As Long As I Live Thread 1 - Page 19

She picked up her phone as soon as she entered her room. She had to call Arpita and find out the truth about Yash Scindhia. His mood was as unpredictable as the weather. At one moment he'd be really mean, but then at another one, he'd be sweet. It was something that was eating up her insides. Her curiosity was really getting to her.

She quickly dialed Arpita's number. "C'mon Arpita, pick up," she told herself anxiously.

 

After a few rings, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Aarti?" Arpita greeted.

 

It came out more like a surprised question. Aarti couldn't blame Arpita, because they didn't talk that often nowadays.

 

"Hi Arpita," Aarti said casually.

 

"Aarti, listen. I have an exam that I need to study for. Can I call you later? I'm not really talking to anyone. You know how much I want to be a doctor Aarti," Arpita said on the other end. "I don't want to be mean, but please try and understand me."

 

Aarti gave a resigned sigh, getting where Arpita was coming from. She didn't want to stand in the way of her dreams.

 

"Alright, good luck, bye," she told her friend before hanging up.

 

What was she going to do now? She thought grumpily. How was she going to figure out why Yash Scindhia behaved like this, with her, with a girl he didn't even know? And what the hell did he have against Prashant? She wanted to get to the bottom of this, she really did. But Arpita was the only one who could possibly provide her with the information she sought.

 

Then there was Prateek. Of course. Prateek was her friend, but he was also Yash's brother. Maybe she could learn a thing or two about Yash from him. She made a mental note to talk to Prateek at the party... that was if he wasn't too busy with Paridhi.

 

Aarti exhaled noisily and tucked herself in bed for an early night. She tossed and turned in bed, coming up with different possibilities until sleep finally dawned on her.

 

The next day flew by. Prashant stayed at home studying for his exams, and Aarti stayed in her room, working on her artwork. She was almost finished the background of the painting she had been working on the whole day. She stood back and admired her painting. It was a dark blue background with little yellow balls in the air, in the form of stars. It gave off a melancholic vibe.

 

Her phone started to ring.

 

She looked at it and smiled to herself when she saw Prashant's name.

 

"I thought someone had to study?" she asked him playfully as soon as she answered.

 

"I'm taking a break babes," he replied. "So tell me, are you ready for the party yet?"

 

Aarti looked at the time. It was already six.

 

"No Prashant, I haven't even thought about it. I was too busy with my painting... maybe I shouldn't go?"

 

"No Aarti, go! I don't want you to miss out on something fun because of me."

 

"Prashant... what will I do at Paridhi's party? I mean Pari will be busy with Prateek, and the only other person I'll know there is Mansi, but God knows which boy she'd ditch me for."

 

She heard Prashant laugh on the other end, causing her to scrunch her eyebrows in frustration.

 

"Prashant!" she whined, "It isn't funny."

 

"Aarti, trust me, Mansi will make time for you if you ask her."

 

Aarti sighed, "Why do you want me to go so badly?"

 

"I want to see how hot you look in that blue dress," he told her innocently. "Make sure to take lots of pictures."

 

"Fine!" she gave in, "I'll go. But if I die of boredom, I won't spare you."

 

She hung up the phone and went to get ready.

 

Aarti observed herself in the mirror once she was done. She was wearing a strapless blue satin dress which was tight until her breastbone, then flowed down to her knees. It showed quite a lot of cleavage.

 

Prashant would have loved my dress if he came, Aarti thought bitterly as she lined her eyes with kajjal, applied blush to her cheeks and bright red lipstick to her lips.

 

--

 

As soon as she entered the club, music blasted in the background. Woh Ajnabee was currently playing. Frustrated already, she searched around for Paridhi. She had to let her know that she decided to appear to her ungodly party.

 

"Aarti," Paridhi slurred, as soon as she found her.

 

Aarti could tell she had drank quite a bit by the way Paridhi was walking and talking.

 

"Oh my gosh Paridhi, be careful," she said, "Why did you need to drink so much?"

 

"Aarti, it's the end of the term, hehehee," she giggled and gave her a tight hug.

 

Aarti hugged her back, not happy with Paridhi's decision.

 

"Aarti my hockey stick thug!" Prateek laughed, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and pulling Paridhi off her, only to attack her with a hug himself. His face was flushed. It seemed like he had gotten drunk too.

 

Aarti looked at both of them and shook her head, clearly unhappy with their decisions.

