DESERVED TO BE LOVED

CHAPTER 6

Written by original writer
Note whenever she will come back I will duly delete the story from my account and request her to republish it.
Thank u
Now back to story

Note: Monologues are in bold.

***

Anokhi and Shaurya reached the auditorium where the orientation was to take place. A few staff members guided them inside and explained to them about the seating arrangements. The auditorium was divided into two halves, with a staircase in between. The right side was reserved for the masters' batches while the left side was to be occupied by the undergraduate freshers.

Climbing up the few stairs, they parted their ways and Anokhi made herself comfortable on one of the corner seats in the third row to avoid any social company on the first day. Whereas, Shaurya was busy on his phone and got seated on one of the middle seats of the fourth row.

The auditorium started to fill with students and teachers. There were still some minutes left for the orientation to start. Anokhi switched her phone to silent mode and started to look around the huge auditorium with fascination. Her school in Kapurthala didn't have an auditorium or any hall for that matter. She had only seen these in the private schools which she used to visit for her inter-school competitions.

Seeing the stage, the curtains, the podium, and the lighting, Anokhi made her mind to participate in the college competitions as much as she can. She couldn't just live with this ambivert nature for her whole life. The teachers won't be here to limit the interaction with students as it happened in her school time. She needed to open up and grab every chance without paying much attention to her social anxieties. She needed to live her college life to the fullest.

On the other side, Shaurya was busy texting Yash and Aahir about the boring 1 or 2 hours that he was going to face all alone. Why the hell did he need an orientation anyway? He knew all about this college, the facilities, courses, etc., hell he knew more than anyone. But still, on his dad's persistence, he has to attend it.

The lights dimmed indicating the start of the event, and Anokhi straightened herself with a shine in her eyes, while Shaurya rolled his eyes on being glared at by the faculty for using the phone. He quickly texted a "bye" to his friends and stuffed the phone inside his pocket. Sighing, Shaurya shifted his gaze to the stage as a student dressed in formals made his way towards the podium.

The orientation started with some greetings and welcoming of the guests, and it was just 10 minutes when Anokhi sensed somebody taking a seat beside her. She frowned on being disturbed by this latecomer but then quickly moved her focus back on the stage.

The host was lining up the speech with the praises of the faculty, the prizes bagged by the college, the toppers, and the new donations that had come their way in the past 2 years. Though it was boring for some students, Anokhi listened to it very carefully and was sure to add more to the list with her participation.

A few minutes later, a white light from the seat beside her gained her attention, and Anokhi glared at the intruder. It was a guy who was yawning and scrolling through his Instagram feed, completely uninterested in the event.

"Excuse me."

The guy turned his face in her direction, and mistaking her stare as an expression of flirt, he grinned and extended his hand for a handshake, "Hii, I'm Kabir."