9 Pencil
Part 9 Pencil
Not finding Khushi in the canteen, Arnav was upset. The girl who was always looking for an excuse to talk to him didn't come to the canteen during the lunch break. That disappointed him. Even though he guessed it was to avoid Dhruv, he didn't compromise.
Aman looked at his face and understood he was upset.
"What happened, Arnav? You look upset?"
"Nothing is like that..."
"I know... You are upset because Khushi didn't come for lunch. Right?"
"Why should I be upset with her? I know why she didn't come. She would have avoided coming to the canteen because of Dhruv..."
"So, you are upset..."
Arnav gulped hard.
"Are you upset with her just because she didn't come to the canteen. Or, she didn't come because of Dhruv...?"
"Didn't you see how he intimidated me? Who is he to order me not to talk to Khushi?"
"Their fathers are partners..."
"So what if their fathers are partners? Who wrote the rule that the partners' children must be friends? Partners, my foot..." He gritted his teeth.
"Till morning, you were like, you don't care about Khushi, and now you are losing your temper! Just because you don't like Dhruv..."
Cutting him off,
"Correction... Dhruv doesn't like me... he hates me..."
"Would you like him?"
"I don't like him at the same time, I don't hate him too..."
"If you want to talk to Khushi only for Dhruv, stop it..."
"Have you gone mad? Didn't you see we came together this morning? She became our friend even before I got to know who she is. Don't forget that..."
"So, you like her..."
Arnav was stuck. He composed himself.
"I don't know..."
Aman rolled his eyes and was surprised by his next stance.
"But I like talking to her..."
"That means you like her. If you like to do something you have never done before, you are feeling something in your mind... no, not in your mind... in your HEART."
Arnav was silent. That confirmed Aman something.
"Let's go to the class." Arnav walked.
Dhruv was in the last bench with his friends. Arnav sat on the first bench with Aman and NK.
"What happened, Nannav? You look upset?" NK asked.
Aman signalled him not to ask him anything. NK nodded and sat straight.
That was when Khushi came to their class. Arnav was surprised to see her. The class fell silent upon seeing her. She stood at the doorstep and looked here and there. Her cousin Nikil stood up. Khushi smiled at him.
"What do you want, Khushi?"
"Pencil..."
Arnav's hand automatically touched the pencil that was in his pocket.
"Pencil?" Nikil frowned.
"Does anybody have a pencil?" Dhruv asked his gang.
Khushi walked to Arnav and took the pencil from his pocket.
"I will give it to you later..." She tapped his head with the pencil.
Arnav nodded.
"Why didn't you come to the canteen?" Aman asked.
"My friend Lavanya's birthday is today. She brought lunch for everyone and insisted that we have it with her, so we had lunch with her."
Aman saw relief in Arnav's face. She didn't skip coming to the canteen because of Dhruv. That made him relax.
"Didn't you cut the cake?"
"Will do that in the evening... You three are invited... ok?"
"Sure..." Aman said.
Khushi looked at Arnav, who had a constant smile on his face.
"Hello, Mr... you too should be there. If you don't come, I will come to your house and complain to your Dadi." She said that surprised Arnav.
How did she know he respected only Dadi at RM?
"He will come... I will bring him..." Aman said.
"Thank you, Ammu... I will be waiting for you. And Arnie, could you drop me off at home after the cake cutting? Ok?"
Arnav was stuck hearing her address him as Arnie. Didn't she say she would not give him a nickname?
Arnav nodded with a mild smile.
"Bye..."
"One minute..." NK stopped her.
"Yes?"
"Did you buy the cake?"
"Not yet... we will buy it after the class hours"
"Don't worry. We will buy it..."
"No thanks... why do you take trouble?"
"There is no trouble. Leave it on us..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup..."
"Thank you..."
She looked at Nikil and waved her hand. He shook his head. She left the class.
Aman looked at Arnav, who was smiling.
"It seems you are relieved...?"
Arnav's smile broadened.
"You misunderstood her..."
Arnav nodded yes.
"Don't decide in haste, without knowing the truth."
"Yeah, I did wrong... she is not like that."
Aman looked at Dhruv, who was emitting fire at them.
"Your cousin is fuming..." Aman murmured.
"Who cares?" Arnav said carelessly.
Dhruv glared at Arnav.
"It seems Arnav will be your permanent villain..." His friend said.
"He is dominating the girl..."
Dhruv was silent. He didn't know how to shut them up because everything was happening right in front of their eyes. So, there was no chance for him to prevaricate. He felt insulted. Khushi openly avoided him and gave the vital task to Arnav.
"By the way, why did Khushi need a pencil?" NK asked.
"What else? To mark something..." Arnav said.
"No... It's an excuse... she came here to talk to you." Aman said.
Arnav smiled as he too understood that.
"We will buy a good cake for the birthday party..."
"Why should I buy? It's you who agreed to do that. So, you buy..." Arnav said.
"I promised Khushi..."
"Who asked you to do that?"
"Won't you contribute?"
"Why should I?"
"He would have contributed if the birthday is for Khushi... am I right, Arnav?" Aman teased.
Arnav nodded and made them awe.
Evening
NK bought a cake for Lavanya and handed it to Khushi.
"So sweet..."
"No no... the cake has mild sweet..." NK countered.
Khushi rolled her eyes.
"Cut the cake..." he chuckled.
They placed the cake on a bike and asked Lavanya to cut it. She cut it and fed it to her friends. Then she served it to everyone, keeping it on paper plates. While giving it to Arnav, Khushi stuck the cream on his cheek, making him flinch. Arnav was about to say something, but stopped seeing Dhruv watching them. He took it from his cheek and sucked the finger.
"Happy birthday", NK wished Lavanya.
"Thanks for the cake..." Lavanya said to NK.
"It's my pleasure..." he bowed his head a little.
They dispersed after the cake cutting. Khushi came to Arnav and stood before him.
"Shall we go?" she asked.
Arnav nodded.
"Bye, guys, we are leaving." She walked with Arnav.
Arnav started the bike, and Khushi sat behind him. Arnav headed to her area.
"Why did you want my pencil?"
"What else? To mark important points"
"Oh...give me my pencil." He asked, controlling his smile.
Khushi huffed.
"I have never seen such a man like you..." She raised her bag in a threatening manner.
"Why?"
"It's just a pencil and you are asking in return... won't you give your pencil to me?"
"I thought you would get a new one and return it to me..."
"I will give it to you tomorrow."
Arnav said nothing.
He stopped the bike at the same bus stand from which he had picked her up in the morning.
"Take a right turn..." she said.
Arnav looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"Drop me home..."
Arnav took a right turn.
"Left..."
He took a left.
"Stop..."
Arnav stopped the bike in front of a colossal bungalow.
"This is my house..."
"Oh..."
"Come in..."
"It's ok.. I will come some other day..."
"You can come some other day too. Now, come..."
She took the bike key and walked.
"Khushi... listen..."
"I'm a deaf..." she went inside.
Arnav rolled his eyes and followed her.
To be continued...
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