 

"Both of you? Really?" she said in disagreement.

 

She looked away from them and spotted a familiar face on the dance floor, grooving to the song with... Mansi?

 

Yash Scindhia was dancing to Woh Ajnabee with Mansi, her best girlfriend Mansi. It didn't seem like Mansi knew much about his personality. She had to tell her about Yash before he insulted her too. 

 

Annoyed, she ignored Paridhi and Prateek and stomped onto the floor before grabbing Mansi's arm, and pulling her to the side.

 

"Mansi!" she said, sounding disgusted. "Out of all the guys you could dance with here, you choose Yash Scindhia?"

 

"Are you jealous?" Mansi asked instantly, raising her eyebrow.

 

Aarti slapped her forehead. "No Mansi, you don't understand, he's a very rude person. You don't know the kinds of things he said to me... and if he was really faithful to Arpita then he wouldn't be here, grinding with other girls."

 

Mansi looked at her with amusement. "Really? Him and Arpita aren't together Aarti... and that wasn't grinding," she laughed.

 

"No Mansi, they are! They're just secret about it," Aarti told her, feeling a part of her get hopeful. Except, she wasn't sure what she was hopeful about exactly.

 

Mansi rolled her eyes, "No Aarti. They're best friends, Arpita likes him, and he likes her too. They aren't serious and they certainly aren't official!"

 

Aarti looked at Mansi with shock.

 

"No, that doesn't make sense. If he really did like her that much then he wouldn't be here dancing with other girls," she said matter-of-factly.

 

Mansi sighed.

 

"Aarti, why don't you understand? This is a guy you're talking about. A committed guy would grind with other girls, and here you're expecting an uncommitted, hot, single guy to stay in the sidelines at a club party?"

 

Aarti groaned. Why did she even care?

 

"Mansi, can't you still choose someone else to dance with? He said mean things to me about Prashant. He told me that no boy would ever want me. He really hurt me Mansi."

 

Mansi's mouth dropped open.

 

"Yash Scindhia said that to you?" she asked, sounding like she heard the most shocking news of her life.

 

Aarti frowned and nodded her head. "Yes."

 

"No way Aarti! He would never. This guy is so shy when it comes to girls, and that's why he hasn't asked Arpita out yet."

 

Someone was passing by them serving drinks. Mansi quickly picked up a glass from their platter and handed it to Aarti.

 

"Drink Aarti, you need this badly right now. Loosen up," she advised her friend.

 

Aarti took the glass from Mansi and held on to it so tightly that her fists turned white.

 

"Mansi, you have him all wrong! Prashant had a hard time believing it too. I don't know what magic he's done on you guys, but don't fall for his act. He's the opposite of shy. He said that Prashant sent me to spy on Arpita for him... how could he say that about Prashant?"

 

Then Aarti took a deep breath and drank the contents of the glass at once.

 

"Nah Aarti, I refuse to believe it. And if he said that about Prashant, then maybe he was being serious? I mean... I don't exactly trust Prashant either Aarti and you know it," Mansi said, sullenly.

 

"Please Mansi, don't bring up your faith in Prashant. I trust Prashant, he's my best friend. And you have no reason not to trust him... you know he's a nice guy!"

 

A tinge of darkness passed through Mansi's features for a moment, then it disappeared as quickly as it came.

 

"Forget it Aarti. He's a nice guy right now, but he just seems edgy to me... anyways, I'll introduce you to the nice Yash, come with me!" she changed the topic and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back towards the centre of the floor where Yash was dancing with another girl.

 

Shy? This was shy? Dancing with girls in the open was considered shy? What was Mansi thinking for calling this guy shy?

 

Mansi grabbed Yash's hand and put it in Aarti's.

 

"Mansi!" Aarti exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. "I'm not dancing with him."

 

Yash moved closer to her and held onto her hand tightly. "Oh yeah?" he murmured into her ear, almost challenging her.

 

Her breath hitched, and she could feel a blissful sensation ripple through her body. Maybe it was the effects of the alcohol? She turned around to face him and leaned even closer to him, feeling her heart speed up. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even dared to get this close to anyone that wasn't Prashant, especially not the great Yash Scindhia. But today was not a normal day, and the circumstances certainly weren't normal.

 

"Is that a challenge?" she whispered, somewhat flirtatiously.

 

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her so close to him that there was no space remaining between their bodies. Aarti had her hands around his neck... his neck was warm. She nearly giggled at the thought of it.

