Chapter TenThe strange dream takes away my sleep with it. I'm afraid to fall back to sleep for fear of dreaming again. What if I close my eyes and something of the same sort pops right out of nowhere? As I toss and turn in my bed, I try to block out the images my dream has filled my mind with. It won't do any good to hunt down a reason for the dream. It just came out of nowhere and Maan was in it because of time I spent with him in the day.
No, I command myself,
don't go there Geet. Think of something else. Think of nature and flowers and the blue sky and... Maan.
My mind pulls out the images of the fair-skinned guy with deep brown eyes and a warm smile who sat with me in a beautiful place, his presence and his words soothing me. Another turn in my bed and I slip right down to the floor. That is when I realise what I started thinking right after warning myself not to.
Okay Geet. Enough of it! I switch the bedside lamp on and try to find myself an occupation.
As I look around, studying seems like a good idea and I pull my Algebra book to my lap, sitting cuddled in my blanket. The first chapter I open reminds me of the guy I'm trying not to think about and I dump the book back and open a mystery novel I've been reading lately.
Nothing better than reading a mystery to clear out unwanted thoughts from the mind!-------------------------------------The efforts of keeping my mind away from the thoughts of a certain someone go right down the drain when I walk into the college gates to see him casually leaning on a fence with his friends. Flashes of the wayward dream fill my mind and I feel my cheeks burning at the thought of going in front of him at the moment. I pretend to not have seen him or Anaya, who's standing right beside him, and continue walking to the building, hoping to get away without being noticed.
'Geet.' Anaya's voice stops me in my tracks and I look around giving an impression of not knowing where the call came from.
'Geet.' Her voice is closer and I turn around to face her. For a moment, all I register is the beautiful face of my new-found friend with relief written all over it. She comes forward and hugs me before pulling away.
'I've been so worried about you. Where have you been? Are you alright?' I smile at the speed with which she hurls the questions at me.
'Relax Anaya. I'm perfectly fine, see? I had a little fever so...' 'What? You had fever? Why didn't you call me? No. I should've called you. I'm sorry.' I bite the amused smile listening to her monologue and watching the sorry expression on her face.
'Don't feel sorry, Anaya. You didn't know I was unwell and I didn't inform you, but now I'm fine and there's no need to worry.' I give her an assuring smile which she returns with her own dimpled one.
My eyes then notice the two figures standing just behind Anaya. Ayush and Maan, of course. Ayush just tells me they're glad I'm fine and back to college. I notice his usual flirtatious tone missing but I don't remark anything about that. I try hard not to look Maan's way but not making it too obvious, but I still end up taking note of the way he is dressed. Black straight jeans with a light blue button down shirt. I don't realise my eyes are moving up towards his face until his neck comes into view and with a quick replay of the dream, I hastily look at Anaya.
'Let's go to class.' I suggest before my mind wanders over anything else. She consents and I heave a silent sigh of relief when I turn my back towards him and his unnerving form. As I walk to the class, I think about how Maan's presence soothed me not twenty-four hours ago and now being in his vicinity is only making me nervous.
Perhaps I'll have to keep a safe distance from him.-------------------------------------After our rendezvous of sorts the last evening, I don't know what to expect from Geet. I don't know if she'll step back into her reserved mode after revealing something about herself or if we'll share a deeper bond now. Though I have no regrets of sharing my secret place with her, I'm concerned about the consequences of her afterthoughts, when she thinks about the whole time we spent together and the amount of information that has been shared. Leaning on the fence, I know the exact moment she walks in the college gates and passes a fleeting glance to our group, then pretends to not see and walks ahead. Ayush notices me staring at her and he nudges me to call out to her but Anaya beats me to it. She rushes over to Geet's side before I can straighten myself and Ayush takes me there too.
I discreetly take in her condition as she talks to Anaya. She seems better with slight colour in her cheeks. After she finishes talking to Anaya and Ayush gets a word in as well, her eyes flit towards me. Her eyes are lowered, not looking into mine but I become a bit self-conscious when I feel she's looking at my shirt. As her gaze lifts a little, I prepare myself to greet her only to be disappointed when she turns to look at Anaya in a spur of the moment and then the two girls walk in the building ahead of us.
