TERI MERI YAARI

~31~ She is gone

HEYYAAAA PEOPLE!

HERE WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER!

WELL, I'D THOUGHT THAT I WOULD INCLUDE THIS PART IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER ITSELF BUT UHH SINCE IT ALREADY LOOKED LONG ENOUGH, I DECIDED TO SPLIT IT UP IN TWO PARTS. 

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE, COMMENT AND FOLLOW!

LOVE Y'ALL!

HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

HAPPIEE READING!
________________________________________________________________________________

NANDINI'S POV:

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling extremely low. I wasn't very happy about performing with someone else other than Kabir but he was the one who let it happen. He didn't utter a single word when his beloved girlfriend was trying her best to change everything and yet, he had the audacity to look up at my face and stare at me as if he expected me to take care of the situation. If he thought that he could be the Mr. goody two shoes while I would become the bad guy by refusing the change, he had another thing coming. 

But no matter how much I tried to convince myself, all of this felt wrong. The reason why I'd freaking learnt to dance was because that douchebag had convinced me to! and here I am getting ready to perform with someone else.

But what hurt me the most was the choice of song. Initially, I'd decided we would dance on that song just out of spite, but after a thought of few hours, I decided that we would change the song. No matter how valid it looked, it still felt like I was betraying Kabir. But Siddharth was reluctant that we use that song since so many changes couldn't be taken care of during the very last moment. And he also uttered something like,

"Well, he didn't care about saving his dance partner, so you shouldn't care much about saving a song. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

And ever since, whenever I had a guilt attack, he tried to convince me that what we were doing was not wrong. But I just couldn't stop feeling guilty. Maybe I am going to let this guilt swallow me, I've got no other option. 

I was aimlessly brushing through my hair when Dadi called my name from downstairs, informing me that there was a mail for me. Initially, I was shocked. Why wouldn't I be? Who would send mail to a 17 year old girl? But I nearly choked on air when I saw who the recipient of the mail was. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ARTS.

Initially, I'd been skeptical about what to do in my career, but when I'd first stumbled across the Visual arts program at the Columbia university school of arts, I'd known that this where I wanted to be. All of it felt so real, I could almost imagine myself sitting in the studio of that campus and bringing life to one of my paintings. 

Everyone thought that I'd taken up sketching just as a hobby, not gonna lie, but I'd thought the same too. Until I realized that was the only thing that could help me hold my ground and let me forget the torment I was going through in my life. And I'd decided that very moment that I'd pursue Visual arts and make my career in the same. My parents would be supportive of my plan, I knew it. They never stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. 

As soon as I'd decided that I would pursue visual arts, I'd started looking for universities. No matter how good of universities were present in India, none of those would give me enough assurance of a stable career. Hence, I'd decided that I would go abroad and decided that SOA was the one for me. 

I'd also applied for a few other schools. We're Indians after all. Atleast plan D or plan E was required for us to rest assured. 

SOA was taking in early applicants and I was somehow sure that I wouldn't get in but what was the harm in trying right? So, like a very good girl, I'd filled in the application for the same. They also had a mid-year entry batch, Which was taken in after the first 6 months. I'd planned that if not through the early applicant scheme, I would get in the mid-year batch. 

Whether I am going to go in the mid-year batch or as an early applicant? I had the answer in my hands. 

I grabbed the envelope and sprinted up the stairs to my room and locked myself in. My parents had known that I was looking for universities abroad, and no matter how weary of dad was of letting me go away from him, he was supportive. Mom had been over the moon that I'd decided what I wanted to do with my life and hence, she told me that I had the same determination she'd once had in herself. However, I hadn't told them about SOA, and neither had I told them that I'd filled in the early applicant form. 

The inside of my palm was itching, I was scared to open it. If I'd had any of my friends around me, I'd have asked them to do the honors. But by learning from the recent events, I might as well do my stuff on my own. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, held it while I counted until 5 and released. Dad had taught me this and had asked me to try doing it whenever I was stressed or anxious or nervous. It'd worked wonders. I repeated deep breathing a few more times and decided that it was time for me to open the package. 

I was so anxious that I didn't bother with grabbing a scissors, I just ripped the envelope with my hands and opened the letter which was folded into half. 

My heart had dropped to my stomach by then, but I tried to calm myself down as I opened the letter. 

And as soon as I'd read the first line of the letter, I had gone completely bonkers. 

Dear Student,

Congratulations! You have been granted EARLY APPLICANT admission to the visual arts graduate programat SOA.