Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 06. Shrishti gives up on Sharad

Next day Shrishti woke up with a groan. She was tired, very tired thanks to the party the night before. But she had college today. She could skip, she mused. Her father would allow her. She shook her head. But today was something special. This year Valentines' Day fell on Sunday and College was closed during weekends. So the students decided that on Friday they would celebrate Valentines Day. As Shrishti got ready, she remembered what had happened on this day in her past life.

Today was the day in her past life, her life had started to ruin. Thinking it was her first Valentines after she had turned eighteen, she had decided to declare her love for Sharad in a gigantic way. She had bought a bouquet with hundred red roses and had publicly gone down on one knee to ask Sharad out. And it had annoyed Sharad so much that he had rejected her in front of everyone with the cruelest words. It had broken her heart but that was not what caused her ruin.

This event had made Shrishti a laughing stock in front of the whole college but many students had gone and told their parents and amongst their parents were also her father's associates. This had made people think that her father did not raise her properly. But that still did not cause her ruin. Her ruin was caused when Ronnie told his mother about it and his mother, her Chachi told this to her Bua who had spread it amongst their whole community. In few days, Shrishti became the character less girl amongst her relatives and her father's friends. Her name was so badly ruined that her father ended up getting her engaged to Raghav during the summer vacation as a result. This was because he worried that no one would marry her, especially when Sharad kept on rejecting her and she refused to move on from him.

Now Shrishti was seven years behind, right before her open proposal. Till this day in her second life, Shrishti had never openly confessed her feelings to Sharad. Yes, she had given him a rose on the Rose Day when they were in Junior college. But every girl had given him that. So it meant nothing. But since he saved her, every Valentines Day, she would leave roses at his desk and chocolates and a gift near his bag and Sharad always acted like he did not know who gave it even though the whole class had seen Shrishti place those things when he was not around. But other than that, she did nothing. And that is why, she was known as the girl who had a puppy crush on Sharad, that's all. But today was the day she openly said that she loved him and would not let him go which ruined her life.

Hence, Shrishti had to go. But today, she was not proposing to Sharad. She was going to do something else. An hour later, Shrishti was at the college gate, ready to enter the college. People turned around and stared at her. Why? She was not sure.

'Don't tell me, me not coming to college on my birthday was such a big deal?', she mumbled to herself, 'Was I really that big of a joke? Oh God! I was such an idiot!'

Shrishti sighed as she reached the college building. She climbed the stairs and entered the building and looked around. Oh dear! She forgot where her classroom was. She resisted the urge to groan. But in her defence, it had been so long since she attended college. She closed her eyes trying to remember when someone pushed her from behind and not expecting it, she fell down. Laughter echoed around her. She did not remember this happening in her past life. But then many of her memories were not there. It had been seven years since she had lived these moments. Moreover, in those days, when had she noticed these things? She was too lost in Sharad to notice people laughing at her or pushing her down.

'You ok?', came a voice and she was surprised to see Arpit kneeling in front of her. He looked at her keenly and she blinked. Didn't he hate her or something? He must have noticed her scepticism as he rolled his eyes, 'I may dislike you but my brother would not be happy if I did not help you now.'

Brother? How Raghav connected to this? In her confusion, she let Arpit help her get up. She looked around and noticed that Ronnie was also laughing at her. What does it say about her that her own cousin would not help her out of fear for his reputation while her sworn enemy decided to help her? She was really a bad judge of character in her past life, it seemed.