Was that coincidental or did she deliberately avoid looking in my eyes? I look at Ayush with a worry budding inside me but he just shakes his head and leads me to class.
In class, Anaya makes Geet sit beside herself and that means there's a gap of two seats occupied by two people between me and Geet. I can't do much about it and the hour drags on. When the class finishes, Geet gets up hurriedly, before any of the three of us can get up and only talks to Anaya, telling her that she needs to leave for the next lecture earlier to discuss something with the professor. All I do is stare at her retreating form as she disappears out the door. I'm broken out of my thoughts when I hear Ayush stuttering. Turning my head his way, I try hard not to smile in amusement as I see him making efforts to talk to Anaya nicely. Apparently, Anaya doesn't notice this and tells us to hurry for the next class. Through the next three lectures and the time between classes, I amusedly watch the cool dude Ayush try ways of being nice to Anaya and all he gets in return is Anaya rolling eyes and a
'Don't try to be flirty on me.' I have to swallow the laugh that tries to escape me when Ayush looks at me with a mix of frustration as well as helplessness.
We all head to the cafeteria in the lunch time. As we stand in the queue to buy lunch, I can see how anxious Ayush is getting from the subtle shuffling of his feet. He looks at me briefly and I nod.
'I'm going to buy you lunch today.' His announcement to Anaya only makes her look at him in a shocked manner.
'What did you say? You're going to buy me lunch? You?
Are you alright?' She looks at me and continues,
'Don't you think it's quite odd for him to say that? I mean he's the one who tries to escape
buying lunch.' I laugh slightly when Ayush looks irritated. Poor guy! He's been trying to act gentlemanly with her and she doesn't even realise.
'Well... Why don't you enjoy the gracious side of his while it lasts.' I smile widely at her and she turns to Ayush.
'Okay.' Ayush turns to the counter and I see him asking Anaya what she'd like to have. I just stand silently, letting Ayush make up for the promise he gave me.
As the two of them step away from the counter and I move forward, a figure appears beside me. I look at her profile for a moment. It doesn't seem like she's seen me.
'Hi Geet!' She turns to me startled and I watch the way her eyes suddenly move to the counter before turning back to meet mine a few beats later.
'Hi Maan!' She replies in a friendly voice.
'How are you now?' She smiles briefly, not looking in my eyes and turning to the counter to look at the delicacies.
'I'm fine, thank you.' Before I can say anything else, she turns to place her order and leaves to meet Anaya hastily. My eyes trail behind her for a moment before my attention is called back by the guy at the counter. As I settle down on our usual table, I deliberately take the empty seat beside Geet. Though she gives no outward reaction of being aware of my presence, the slight rigidity in her back gives her away. I wonder if she really is trying to avoid me. All four of us engage in small talk where I repeatedly attempt to bring Geet into the discussions when she falls quiet. Ayush, on the other hand, tries being nice to Anaya, not being very flirtatious with Geet as he usually does.
The time passes without much of a progress on my part. I wish to talk to Geet about yesterday's time that we spent together but I don't get a chance. To top it all, she seems to behave really formally with me and my worry piles up. I plan to talk to her after college and I
will do it. With this in mind, I wait for the day to end so I can get a chance to talk to her.
Maybe I'll have to tell Ayush to engage Anaya for a while after college so that I can get some time with Geet without having to worry about Anaya popping in.-------------------------------------After I get away from the first lecture that we share, I think about the way that I'm acting.
Why am I acting as if I'm very much affected by his presence? It's not like he'll read my mind and know the stupid dream I had last night. Just stay calm Geet. Act as if nothing happened. Don't make it too obvious that you're running away. Making my way towards the cafeteria at lunch hour, I repeatedly tell myself to remain normal and not make a fool out of myself. I won't have gone to the cafeteria in the first place if it wasn't for Anaya. I spot her walking with Ayush to the regular table and decide to get myself a drink before I join them. In my own thoughts, I don't realise Maan is standing beside me and so his greeting startles me for a moment. I look away for a moment to compose my sudden jumping heartbeat and look back at him to reply to him as politely as possible.
