Their conversation was interrupted for the second time in a few minutes, as someone bumped against Pihu. 'Ow!' The girl, who had bumped into Pihu by mistake, didn't even bother looking at her, as she continued talking to her friends. 'Watch where you're going!' Pihu retorted, rubbing her sore shin. The girl turned back for a split second, looking annoyed, but carried on. Meher laid a calming hand on Pihu's shoulder. Even though she had known the girl for a few days, she knew what a quick temper Pihu had.
Soon, the hall was full, and Pihu settled down comfortably. But, she saw Meher scribbling in the side of her book, within the first minute of class,'What is with India and childhood lovers?' Pihu looked confused as she looked up at Meher. Meher wrote back. 'First Anurag, now you. It looks like whoever's lived for a few years in India, comes out of the country with a childhood lover.' Meher scribbled back, biting back a laugh. Pihu read her note and suppressed a giggle herself. 'Well, now who is this Anurag?' Meher looked around, trying to spot him, and finally gave up. 'He must be sitting in the back row. Anyway, he's one of the hottest guys in class. He has his own little bunch of groupies, you bumped into one of them before class, remember? You'd think they'd take the hint after 2 years of ignorance, but no... I think their mothers dropped them on their heads as children. Sadly, he doesn't notice anyone else, either. He has a girl waiting for him back home. He doesn't go out much, and doesn't interact much with the rest of us. Kind of lonely guy actually.' Meher whispered to Pihu under her breath, getting tired of the constant writing. Pihu nodded, her curiosity piqued with the description of Anurag. 'But I mean it, when I say he's hot! Half the girls in class would give anything to be in that little Indian girl's shoes,' the soft look in Pihu's eyes quickly disappeared as she heard Meher drool over him. She tried to suppress the sudden burst of annoyance she felt with Meher. If Pihu didn't know any better, she could swear it was a pang of jealousy. Brushing off that ridiculous thought, Pihu tried to ignore Meher's constant updates on everyone in the room, and spend the last 30 min of class, actually listening to the class.
Anurag tried to block out Preet's constant whispering in his ear. He had been hearing about the new girl, Meher's roommate, for the past hour and he felt like he had received more than an accurate description about how cute her nose was. Finally, he slapped his hand over Preet's mouth. 'Preet!' he hissed, 'What on earth have you been going on about for the past hour?! Aren't you deeply in love with Meher? Weren't you actually planning on moving in with her, if her mother hadn't asked her to take Pihu as a roommate? Then why am I listening to your minute description on what colour eyes she has? Do I need to talk to Meher?!' Anurag demanded of Preet, trying to ignore the slight burst of irritation he felt with Preet's continuous mention of this... Pihu. Why would he feel possessive of Meher's new flatmate? Preet rolled his eyes, exasperated that his friend had taken the conversation in the wrong light. He was one of the rare people that saw this light side of Anurag, but even behind that, he could sense the loneliness. A deep-rooted pain, that would never pass unless... Anurag waited patiently for an answer, until he finally gasped, breaking Preet's train of thought. 'Oh my god! I finally understand! You want me to be nice to her, so you can kick her out, and move in with Meher. Well, I for one, am not giving her your room. I don't care how cute her nose...' Now it was Preet's turn to slap a hand over Anurag's mouth. 'God, you're such a moron! No, I do not want to kick her out of Meher's house. No, I have no intention, and nor will I ever have the intention of leaving Meher. I was actually trying to get you to see her in an.... appreciative light.' Anurag stopped paying attention to Preet, as his good humour quickly faded. He knew Preet meant well, but he didn't feel it was fair to Taani. His whole family was still looking for her, and he had had no contact with her for 8 long years, but he knew she was waiting for him. At first, he liked spending time with their memories, with their childhood album, with the last gift she had given him as he had left India. As time went on, he spent less and less time with those memories, he had settled into his new life. But he had fallen into the habit of simply... waiting. Preet looked, defeated, at his friend and roommate, and resigned himself to the fact that Pihu would be like every other girl for Anurag.
The hall soon became bright, as the lecture ended, and the students started leaving the hall. Pihu leapt up, fiddling with her phone, as she responded to Rudra's tenth message in the last hour. He had not taken her decision to study abroad for one year well. Texting away furiously, she did not hear Meher's exasperated voice call after her, as she made her way quickly to the exit in the back. She did not notice a male figure making his way for the exit at the same time as her, trying to dodge his friend on purpose, so as to get away from his constant nagging. Pihu and Anurag collided, as Anurag's arms automatically went around her waist, holding her steady. Their things clattered to the floor, and after Pihu was on her feet, steady, they both ducked down to retrieve their stuff. After their heads knocked together, they finally looked up at each other, wondering who was proving to be such a disaster to meet. Pihu's heart picked up its pace, as she gazed at the chiselled face of the guy who had bumped into her, saved her, then hurt her again. Anurag was amused by the chaos this cute girl had brought into his life simply by on their first meeting . She was beautiful, no doubt, but what a whirlwind!
Still holding her head, and laughing, Pihu stuck out her hand, 'I'm Pihu. I'm new here, exchange student from India.' To everyone's surprise, Anurag clasped her hand with a grin, 'I'm Anurag. I've heard a lot about you,' he grinned with an uncharacteristic twinkle in his eyes. Pihu looked surprised, before the soft look in her eyes returned, 'Likewise. Apparently, we seem to have something in common. Apart from friends who share way too much information.' She looked at Meher and Preet approaching. Meher was ready to try to calm down an undoubtedly angry Pihu, while Preet was ready to defend any of his friend's rude behaviour. But as they drew nearer, they looked at astonishment at Anurag and Pihu, shaking hands, still kneeling on the floor. Preet, looking a bit stunned, cleared his throat, 'Umm... while I would love this little conversation to continue, perhaps we should all stand up and talk like normal human beings?' Pihu and Anurag finally stood up, and walked out of hall together, leaving Meher and Preet trailing behind, wondering what had gotten into their friends.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
