Chapter 24
dushyant was walking to class in the hallway, while he looked through his bag for his assignment.
"abe kahan mar gaya yaar...dab na gaya hoon kisi book ke neeche...arre...hadd hai!" he murmured in frustration, but he didn't realise that someone just as distracted as him was walking in his way, and inevitably, they bumped into each other.
"oh, sorry, woh...ishita?" said dushyant, when he looked upto find who it was.
"hi, i am, sorry too, woh dhyaan kahi aur hi tha.."apologised ishita.
"no, that's ok...uhhm, kaisi ho?" asked dushyant, with his hand, still in his bag.
"i am ok.." she responded, unconvincingly.
"phir, ghar gayi tum, kal?" he questioned.
"haan...i even told my dad i know, what he did..." she responded.
"oh, so, how did it go?" he followed up with another question.
"i talked to him with my bedroom door locked..." retorted ishita.
"that, sounds...bad..." flustered dushyant, as they both shared a chuckle.
"i can't really stay with him now...i think i need a break..." she expressed her distress.
"oh." he responded.
"meri nani, yahan, paas mein hi rehti hain actually, i talked to her, i guess i'll just stay with her for a while. atleast college paas mein ho jayega, right!" she informed as dushyant nodded in agreement.
"honestly, agar meri paas jaane ke liye kahi jagah hoti, main bhi kabka chala gaya hota...i think you should go ahead with that." he commented.
"uhmm, i gotta go, woh late ho raha hai.." pointed ishita.
"arre ofc, mujhe bhi class jaana tha, i think class mein hi bag khaali karke assignment dhoondhna padega..." said dushyant, signalling towards his bag, as ishita just looked with horror at the disorganized bag, which he took notice of.
"woh, thoda, bhikra hua hai, waise itna nahi hota..." he stated in defence.
"i hope so..." she remarked as she left.
"great! agar meri awkwardness na ho, toh bag beizzati karwane ke liye kaafi hai.." grumbled dushyant, as he walked to class.
"ishu!" called poonam from her scooty, as ishita, who was looking for an auto by the street, went to poonam.
"woh, tu ghar jaa rahi hai na samaan lene?" confirmed poonam as ishita nodded in agreement.
"chal, main drop kardeti hoon, samaan le jaane mein bhi help ho jaayegi." offered poonam.
"arre nahi-nahi, you have already helped me a lot by letting me stay last night..." declined ishita.
"arre, usmein kya badi baat hai! waise bhi main akele bore ho rahi thi, ab itna ahsainmand mat ho, chalo!" ordered poonam, as ishita chuckled while sitting on the scooty.
"teri nani se bhi puch lenge, kya dekh kar teri baap ki shaadi teri maa se karwadi!" joked poonam, as she started to drive away.
dushyant was unlocking the door to his house, as kavin suddenly appeared behind him.
"abbe kya bhooth ki tarah khada ho gaya peeche aise!" yelled dushyant.
"main kis angle se bhoot lagta hoon, be!" retorted kavin.
"tereko angle ki zaroorat nahi hai bhoot lagne ke liye..." remarked dushyant.
"abbe khudh teri shakal aisi hai ki daayan bhi dekh kar bhaag jaayein..." argued kavin.
"haan aur tereko toh dekhte hi ussne chimad jana hai tere upar! bhatakti aatma!" argued dushyant back.
"main bhatakti aatma?" questioned kavin.
"haan, haan, hai tu!" confirmed dushyant.
"teri toh..." attempted kavin to say something back, but paused when he saw purvi, who too, was about to unlock her appartment door.
"hi..." said dushyant, as he witnessed the awkwardness to abrupt.
"hey..." replied purvi to dushyant, as she eyed kavin, who immediately looked away.
"ab chudail ko bulaon darwaaza kholne ke liye!" scolded kavin, as dushyant, immediately got back to unlocking the door.
purvi felt a pinch in her heart.
"yaar aaj ka hi din mila tha kya yeh lift to kharab hone ke liye!" yelled someone climbing the staircase, near purvi.
"come on,yaar, don't be..." detested her friend, only to realize who all were standing in front of her, on the floor she had just reached.
"dushyant!" exclaimed ishita.
"ishita?" questioned dushyant.
"daamad se lekar ghar tak, teri nani ki koi bhi choice dhang ki nahi nikli!" remarked poonam.
"tum, tumhari, nani..woh, yahan?" fumbled dushyant.
"7th floor..." she responded.
"7th floor! 7th floor..." repeated dushyant.
"humse teen floor upar..." remarked kavin, as dushyant glared at him.
"nahi, woh, mujhe laga tujhe confusion na ho jayein..." joked kavin.
"uhh guys, as much as fun this reunion is, mere saaman uthane ki capacity zyada bachi nahi hai, so...can we just go?" asked poonam as ishita nodded in agreement, and they both climbed upstairs.
meanwhile, dushyant, kavin and purvi, just stood there blankly.
dushyant just seated himself on the couch quietly, as kavin just gazed at him.
"i don't understand...shocked bhi hoon, surprised bhi hoon, hairaan bhi hoon..." uttered dushyant.
"ladoo bhi phoot rahe hain..." remarked kavin, as dushyant glared at him.
"seriously!" exclaimed dushyant.
"kya? joke tha bhai, and you know why it was funny, because it was true.." retorted kavin, as he too seated himself on the couch.
"but sahi mein, it's like, somehow we always end up in a place so near to each other, it's so strange..." noted dushyant.
"ek kaam kar, ab na purvi ki jagah, subha-subha isse le jaaya kar..." suggested kavin.
"kuch bhi..." responded dushyant.
"arre, kyun nahi, tum dono ek hi college jaate ho, saath mein jaane ka koi sense toh laga! baaki, purvi saath aa sakti thi, par ab ishita ke papa ne jo purvi ki mummy ke saath kiya..." explained kavin.
"tujhe koi problem toh nahi hai na, ki main purvi ke saath..."hinted dushyant.
"nahi yaar, dushyant! dekh, mujhe waise bhi terese kabhi koi khaas problem tha nahi, except for tera alarm...but, dekh, purvi teri dost hai, aur itne saalon baad tumhare differences solve hue hain, and you are happy, i don't have a problem with that..." clarified kavin.
"par, tu phir bhi mere saath college nahi jaayega?" questioned dushyant.
"dekh bhai, mere ko tere saath jaane se problem nahi hai..it's just, jab bhi hum dono baithe honge saath mein, mujhe yaad aayega, woh time jo humne purvi ke saath bitaaya...and, it's, just, painful now...moreover, tu mere kaaran kyun jaana band kar raha hai uske saath, woh teri friend hai!" confessed kavin.
"nahi, woh bas, humari abhi hi, thodi banne lagit thi and i just, wanted to make sure, we don't end up fighting again..." commented dushyant.
"chinta mat kar, ab jitna bhi gussa aata hai tujh par, woh raat ko laat marke nikal jaata hai..." joked kavin, as they both shared a chuckle.
