realized that she was alright...infact, she was a nice girl...somone he could see himself being friends with...and that's exactly what happened...they had turned out to be pretty good friends...not very close..but good friends..and he was happy about it...she was fun, in her own simple and crazy way...she was funny and one of those friends who you could go and talk to when you needed someone to listen...things had been just fine until he realized that her feelings towards him were not entirely friendly...he figured she kind of liked him..she was subtle but sometimes you just KNOW...and that made it wierd for him...he wished she didn't like him..as in that way. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with her...she was sweet and nice..the homely types...he knew that any mother would want her son to get married to the likes of Riddhima Gupta...however, she just wasn't THE one...atleast not for him. He couldn't imagine her as his girlfriend...she just wasn't the one...they were better of as friends...he didn't want her getting hurt..she was a sweet girl and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings...

She should hook up with Atul, Armaan thought smiling slightly, they will be perfect for each other!!