CHAPTER 9
BURRYING ONE'S HEAD IN SAND
The next day was even worse than she had imagined. Even worse didn't come to describe it properly. Now she regretted not staying with Anjali for the whole weekend, as they had planned. At least if she would have been with her, she would have been able to elude away all the obscure thoughts and foreign feelings that had recently engulfed her. As she was alone right now, it was becoming very difficult for her to concentrate on her chores, with Arnav drifting into her mind from time to time. She couldn't even stop the flow tears, which would just erupt without any fair warning. She didn't even go for grocery shopping, as planned.
Her day had gone a total waste. Even without doing anything tiring the whole day, by the end of it she felt extremely exhausted. She went to sleep early, although sleep didn't take over her until the late hours of the night. Just like previous night Khushi's half of the night went cring and the rest was filled with dreams of Arnav and Lavanya in intimate moments.
The most dreadful thing about the whole situation was that she had no one to share feelings with. No one to pour her heart out, not even Anjali. She knew Anjali wouldn't understand her, and she wasn't sure what she would make out of this whole thing. Nonetheless she was didn't understand her own feelings, yet.
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The next morning Khushi had decided that she was not going to think about Arnav Malik anymore. He was closed chapter of her book, a colleague, a class fellow. Nothing more. Nothing less. Neither she owned him anything nor did he, and t would a lot better if they stayed away from each other. She had decided to ignore him from today.
She checked herself in the bathroom mirror, for the last time that day. Her eyes looked weary, but except for that she looked healthy. She plastered a smile on her lips before leaving out the door into the cold open air, taking deep breaths, as she made her way towards the university.
She was suddenly feeling fresh and energetic.
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"Khushi. I am talking to you. Where are you lost these days?"
Khushi was brought back from her reverie, as Anjali grabbed her shoulders and shook her, "Are you all right?" she asked concerned.
"Yes I am fine," she looked up from her book and answered quickly, before she started suspecting something, "and you look extremely good in that dress."
"I got this from a sale," she said beaming.
Khushi and Anjali were in a common room, with Khushi's books spread in front of her, though she hadn't even got a single thing into her over crowded mind. She had been looking at the same spot on the notebook for the past few minutes, when Anjali had noticed something amiss.
"I know there is something wrong. Why don't you tell me what it is?" Anjali asked, worried for her friend.
"I am just a little tired. That's all," Khushi lied, though not entirely. It was true that she was tired, but she had also been thinking about him. She hadn't seen him since morning. Maybe he was with her. She shunned the unwanted thoughts away, and turned towards Anjali and smiled at her half heartedly.
"Why don't you take an off tomorrow?" Anjali asked.
"I can't. We have a test tomorrow."
"Oh my God!"Anjali squeaked, making the people sitting near them, look at them quizzically.
"What happened?" Khushi exclaimed, her eyes opening wide.
"The test. I completely forgot about it. What am I going to do now?" Anjali muttered in one breath, worried.
Khushi relaxed, "Oh!"
"What will I do now? I am sure I am going to fail. I haven't studied a single word for it."
"Just to clarify, there are no words involved. It's a Mathematics test," Khushi bemused.
Anjali stared at her, irritated, "Very funny," and she imitated a laugh. "You can make fun of me as I am sure you are going do well as always."
"We can study together after the class in the afternoon," Khushi consoled her.
"Oh, I love you Khushi. Thank you so much. You are such a good friend," said Anjali relieved and gave Khushi a tight hug.
Khushi who had not been expecting this, was thrown off guard, but nonetheless wrapped her arms around her.
In that moment, both of them felt a part of the heavy weight lifted off their hearts. Although Khushi had not confided anything into Anjali, she felt comforted.
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Khushi and Anjali took off for the afternoon class. Khushi wished and prayed inwardly not to see him today, in order to hold her resolve, but then how many of her wishes had actually come true. Khushi felt alleviated, as she entered the classroom. He wasn't there.
As they both sat there, waiting for the professor, Arnav Malik came striding into the room, ignoring them, as he went and sat down in the last row. That was unusual, but not bad at all, she thought. It was a positive sign that he wasn't going to sit with them. At least they wouldn't have to talk now, but she was wrong yet again.
Anjali turned herself around and loudly greeted Arnav, "Hi Arnav! Why are you sitting over there?"
Khushi gave Anjali a scathing look, before looking at her book. No. Just say no. I am trying to ignore him over here, she thought desperately.
Thankfully Arnav mumbled something about no place in the front, but Khushi couldnt exactly catch what he had said.
