Cigarettes & Peonies

11

"Man!!!! I just want a body like Karanvir. Do you know he has six pack abs......." Kush said ruefully. Luv looked at him in perplexity.
"How do you know???" asked Luv raising his brow. Kush blushed. Maahi tried to not pay attention to their conversation coz abs or no abs, he still was creepy as hell.
"I saw him shirtless the other day in the football ground......but he should take care of those hairs on his chest, I mean why not remove them......I don't like hairy chest, especially when you've such a great body!!!" kush spoke casually. Luv rolled his eyes at him.
"And that from a boy. Hairs define man, do you get that." Luv said flatly leaving kush sulking. Maahi glanced over her watch impatiently.
"That's not true, suppose, if a man shaves off his hairs from his chest, won't he still be a man. There's something else which defines a man....." Kush was seething, luv laughed. He planted his hand on his shoulder and spoke in a low voice.
"And mind you if I say that you've to be more envious of Karanvir because of 'that something'......size matters after all!!!!" Luv cackled while kush was sullen. Maahi could make no head nor tail out of their conversation. The bus horn blared in the distance. Maahi looked at her left and discovered the faint silhouette of the bus speeding into their direction. While her brothers were still squabbling, she clutched her bag straps tightly and waited for the bus. However, merely few feet off, she caught a paper adhesioned on the windshield of the bus. It was a square piece of paper on which something was written and she only read it out when the bus had rolled stop close to her.
"ONLY FOR GIRLS" her brothers cried loudly. Maahi's happiness was kissing the moon, like a bus for only girls, this is the best thing to ever happen to her. She climbed into the bus, the bus driver passed her a smile. He was a lean man of around 40, decent and responsible. Maahi took the seat of her choice for the bus was practically all empty, except for her friend vaishali who was sitting on the first seat and talking on the phone which is why Maahi didn't disturb her. Maahi sat on the third last seat of the two seater row. As the bus moved again, she saw her brothers were still arguing, she chuckled. The bus sped off to the bus stop, on the stop the driver killed the engine and climbed down the bus. The first thing Maahi observed on the stop was the creepy Karanvir hemmed in by his plonker friends. But today he seemed pissed off as he stared squarely at maahi. Something in his cold stare told Maahi that he wasn't happy with her sitting inside the girls bus and wanted her to get down, but then it was purely an assumption and she found better to ignore it. She averted her eyes off him and looked on her lap, at the tangled mess of the earphones lying on her lap. From inside she was extremely happy knowing that today she wouldn't have to face the creepy Karanvir, somehow his thought led her to look outside the window and there he was, standing like a man on stone and looking right upon her, fists clenched and eyes on fire. Maahi shuddered and looked away. All the while they were in the bus, his piercing gaze wouldn't let sit maahi in peace. She somehow felt oppressed by his eyes. Thankfully the driver came back and the bus started. As the bus drove down the road, Karanvir turned into a mere figure in the distance until he disappeared completely from the view and that's when Maahi heaved a sigh of relief. She stuffed the earphones into her ears, turned on some music and her peaceful journey commenced. In no time she had forgotten the creepy Karanvir and all things cognated to him.

Maahi landed on her university ground. She and vaishali together walked down the bus.
"This bus is so cool....." Maahi stopped short on seeing karanvir right across her, staring at her with same evilness as before. Vaishali saw it and glared at his scary figure.
"Don't pay heed to him maahi, he's just a dork nothing else." Vaishali told her. Maahi nodded but then once again she looked at the creepy Karanvir when she realised something.
"Vaishu, boys bus hasn't arrived yet then how did he reached here so quickly???" Maahi whispered trying not to look at the evil Karanvir who yet looked pissed off. Vaishali looked a little beyond the row of trees lining the bus stop.
"There....his jeep. He came on his jeep." she pointed at his sleek wily jeep, maahi caught it parked under the shade in the parking lot.
"Maahi let's go, the classes will begin soon." Vaishali said to her, she nodded and turned to move towards her building. She didn't feel his presence behind her which was a good sign and she peacefully walked to her classroom, without his fear.