CHAPTER 13
MISHTI'S POV
I wake up to the blaring sound of my alarm. Groaning, I switch it off and fall on my bed again. I turn my head side to side thinking about the future ahead.
It has been three weeks since Kunal left Rajkot and things have been going quite smoothly. Teddy is being a little busy with his office work and taking care of Kuhu and her father. Apparently, his health is detoriating. Meanwhile, Abir has been working at Rajvansh Enterprises for over two weeks now. He comes here for breakfast every morning, goes to his office from there and comes back home again for dinner. He is a little busy as well, but somehow, he manages to find time for me always.
I slowly get up from the bed and go to the bathroom to finish my daily chores. After having a good bath, I come out in my bath robe and look for a good salwar suit to wear today, in my cupboard. Today happens to be my first day at college and I want to look my best for the occasion. I always believe that the first impressions are always the best impressions. I quickly pick a light blue salwar, matching earrings and Abir's heart pendant and wear them. I apply kajal for my eyes and put on some lip balm. I braid my front bangs and leave the rest free.
I look at myself in the mirror and I smile at the person I see in front, to see her mimicking my actions. I can clearly see on my face that I am a little bit nervous, but at the same time I am really excited. I am going to enter a new phase of my life. Teddy and Abir have always told me that college life is fun. I take a deep breath to control all my anxiety. I am taking my first step today towards becoming what I want to become, a journalist, and I am looking forward to everything that life has to offer.
I take my bag and check if I have taken all my necessities before going downstairs. I see my mother busy packing lunch for me and my dad involved in a very serious conversation about business with Abir. Once I go downstairs, we go to the idol of Lord Krishna and I pray to him for a very successful college life.
Then, we go to the dining table to have our breakfast, with ma serving us chapatis. I feel somebody kick my feet suddenly and I jerk due to the sudden intrusion. I look up with wide eyes and a hammering heart to see Abir mouthing the words "Are you okay". I smile slightly and nod at him. He gives me his famous grin, that has my insides melting into a puddle.
Why does he have to be so cute?
After having breakfast, I take the blessings of my parents.
Mom caressed my hair lovingly, "All the best, Mishti. All that I want is for you to give your best in whatever you do."
Dad then continued, "Yes Mishti. We will always be proud of you no matter what. Best of luck, beta."
I hugged them both and muttered a few "thanks".
"Mishtipie, come let's leave.", Abir started, taking out of his car keys.
I turned and looked at him for a few seconds.
I am going with him?
I turned to my dad, "Dad, you told me yesterday that I will be going to college in our car with Jugnu Bhaiya?"
Jugnu Bhaiya is our car driver who has been with us since all 3 of us were kids. He is extremely sweet and is definitely trust-worthy.
"Yes Mishti, but Abir says he will drop you to college everyday since it is on his way to his office. Jugnu will come to pick you up in the evenings."
Wow.
I nodded meekly and slowly followed Abir out of the house. I slipped into the passenger seat beside Abir and waved my hands at my parents, as we left.
"So Mishtipie, are you ready for your college life?"
"Yeah, I am pretty excited.", I spoke trying to hide all my anxiousness in my voice.
He chuckled slightly, "There is nothing wrong in being anxious on your first day. You can talk about it to me."
I turned to him completely and stared at him incredulously.
Did he just read my mind?
"And no, I don't read minds", he said, smiling slightly while still looking in the front.
Whoa. He understands me so well!
"You should have studied psychology. You took up the wrong subjects.", I said shaking my head slightly.
"Of course, I had taken all the wrong subjects.", he muttered slowly under his breath, but I heard him.
And that is when I realized I brought in a wrong topic.
So, I try my best to quickly change the topic.
"How do I make friends?"
He looked at me or a few seconds and then replied, "You don't have to be nervous about all this. You are going to a new place, where all of your batchmates are new. This is not like shifting from one school to another. You are really cool, so definitely you won't have a problem in making friends."
I rolled my eyes at him. I am an introvert, who is pretty horrible at making friends unlike Kunal and Abir. That is the reason why I've had 1 single best friend, Naira, all these years.
