First Date to Forever

February Blues

     January went by so quickly , it has already been three weeks since their date. Instead of getting ready for college today , Sujay was pacing around his room still in his pyjamas. He was remembering the events of yesterday. How he and Shonali sat through the entire movie holding hands. He was now sure that Shonali too has feelings for him and he was looking forward to ask her out again. But a mail from their college made him restless.

      Their college had a program for studying a semester abroad . He had applied for it at the time of admissions. Little did he know a choice he made then would bring his life to a standstill ! He would be gone for 4 months , to America and would be completing this semester at a partner university there. He and Jeet had applied together thinking it would be an amazing experience traveling to a foreign country with a friend . Now he was regretting his decision.

       It would be unfair if he asks Shonali out now and then just leaves for 4 months .  Is their bond that strong yet ? Will they be able to handle the long distance? What if she finds someone here in his absence ? All such thoughts were driving him crazy ! He saw Shonali had texted him last night , but he couldn't gather the courage to reply to her. Seems like the tables have turned , he was the one worried about leading her on and leaving .

      He had received a mail last night for submitting his documents for visa processing. He would be gone by this month end . He decided to skip college today and stay at home sulking.

     After receiving no reply from Sujay , Shonali started getting worried . Was he not happy she took a step towards him ? Hope everything is fine at his home . She again texted him -

'Good morning you ! Is everything okay ? What time will you be reaching college ? '

Sujay quickly typed a response to ease her worries, ' Hey sorry I slept early last night . Yes everything is good , I won't be coming to college today. Got some work. '

Shonali got upset , she was really looking forward to meet him.

     She entered her class and sat next to Akshay. He was still upset with her and she had no idea why ! She decided to confront him today . Jeevika and Arush were going through a rough patch too. She noticed something is off with Sarika and Sameer too. What happened there she wondered. Was she so involved with Sujay that she completely ignored her friends past few weeks ? She has no idea what is going on in their lives .

She decided to spend the day talking to her friends and resolving their issues. She started with Akshay , "Hi Akshay ! " she said cheerfully but he just nodded in response.

After a lot of time trying to get him to talk , she gave up . She literally had no idea what she did that made him so upset. Akshay quickly retorted "Only if you spend time with your friends you will be able to understand. "
Hurt flashed on her face hearing this , and Akshay immediately regretted saying those words but there was nothing he could say at that moment to make the situation better.

    She saw Arush sitting alone and decided to talk to him about Akshay . Unfortunately for her Arush just had a huge fight with Jeevika and was still fuming with anger. Shonali asked him if everything was okay and asked about Jeevika when he lost his cool  ,
" Why do you care Shonali ? You are busy with your dates we understand. We will sort out things on our own thankyou ! "

At the same time Jeevika and Palak entered the class and witnessed the whole situation. Jeevika immediately reprimanded Arush on his behavior towards Shonali .
"If you have a problem with me talk to me , don't you dare vent your anger on Shonali ! "

     Akshay quickly jumped in to stand up for Arush " Why wouldn't he ? Ask Shonali if she has any idea what is going on in our lives ? She has been so busy with the lover boy is she even aware about Palak's breakup ?! "

   Shonali was beyond shocked hearing this ! She looked at Palak as if confirming what she heard ... Palak tried to change the topic and started scolding Arush and Akshay for their behavior,
" Of course she is busy and deserves to be . Have you not seen how happy she looks ? Can you not be happy for her once ? Have you forgotten all she has done for you ? Arush do not forget if you are with Jeevika , it is bacause of Shonali , you would have given up too soon earlier. And Akshay you , really even you know you are being absolutely unreasonable being angry with her . And if she doesn't know what's happening in our lives is because we haven't told her ! And she is not busy with Sujay , we are keeping them busy by planning all their meets and trying to bring them together  ! "

     Shonali was standing there shocked , she couldn't accept the fact her friends were now fighting because of her, for her ! As if the day was marked to get the award for the worst day ever , Jeet entered the class looking for Sujay.

"Hi Shonali , have you seen Sujay or heard from him ? I have been calling him since morning but he is not picking up his phone " Jeet asked.

She looked at Jeet in surprise "He is not coming to college today , said he has some work " . Was Sujay ignoring his friends too ?

"Oh , he must busy with the documentation. I will call him up and ask. "

"What documentation ? " asked Sarika curiously.

"For the Semester abroad program, we are leaving for America by this month end so we received a mail yesterday from the admissions department for some more documents. That is why I was looking for Sujay , I wanted to ask him about this form ...."
Jeet stopped mid sentence when he saw the look on Shonali's face.

She looked as if she had heard some heartbreaking news. That is when he realised Sujay hasn't told her about him leaving yet !!

Everyone was silent , when Akshay fumed out in anger " Wow , so you were ignoring us for this guy who will be leaving for 4 months and did not even inform you about it ! "

Palak quickly retorted "Just stop it Akshay , you are going out of line now ! "

Arush scoffed , "You are still taking his side. He will leave Shonali just like that ? You all were busy planning to bring them together only to have her heart broken ? "

     "He is not going away for ever , only 4 months and he will be back in second year ! And he is just going to another country , you know we still have these devices to talk to people overseas, what do you call them ? Oh yeah A PHONE !! " Sarika came in support of Sujay .

       Jeet realised it was time to talk to Sujay and knock some sense in him . He was feeling bad for Shonali , she looked absolutely dejected right now .

    Why wouldn't she? She had just started acknowledging her feelings for Sujay and he will be leaving for four months ? Her friends were fighting because of her , Palak was going through a break up and she had no idea ! Shonali decided to skip rest of the classes and went back to her room to have some time alone to sort her thoughts . She should not have gone on that date ...