Okay I'm incapable of writing shorter chapters, as much as I'm incapable of avoiding literature. After naming this chapter I realised that 'Preludes' is also the name of one of T.S. Eliot's poems, one of his best in my opinion. This extract has nothing to do with the poem- I just find the term apt, that's all.
Chapter 6
Preludes
1
Morning/ Fire Exit
It was the dark alley of the fire exit- once again, Rey's favourite place in St. Louis after the basketball court. Kriya had no clue why he loved bringing her to the fire exit. It's like the place held some enchanted secret because every time she stepped in here, albeit with Rey, something unusual happened. And today again Rey had dragged her here, and she was getting goose bumps again, but no, she had to be serious, this is about work and... and she could never cross that fine line of friendship with Rey. It'll never work out between them.
"Rey, aisi kya baat ho gayi ki aap mujhe ghaseet ke yahaan le aaye? Let me go..." she yelled at Rey.
"Shshh... shush woman!" said Rey, "kitni chillati ho tum Baatcutter."
He referred to her as Baatcutter once again- she knew he was teasing her and she was beginning to get mad as usual. How can she avoid falling for him if he had to be this cute, all the time? Urrrgghhh...
Rey was admiringly looking at Kriya's irritated face when she snapped, "aap mujhe yahaan kyun leke aaye Reyaansh?"
"Woh tum Swayam ko kyun dhoondh rahi thi?" asked Rey.
"Usse aapko kya? Team mate hai mera, Footloose mein saath saath participate kar rahe hai hum... dost hai wo," said Kriya in one breath. She was convinced Rey had an ulterior motive behind bringing her to the fire exit.
Damn it Kriya! Thought Rey, tumhe kaise batau yeh boys tumhe aur Swayam ko leke kya soch rahe hai. Tum aur bhi upset ho jayogi, kya pata unpe chilla dogi. Aur pata nahin main itna upset kyun ho raha hoon, ya shayad pata hai... Kriya was watching an absent-minded Rey and she snapped her fingers to bring him back.
"Achha Kriya tumne woh couple dance ke bare mein kuchh socha hai... I mean who do you think would be apt for it?" asked Rey secretly hoping he could grab the opportunity to dance with her.
"Haan socha hai na..." jumped Kriya. "Swayam and Sharon!" she declared with a broad smile.
"Swayam and Sharon! What the..." Rey composed himself. "Kriya tumhe seriously lagta hai Sharon kabhi bhi haan bolegi?"
"I know Rey, par unse haan bulwana padega," said Kriya. "In fact, main Swayam ko issiliye dhoond rahi thi... uska kehna hai ki couple dance mujhe aur aapko karni chahiye, but maine usse keh diya ki mujhe ballroom nai aata, aur naahi hum dance kar payenge."
Wow... yahaan main tumhare saath dance ke liye bekaraar ho raha hoon, aur wahaan tum khud hi... Rey's thoughts were interrupted by Kriya. "Yehi mauka hai majnu aur laila ko paas lane ka... your thoughts on this?" asked Kriya.
"Look Kriya, thing is, chahta to main bhi hoon ke wo dono ek ho jaye, but Sharon, you know how she is, wo kabhi bhi haan nai kahegi," said Rey.
"Issiliye to aap meri madad karenge, Swayam aur Sharon ko paas lane mein," said Kriya. "Aur mujhe pata hai Sharon se kaise haan bulwana hai, aap bas Swayam ko convince kijiye" she smiled confidently.
Rey wondered what her plan was.
"Par... aap mujhe yahaan kyun le aaye?" Kriya questioned again. "Wohi na... tumse couple dance ke bare mein puchhne ke liye," said Rey. "Waise Kriya," he asked as a naughty thought struck him, "agar tumhe couple dance karna ho, to tum kis ladke ke saath karogi?"
This was unexpected. Kriya fumbled. She knew she had to lie. She could never tell the truth to him. But looking at those eyes she didn't have the heart to lie. So she tried what she was best at. She tried to run away. "Rey class shuru hone ko hai... we must go..." But he caught her by her hand and said, "It's a simple question Kriya. Who would you pick as your partner? Itna ghabrao mat..."
Usse kaise pata main ghabrai huyi hoon. Can he hear my heart beats?
"Main ghabra nahi rahi hoon... bas class ke liye der ho rahi hai..." she tried to sound convincing. She saw his eyes full of determination- she knew he wouldn't let her go easily. She too would play along in that case.
