CHAPTER 5 - THE SUDDEN PLAN

मेरे बेचैन ख़यालों पे उभरने वाली

अपने ख़्वाबों से न बहला मेरी तन्हाई को

📅 07/06/2023

⌛ 11AM

📍 DHRUV'S HOME AT SIROHI

~•Dhruv's POV•~

"Congratulations, tu saalesahab ban gaya Abhi bhabha ka!" I teased my best friend,Garv ,over the call. Garv has been my best friend since kindergarten. We have studied in the same school as well as the same stream till our 12th class.

[You are officially Abhi brother's brother in law! ]

"Kya yaar, Konsa bindraja bana hu jo badhai de raha hai! Acha ek baat bata teeka dastoori ke baad na tune call kiya na koi message." said Garv on the other side of the call.

[What dude, You are congratulating me as if I have become a groom! By the way, tell me one thing, why haven't you called or sent me a message after the dastoori ]

"Jaipur chal sab batata hu,sab baatein call par nahi hoti. Wese bhi July me college reopen hai aur hamara cricket ka practise session june last week se shuru hoga. Ek kaam karte hai 23 june ko nikalte hai. What do you say?" I told him by checking the calendar on the table.

[ I will tell you everything after going to Jaipur, not everything can be said on the call. Also, our college will reopen in July and we have a cricket practice session in last week of June

Let's do one thing, shall we go on 23rd June.what do you say? ]

"Okay, as you say. See you soon. Don't forget to bring my guitar otherwise I will make you go back to Sirohi again to get it" he ordered me in his loud voice.

"Yaa, I won't. See you on the 23rd!" I hung up the call.

I realized that I have a few days to spend with my sister. I called and asked her to join me as I planned to go for a long drive as the weather was soothing due to rain last night.

I was waiting for her outside of my black scorpion car which was gifted by Bhabosa on my 19th birthday. She arrived and we started our long drive with playing music in the car.

After driving for a while, I stopped the car and asked her to wait inside the car as I was going out to buy something for us .I returned with 2 cups of corn. I was eating it when I heard shivu jija calling me by tapping on my shoulder ,

"Dekh Dhruv, Hyderabad mai colleges reopen ho gai. Hame toh time hai. South me college system alag hi hai humse"

"Aapko kaise pata?" I asked her taking last bite of sweet corn.

" Ofcourse, Geet ke kaaran. Woh Hyderabad chali gai, dekh uska status apne friends ke saath"she gave her phone and showed me the status of Ms. Shaktawat.

[See Dhruv, the colleges have reopened in Hyderabad.We still have time for it. I guess the college system of South is different from us. ]

[How do you know?]

[Ofcourse, because of Geet. She has gone back to Hyderabad. See her status along with her friends. ]

As soon as I saw her eyes in the photo, I was not able to control my heartbeat which was beating faster than usual .I drank water and asked Shivu jija to go home.

"Dhruv, kya hua, health thik hai na" Shivu jija tried finding the reason to know what had happened which made me drive back home.

[What happened? Is your health okay?]

I told her that I have some important work to do and asked her to not question me anything now.

We reached home and I parked my car. I went to my room,locked it and called Garv.

"Kya baat hai, mere dhruv ko itni yaad aa rahi hai. 2 hour pehle hi baat hui hamari" He said childishly.

.[My dhruv is missing me. We have talked just 2 hours before ]

" The time is 2pm. Mai kal subah 4 baje ki hamari train ki ticket kara raha hu jaipur ki, I want you here by tonight" told him stressing on each word.

[I am booking our tickets for Jaipur in tomorrow's morning train at 4am]

"Abhi kuch der pehle toh 23 ko jaane ka kaha , Ab kya hua? Uncle ne kuch bola kya? "

[Before a few hours, you told me we are going on 23. What happened now? Did uncle tell you anything ]

"No. Please yaar, Aajana na "

[ Come on ]

"Okay, I will be there before 8pm tonight "

And I hung up the call.

How she could go without answering my question. It has been more than 3 weeks, I have no idea what she is doing and where she is. I opened my instagram and went to her profile.

A notification displayed on her profile,

@geetanjali_kshaktawat wants to follow you.

I realized that it was my mistake that I hadn't accepted her request. I clicked on the accept option and resented her request.

