RaHi FF | NewBeginnings | Parts6&7, Page11 - Page 9

No. NO way. Absolute no-no. Jaitley sir expects WHAT from them!? That they help Royal; that they work TOGETHER, as friends, on several projects and get their act together!? Was he for real?

Panchi Roy's mind reeled. Jaitley sir wouldn't do this, would he? He knew that not everyone in that room could stand each other, let alone WORK with each other. No way. There was no way he was making them do this. And yet, he was.

'Ho gaya syaapa' were the first words from Piddi's mouth after he'd realised who his 'Guru' was. 'Ho hi nahi sakta! Hatt! Yeh Uncle aur Junglee? Paagal ho gaya hai?'

Everyone's heads reeled at the sudden confession. Aniruddh Jaitley was Junglee? The legendary Junglee whose pranks were talked about to this very date? But the guy that they had heard about, and the guy who stood there today in front of them seemed like two different people. What had happened to make him so serious and rule-loving!?

There was a deafening silence in the room.

Panchi was the one to speak up in her small but clear voice, 'Guys, I don't know what you all are thinking, but we definitely need some answers. But I also know that we're not going to get them until Jaitley Sir feels comfortable in telling us them. Also, we need to apologise to Raama Sir. The guy does so much for us and we're being absolutely ungrateful! And regarding the 'Buddy Project', I don't know about you guys but I'm doing it. And I know many of us can't even stand each other but we have to do this. Itne sare pranks karke kya milne waala hai? Plus, we are promised no interference from Banga sir and the restart of our favourite curricular activities. So, I think it's a win-win situation. All we have to do is learn to put up with each other. What do you guys think?'

Everyone just stared. Had Panchi Roy just voiced her own opinion so firmly? Sure, she'd done that before but usually she just changed it depending on what Ranveer or someone else said.

Kiya, Bobby, Juhi, Samar, Arjun and Paayal all nodded their heads indicating their agreement to whatever Panchi had said.

Ranveer had a few things to say though, as usual. 'Moti, tu paagal hai? I'm not going to spend time with this bozo here!' He said, pointing towards KD.

Everyone was so used to this, that they expected Panchi to do something about it. The biggest shock came when she didn't and all she said was, 'Fine, it's your choice completely. KD? Are you in?' KD nodded and so did Piddi. 'Agar Bobby kar legi, toh main bhi kar loonga', were Piddi's exact words with a shy expression to go with them.

Ranveer Shergill did NOT like this. Not only that, but he wasn't used to it. At ALL! Panchi usually agreed with whatever he said and dropped her opinion. What happened NOW? Not only did she disagree with him, but also didn't coax him to join this project. He was stumped. He really wanted to join too! It meant getting his Radio back. But he couldn't say so because that would mean a serious injury to his ego and he very well couldn't afford that, could he? Backtracking, it was.

'Fine, if everyone's doing it, I'm in too. I don't wanna be a spoilsport'

Panchi hid a smile as she heard those words. She knew exactly what was going on in Ranveer Shergill's head and she was proud of it! She knew he'd join eventually but she didn't know he'd do it so quickly! Backtracking huh?

The gang trooped out of the room and decided to first make their stop to Raama Sir's office. After long and heartfelt apologies from all of them, Raama Sir smiled and forgave them. That was how nice this man was! No matter what his students did, he'd always be on their side. Suddenly, the door to the office opened and none other than Aniruddh Jaitley entered. 'Sir woh main...'

He stopped as soon as he'd started after having taken one look at the students lined in front of the table. It was Panchi who spoke up. 'Sir, you were right. From all of us, I'd just like to say thank you for making us realise what idiots we were being. We have apologised to Raama Sir because he doesn't deserve any of the rubbish that we put him through. And as far as your answer in concerned, then, yes sir. We're ready. Let the Buddy Project begin!

Aniruddh Jaitley gave a full blown smile and was really close to doing a victory dance, but refrained himself. 'Excellent. So now that you're all here, the first task is to get to know each other better. Please make genuine efforts guys. Make a Facebook group or something and have conversations. I feel that people are more comfortable virtually than face to face. Tomorrow, I'm going to ask each one of you. Thank you once again guys! If everything goes accordingly and smoothly, mind you, your activities will commence from next week.' With some happy and some not so happy smiles on their faces, the gang make their way back home.

That night, Panchi logged in on Facebook and created a group: 'The Buddy Project' and added all the relevant people to it. And so their journey began.

By the end of it all, Panchi had found little things about everyone that she never thought she'd know. From favourite colour to favourite hobby, she'd noted every tiny thing that made each person unique. She was just about to log out when she received a chat message:

Arjun Khanna: Well, that went rather well, don't you think?

Panchi Roy: Yeah, I do. In fact, I expected little arguments over every single thing, but everyone has taken to this quite seriously. It's nice to know that these guys can be mature at times when it's necessary!

Arjun Khanna: Hahaha! Yeah, I know what you mean. Is Ranveer always like this with KD?

Panchi Roy: Yep, ever since I can remember. And the funny thing is, they don't even know what started their fights.

Arjun Khanna: That's 16 year old boys for you! :P So, tell me about yourself!

Panchi Roy: Well, more than my favourite colour and my favourite hobby and a song that I love to sing in the showers? Haha, that's all that there is to me!

Arjun Khanna: Really? I absolutely doubt that! Anyway, tell me Panchi Roy, why were you crying your eyes out last night before falling asleep?

Panchi Roy: I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you!

Arjun Khanna: Very funny, you are! Anyway, do you have Skype? It's better isn't it?

Panchi Roy: Hold on, I'll sign in. Give me your id, and I'll add you!

Arjun Khanna: arjun.awesomeness.is.me

Panchi Roy: Wow Khanna, modest much?

Arjun Khanna: You know it Roy! Yours isn't any better ' Panchi.cutebirdie?

Panchi Roy: Oh hello!? I made mine in the 8^th grade! What's your excuse?

Arjun Khanna: Oh nothing, I'm just awesome :P

Panchi couldn't help but laugh at that and from there began a wonderful friendship that the two of them would cherish forever.

A few weeks from down the lane, The Buddy Project was going smoothly, Panchi had gained control over her life and what she wanted to make of it, the whole gang began to have a sense of togetherness and basically if an outsider were to look in on the bunch of 11^th graders at Royal High, they would see nothing amiss. But there was something very wrong. Something, that only Panchi had managed to keep track of. Ranveer Shergill had stopped playing around; he had stopped being the Casanova that he was. This was something that had irked Panchi to no end. She had tried talking to him about it, but all he could tell her was that he was 'fed up', and that had been that.

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...to be continued