Naira's college started last week and apparently, she is enjoying it. I am glad she is pursuing her dreams just like I am doing now and Kunal did. While I am in the middle of my thoughts, I never noticed that the car had come to a stop.
"Mishtipie, All the best. College life is fun. Enjoy your first day, okay?", he spoke, bringing me out of my reverie.
I nodded and hugged him quickly, to calm my nerves. He seemed to be taken aback at first, but then he slowly looped his hands around my waist, hugging me back.
"You will do good, don't worry", I heard him mutter into my hair.
Slowly untangling myself from his embrace. I muttered a quick bye and got off the car. As I waved my hands at him, he waved back at me with a smile and sat there, not moving an inch.
With my eyes, I ask him "What". He nudges his face in the direction of the entrance of the University, indicating that he wants me to enter the building first, before he leaves.
I roll my eyes and ask him to leave. He again shook his head and pointed at the doors of the University.
A lot of cars started honking at him and yet he sat there like a stone.
Huh. Over-Protective Rajvansh.
So, without any delay I quickly wave at him again and turn and walk towards the huge arch in the front.
I sighed heavily.
This is how my life is going to be for the next few years.
***
After collecting my timetable, I walk through the huge corridors of my college. I like this place already. The building of my department is painted red, with an aesthetic touch to it. The place is surrounded by trees and plants that make it look even more lovely.
I am now on my way to the auditorium for the first day introductory orientation. I walk into the auditorium to see so many students seated there. There are around two hundred students seated in the gallery already, and I am thirty minutes early.
I sigh and look at the seats to find almost all the seats in the first few rows being filled. I find 2 empty seats- one beside a silent-looking girl at the very end of a row, and the other beside a guy who is already busy cat-calling at some random girl.
I make the obvious decision and walk up to the seat beside the girl. From here, the view of the stage was pretty good. Feeling contented, I take my seat and lean into the chair.
There are still 30 minutes to go and I don't know what to do.
Should I talk to the girl beside me?
No, no. Not now.
Not knowing what else to do, I take out my phone and start surfing the internet.
After another fifteen minutes of useless surfing, I find the girl beside me rummage through her bag to find something. After a few minutes, I found the girl taking out a huge packet of Lays chips from her bag.
And that too, the green flavor.
I eye the packet of food like it is my prey.
She opened the packet and started munching loudly right in front of me.
Is she doing this on purpose?
I get super tempted to snatch the packet from her hands and eat it, but I control my increasing urge. I look at the chips longingly.
Maybe I could ask her for one?
No, no. I need to behave decently.
I sigh and try to think about something else, trying to divert my mind from these chips. But this stupid girl beside me is munching too loudly on it.
I groan internally and turn to the side. Suddenly I felt someone tap my hands. I turned to her and I saw her offering me the packet of chips.
"Want some?"
Without any further delay, I nod my head and take one from the packet.
Hey! It is very difficult to resist Green Lays.
Well, at least for me.
I smile at her sheepishly while munching onto mine.
She laughed, "I knew you wanted to have these. I am so glad I found somebody who loves these just as much as I do", she shook her head exasperatedly.
I gasped, "Don't tell me you know people who doesn't like these."
She nodded her head, "Yeah, yeah, I do. How sad is their life!"
I nodded, "Agreed!"
After a few minutes of munching, we finished the packet.
I turned and gave her warm smile. She is actually really sweet. Now that I am looking at her closely, she has warm brown eyes, with a sharp nose. She has crooked teeth that actually makes her smile very beautiful and charming. She has waist long black hair, that she has put up in a pony-tail.
She smiles at me and forwards her hand, "I am Ketki. Ketki Agarwal. We could be friends and bond over our mutual liking for green Lays. Only if you want to, though.", she spoke with a hopeful tone.
I grinned at her and shook her hand, "Of course, I would love to! I am Mishti, by the way. Mishti Maheshwari."
She smiled, with her eyebrows furrowed, "I like your name. it sounds nice."
We both laughed and that is when I realized that I may have just made one more friend for life.
***
Hey! This is Chapter 13!
Hope you guys liked it!
Thank you!