Whispers of Heart (Part 1 of the Hallway Love Series)

Chapter 1

Life is meant to be beautiful right? A loving family, best of friends, a prince charming, and a beautiful ending. But when reality strikes. Do these things take place in the actual world?

I have been asking these questions to myself for years now. And I couldn't find an answer until now...

Hi, I am Nandini and this is my Hallway love story...

"One day I got up and excitedly got ready for school and waited for my van to come and pick me up from my doorstep. This was 2013 I guess and I was 11 years old. I got in and saw some students from my school there. They were sweet. I introduced myself so did they and it's been two years since that day. In these two years, life has been amazing. We all had so much fun together. From doing all the naughty tricks on the driver to playing new Bollywood songs and jamming to them while going to school in the morning. Little did I know I am gonna cherish these memories forever.

Now we don't go to school together. We are still in the same school but we go on different buses. Talking about which here I am standing at the bus stop with new people around me (still from my school) writing a diary waiting for the bus to come. I am excited. It's the first day of school and I am in class 6th. New rooms, new friends, and a new me. Will it be all worth it?"

Nandani closes her diary and then looks up to see the bus was there. She keeps the diary in the bag and goes inside. She sat in the back seat and greeted everyone there. After 10 min she reached school. She gets down and walks to her class. She looked around to find a familiar face but couldn't. She goes inside a class to see the queen bee and her friends sitting in the classroom. She keeps her bag on the first seat in the corner and goes out when she bumps into a girl, apparently her friend, and goes down while talking to her with a diary in her hand. On the staircase, she saw them. Her friends, well now more than knowns! She goes up to them and said,

Nandani: Hi dii! 

4 people standing there turn and look at her. Two of them turn back and left ignoring her.

As if I care!!

Thought Nandani. They never had a talk with her in the last 2 years and even if they did Nandani doesn't really remember it! The other two saw they leave and then they turned back to Nandani and replied to Nandani,

Alya: Hi Nandini. How did you come?

Nandani: I came from bus route 18

Cabir: ooo! We are on route 35. Sad but no problem I and Nandini are in one class.

Nandani nodded and after sharing a sentence or two she bids them bye and goes down with her friend. The day ends with all the teachers introducing themselves and she goes back home.

She sees her grandparents sitting in their room when she enters

Nandani: I am home.

Grandfather: you came? Do you want to eat something?

Nandani: no, thank you.

Well even if this was weird this has been her routine for some time now. She never use to have anything when she comes home and people who were at home at that point didn't bother to ask her again. Both her parents were working so they were never home when she came back from school and her grandparents. Well, she doesn't remember what were they doing! She changed her dress and sat on her bed with the iPad in her hand and started listening to some songs.

After an hour her mom came she got ready and left for the tuition. She came back in the evening, had a little chat with her mom, and left to study. In the night she came downstairs, greeted her father and exchanged a few words, had her dinner and left bidding bye to everyone in her room and slept.

This continued for two months and soon it was summer break. This month Alya and Cabir use to have some short conversations with Nandini but then it was just short. Sometimes they use to plain ignore each other and other times they use to just greet each other and leave! Even tho Cabir was in her class they never use to have any discussions in it. Only some eye locks and smiles were exchanged between them. During these months, Nandani made a new friend in class MAYA and she use to be busy with her almost the entire time.

After the summer break when they came back in July on the very first Nandini's class teacher proposed some changes. She stood in the middle after taking the attendance and said,

Class Teacher: I have looked at all of you in the months before the summer break, so I propose the idea of fixed seats with the partners I decide.

Everyone groaned at this especially the girls because almost no one jelled up with each other. The class teacher Ms. Priya started changing the seats. Be it fate or whatever you want to call it, there was only Nandini and another studious girl who were the last ones left to find their seats. Ms. Priya looked at two girls and then at the girls whose seat was left when she was deciding while Nandini was biting her nails and thinking,

Nandani: Ms. Priya has two choices the queen bee or the studious cat. Please aiyappa. Please be it the queen bee. You know na I am not good at studies. I want the queen bee.

And how can Aiyappa not grant her wish? After the teacher decided the two studious girls sat together and Nandini was now sitting with the queen bee. Nandani went to her desk and said,

Nandani: Hi, I am Nandini Murty.

Navya: Hi, I am Navya Naveli!

Nandani: Actually, I kinda know you. Last year Mr. Shijoy asked me to copy your notes so we had a conversation. I don't know if you remember.

Navya: Oh! I do! He use to talk about you a lot. Seems like you are good at English. 

Nandani: I am not very bad!

Navya nodded with a smile and they both got busy talking.

This happened at 8:30 in the morning. Nandani and Navya talked and shared stuff between the classes and when the teacher was teaching. There was not even a single second when they both stopped chatting. At 10:20 when Nandini came out of the class for lunch, she didn't remember what were they talking about, or what they shared.

Were they talking about studies? I guess. 

Were they talking about boys? Well, I guess again! but Nandani was never going to accept it. 

Were they talking about all the other girls in the class and bitching about them? They sure were. 

But when Nandani stepped out of her classroom she just had one single thought going round and round in her head. All she knew when she stepped out was, that she saw a face and smiled like a fool and said to herself.

I like him...

I like Manik Malhotra.

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