An Arranged (Love) Marriage

Chapter 6

"Come on now. Let's go and get ready. Your family would soon be here to pick you up." I said getting up.
"Yeah. I guess we should go now. But I seriously wish we could spent some more time together. Afterall we don't know when would we see each other again after this." Isha replied sulking.
"Hmm. I'm happy that I can finally spend some time with my family now but I'm going to miss US." Prachi too said

Then we headed back to our rooms. Soon after Isha's family i.e. her Parents and an elder sister, came to pick her up.
"I'll miss my babes so much!! Let's meet again for sure in the future!" Isha said while embracing me and Prachi before she left. And we agreed of course.
After bidding goodbye to Isha we came inside and went to bed as it was already late now and we had to catch our train in the morning tomorrow.

The next morning we woke up, had our breakfast and left for the railway station.
After getting off at the station, we booked Prachi's luggage to be sent home and went to the platform where we had to wait for the train to arrive. As I had already sent most of my luggage with my family when they were heading back yesterday, I only had my bags with me.

Soon Prachi's train came along and she boarded the train. We chatted for a while until her train was ready to depart and we bid each other goodbye.
I sat on a bench at the platform as I had to wait one more hour for my train to arrive.

I was just sitting and watching people going on with their lives. There I saw a little girl sulking while getting scolded and a little boy, maybe her younger brother, teasing her from behind unbeknownst to her parents. Eventually she started giggling with him too. This brought a smile on my face. Childhood is so pure and full of innocence. There are no responsibilities, no worries. Just pure bliss.

Soon I was distracted by a group of youths which seemed to be students on a trip. They were laughing and chatting loudly while walking away excitedly. And there was an old couple getting annoyed by their 'Noise'.
It reminded me of our college trip, when we were heading back by the train.

*
"Hey kids!! Stop being so noisy. We old people are sitting peacefully here." A elderly man scolded us.
"Kids these days just don't know how to talk and behave around people. They are always lost in their own world. They never grow up these days." The old lady sitting besides, him commented.

"Arre Ajji (grandma), wait while they're getting settled on their seats. They'll not bother you then, I assure." Our Professor tried to reason.

"Oldies these days have no chill. Don't even understand the situation. Always ready to point out and scold anyone." One of the cheeky girl from our batch commented making us laugh (Including the old man. Seems like a fun guy.😉)

"Shut up and move to your seats. Hurry!" Our Professor instructed us.

"See, how ill mannered they are. Would they talk to their parents/grandparents the same way?" The old lady mumbled audibly.
"Let them be. They are just enjoying their youth. We did too." The old man tried to calm his partner which worked as she started reading her book again.
See, I told you. He was a nice guy.

"So, all of you settle down on your seats and don't disturb other passengers around here. No one should get off the train without letting anyone know and should be back in the train on time. It's a short overnight journey so go to sleep at the earliest. We'll be getting off in the morning. We would be seated in the coach besides this and we'll check on you time to time. So, till then 'No Nuisance'. Got it?" The other professor instructed us. We responded assertively. Everyone settled down quitely in their places.

But this quite was very short-lived, until our Professors left for their coach. Suddenly everyone got up from their seats and started whisper talking to each other.
I got confused unable to understand anything. Unable to figure out what was going on, I turned to my besties and asked them. Prachi just shrugged her shoulders but Isha kept giggling about it. We raised our eyebrows at that.
"Relax. It's going to be fun. You'll know soon."
I was about to ask her further but Nikhil came to us and asked, " You guys are still here? Come on get going. Move to the compartment where the others are sitting." He whispered to us.
I stared at him clueless. Then Isha dragged us to the compartment. There we found most of our batchmates sitting. They moved a bit and made spaces for others to sit, this making it cramped. Those who didn't get to sit, stood there,like us.
"So, let's begin" Our class representative said and others yelled excitedly. She shushed them, "Keep it down. We can't be loud otherwise our Professors will know." And everyone fell silent.