"Okay, waise partner dance mera forte nahi hai, but if I had to, I'd pick Swayam, of course. He is my friend, so I share a comfort level with him," said Kriya. "Now let me go..." Rey had no more had reasons to retain her, and he knew it. He let her hand go and she swiftly ran out of the corridor. It wasn't a surprise that she took Swayam's name. Of course, they were friends, teammates. Even he and Sharon were each other's dance partner. What did he expect that Kriya would take his name? Or may be he did...
Koi baat nahi Baatcutter, dance to main tumhare saath karunga, fest mein na sahi, par karunga. Aur phir tum mujhe hi apna partner manogi resolved Rey as he left the fire exit.
2
Classroom
Kriya and Rey were at the classroom door. They were obviously late for class. Mr. Chatterjee, their English teacher was already inside the class.
"May I come in Sir," both said in unison.
"Aah... Mr. Singhania, the GS himself, of course you can come in. It's an honour for me to have you in my class," sarcastically remarked Mr. Chatterjee. "Ms. Ghai aap khade kyun hai, aap bhi aa jaiye, please take your seats so that I can begin with my class."
Kriya and Rey had barely entered the class, when two more voices were heard behind them. "May I come in Sir," said Sharon followed by Swayam.
"Come in Swayam. Ms. RaiPrakash, I know you are a rather busy person but I'd like you to take this class seriously."
"Yes Sir," said an irritated Sharon. She hated Chatterjee. He had some weird ego issues with her, and she hated teachers who like imposing their own views on students. He was one of them.
Sharon went and sat beside Vicky who was observing Neha. Neha who sat beside Vishakha too was keeping an eye on Vicky. Kriya took the seat beside Amar. Nil and Simmy sat together while Rey was quick to grab a seat beside Swayam. Bharat sat alone behind Neha and Vishakha. All the students were distracted due to their own reasons.
Bharat dreamt about cars while Neha and Vicky threw each other hostile glares. Amar was lost in Rinni's thoughts, who was absent. Simmy was happy that Rinni was absent. Thank god Sharon sat beside Vicky, else to pakka Nil would sit with that Vicky thought Simmi. Sometimes I wonder if they are... but then she decided to put an end to her thoughts. Nil's reasons to sit beside Simmi were anything but romantic. He wanted to play games in that cellphone Simmi's parents sent her from US. "Hey Simmi, gimme your phone nah..." Nil asked. "What! Nilesh concentrate." Simmi rebuked him. "Arrey who wants to learn this crap? Gimme your phone na... please...please," Nilesh begged.
"Ae sun.." Rey said to Swayam, who was busy finding the right chapter in his book. "Haan bol," he said without looking up. "Abbe idhar sun na..." said Rey.
"Haan main kaano se sunta hoon... bol," said Swayam. "Tujhe Sharon ke saath dance kyun nai karni?" asked Rey directly.
"Tu baat to aise kar raha hai jaise wo mere saath dance karne ke liye taiyaar khadi hai," replied Swayam. "Exactly, bhao khana uski aadat hai, usse suit karti hai, tujhe nai." Said Rey.
"Uff, why do you want me to dance with her?" Swayam was irritated now. "Because yahi mauka hai tere paas chauka maarne ka," said Rey.
"Really? Itne saalon mein jo nai hua, wo ab bhi nai hoga," said Swayam. "Aur mujhe aapki Sharon ke saath dance nai karni."
"Dekh, no bolne ka option nai hai tere paas,' threatened Rey. Swayam's eyes widened. "Baatcutter chahti hai tum dono dance karo... so...you must."
"uh huh...baatcutter... ab samajh mein aaya..." Swayam teased Rey. Rey smiled. "But dekh Rey.. Seriously this is impossible," he said.
"But try to kar sakte hai na..." said Rey.
"Reyaansh, Swayam could you please save your tete-a-tete for some other time?" Shouted Mr. Chatterjee. "Sorry Sir," said both the boys.
Sharon threw an unapproving glance at Rey while Kriya smiled because she knew what the boys were discussing.
"Ek pen milegi? Mele paas dusla pen nai hai..." Amar asked looking at his friends.
Neha gave him her pen. Vicky fumed seeing her smile at Amar. Suddenly Nilesh flinched in pain, "Ouch!" Mr. Chatterjee has thrown a chalk at him which hit his right temple. "Put that thing away!" commanded Mr. Chatterjee pointing at the phone in his hand. Simmi took it from him. Nilesh frowned.
Swayam and Rey were again engrossed in their discussion with Rey convincing him to do the couple dance and Swayam disapproving of it.
In the canteen Amar and Neha were feeding pavbhaji to each other. Neha smiled as Amar cut a piece of carrot and fed her. Suddenly Vicky arrived from nowhere and shouted at them FREEZE!' pointing a gun.
