Hues of dusk

” Okay class thats it for todays lecture. Have a nice day ” Mehta sir announced the moment the Bell rang. I doubted if anyone was even paying attention to him. He signed off and rushed out of the class. He always seemed to be in a more hurry than us to get out of here.

Next class was Chemistry practical . We were going through the same things We studied in 11th and 12 th grade. Two months will be like this only. I groaned. I was tired of the listening to the same lecture from past two years.

I grabbed my lab coat and made my way towards the chemistry lab . We were going to be assigned lab partner today. Fingers crossed.

I arrived on time and took my spot. Atleast this lab was not so boring and lacking the necessary equipment like my high school.

I took out my book and rough notebook , and began skimming through the pages, to paas my time.

Jyoti didn come today . That girl was head over heels for Aryan. She bunked todays classes because she wasn satisfied with yesterdays shopping.

Is she planning to get married as soon as he will land here ? I shook my head, worried about what to do with her. How did I even became a friend with her? I couldn remember.

” Good morning, everyone ” Mrs.Nair , our chemistry teacher greeted us . We greeted her in unison and she began briefing us about todays experiment. Then she began announcing the name of the students while writing them down in pairs on the black board.

I was the last one because Mrs.Nair did the arrangement randomly instead of doing it in the alphabetical order . Seriously. On the top of that I didn even get a lab partner . We were in odd numbers . Guess, I will have to do it solo. I was never good in working in a group as it is.

”One student is missing. Mr. Shree Raheja . Absent in the first class ? so irresponsible, ” Mrs.Nair mumbled.

” Helloooo ladies! ” a guy announced. He skidded in the lab on the skateboard and stopped in front of us. He flicked his shoulder length hairs behind his neck and took of his aviators.

He put his left foot in one end of his skateboard and pushed it, making it stand vertically. He grabbed it with his left hand and winked at the girls. Then he turned at Mrs. Nair and gave her a 100 Watt smile.

”Who are you? ” our teacher narrowed her eyes at the intruder.

” Shri Raheja , Nice to meet you all. ” He waved his hand at us like a king.

” Mrs.Nair was trying hard to control her anger, she adjusted her specs and marked his attendance.

” you can go to your spot, beside Sandhya , ” She motioned towards me.

Wait a minute! He is my lab partner?

Shri sauntered in my direction while everyone stared at him . He took his spot beside me and began moving back and forth on his feet.

I looked at him taking in his appearance. If anything, he didn look like a student at all. He was wearing a lab coat on top of a Bahamas shirt and Cargo three- fourth.

Did he just came here directly from a vacation? and his hair, Oh, my god. I had never seen so shiny , dense and smooth hair ever. I want to touch them.

”Take a picture , it will last longer ” he snapped his fingers in front of me . Oops I was staring too long. Not a good thing, Sandhya.

He ran his hand through his hair making me jealous. I had long hair too but they were nothing compared to the one he is flaunting right now.

He had a nice Tan too which enhances his facial features. Whereas my Tan made me looked like I was sunburned. Why am I getting jealous of a boy? I tried to ignore him and focus on Mrs. Nair who was rambling about herself.

She told us she was a gold medalist and expected best results from us. We all nodded absentmindedly and began our experiments.

Luckily, I had no problem working with Shri . He was co-operative and I didn end up doing all the work by myself. We finished in time and submitted our reports. The bell rang and We all started leaving for our next lecture.

” See ya all later! ” Shri shouted Mrs Nair scolded him. We all laughed at him and filed out of lab.

My laughter soon ended when I saw my mortal enemy walking in my direction. Ved.

I glared at him but he wasn even looking at me. What are you doing, Sandhya? Stop starring at him like that. what if he recognised you ? Don dig your own grave.

I glanced away quickly and increased my speed. IT was better if I kept off his radar. who knew if he was the same Ved from my childhood or had changed. But one thing was for sure , he will make my life hell , if he got to know that his favourite person was roaming in the same college as him.

____***____****

” Phew ” I relaxed and sat down in my seat . I decided to spend my free classes in the library.

I began reading and relishing in the peaceful environment.

”Ouch ” I heard a girl exclaim .

” I am sorry! Did I hurt you ”?

I turned around and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw Rajiv apologizing frantically to the girl in front of him. The big guy looked so nervous.

”Its okay, it was my fault ” the girl gave him a small smile He smiled back in relief and she blushed.

So the bouncer was capable of smiling too. He always glared at me though. The girl gave him a long look and dashed out of the library.

”That was so sweet ” . I mumbled to myself.

” What are you laughing at? ” I snapped my head up and saw Rajiv staring down at me.

