**SCARS** - SanDhir FF (CH6 - REAL FRESHERS PARTY; UPDATED @ PAGE 29) - Page 5

Chapter 3
The After Effects


He was impatient.
And worried.
He couldn't wait to see her.

Sahil passed him a glass of
water.

"What time is it?" He asked.
"It's the same it was 2 minutes ago." Veer replied dryly.
He frowned.
"Parth, man! Relax okay... she'll be fine.." Aayush was trying his best to calm him down.
"Yeah... but she has never fainted in her life... And..."
"Well as they say... there's always a first time." Veer chuckled, but a look
from Parth silenced him.

Parth, Veer, Sahil and Aayush were sitting in front of the Students' Care Unit. They had returned from Manali, an hour back, where they had gone on a trip during the holidays.

Parth wanted to see her. So badly that it almost hurt.
What's wrong with her? What happened to her? He didn't know anything. All he
wanted was for her to be safe and alright.

"You worry too much Parth... chill. These girls... tu toh jaanta hai na. They starve to maintain their figure, follow diets and stuff... Aisa hi kuch hua hoga... She'll be fine." Aayush said.
Before Parth could say anything, Veer cut in.
"Well...I don't get it. Why are you so worried and all? It's not like she
deserves any of this." Veer said.
Parth clutched his fists at his sides.
"Veer, shutup okay. Pehle hi tension hai... don't make things worse." Sahil didn't want things to get out of hand. He knew how protective Parth was when it came to Sanyukta.
Veer took a deep breath.
"Im sorry." He said.
"It's okay." Parth replied automatically. What else could he say.

Just then he saw a guy emerging out of Chawla Mam's cabin alongside her. Mrs. Chawla was a middle aged lady who had been working in MCA for quite a few years now. She was the school Matron. But Parth had never seen the guy before.

"Wo ladka kaun hai?" Parth asked.
"That's Randhir Singh Shekhawat. Business tycoon Dev Singh Shekhawat ka beta." Aayush informed him.

Dev Singh Shekhawat? One of the richest men in India? He had heard so much
about him. Who hadn't? He had watched him on TV too. He was here?

"Aaj wo guest speaker the. Aur isne yahi MCA me admission liya hai..." Aayush further clarified.
"Infact Naitik aur Adi bol rahe the ki isne hi Sanyukta ko pakad liya... warna, agar wo gir jaati toh... wahan stairs the peeche... agar uske sar pe chot lagti toh bahot badi problem ho jaati."

Parth shuddered at the thought of Sanyukta getting hurt. He mentally thanked whatever force was behind making this guy save Sanyukta. He looked at him. The guy looked exactly like a business tycoon's son. He was well dressed. Nike shoes, he noticed. There was an air about him. He looked confident and strong. And from what he knew of the girls in this academy... he knew this guy was about to have a good fan following here.
The next minute he said something which Parth guessed would be a 'thank you' and left.

Mrs. Chawla's gaze fell on Parth and his friends.

"Goodmorning mam." Parth and the others said as she neared them.
"Morning... what are you all doing here? Correct me if I'm wrong.. . You all only just reached the college right?"
"Yes mam.."
"Then go. Settle down. Check your rooms. You'll be shifting to a new hostel now... How long have you boys been waiting here?"
"About an hour" Aayush answered.
Mrs Chawla looked surprised. "Par kyun?"
"Wish I knew..." Veer muttered under his breath.
"Tum log baad me aake mil lete!" She said it as if it was the most obvious thing.
Parth was getting annoyed. He asked her directly.
"Mam... Sanyukta? Is she okay?"
"Yes yes... she is fine. Just weakness you know. Kamzori ki wajah se.."
"Is she conscious now?"
"No.. but she will be soon."
Parth's eyebrows curved. 
"She'll be fine... Kaha na... Its just weakness..."
"Okay mam. Thankyou."
"You all may leave... If Desai mam happens to cross this corridor... she wouldn't be too happy about the crowd here. Ela and Tami have also been here for an hour. They are inside."
"You guys go... I'll see you guys later..." Parth told Sahil and the others. "Mam... if it's okay, I'll meet her once she's conscious, and then leave."