FREEZE, FREEZE," Vicky was screaming at the top of his lungs startling everyone in the class. Sharon was almost about to fall off her chair as he screamed into her eardrums. He was obviously dreaming, or daydreaming.
"Mr. Vikramjeet," yelled Mr. Chatterjee.
Vicky returned to the present world to find Sharon looking at him with a murderous expression and then Mr. Chatterjee who almost had a similar look on his face. He quickly apologized, "Sorry Sir, sapna tha. Dream." as he smiled awkwardly. Everyone in the class laughed except Neha who frowned. Sharon was too disturbed to even smile and she sat quietly.
"Dream! I'm fed up of this class!" declared Mr. Chatterjee. "You people are not fit for modern education system," he said as his eyes fell on Swayam and Rey who were still talking.
"Reyaansh Singhania, Swayam Shekhawat- get up and get out." He shouted.
Both Rey and Swayam stood up with an apologetic expression. Rey tried to say something but Mr. Chatterjee stopped him.
"No need for the apologies Reyaansh. Just leave. You too Swayam!" Mr. Chatterjee fumed. Swayam was evidently sad. Being thrown out of the class was something very alien to him.
Rey and Swayam looked at each other and then immediately picked up their belongings and proceeded to leave.
"Swayam, you used to be the topper in Junior High. Yahi hota hai... college mein aate hi aap sabke par nikal aate hai," remarked Mr. Chatterjee. "Aur dost bhi achhe chune hai aapne..." he said looking at Rey. He then turned to the class to speak, "You people are worse than a fishmarket. You'll put any kindergarten to shame. This semester I have to endure all of you but I really really pray that next year mujhe yeh batch na mile!"
"We'll also pray along with you Sir," quipped Nilesh.
"Get out!" roared Mr. Chatterjee. His flushed face was red in anger now. Nil was quite happy as this is what he wanted, and marched towards Rey and Swayam with a broad grin. Simmy was unhappy.
"Mr. Vikramjeet, you too can join your friends. Dream all that you want," said Mr. Chatterjee to Vicky who didn't waste a minute to gather his things and leave the class. The frustrated teacher continued his rant till the bell went off.
3
Girls' washroom/ Afternoon
Sharon stood before the mirror. She has no clue how long she has been staring at her reflection. All she knows is it has been really really long. Swayam has been behaving like this for the past couple of weeks. He avoids eye-contact, his face no longer brightens up hearing her voice. He avoids her like the bloody plague! And today he was behaving with her like she was some stranger, someone who didn't matter, someone whose feelings did not hold any importance. And she doesn't know why... or does she? All she knows is she isn't happy. She wanted answers from him. Has he given up on her? Does his world no longer revolve around her? Is she not important anymore? Whatever happened to "Your wish is my command"? She thought reproachfully. Well, in reality he was actually still doing her bidding, wasn't he? She called him a stalker in front of everyone, asked him to go away, and he did that. And he was moving farther away, with each passing second. More than Swayam, she needed to answer herself. Did she really want this? If yes, then why does she crave for his attention when she's getting none? Why does she look for Swayam every day after coming to college? Why does she want him to notice her, pursue her, like he did before? Her reflection stared back at her blankly, as she suddenly felt naked, as if she had been exposed to the world, the fortified mansion that she built around her, was showing cracks. In that moment she knew, and that moment must stay buried deep within her, as she was not ready to accept the knowledge, that moment, those bright big hazel eyes that stared back into hers, held.
"Chocolate?" Her spell was broken. It was Kriya holding a pack of Bournville.
"Aap pareshan lag rahi hai, have this. Chocolate helps," Kriya smiled.
Sharon was taken aback by this gesture. Her immediate reaction was to reject what was being offered. "No thanks," saying this she tried to leave.
"Trust me, chocolates are a magic therapy. Aur ek chocolate ka asar aapke figure pe nai hoga," said Kriya.
Sharon was tempted. She loved dark chocolate. She took the chocolate. "Thanks." She smiled at Kriya. Kriya smiled back and left.
That was weird! she thought. A weakling, Kriya Ghai, her sworn enemy, sympathized with her, and even more weird was that she did not have any issues with it. Well it always feels nice to get a chocolate. And this was unusual... but nice.
4
Wow, did I just offer Sharon a chocolate! Thought Kriya as she walked through the corridor of St. Louis. And she took it, chillaye bina. That's a first, but it was nice. She looked anxious. She didn't even notice me being there the whole time.
"Hey dude, where you been? And where is that chocolate you promised me?" Vishakha screamed from the other end of the corridor. "Oops... sorry Vishakha, wo chocolate tumhari kismet mein nahi thi shayad," grinned Kriya.
Edited by bleu98 - 11 years ago
Udne Ki Aasha
