Chaahat

CHAPTER FOUR

It was a day as regular as any Monday could be. The summer had not spared anyone and the sweaty school shirt sticking to Nivedita's back tested her patience, increasing the want to rush home. However, all hadn't come to an end yet.

The real battle was yet to begin.The bell rang with a resounding shrill signaling the end of the seventh period at Delhi Public School. While the P.Ed students breathed out a sigh of relief as they rushed out of the class with their already packed bags, psychology students simply sighed in impatience and boredom.

Oh and the first benchers are always enthusiastic.

Nothing needed to sound as tense as it did in her head, this was just a regular study session. However, her overly meticulous subconscious never let anything be as simple as it was. Even though she was supposedly meeting up for learning concepts she wasn't aware of, her pride wouldn't let her enter the arena unprepared lest she appeared unintelligent in front of Abhimanyu. Much ashamed, she admitted in her head that one day her pride would rid her of her peace.

Amidst the chaos what might have gone unnoticed was the subtle shy gait of a certain tall student out of the classroom, bag in hand, back leaning against the wall; waiting for a girl. He could have been anywhere, yet here he was, waiting for a girl...

The girl stepped out of the classroom a few minutes later, being a little late by habit, her bag to her chest, still stuffing in a few books, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. And then suddenly, her expression shifted, from one of confusion, wondering what it was that she missed; and then to a small smile remembering a certain someone's pet peeves. She then adjusted the bag on both her shoulders.

Abhimanyu ran a hand through his black hair as he acknowledged her presence with a gentle smile and asked, "Shall we move towards the library?"

She simply nodded as they walked side by side with a small speed as they needed as much time as they could get.

There wasn't any small talk from either party. One simply wasn't experienced enough with the opposite gender other than the exception of dealing with conveniently conversation-initiating fangi- admirers; the later... well she had an exceptional opinion about the prior.

But he was helping her wasn't he?

As they reached the library Abhimanyu pushed the wooden door and beckoned her to enter first. A little surprised, Nivedita couldn't help but give him a questioning short glance which went unnoticed by him due to the small but evident height difference.Humph, convenient for her.

He went ahead and placed his own bag at one of the sofas and began taking out his Physics textbook, dragging a wooden chair with as little noise as possible to the nearest table.

She did like how he wasn't one to force uncomfortable conversation but her already made up biases towards him would not let her appreciate anything about him. She hated this about herself but was glad she still had the human decency to not vent her cluttered thoughts out to someone who was possibly not at fault in the first place.

As she approached the table she took out her reading glasses due to her slight myopia. This now, caused Abhimanyu to glance out of the thick textbook in his hands. Could she be any more perfect for being scholar of the year?

^^^

A little over an hour had passed and Nivedita's brain was finally at rest seeing that the curriculum left uncovered by her wasn't all that difficult and had now become manageable. If her pride allowed, two more sessions would be enough for her, and if it didn't, she would have to sneak her way out with one.