Mrs. Chawla looked at Parth for a few seconds. She smiled at him, nodded and left. 

He knew what she was thinking.
He sat down on the bench again and closed his eyes. Almost immediately Sanyukta's face flashed across his mind.

She could hear her name being spoken a number of times.

"Sanyukta? Are you okay?"
"Huh?"
Her stomach felt empty. Her head was blank. Where was she?

She tried opening her eyes, but immediately had to shield them by her hands because of the direct light coming from somewhere. She felt someone leave her side and then heard the curtains being pulled.

"Ab aankhein khol sakti ho..." 
Parth?

She opened her eyes. She was in the sick room?
Just then things came flooding back to her. She immediately sat upright in the
bed.
He was in her school. Oh God... No.
Her eyes filled with tears. She was scared. 
Tami, who was sitting on the chair next to the bed, hurriedly rose and hugged her. 
"Hey... it's okay... everything is fine Sanyu. Relax. You are safe." She said softly.
Am I? 
Parth came nearer to her and patted her head. He looked pained. 
"You are alright Sanyukta... Please don't worry about anything." He said. 
Ela rubbed her arm. "Tu theek hai na? How do you feel now?"

Sanyukta rubbed her eyes and sat back on the bed. "Assembly me kya hua?" She
tried to control the panic in her voice.
Ela and Tami looked at each other. Parth furrowed his brows. "Assembly?"
"Tujhe kuch bhi yaad nahi hai?" Ela asked her.
I wish, Sanyukta thought.
"Nahi... yaad hai mujhe kya hua tha... I mean Assembly me kya hua? Teachers ne kya bola?"
"Sanyu!! Usse tujhe kya? Assembly ko goli maar! Jo pucha hai bata na! How are you feeling now?" Tami was exasperated.
"Fine." Sanyukta lied. She looked at the watch. It was 10 am. Assembly would have been finished by now. She tried again...this time she dared to be more direct. "Guest speakers?"
"Arre wo log chale gaye! And don't worry! Tere wajah se koi problem nhi hui... Haan bas wo Dev Singh Shekhawat ne stage se kaha ki tujhe andar le jaaye" Ela
replied.
Sanyukta gulped. "Matlab guest speakers ne mujhe dekh liya?"
Ela and Tami looked at each other again. "I don't think so..." Tami said. "Hum
sab stage se itne door khade the... unhone bas dekha hoga ki koi ladki faint ho
gayi hai..."
Sanyukta sighed in relief. So they hadn't seen her. He hadn't seen her. Thank God.
She finally asked Parth. "Tum yahan?"
"Haan... just Manali se waapas aaye the. Assembly was still going on. Tabhi Yoyo dikh gaya... he told me what happened to you. You scared m- us Sanyukta. You have to take care of yourself."

"Yes you have to." Mrs Chawla said as she entered the room. "This is a boarding
school Sanyukta. There's no one here who'll spoon-feed you. This is not done."
She was scolding her.
"Sorry mam." Sanyukta said in small voice.
"Tell me... When was the last time you ate?"
"Umm..." Sanyukta tried remembering. She knew she hadn't eaten this morning. Last night... Oh no! She hadn't eaten last night too. She was at the supermarket to buy things for the orphanage and had missed dinner.
"Yes.. you see, that's what I'm talking about. If you keep starving yourself like this, it won't do you any good-"
"Mam, I wasn't starving myself.. I-"
"Mujhe kuch nahi sunna! Have that glucose water and from now on...EAT. Don't keep missing meals. If you do that again you'll have to attend detentions for me. Am I clear?"
"Yes... yes mam."
"Good... now drink that up... eat some light fruits. I'll be right back."
"Par mam... classes?"
"First days ko kaun se classes hote hai? Rest. I need to talk to your mom
first-"
"Mam please... it's not required. I'm absolutely fine!" She knew her mother would totally freak out.
"I know that. But I need to follow the rules Sanyukta. And you people... go and
attend your classes. Take down the timetables."
"Mam... abhi toh aapne kaha ki first days ko classes-" Ela was grinning.
Mrs Chawla smiled. "Ela... did I tell you... I have heard they need some help in the PT Ground..."
"Sorry mam! Main abhi jaati hoon!!"
"Better." She smiled again and left.