 

Just then Prateek came out of nowhere and pulled Yash away from Aarti. She pouted slightly and looked at the two of them.

 

"Prateek?" she said, with a slight slur to her speech.

 

She wasn't that drunk... right? What did she drink anyways? She knew what she was doing; she was just a bit bolder tonight.

 

"I uh, need to talk to Yash bhaiyya," Prateek said, smiling at Aarti.

 

Aarti looked at Yash's facial expression. He looked just as disappointed as she was. Aarti nodded and backed off, bumping into Mansi again.

 

"How was it?" her best friend gushed.

 

"He's... different today," she whispered, feeling her cheeks burn.

 

"Mhm," Mansi said, winking at her. "Is anything going to go down tonight?"

 

"Mansi," Aarti started to remonstrate, "I have a boyfriend, not even that, a fiance, and you know that too! How can you say that about me and someone else?"

 

"Aarti, you haven't seen better so you're clinging onto Prashant," she sighed. "But you won't understand that. I hope when you do, it won't be too late."

 

Aarti glared at Mansi.

 

"Mansi, stay away from my love life," she said rudely, "I know exactly how much I love Prashant."

 

"There are better options out there," Mansi continued, shifting her gaze to Yash.

 

Aarti just continued to glare at Mansi.

 

"You don't know Yash Scindhia at all Mansi... you called him shy. If he was so shy, then he wouldn't exactly be dancing in the middle of the dance floor with girls."

 

Mansi chuckled, "So you expected him to dance with guys?"

 

Aarti's pursed her lips. "Mansi!"

 

"Okay, seriously, it's the alcohol Aarti. Yash had alcohol. What has it done to you? You're bolder right? Same with Yash, his alcohol made him bolder too. You know what Aarti? I say drink another glass to fully loosen up."

 

She just shook her head. This girl was out of her mind!

 

Aarti turned to look at what Yash and Prateek were doing. Yash handed Prateek his wallet. Aarti raised her eyebrow wondering what Prateek wanted... was it money? But everything was on the house today.

 

She was about to shrug her shoulders and turn back around when she saw it. Prateek took out something with a grey wrapper. Aarti nearly gasped... a condom? He got a condom from Yash? Why was Yash carrying a condom anyways? Did he and Arpita already... do it? She never thought Arpita was the kind to have sex before marriage. She remembered in seventh grade when they had both vowed to keep their sanctity until marriage. Aarti had kept her promise.

 

She turned to Mansi.

 

"Did you see that?" she said with a victorious expression on her face, glad at the chance to prove Mansi wrong. "He carries condoms in his wallet!"

 

Mansi gave her an "Are you serious" look.

 

"Aarti," Mansi giggled, "All guys do at this age. Why should Yash be any different? Check Prashant's wallet, I bet you a hundred bucks he does too."

 

Aarti frowned. Prashant wouldn't carry a condom in his wallet would he? He knew that Aarti was against sex before marriage... so why would he?

 

"He has no reason to," Aarti stubbornly told Mansi. "Not everyone has sex."

 

"It doesn't matter whether you have sex or not Aarti. Guys usually carry condoms around with them. It's a guy thing... I'm very surprised that you don't know this," Mansi said patiently.

 

Then before Aarti could counter argue Mansi, Yash made his way back to them.

 

"Aartiji," he said politely, "Let's go outside."

 

Mansi beamed at her, while Aarti scowled at her in return.

 

Aarti was about to turn to Yash and say no, when he gently held on to her waist and ushered her towards the exit. She felt her heart start to beat faster once again, and felt enthralled by his touch. Oh God... what was happening to her? Why did her legs feel like lead all of a sudden?

 

Once they left the club, Yash lead Aarti to his car and opened the door to the passenger side for her.

 

She shook herself back to reality.

 

"Wh - What the hell Yash!" she yelled, shocked at herself that she'd waited so long to deny him. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know you and... and after everything you've told me yesterday, you expect me to get in the car with you? God knows where you'll take me."

 

Yash slowly reached for hand.

 

"Trust me," he whispered, squeezing her hand. "Just trust me."

 

Was it the alcohol or was it her own heart that wasn't letting her say no? She trusted him from the bottom of her heart, she truly did. She felt the same sense of security that she felt last night with him... he wasn't going to hurt her, and that she was sure about. But did it make sense?

Without giving it further thought, she got into the passenger seat.