Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 40. First Day of Second Year

'Shri!'

'Divi!'

Shrishti waved at her best friend with a grin as she got down the car. Arpit followed her out and sighed dramatically. 'Jeet!'

'Arpit!' Daljeet made a similar dramatic sigh.

Shrishti burst out laughing. 'Stop mocking us!'

'What else am I supposed to do?', Arpit cried out as he followed her to the main gate where Daljeet and Divya were waiting, 'You two are acting as if you did not meet each other just few days ago.' Arpit sounded amused.

Shrishti huffed at his teasing.

'We should mock these two too!', Divya said as Shrishti and Arpit reached the gate.

'Go ahead.', Daljeet said playfully, 'Infact, I will mock myself.', she looked down sad and muttered, 'Shri! Find me a dress that look sporty and yet flirty. I want to flirt with Arpit!'

Arpit choked at her words while Divya and Shrishti shook her head.

'You are too shameless to be teased.', Divya muttered with a defeated sigh.

Shrishti chuckled. 'Only she is shameless. He is not.' She looked at Divya with hopeful eyes and adopted a deep voice, 'Do you think Daljeet enjoyed the Essel World?'

Arpit huffed. 'I don't sound like that.'

'He did not deny that he did not ask that.', Divya pointed out playfully. Daljeet and Shrishti laughed as Arpit huffed again.

'Ok. Enough. Lets go. We need to find our classroom and also get time tables before teachers arrive.', Daljeet said and all of them nodded and walked away.

'Raghav's college began?', Daljeet asked Arpit.

'It will start next week.', Shrishti replied.

'You know a lot about him.', Daljeet gave her a knowing look.

'He is my friend, of course I know.' Shrishti huffed.

Daljeet leaned over to tease her when there was small commotion behind them. They turned and right outside the gate was a girl on the floor holding her ankle and wincing while next to her, a guy holding a bike, parked the bike before making gestures at her while saying something. His body language was not of an aggressor though. He looked worried. From where the quartet were standing, they were too far off to identify the duo. But Shrishti knew who they were without even seeing their faces. Because this had happened in her first life too.

The girl on the floor? It was Lekha. The guy on the bike? It was Prateek. Prateek had crashed into Lekha by mistake while trying to reverse his bike slowly. It did not do much damage as Prateek had already got down his bike and was just rolling it backwards to park properly. But Lekha was behind him and had been hit. She had fallen down and had sprained her ankle. Prateek had felt guilty at his actions and apologised again and again. And Lekha being the good person she was simply said it was ok while the onlookers helped her stand up. Some girls in the crowd helped her to the nurse's office while a worried and guilty looking Prateek had followed her begging for her forgiveness. Lekha had been so magnanimous with her forgiveness back then that it had left an impression on Prateek. In Prateek's eyes, she became a saintly kind hearted person who could do no wrong. Lekha had the best reputation in Prateek's eyes. And when Sharad started falling for Lekha, Prateek became their matchmaker, trying his best to get them have some alone time together.

Prateek was not wrong though. Lekha was a kind hearted person. It was why Shrishti had so many insecurities regarding Lekha. Lekha was not only beauty with brains but also someone with a kind heart and sweet nature. It made hating her more difficult for Shrishti then and that had led to her feeling insecure. Even now Shrishti could not help but think how graceful Lekha was compared to Shrishti. If Shrishti was in her place, she would not have been so polite to Prateek. She would not have shouted at him, definitely. She would have forgiven him but she definitely would have been annoyed at him due to her leg pain. But Lekha despite the pain had remained sweet and kind.