All through the lunch hour, after Maan comes to sit on the chair beside me, I can't ignore the closeness. I try not to show it and keep on listening to the discussions the friends indulge in. Multiple times, they turn to me to talk, not only Anaya and Ayush as usual, but Maan too. I just answer them to the bare minimum and thank goodness when the time ends and we have to resume our classes.
-------------------------------------By the end of the day, Ayush reverts back to his usual self and the bickering between him and Anaya is a way to distract her for some time, as per the favour I asked of him when we walked back to class after lunch. I pass him a grateful smile before heading to the common room, thinking of what to say and how. Reaching my destination, I see that the object of my interest isn't in the room and I turn to rush towards the gates, hoping to catch up with her before she leaves the premises.
As I step out of the gates, I notice a car parked across the road and Geeta walking towards the building. Only then I see Geet standing a few steps ahead of me. I'm close enough to hear what Geeta says after she reaches Geet. It seems like they have some plans for the evening.
There goes my chance of talking to Geet. Before I can turn around to slip away soundlessly so that I don't appear to be an intruder in the cousins' time, Geeta calls me. Geet turns around only after that and I smile at the girls, looking at Geeta. She steps forward and brings her hand up for a handshake.
'How are you Maan? It's been so long.' I shake hands with her as I reply.
'I'm good, G. How are you? And how is little Ryan?' She smiles,
'We're great. You wanted to talk to Geet?' I'm surprised by how she guessed it but I don't let it show. I shake my head slightly.
'Oh no.' I look at Geet out of the corner of my eyes before focusing back on her cousin.
'I was just heading home.' She nods and then they both excuse themselves leaving in Geeta's car while I stand there before heading inside to meet Anaya and Ayush.
-------------------------------------G wants to have some girls' time and shop so she convinced me in the morning to accompany her to the mall. She told me she'll pick me up from college and so she does. Just before we are about to leave, G notices Maan behind me. After exchanging pleasantries, G and I leave for the mall. My eyes, on their own accord, linger on the side view mirror of the car as Maan's image shrinks and then disappears as we take the turn. My attention diverts as G starts talking about her recent trip and I just nod and reply in
'hmms' and
'yeahs'. As we reach G's favourite hangout destination, the mall, she tells me she has to buy something for Ryan as well as something for the upcoming visit to Mrs, Khurana's place. His mother's mention reminds me of him but I shirk it off to enjoy my time here with G.
-------------------------------------An hour and a half later, after we're done picking up various things for Ryan as well as a gift for Maan's mother amidst chatting about a range of topics, G announces that she wants to have something to eat and we go to the food court on the second floor. Dumping the shopping bags on the floor beside our table, we place an order for some pastries, coffee for her and chocolate milkshake for me. She sighs contentedly and relaxes in her seat.
'Wasn't it great, Geet? I feel like I haven't had such a girls' time in ages.' I smile.
'Of course. It was wonderful.' I reply to her in a bright voice. I truly did enjoy her company even though the dream wasn't very far from my mind.
'What's the matter, Geet?' G's concerned voice surprises me and I look up at her to see the same concern in her eyes. I prepare myself to lie and cover my surprise at her noticing something is wrong, even though I have tried to hide it as good as possible. Apparently, I failed. She grasps on the lie that is about to come out of my mouth because there can be no other reason for what she says then.
'Don't. Don't try to act as if it's nothing. You can't hide anything from me and you know it.' I avoid looking into her eyes.
'Will you speak up?' I sigh, knowing that there's no way out.
'You know me really well, don't you?' I smile a half-smile.
'Why wouldn't I? An elder sister is supposed to know when her little sister isn't doing good.' I roll my eyes at that.
'You were the one who used to say we're of the same age, weren't you? Even though you're three years older than me.' 'I still say we're almost the same age and you need not address me as an elder sister.' She says haughtily but then her tone changes back to a concerned one.
'But don't try to divert the topic. Tell me what happened.''I... had a strange dream. I don't know why I dreamt this way. Especially about hi-' I stop short and look uncomfortably at her. From the look she gives me, I don't know if she's going to inquire more about it or just let it go. She stares at me for a while, the kind of stare that says,
'I can see right through you'. I try not to appear ill-at-ease but some moments pass in silence and I just can't take her gaze anymore so I speak up.