As soon as mam stepped out of the room, more than ten other students entered. They were mostly Sanyukta's roommates and friends who had managed to bunk their classes and come and see her. When you live in a boarding school, all your friends, roommates, batch mates become your family. Of course, like in a huge family, here too there were all types of people. Favourite members, Annoying relatives, kind but distant people and some who would contact you only when something drastic happened to you. Those who couldn't come down and meet her had called her. Parth, Sahil, Aayush, Naitik and Adi were standing at the foot of the bed. Parth came closer to her.
"Ye fruits hai... mam ne kaha tha khane ke liye.." He offered her the plate.
Sanyukta smiled. Parth was someone who was always there for her, no matter what. She trusted him blindly. His composed and soothing words had always calmed her down. He was the only guy Sanyukta felt herself with. The only guy who could touch her.
"Thanks. Ab tum jaao... pata nhi kab se yhi baithe ho."
"Yeah... have these and take care." He touched the side of her face. "Bye.." The rest of the guys bid their awkward goodbyes and take cares and left with him too. After all, they couldn't hug her or touch her as Parth did. Sanyukta had learned to live with this... and so had the guys who knew her. She then
noticed that her and Parth's exchange was closely observed by all the girls in
the room. She didn't have a problem with that... But their smiles told her that
this was going to become a piece of gossip very soon. "Exes still in love..." she
already imagined the tag line. The girls soon started talking again while Sanyukta munched on some water melon.

"Yeah. Thank God Sanyukta didn't fall... that would have been highly dangerous." Sneha was telling Manisha in a matter of fact tone. This caught Sanyukta's attention.
"I didn't fall?" She asked.
"Yeah... you didn't"
"But... I fainted." Sanyukta was confused.
"Yeah... but he... the new guy. He saved you."

New guy? Then suddenly she remembered the hands she had felt
on her waist just before she had lost consciousness. Oh God... this wasn't going to be good...
"Saved me how?"
"Arre! He caught you! It was so filmy you know... I was standing right there. It was like... It all happened in slow motion... One second you were standing in front of me and then suddenly you were falling... and out of nowhere he came. He caught you by your waist..." Tanvi was talking in her dreamy voice.
Sanyukta didn't hear the rest. She just stared at Ela and Tami, and they were looking anywhere else but her. 

"He was the one who bought you here you know..." said Priyanka. "Dev Singh
Shekhawat was on stage and then he was like... 'There seems to be an emergency... a student has fainted.' By then you were in his arms. And then he was like... 'Yes Randhir, take her to the sick room.' He picked you up and PT Sir led the way... We wanted to come too but Pr. Vinita didn't let us mo-" She stopped at seeing Sanyukta's horrified expression.
God, this couldn't be happening! This is so embarrassing!
"What's wrong?" Ishika asked.
"This is so creepy!" Sanyukta voiced her thoughts.. "I mean I don't even-"
"Are you crazy! This is so romantic..." Manisha said. She was the modern day
Juliette of their batch and found almost every damn thing romantic.
"Nahi yaar... the whole thing just sucks! Oh God, why me...?"
"Shut up! You don't complain to God for such awesome stuff! Especially when the awesome stuff involves a guy who looks like that!" Tanvi was into her gushing mode.
"Arre isse pata nahi... abhi tak Sanyu ne use dekha nhi hai na..." It was Ela.
Her eyes were twinkling mischievously.
"Dekhegi na toh dekti reh jaayegi.."
Sanyukta turned to Tami, who was smiling at the girls. She looked at her and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yeah... He is like sooo goodlooking!"
"Goodlooking is an understatement. He is like... incredibly hot!"
"Haan yaar... wo yahan kya kar rha hai? Usse toh Bollywood me hona chahiye!"
"Wo Dev Singh Shekhawat ka beta hai yaar... use Bollywood ki kya zarurat?"

