The Great Indian College Romance

33. Explanations

It was finally Monday and Angad hadn't seen fit to contact any of us.

There was an added element of surprise to my day; anticipating whether or not Angad would make an appearance in college. I was hoping, no praying he would show up. 

I just wanted all of this to be over as soon as possible. 

I entered the familiar gates of Maurya and called Yug. 

"Hey, are you in college yet?" I asked as soon as he answered. 

"Yes, I am on the stage. Come."

"I have a class right now maybe after that?" 

"I do too. It won't take too long," he said and hung up. 

I made my way to the stage. Maybe he had news about Angad. Maybe Angad was there waiting for me and Yug had explained away all the misunderstanding. The thought cheered me up. 

But of course, he wasn't there. Yug sat on the stairs alone. 

He looked up when I approached him. 

"What is it?" I asked when I saw his grim expression. 

"I won't drag this out but I haven't talked to Angad yet," he said. 

"So no news?" I said trying not to let the floodgates open. 

"There is some news. He left Mumbai. He is at his father's place." Yug said, "In London." 

"Wha- London?" I asked with a bewildered expression. 

"I am sure you remember his father was pestering him to come and have a look at colleges where he could pursue his MBA after we graduate. I guess he took him up on his offer."

"But I thought he wanted to pursue music! And he didn't want to leave his mother alone here. How? I mean why would he..?"

Yug sighed deeply. 

"I can't understand why he would do that. He didn't even tell anyone. I called his cousin Jai and he told me his flight had left this morning. The visa was already arranged by his father. He paid for the tickets too. I don't have Sharad Uncle's number so I couldn't reach him."

I sat down next to Yug staring into space still processing what he had told me. 

So he hadn't come back. He had gone farther away instead.

"I didn't intend to ruin your day but I thought you would want to know," he said.

"No," I said in a shaky voice, "Thank you for telling me."

"Let's get to class," Yug said standing up and giving me his hand. 

I took it and stood up. We walked in the hallway in silence till we had to part ways. I entered my classroom which was noisier than usual. I could hear people talking about their breaks, exchanging information and greeting their friends. 

I took a seat in the corner trying to think of anything other than Angad a thousand miles away at his father's place that I knew for a fact he hated. 

Our teacher was late so I stared out of the window for a bit. 

It was only when Smriti walked in with Nirav that I was reminded of another rift in my life. I didn't know if Smriti was still mad at us for what we had said about Nirav. She paused when she found me looking at her. 

Nirav paused too. Then he followed Smriti's eye line and found me looking at them. He said something to her that I couldn't make out. Smriti gave him a curt answer shaking her head. Nirav seemed unfazed by her refusal because he grabbed her hand and dragged her.