'What?' Her eyes don't waver, though I recognise a hint of an amused smile playing on her lips.
'Are you really this blind or do you choose to be ignorant?' Her question confuses me.
'What is that supposed to mean?' Her smile becomes more pronounced.
'Have you never
noticed the way he looks at you?' 'Who he?' She shakes her head slightly. The waiter comes at that moment to serve our order and we both fall silent, waiting to be left alone again. Just when he leaves, G speaks up.
'Maan. Who else?'My hand - which was reaching out for the glass of shake - pauses midway and I look at her with wide eyes.
'Where is this coming from?' She takes a long sip from the coffee cup she's holding and looks away in silence. The only hint I get of knowing she heard me is the mischievous smile on her lips. I just wait for her to turn back and respond, my emotions changing from perplexity to curiosity to a slight anger as more time passes and she doesn't bother responding. I tap on the table to get her attention.
'Hello. I'm waiting for your answer.' She turns to look at me, the slight smile becoming prominent.
'You really are innocent, aren't you?' 'Care to explain?' She puts her cup down, shakes her head slightly as if to dismiss the thoughts in her head and looks straight into my eyes.
'Tell me what you think about Maan. How will you describe him? I mean who is he to you?' I raise an eyebrow at her question.
'First answer my question.' She sighs slightly.
'Okay, I will answer whatever you want to know but first tell me what I'm asking.' My lips pucker as I consider answering her.
'Maan is a nice guy. He's sweet and caring...' G tries to suppress her smile which leaks through anyway.
'Sweet, hmm?' Her teasing is only met by a level stare from me.
'Continue.' I look down as I think of what I can say.
'He's helpful and quite patient. And before you start at how I know this, remember we were teammates in planning the party.' She nods enthusiastically which is no less than her teasing words. I don't speak for a while, looking at her in irritation.
'I won't say anything now, I promise.' She puts a finger on her lips and widens her eyes to appear innocent. I just shake my head at her childish antics.
'He's different from the boys I've come across. In fact, he and his best friend are poles apart. Maan is more... mature for his age. Sensible.' I realise I'm saying more than I should so I look up at her and try to do some damage-control.
'But he's just my classmate. We aren't even friends. We're just acquaintances who meet on friendly terms, you can say. That's all.' She laughs slightly.
'Not one negative word for him from your mouth and you say you're not even friends?' 'G-' She interrupts before I say another word.
'Fine. I won't say anything about that but...' She reaches forward to take my hand between both of hers; a gesture she does when she wants to be taken seriously.
'But I'm very sure the same is not the case with him. The two times that I've met him with you around, I've observed the way he looks at you. In Ryan's party as well as today at your college, I have noticed the way he behaves with you around. It's a hunch that he considers you more than a friend.' I chew her words in my head and she continues.
'Why do you think he was around today, when I came to pick you up? He came for you Geet.' 'But he said-' 'He lied. He wouldn't have come to the main road when his car wasn't there. And neither were his friends.' I don't say anything, thinking about it over and over again.
As I think about it, all the times I've come face-to-face with Maan come back to me. The party planning, him dropping me back after the party, him saving me the other day, and lastly, the previous day, when he took me to a place about which he hasn't told anything to his friends.
Can it be real? Is this the reason that he seems so concerned for me? Or is it just G's baseless hunch? Her phone rings. It's a call from her home and she tells me we need to leave. We pick our shopping and after a silent drive, she drops me to the hostel before heading home.
-------------------------------------The next two days I witness Ayush not being Ayush around Anaya. He tries to be sweet and caring which only makes Anaya laugh and make fun of him. His attempts at chivalry which fail miserably, create a hilarious and lamentable thing to watch. Pulling out a chair for Anaya at lunch, opening his car's door for her, buying her lunch for two consecutive days and trying to talk sweetly with her, giving her a chance to talk uninterruptedly unlike what usually happens when he cuts her off just to spite her, all of these efforts are met with responses which clearly tell that Anaya isn't getting the hints of what Ayush is trying to convey.