Anjali smiled at him, thorough disappointed, whereas Khushi was unaware of his answering reply, as she was busy regarding the whole exchange indifferently. She tried her best to best to concentrate on a spot in a corner of the notebook. To a watching eye, it seemed like she was busy studying and was least interested to these two people around her.
Gratefully she was saved the further torture, as Professor Harold entered the room and Anjali turned herself towards the front, facing the white screen, where by now the projector was displaying the third lecture of the current semester.
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At the end of the torturous class, the professor left the room, leaving most of the students yawning in his absence. Khushi quickly collected her things and told Anjlai that she would meet her in the library in few minutes. Her reason was quite apparent, at least to herself. She wanted to avoid having a talk with him.
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She wandered in the corridors for some time, but realized she had nothing to do, so she proceeded to the library. In the library, she caught hold of the most cozy and inconspicuous spot in a corner, behind a book shelf. Khushi took out her books and spread them in front of her on the table and started solving some of the problems, patiently waiting for Anjali.
Anjali arrived a few minutes later, panting, "Sorry. I am late. I was busy with Arnav."
Khushi looked up, and only said, "Ok." Then she went back to her Mathematics' sum.
"He is a nice guy. I really like him," she added, as she made herself comfortable in the chair next to hers.
Why did Anjali have to talk about Arnav, out of all people? She thought irritated.
"Should we start with the preparation?" she tried her best to divert her mind. She was successful. Soon Anjali was concerned about their approaching test.
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2 days later
Khushi sat in her chair, fidgeting, eagerly waiting for her Mathematics result. This was not only any result for her, but an opportunity to work and assist Professor Richard himself. Her dreams would come true, if she topped the test. This is the reason she was feeling a bit nervous about it. Anjali, on the other hand was calmly sitting next to her, busy with her Blackberry. Khushi gave her an incredulous look, which she ignored, before turning her attention back to the professor.
Khushi quickly got up as Professor Richard called out her name. He smiled at her as he handed out her test paper. She looked at her marks.
9 out of 10. Not bad at all. Although she was expecting a full 10, she knew she had done a few mistakes. From the looks of Professor Richard, it seemed that she had topped the class. Khushi came back to her seat, smilingly widely at Anjali.
After sometimes Anjali was also called. She had scored a 7.
For the first time in many days, Khushi felt contented with herself. Even the person sitting a few feet behind her, didn't bother her anymore.
"Most of you have done extremely well in the test. To be honest, I wasn't expecting such a result. An average of 7 is not bad at all for the first test of the semester, but I would still like everyone to worker harder. The syllabus will become tougher from now onwards. I am sure everyone can perform even better," the Professor stated.
Everyone looked least interested in the unavoidable and futile lecture, given by the Professor, except for Khushi. She was drinking in his every word. Some students had started drawing patterns on the corner of their notebooks, while others yawned widely, completely unabashed and not at all hesitant.
"Now, as you all know it is time to announce the student of the month, who will assist me throughout next week and it all depends on your performance of the test," Professor Richard exclaimed excitedly. He had grabbed a few attentive faces now.
Khushi looked at him expectantly. She knew she would be the one. She had been waiting for this break ever since she had joined university in the first year.
"It's none other than Arnav Malik," the Professor clapped and ushered him to come forward.
Everyone was wide awake by now. All the heads in the room had turned towards him, except for Khushi. She was seething with anger, or was it jealousy. Anjali gave him a thumbs up, to which she earned a seething look from Khushi.
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Arnav's shocked expression was hard to hide. He thought this was a big mistake by the Professor. He had purposely left two questions in the test so that he would score nine and a half. He knew Khushi would get a full 10, but it seemed he should have left more.
"Come Arnav," the Professor said, "Come and stand over here. I am sure everyone wants to have a good look at you."
Arnav reluctantly got up from his chair and walked towards the professor. As he stood near him, he realized that the class had been following him. He hesitantly smiled at everyone in the room and they cheered for him. A few even hooted. As his eyes swam past the several smiling faces, he noticed the one disheartened face between them. Those eyes boring into him, with hatred. Disappointment was etched over her face.
He had never wished for this.
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Khushi thought that for a second his eyes had lingered on her, but it could have been an illusion because she thought that's she had seen them apologetic. His eyes quickly moved away from her, as usual not letting her know what they held.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. Whether tears of anguish or jealousy, she wasn't able to decide yet.
As soon as the class got over, Khushi left it and took refuge behind one of the toilet closets.
This is the longest chapter I have ever written.
I hope so I will be excused for two months now.
Just kidding. Relax.😳
This update is dedicated to ShikhaKhushi and chandana.s. I hope so the chapter was upto the mark.
Please leave your comments and feedback. It's always welcome.
Thank you for reading.😊
Edited by ss374 - 13 years ago
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