He was Dev Singh Shekhawat's son? Dev Singh Shekhawat was one of India's biggest businessmen. She had heard so much about him, seen him on TV... read about him in all those 'Richest Men' Lists. The girls continued their banter.But Sanyukta was busy thinking about what had happened. And though the thought of being in an unknown's guys arms made her extremely uncomfortable... she was now quite curious. No guy, other than Parth, had ever managed to touch her without making her flinch, let alone carry her. Yet this guy...? How? 
Must be the fact that I was unconscious. 

Thanks to the girls, now she wanted to see her savior herself. She wanted to
know what all this fuss was about.

"...Haan maa... ab tumne ek aur baar ye kaha na toh I swear
main paagal ho jaungi.." 
"Tu samajhti nhi hai Sanyu! Tujhe pata nhi hai-" As expected, her mom had been worried sick. She couldn't receive Mrs. Chawla call in the morning and came to know about the incident only later in the noon. Since then she had called her about five times and repeated the same thing over and over again.
"Maa... mujhe pata hai... main sab samajhti hoon. Please stop worrying. Main bilkul theek hoon. Main apna dhyaan rakhuni...
"Sanyu sunn, tu na aaj-"

Just then the dinner bell rang. Sanyukta wasn't patient enough to deal with her mom further. Her brain was still a little fuzzy. She had no practice in fainting after all... This must be the after effect.

It took another five minutes for her mom to finally let Sanyukta go. She didn't dare tell her mom anything about Him. If she had fainted... she didn't even want to think about what her mom's reaction might be.
And this was just a coincidence. That's it. A mere coincidence. It would never
happen again. She would never have to look at his face again.

"Planning on fainting again?"
"Ela.. please. Main khaa rhi hoon na!"
"Ye kya khaa rhi hai tu? Chidiya ki tarah daane chug rhi hai bas!" Tami pointed at her plate.
Sanyukta huffed and tried forcing down some more food.
Strangely she wasn't hungry at all... but then remembered Mrs Chawla's words. She didn't want another round of scolding from her... and she definitely didn't want to faint.

Sanyukta looked up around.
"Ahem!" 
Sanyukta looked at Tami. She was smiling at her.
"What?"
"Looking for someone are you?!"
"Ohh... of course! Her knight in shining armour... who else?!"
Ela and Tami laughed. 
"Very funny. Maine use dekha bhi nhi hai... dhoondhungi kaise?"

Just then Tami's eyes averted and she looked somewhere behind her.
"Wow. Talk of the devil and..."

Suddenly a sort of hush fell over the auditorium. Almost all girls on their table were looking in one particular direction. Sanyukta turned.

It was him. She knew it before anyone told him... because now she could clearly understand what the girls were talking about. She understood what all that fuss was exactly for.

Sanyukta gaped at him. He was fairly tall and had broad shoulders, and was quite muscular for someone their age. His face was round... but he had very sharp features. He had a straight, pointed nose and light stubble on that perfect jawline. Even from a distance, his eyes seem to glow in interest as he took in the campus area. His hair was decently cut, but tousled in the front. He wasn't smiling, and that only added to his... intimidating personality. He looked very well dressed in a simple white button down shirt and blue jeans with a black blazer on. He walked with such grace that it almost looked... abnormal. 
He didn't show any signs of noticing any of the attention he was receiving. He merely walked up to the last table and took a seat. It was only then that Sanyukta noticed that he had four other people accompanying him. Two guys and two girls. They were new too.

"Yahi hai wo... Randhir Singh Shekhawat." Tami said in breathless whisper.
"Hmm..." Sanyukta finally looked away. She noticed the other girls on her table... it seemed like a lot of them were seeing him for the first time too.

What was he doing here? People like him were supposed to be on TV screens or
magazine covers. He was like those characters in books and novels where
paragraphs were written describing their beauty. Sanyukta hadn't expected to
see someone like him in an... ordinary place like this. He looked unreal.

And he was here. In Dehradun. In a small hill station of a small state in India.
Why?

Whatever, she convinced herself. He was a stranger. It wasn't like he was of any importance to her or anything.

...