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***TIME SKIP***

EVENING TIME AT SIROHI

My whole family was sitting in the living room. I was gathering the courage to inform them I am going back to Jaipur tomorrow morning. Suddenly we hear a knock on the door. I guessed that it would be no one but Garv.

Mumma opened the door and she was surprised to see Garv.

"Khamma Ghani Kakisa, kese ho? Apne bete ko miss toh nahi kiya" he entered with his bags and hugged my mom.

[ Hello aunty! How are you? Have you not missed your son? ]

Yes, he is treated as a son by my parents .

"What a pleasant surprise! Welcome Garv! " Shivu jija told him by giving a high five .

"Garv, tumhe kitna miss kiya. Ghar par sab kaise hai. By the way, achanak se yaha kese aana hua, tumhari mumma keh rahi thi ki tum 22 ko aane wale ho '' Mumma asked him by offering him a glass of water.

[ I missed you so much. How is everyone at your home? What brought you here suddenly? Your mom informed that you were going to come here on 22nd! ]

Before he could say anything,I interrupted the talk, "Ham kal jaipur jaa rahe hai.4 baje ki train hai. So Garv is here!"

[We are going to Jaipur tomorrow morning. The train will depart at 4am.]

"College reopen mai time hai bahut. Waha kya karoge tum dono?" Bhabosa asked us closing the newspaper.

[ There is still time for your college to reopen. What will you both do over there?]

I signaled Garv to not open his mouth .

" College ke English literature club ka secretary hu. Iss year ke liye plan banana hai ki kya kese karna h. Garv ka biotechnology hai na. Toh usko project work shuru karna hai". I tried my best to not let them know my real reason behind going there.

[ I am secretary of the English literature club in my college. I have to make an outline for events to be conducted this year. Garv is from a Biotechnology background. So he has to start his project work.]

" Dhruv, Project october mai start hoga" Garv answered which made my family grow suspicious.

[ Project work will start in October]

"Arre tu bhul gaya, June mai start hone wala hai. Tabhi tune mujhse ticket karne ko bola. Yaad hai" I said by stressing on each word and looking at him with my wide eyes.

[You have forgot, It will start in June. So you have told me to book the tickets. Remember! ]

" Whatever it is. Chalo dinner karte h. Tum dono chup chap so jana . Mai tumhe utha dungi. Dhruv, have you finished packing?." Mumma asked me placing the dishes on the table for dinner.

[ Come and have dinner. You both should sleep after dinner. I will wake you both]

I nodded my head. We had our dinner and went to my room.

"Ab mujhe bata hua kya hai. Aankhein dikha raha tha muje ki mai na bolu."Garv said, sitting on my bed

[ Tell me, what happened? You were widening your eyes so I didn't say anything.]

I was listening to him and checked my phone to know whether she had accepted my request or not. She didn't do it till now.

" I am sleepy now. We have a train to catch in the early morning ,so we should sleep" I said, switching on the AC and hiding in the blanket .

Garv was puzzled on seeing my behavior.

He murmured to himself "Kisi chudail ka saamna toh nahi ho gaya iska? ".

[Have he come across any ghost?]

I checked after a few moments, he was sleeping . But I was awake as I was thinking about her unintentionally. The time was 11pm. I took my phone, deleted the instagram app and I thought I won't be installing it for a week.And after a while, I slept.

~•GEET's POV•~

📍 Geet's Room, HYDERABAD

⌛11.30PM

It is going to be three weeks since I have returned to Hyderabad . I haven't responded to his questions. Yes, Mr.Deora asked me whether we can be friends. I neither responded nor he tried asking me again. I logged in my account and I got a notification that he has sent me a request and accepted mine as well. I was screaming " Yipeeeeee! "

Then I stopped, gave a thought," Why am I so happy that he has accepted my request? " OK, leave it. I accepted his as well. Should I see his posts?

Yes, why not? After all, he was my crush for a few days. He has two posts. No highlights.

I clicked on his profile to check the posts.

Why is he not showing his face in every photo? One was from his cricket match and another one he posted wearing a mask. Is it him or he took it from a website?

I texted my BEST FRIEND, ANAYA, that I will pick her tomorrow morning on the way to college.I locked my phone and went to my bed ,as I have my college next day.

***Time skip ***

📍Sirohi Railway station

⌛ Around 3.45am

~•DHRUVs POV•~

Bhabosa had dropped us to the railway station. I asked him to return as the train was half an hour late. Garv and I were sitting on the platform and I could hear he was asking me lots of questions. I looked away and tried to ignore them.