Maybe Ayush needs a little advice from a third party.As planned earlier, Ayush comes over at my place for a sleepover. He's pretty much full of the naughtiness which is never very far when he is around, cracking jokes and making my mother laugh until we stay with her. After I take him up to my room, we play some video games for old times' sake when he used to come over and all we did was play some racing games or sometimes battle games, as we challenged each other throughout our matches. We enjoy a lot and by the time we're done, four empty cans of soft drinks lay on the low-raise table sitting in front of the bean bags we're heaped on. Ayush insists we stand in my balcony for a while; it's always been his favourite place to pass time as it gives a view of the park and the jogging tracks behind our house.
The darkness of the night and the silence that surrounds us as we stand in the balcony, leaning slightly on the railing, is altogether a different and welcome feeling. It gives us the calm and quiet time after our loud and adrenaline-pumping games. After a few moments of being lost in our respective thoughts, I decide to say something.
'I see you've started to work on your promise.' I chuckle slightly.
'Although I won't say you're having any luck in it.' He turns to look at me as I stand there with my elbows propped on the railing, my hands clasped together and a wide grin on my face.
'Laugh all that you want, you jerk
! I'm sure you're enjoying it a lot.' His childishly miffed tone makes me laugh and straighten up, putting my arm around his shoulder.
'Come on Ayush. I've been watching you do everything un-Ayush-like for the past two days. And it's not working.' He cuts in with his arms folded across his chest and a cute pout on his face.
'It's not easy you see. She doesn't even think I'm serious when I do all that gooey stuff.''That's because doing the gooey stuff isn't you.
You're not being yourself with her.' He looks at me confused.
'Show her the real Ayush. The one who doesn't do such stuff but who cares for whoever he considers his own, in subtle ways. Show her the Ayush which hides behind the mask of the flirtatious guy.' His expression becomes thoughtful as he processes my words.
'Oh.' I jerk my arm off his shoulder and try to act mock angry.
'Oh? Is that all you're going to say for so much that I've said?' He rolls his eyes.
'Yeah right. When the oh-so-wise MSK says something, the lesser man needs time to digest the words and the deep
things that his majesty talks about.' His sarcastic reply brings back the fun mood of this night and we laugh and chat a bit more. He asks about how I'm keeping up with my promise to him and I honestly reply, telling him all about my attempts to converse with Geet and her efforts at keeping her interactions with me to the bare minimum.
I once again think about the change I've noticed in her in these two days. I've often caught her looking my way when we cross paths in the corridor or when we share the same table at lunch, but she always looks away as soon as our eyes meet, a slight blush spreading on her cheeks. For the milliseconds that our eyes meet, I feel as if she is thinking something, as if she is speculating something about me. I wonder what it is, or even if it's true and not just a delusional thought of mine.
-------------------------------------The next evening, me and my mother are in a disagreement. Over what? Me jogging today. Just when I'm all dressed to leave for my regular jog, Mom tells me to stay as she is expecting a few guests. I tell her it's her guests who are coming so I need not stay, besides, I don't want to sit in another aunty-ish session of chit-chat and be the guinea pig for them to pull on my cheeks and call me
cute. She doesn't quite agree with me, lightly scolding me for being pouty when her friends all love me. Before I answer her, Ranbir enters the kitchen, whistling and smiling.
'Hi guys!' He greets us before telling that he's leaving as he has some errands to run. As he steps out of the door, I look at Mom, confused.
'What was he doing here at this time?' Mom just shrugs.
That was weird, I think to myself before turning back to the more important discussion.
'No Mom. I'm not staying today. I'll be back soon, though.' I begin to sprint towards the door as I say that so she doesn't stop me using her ways. As I reach the door, she calls me from behind, telling me to be back soon. I turn my head towards her, replying to her, open the door and make a run for it without looking ahead. The next thing I know is colliding into a soft form after only two steps I've taken. The speed of my run and the momentum of our collision is too powerful to be stopped and losing balance, both of us stumble and fall on the walkway, me on top of her.
Edited by mayyo13 - 12 years ago
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
