18

Chapter 5

It was the evening time. The entire sky was dull and grey. The street was lonely and the chilly breeze and wind were giving the environment a sad touch. In all this, there was a girl. Her gaze shifted from the grey sky towards the horizon and with no hope left, she took one step ahead and suddenly she heard a familiar voice.

"Stop right there...."

... and Nisha opened her eyes.

"It was a dream." She repeated this several times to herself. She glanced at the clock. It was 5:24 in the morning of 3rd July 2024. Nisha wanted to rest for a while again, but thoughts of her dream had another plan. Her heart was still racing fast. She closed her eyes tightly. Unfortunately, after trying for 30 minutes to fall asleep, Nisha gave up and sat on the edge of her bed in the shared bedroom with her cousin Riya, daughter of Nitu Aunty. Riya, was 3 years older than Nisha, was not like her mother. Nisha used to look at her as her favourite older sister. Riya was close to Arav and Nisha, but because of some family issues, their small group started drifting away from each other.

The last 2 days were so energy-consuming for her. She finally moved to Pune, and she didn't get a chance to meet Avni and Mira before leaving. Nisha looked around the room. With Riya's help, she organized her stuff perfectly. Slowly but steadily, realised the importance of today. Nisha brushed off all thoughts of her dream and went straight to get ready.

It took her 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete all primary things, including a bath. Now she was standing in front of the mirror. She put on white baggy jeans with a navy blue hoodie. She started doing her hairstyle and was shuffling from one idea to another because her hair was neither long nor short. While doing hairstyle, Nisha looked at Riya, who was still in dreamland.

Finally, after trying for 15 minutes, she was ready with a ponytail. Nisha still had nearly 3 hours before the first introductory lecture, but she somehow excused herself from Nitu Aunty for breakfast and headed straight to the bus stop because her college was 20 minutes away from her stay. The day before yesterday her uncle gave her some useful guidance about bus routes to make her travelling easy in the new city.

Nisha was waiting for the bus, and after 5 minutes, she got on the bus. It was challenging for her to step onto the bus with others, but she managed somehow. She didn't get a seat in that crowd, but because she was excited, she found everything fine. After 20 minutes, she was in front of the college gate. She looked everywhere and entered from one side of the gate and because she was into this fresh energy and because of this; she didn't realise that someone was asking her something.

"ID? Where is your ID?" The security guard from behind spoke in a louder and more annoyed voice.

Nisha stopped on her way and turned around. The old age security guard asked her again because she was not wearing an ID card and couldn't even give the excuse that she didn't get one because the college provided it after submitting important documents. She searched for her ID in the bag and then showed it to the watchman.

"Always remember to wear this while entering in the college." The security guard gave her advice, which she took while nodding her head. She wore her ID card and started walking towards the campus. As she was leaving, she caught the security guard talking to another student without proper identification.

[Physics department- Lecture Hall]

Nisha entered the lecture hall thinking there would be many Physics major students, but found out that there was one student. He sat in the middle row, deeply engrossed in the book in front of him. Black spectacles adorned his face, along with perfectly combed hair. He was looking like a nerdy student from Bollywood movies. Without giving much attention to him, she approached 1st row. She placed her bag beside her, but she knew that she had nothing to do.

There was silence in the lecture hall. It was awkward for her to start a conversation, but the silence was uncomfortable.

She turned and said to that bookworm, "Hi". She had no other words to start the conversation with him. His focus shifted from the book towards her and he said, "Oh hi. I guess there is still plenty of time before the 1st lecture." He said while glancing at his digital watch.

She felt relieved because he didn't end the conversation with 'Hi'. She said, "Yes, there is."

He smiled and said," My name is Nil, Nil Shah. What is your name?"

"My name is Nisha Sharma," Nisha said, but she was not aware if she spoke correctly because her introverted side had activated.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Nisha," Nil replied.

"Nice to meet you too," Nisha said.

After some time, the entire lecture hall became crowded. As the 1st introductory class was about to start, the excitement of the students was building up. At sharp 10 AM, the lecture started. Professors provided students with a detailed explanation of the 1st year course with the timetable. While the teacher was explaining the course, one student entered the class and chose the last row for the lecture. After an hour, the lecture ended.

Nisha got a big picture in her mind about her course and she also discussed some minor stuff with Nil. He also invested his time in it. They both headed outside the lecture hall because they had no lectures for the day. As they were walking, someone approached them from behind. He was the same boy who was late for a lecture.

He looked at Nil and began the conversation without giving an introduction," Sorry to ask this but can you give me the overall summary of today's lecture, I was 30 minutes late for the lecture because of ID issues, I didn't have it in the morning."

When he mentioned ID issues, Nisha realized that he was the boy begging the security guard to let him in after her.

"Yeah, sure. I will send a photo of it. Your mobile number?" Nil agreed to his request and opened his Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

That boy looked at his phone and said," Is it the latest version?"

"Yes," Nil replied while scratching the back of his head.

"Wow... well, my number is 25xxxxxxxx and my name is Aarush Chavan."

Nil saved his number and said, "Done. I will send photos soon, Aarush......my name is Nil Shah."

"Nice to meet you, Nil." Aarush said and looked at Nisha, who was listening to their conversation and asked, "What's your name?"

Nisha looked at him and said, "Nisha.... Nisha Sharma."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Nisha...." Aarush said while smiling and then he said to Nil," See you tomorrow then. I am heading towards the library."

"I am also going in the same direction." Nil said and then he turned towards Nisha and said," See you tomorrow then." Nisha nodded as they headed towards their way. Today's day was normal, but Nisha had a very strong feeling that this year was going to be a kind of interesting in all aspects.