Destiny's Play!!

Chapter - 10

Avni was nervous. But it seemed to have become second nature to her. This timidity that clung to her like a shadow that refused to go away. Had she always been timid? Maybe. It was her first day in college and she never did well with so many strangers around her. Manya had already told her which class she would be going to and she had been grateful. She was here and it seemed not many had arrived or not many were doing B.Ed. Whatever be the case she found herself a corner seat by the window and sat there. This was very different from the college she had attended in Ludhiana. There they had had a separate school for B. Ed here there was only one college with a lot of courses. It was a two floor building with various classrooms and sloping roofs. After a few minutes the teacher came and her new life officially began after the roll call. Nobody seemed to be interested in her and she preferred it to be that way.

A few years ago she had had friends. Mostly girls she had known from her childhood days. But then she had lost touch with them as they moved on to different colleges and cities. Just a couple of them had stayed back in Ludhiana. And now she wasn't in touch with them either. She sighed as she made a mental note to finish the project they had been assigned today by the teacher. By twelve all three classes she had to attend were done. She had spoken to the teacher who had informed her that from next week she would be interning at the local school to gain experience and certification. And she had been glad. She wanted to finish this course as soon as possible.

After she was done she got a call from Manya asking her to join her and her friend for lunch. Avni had recently found she couldn't say no to Manya. Not that she accepted it easily. Sighing Avni headed towards the canteen. Once there she was surprised to see the amount of students. How had she thought this wasn't a big college? She looked around and spotted Manya sitting at a table with another girl. Must be the friend she had spoken of. Avni wasn't interested in meeting new people but she had not much choice in this case. Slowly she made her way around the crowd and towards the table. Manya had already seen her and she waved enthusiastically in her direction. Avni smiled. Her grin was so infectious she wasn't sure how much longer she could stay immune to her affectionate nature.

"Hey," Manya said as she patted a chair next to her.

"Hi," Avni said as she sat down on the chair and looked at the other girl who sat opposite to them.

She was a pretty girl. With warm sherry brown eyes, delicate features and dark brown hair which she had tied in a ponytail. She had a pleasant smile on her face.

"This is Riddhima," Manya said introducing the two girls, "and this is Avni," she told Riddhima.

"Hi," Riddhima said politely.

"Hello," Avni responded.

"She is our neighbor," Manya said grinning, "well sort of and Uday is a huge fan of hers," she said.

"Fan?" Avni asked confused.

"Well actually he is smitten by her but she always rides her high horse, my poor brother," Manya said her grin turning into a teasing mischievous smile.

While Avni made an 'o' with her mouth she saw Riddhima turn red. Whether it was in embarrassment or anger she didn't know but she found out soon enough.

"Oh, please," Riddhima said, "you know Manya has a thing for exaggerating things. Uday doesn't feel anything like that and I am not riding any high horses," she protested.

"Come on Rids," Manya said teasing her, "I just have to mention your name and his eyes go all round in his face. He is a handsome one, my brother, why don't you give him a chance?" she asked.

"Because he is a world class flirt and I don't do well with men such as him besides he is so easygoing it is not even funny," Riddhima said sullenly.

"See, you are on that horse again," Manya said but she knew she could only tease her friend so much, "anyway so Avni, do you have a boyfriend we can tease you about?" Manya asked shifting her focus from Riddhima to Avni and from the corner of her eye Avni saw Riddhima look relieved.

Avni didn't know how to answer that question. Should she lie? Should she say the truth? Maybe somewhere in between would be better. She hadn't understood what had happened to her yet so to tell them anything was out of the picture. Besides she wouldn't know where to start or what to say. She cleared her throat and gave a small smile.

"I am afraid you might not be able to tease me on those grounds," she said.

"Aw," Manya said as if upset, "you are such a pretty girl how come you don't have a boyfriend?" she asked.

"Well, never had the time," Avni responded which was the truth. Things had changed for her long before she had had time to explore anything that girls normally did.

"Okay, too much about us," Riddhima said intervening, "what about you madam?" she said.

"What about me," Manya asked.

"Why don't you talk about your boyfriend?" she said and grinned.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Manya said as if sad at the thought, "though I would love to have one," she said next with a twinkle to her eyes.

"Oh, wouldn't you," Riddhima said teasing her, "but your brother and father would shoot first and ask questions later. Poor you," she said and laughed.

"Hey," Manya said in mock anger, "don't talk about my brother like that. He is a sweetheart okay," she said defending her brother.

"I am not talking about Uday," Riddhima said making a face.

"Me neither," Manya said.

"So you are saying Karan is a sweetheart?" Riddhima said astounded.

"Say Karan bhaiya," Manya said with exaggeration, "and yes he is a sweetheart. I don't care if he is the same with others but with me he is the best brother and friend I could have asked for. My father might take up the gun and shoot before he asked questions but he will ask questions first," she said with confidence.

"And then what?" Riddhima asked curiously.

"Then he will shoot of course," Manya said and laughed.

Riddhima laughed as well. Avni just managed a smile. Not that the other girls noticed. Just the mention of Karan's name sent shivers up her spine. She couldn't even imagine to associate the word sweetheart with him. She didn't know why he had had that kind of effect on her. Was it his appearance? Was it his manners? Or was it the overall package? Maybe he was someone else since Manya knew him better than her after all he was her brother. Or maybe he didn't take kindly to strangers. Yup, that could be the case. Just as she didn't like mingling with people, she didn't know maybe he was the same way. But why was she thinking so much about him? She didn't even know him. Had met only once and just on that basis she had decided he was a mean, rude person. But weren't first impressions last impressions? She had read that somewhere. How did it matter she thought. It wasn't as if she was here to build relationships she was here to finish her course so she could be independent and start a new life.

What Avni didn't know was that she was to learn a whole lot more than just what she was to do to finish her course? Life had strange ways of teaching and even stranger ones to make one learn.

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