” Aren you a teddy bear? ” I teased.

” What did you say? ”

” Teddy Bear. You know the stuff toy which girls love. ” I motioned with my hands.

” Whats that got to do with me ”? He narrowded his eyes.

” What I meant to say was you are a soft hearted person though you act all big and scary ”.

He blinked rapidly.

” But, I scared her off ” he said in a low voice .

” No , you didn ! ” I yelled.

”Silence ” the librarian yelled back.

Oh! so you can yell back and we can !

”Didn you see her blushing !? ” I whisper yelled.

He looked at me confusedly . He sat down beside me and scrunched his eyebrows.

” You are making fun of me , aren you? ” he accused. I face – palmed myself .

”Why would I do that? ” I asked .

He mumbled something under his breath and I couldn hear it. He looked at me like a drowning man and that I was his last hope. I was not liking this feeling. I hurriedly got up but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back on my seat.

” You invited yourself into this and I am not letting you go easily ” he smiled with a glimmer in his eyes. What did I get myself into?

Thats how I spent my free class and we made to the bunk other one ; trying to explain the laws of attraction to the Rajiv and cleared out his misunderstanding.

I had to repeat myself several times to get through his thick skull . How was he one of the topper ? After that session I felt qualified to become a love guru.

He believed that he scared of everyone because of his build and brooding persona. That was true but it didn hide the fact that he was a handsome guy.

He had a strong jawline and broad forehead with a little crooked nose. Small wisp of hair covered his jaw and upper lip and his black eyes were big and round like marbles. He had a rough appearance but he was attractive which he didn know himself.

I laughed at him. IT was ridiculous to see that a strong guy like him also have insecurities.

” You aren afraid of me? ”, he asked raising an eyebrow at me.

” Nah , you never scared me ” .

He did but I could lie. His lips curled into a smile and he grabbed my head in a headlock.

” Someone is full of herself ” he ruffled my hair

” Ahem ” Mayank coughed.

” Hey Bro! ” Rajiv finally let go and I sighed in relief.

” I didn disturbed anything right?! ” He glanced between me and Rajiv.

” Lets go man , I am hungry! ” Rajiv patted Mayank shoulder.

” Bye! Kid ” He waved at me turned towards the exit whistling an old song. Mayank stared at his retreating form and when he could no longer see him , turned towards me.

” Whats up with him? ” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulder and got up to leave for lunch . Mayank eyed me curiously but soon followed me outside and went his way.

Lunch was boring without jyoti . I missed her continuous chattering and silly jokes. IT had been just one day without her and I was already missing her. What would happen when she will get married? No, I won let her ditch me.

” Excuse me, can I sit here ? ” a girl came and asked me.

She was dressed in V neck kimono sleeved black top and white bowtie paperbag waist pants. She was carrying a Louise Vuitton handbagbag a I phone.

She had shoulder length dark brown hair which she had parted to the side. Her heart shaped face , button nose and doe eyes were perfection . She was fair and had good height minus the heals she was wearing.

She looked so posh that I couldn take my eyes off her.

She was really cute. I nodded my head and she sat down giving me a small smile.

”I hope I am not disturbing you ” she said in a honey voice.

”No, its okay . There is a lot of space here ”.

We began munching on our food and she asked me which year I was in. I told her I was a fresher and she informed that she was too. She introduced herself and even her name was so cool.

Tanya Hirachandani

It was her first day in college . She couldn joint on the actual date because of some administration issue. We chatted like that on random topics till the bell rang.

” Bye, Sandhya, it was nice to talk to you ” she said and went towards her class.

” New friend ” Parth asked as he came beside me.

” Yup ” I smiled

” I miss jyoti ” he said

” me too ” I agreed

we looked at each other and burst out laughing. Jyoti will so gonna kill us.

Rest of the day went on smoothly and I messaged jyoti that I had found her replacement. Soon my phone was bombarded with messages calling me a traitor and how she was going to kill me 100 ways. I wouldn replace her with anyone else but I enjoyed annoying her.

_________*****_________

After the lecture got over, I made my way towards Bus stop to leave for home. Today was quite peacefull . I was replaying todays event through my mind.

Honk !

I jumped in fright and looked back. A black Ford Mustang GT was making it way through the crowd which had gathered to admire it.

I was awed too . I stared at the black beauty and calculated how many times I have to reborn to afford it . As it moved past me , I ran my hand in its hood . So smooth. I doubted if Shris hair were smoother than this. And now I was jealous of a car . Wow. I laughed at myself.

The car speed off and now everyone got back on their way. I got to the bus stop and imagined how it would feel to drive one of those cars . I would sure love it.