Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 49. Stranded at College

'Main Gate! I never thought I would be so happy to reach the main gate of my college.', Shrishti mumbled to herself as she reached the Gates and looked up with wide eyes. Never seeing the name of the college on the arch above the gates filled her with so much happiness!

Shrishti kept on taking deep breaths, having run the whole way from the college building to the gate in ankle length water. The rain battered on her head and she bemoaned the loss of her umbrella. It had vanished from the side pocket of her college backpack while heading out of the college building. She looked at the other side of the pocket and heaved a sigh of relief. Atleast her water bottle survived. She was thankful that most backpacks come with covers that could be used as raincoat for the backpacks, or else all her books would have been ruined without the umbrella.

Shrishti drank some water and looked around. Many people were staying near the gates, huddled with their friends. She noticed a tree nearby under which some of the girls were huddled. Soon their cars arrived and picked up the girls. Shrishti took advantage of that and went to stand under the tree. She heaved a sigh of relief. She was still getting wet but atleast the rain was not pelting her with icy water.

Shrishti watched as some students left by taxis what with rickshaws not serving their area. But there was no bus passing by. Shrishti checked the time. It was more than half hour since she arrived at the gates and yet she did not see a single bus. She swallowed at what that implied. She checked the time. She had one more hour before her car arrived. Would it even be able to come? She wondered as she glanced at the water that was now rising above the ankles. She looked at the others huddled near the gates and all looked as scared as she felt.

Shrishti was stuck here, she realised. With water building up, any chances of car coming for her was diminishing as the time came. And even if it did come, would they even reach home before the water rose too high? It was better to be stranded near their college which could be used as refuge later than go home by car and get stranded in the middle of the road.

Shrishti sighed. What a mess! Did this happen last time? She frowned as she cast her mind to the past. But she could not recollect much. Then she remembered why she could not remember this. She had skipped college during this period as a protest. She had protested against her engagement to Raghav by skipping. She sighed. Atleast one good thing had happened to her in her past life! She had not gotten stuck in college during water logging.

Shrishti once again called her friends, hoping that someone would pick up. Sadly, there was still no connectivity. With no news about anyone and being unable to see any of her friends, she felt her shoulders slump. Just then the rain stopped. She looked up in confusion. Oh! Someone was shielding her with an umbrella.

Shrishti looked at the holder of the umbrella and her eyes widened.

'Sharad.'

'Are you ok?', he asked her.

She nodded, unable to say anything else. What else could she say? She could not ask him to not shield her from the rain due to their past! Only a moron would rather get drenched in rain than accepting the shelter!

'Are you alone?'

She nodded again.

'What about your friends?'

'I got lost. I cannot find them.'

'Oh, they are around? That is good. Here. Hold the umbrella. I will go and search for them.'

Her eyes widened as the umbrella was thrust in her hands and then the boy ran away. She huffed. This was the reason she had liked him in the past. He would be kind even to his own enemies! Stupid Sharad and his kind heart! Then she sighed, putting the past behind her and focusing on her friends. Where were they?