"Ye nakhre dekhne ke liye tune mujhe bulaya", he asked me, turning me to face him.

[This is why you have called me to see your tantrums !]

"See, once we settle in the train , I will explain everything to you, but not now." I gave him a assurance that his questions will be answered.

The train arrived . We entered our coach and placed our bags under the seats We got both side berths, lower and upper.

Before I could move to the upper seat, Garv stopped me and made me sit on his seat and put on the curtains. It was a 2nd tier AC coach.

"Ab bhai bata de, hua kya hai. Tu kabhi aise nahi karta behave " he requested, joining his hands.

[Now tell me bro, what happened. You have never behaved in this manner.]

I took a deep breath as I wanted to calm myself and kept his hand on my heart.

"Dhruv, should we call the doctor? Are you okay? Your heartbeat is faster than it should be, "he said removing his hand .

" It is because of Ms.Shaktawat ,your jijosa's (sister's husband/brother in law) cousin."

I explained to him everything that has happened till now.

" My best friend, who reads love stories in novels ,is going to experience the same in his real life. So happy for you!!"He hugged me in excitement.

"I don't love her! We just met once." I said to bring my super excited friend to reality .

"Kya fayda tere books padne ka, jab tujhe ye bhi nahi pata ki pyar hota kese hai. Maine itni padi hoti na teri jagah, aaj meri love story movies mai ban chuki hoti"

[What is the use of reading so many books if you don't know how to fall in love. If I have read so much instead of you ,my love story was adapted into a movie till now"]

He placed my phone on my hand after installing instagram. He insisted that I should login into the account and I did it.

As soon as I logged in, I saw her photo on my feed.

My eyes shined when I saw her and her long hair were untie. I was so overjoyed that she had accepted my request, finally. Also I received a text from her, I opened the DM.

"Hi. Sorry for making you wait. I would like to have you as my friend. If you don't mind can I call you Mr.Book Magnet instead of Mr. Deora. You told me that you feel like a man in your 30s when I use that name." I started blushing and hugged Garv .

"Tu hai na, usse door hi raha kar." Garv removed my hands from him.

[you should stay away from her]

"I am not in love, first of all but I am so happy that she has accepted my request. " I replied

Suddenly I realized he was looking at me without blinking his eyes.

"Tune muje ek ladki ke kaaran dhamki deke bulaya, ignore kiya kal se. Ab khushi mana raha hai.Pyaar ka pata nahi par pagal ho gaya hai'' saying that he went to the upper berth.

[You warned me to come just because of a girl, also you have ignored me since yesterday. And now you are celebrating it . I don't know about love, but definitely you have become mad]

I started looking outside of the window to admire the view. I took my novel and chose a song from my reading playlist to make this journey more beautiful.

***Time skip***

📍 Hyderabad

⌛7.30am

~•GEET's POV•~

I got ready for college. I called Anaya to inform that I would be coming within 30 mins to pick her up. She stays 5 minutes away by walking distance .My lectures will start at 8.45am. Avanti and Kavya has already left for their school

I had my breakfast and left for my college. The college is 20 mins away if one chooses driving as their mode. I picked Anaya from her society's entrance. We reached our college and I parked my scooter in the parking area alloted for students.

While entering college, I got a notification when I turned the data on. It was from Dhruv.

Without any delay, I clicked and read it.

"So, Finally you have accepted your Mr.Book Magnet's friendship request. Hope we become good friends. All the best for your college life as a final year student. Let me know once you return home. Keep smiling and take care!! "

I couldn't stop myself from blushing and smiling.

"Geet, why are you turning into a tomato?Your cheeks have turned red." Anaya asked me.

"Nothing. I think we should go to our class otherwise we will be late" I changed the topic and we went to our class.

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So finally they have entered the stage of frienship!!! Get ready to travel in their world of love, yes from your power of imagination!!!!

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I hope you liked this chapter and let me know in the comment section any suggestions to improve myself or the way of telling the story. Don't forget to vote , your one vote act as a motivation for me that my work is being recognized by you. Follow for more updates .

Sorry if there is any mistake related to grammar or vocabulary. You can let me know in the comment .

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See you soon with a new chapter till then take care and lots of love!

Avina,

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