An-EXIT

CHAPTER 1 (AJ-T)

Hey my lovely readers, thanks for choosing An-EXIT. Just a friendly reminder- please go through the prologue before proceeding with the first chapter! And if you've already read it, then I'm so glad that you felt like reading it further :)))))
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AHAANA

(2016)

The garage door swung back and forth, making a creaking sound. The sound grew louder and clearer and it felt like my hand was moving along with the door's creaking voices. I traced every idea flowing through my brain with the help of the pencil. Second by second, I became confident about my idea, that this time, I could make it to the last round. That this time, I could make sir feel proud again!

I'm usually found in my garage, working on a project, or even sitting there, alone, on the table attached to the same wall as the door. A connection, a pleasant feeling and different sounds surrounding the garage excels to attract my attention. It's an impulsive technique for my brain to create something new out of none. Those sounds, I truly cherish them.

I brushed back my ponytail and picked up the mug filled with stale coffee. It was very obvious as it took years to become like this. But.... I still reacted. I blinked and looked straight, and my sight fell on the poster pasted on the wall. Written in bold letters, it read, 'A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step!'

Even if those steps are wobbly enough to make you kiss the ground, umm, infinite times. My eyes rolled in a reflex and I continued working again.

"Ahaana, what are you doing?" I kept on drawing the figure without bothering to look for the source.

"Nothing, just another project, paa!" This project is killing my back now! If sir asks for another draft, I'm going to burn these papers in front of his office.

My utmost effort to maintain the concentration on the papers in front of my eyes slowly started to weaken because of my dad's constant stare! Paa, at least speak something... "Dad, what is it? You're making me nervous!" I protested.

"I'm so proud of you." He spontaneously replied. The grip over my pencil suddenly broke and I looked in the front, facing nothing but the poster. He was just a few inches away, on my left side, but strangely, I felt nervous to look at him.

"Dad, I know." I finally looked at him and smiled. This is going to be the fifth day of attacking sentimental emotions to my ground. From the day I received the acceptance letter from my university, maa and paa have begun their mission to acknowledge me of their enormous love and care. It's just a journey of a few hours to reach me, I'm not even leaving the country yet, but their change in behavior is scaring me for the future now.

"Ahaana, did you get a call from Kabir?"

Ah, Sir. (sighs)

Mr. Kabir Mehra, the one who's got all the looks and a smart-ass brain, which NORMALLY our dear God could offer only to their favorites and and anddd, tons of my sympathy. You might be thinking, why sympathy? It's because, even with all the glam dripping from his face, he never succeeded in getting a single girlfriend. I know, poor him. A twenty-four years old, young and handsome, single man alive. Such a waste of precious worth. Please understand the sarcasm here. Whenever I see him, a question pops into my mind that how can he ace at getting so many rejections? Seriously, I doubt the taste of all those girls whom he must have asked out. But, I would like to contradict my last statement by stating that intelligence has always been on his side. Honestly, the most amazing thing he has managed to do is opening his own organization, Teen-Tech, when he was just 20 years old!