Beneath the Golden Chain (BtGC)

MEETING HIM

I woke up, realising that it was already eight. My bus was around eight, so that I'd reach the campus by nine. My class was arranged to begin at a quarter past nine. I was literally tearing up, cursing my mom for not waking me up at the right time. 'My mistake. I thought you were still going to your school. You used to wake up so late like this. I am not yet adapted to the fact that you started to go to college,' she said. 'OH MOM...' I shouted. 'Don't waste more time. If you hurry up, you can reach there before your classes begin,' she said. I realised that was true. I wore my uniform even without ironing. That was the first day to wear our college uniform and I was going without ironing. I was sure that people would laugh at me. My mom gave me a cup of coffee and a few slices of bread, and she put some biscuits into my bag so that I could manage my hunger if it showed up before lunch break. I hurried to the bus stop. I didn't even comb my hair. It was obvious enough that I was going straight from my bed.

Fortunately, I got a bus without waiting much. I prayed throughout that we shouldn't encounter any traffic blocks. But it was a case of Murphy's Law. The opposite happened. Our bus met with an accident and the motorcycle guy was not letting the bus go, though he was absolutely fine. He said his hands were scratched. Anyways, that was his mistake- all those who witnessed said so. I looked at the clock and it said: '8:30.' My heart raced as we had half way to go. The driver asked us to get off if we had arrangements. I got off at the stop without thinking much. I started walking forward, and saw an auto rickshaw driver. I asked him how much it would take to go to my college and he said '200.' 'Gosh...that much?' I asked him. 'Of course, that's the minimum. It's around five kilometres from here. Do you think I'm lying?' he asked. I just had 100 in my wallet as I never thought an emergency like this would pop up out of the blue. 'Brother, I am not trying to argue. I am just short of money. Where's the nearest bus stop?' I asked him after clarifying my point. 'Walk ten steps straight, turn right to the church and you'll see the waiting shed around,' he said. I thanked him and walked straight. I counted to see if he was right about the steps. 'One two three...eight nine ten,' and turned right to see the church. 'Woah, so perfect,' I said. There were many people in the waiting shed, and I wondered if I could compete with those strong people in climbing up. I stood there still for a few minutes and I saw many people staring at me from head to toe. I stared back at them and they smiled. That was the end. A car stopped in front and a guy got in. He was wearing the same uniform as mine. I wished they would ask me to get in. The car started and I was about to lose all hopes, but then the car suddenly stopped. Windows down, and he asked me to get in. 'Thank God, finally,' I told myself and got in the car.

'Hi,' he greeted me. I greeted him back. The uncle who was driving the car looked back and asked me if I was a new student. I nodded my head saying 'yes' and he said: 'no wonder, we haven't seen you before.' I smiled at him. The girl next to him turned back and I couldn't be anymore shocked. She was the same girl from the last day. 'I've gotten into the devil's car,' I thought. 'Dad, we met yesterday and I seemed to scare her,' she said. 'Haha,' he laughed. I was more like frozen. 'Well, my name's Reshma. And he's John. We are classmates,' she said. I smiled at both of them. I was nervous. She was a bit scary, during our previous meeting and I couldn't get over it.

We reached the campus, way earlier than I imagined. College buses were just coming in a row. I thanked him for giving me a ride and he was like 'no issues, let's come together if we meet again at the same place.' I decided that I'll never get off at that spot again to avoid the awkwardness. I watched carefully, as the buses were rushing in, so that I could go in with Ashna. These two were waiting along with me. Meanwhile, he started a conversation with me, asking about my department, class, teacher and all. I asked him back and I realized that he was a techie. We talked this and that and soon, I saw a bunch of guys approaching my way. I moved a bit away, on the thought that they were friends of the people standing beside me. But to my surprise, they asked me to come over. My heart pounded since I was imagining a ragging scene. 'What's your name?' A tall guy tried to scare me with his loud voice. I looked up, like I was looking at the coconut tree, and answered. Then, a short noodle haired guy came to the frame. He said: 'she's too short for you to handle.' What the heck! I wanted to yell at him, but I kept quiet. 'Tall and short is the cutest combo now,' the other guy said. Wait. What nonsense? Aren't they imagining too much? I made an angry face. 'Do you have a boyfriend?' someone else asked. I didn't respond. They raised their voice at me and I replied: 'no.' 'Is it really 'no' or is it 'no' from now on, since you've seen many handsome guys like us here?' 'Hahaha, don't joke. Aren't you so full of yourself? Or is it that others are scared of you that they say you are handsome?' I gave him a tooth for tooth response. The guys in his gang burst into laughter, and this guy shouted at them to stop. 'You dare to mock me?' 'Amal, enough. It's going overboard. Just leave her,' Reshma said, as she saw that he was getting violent. 'Thank God, she's not that bad,' I thought. 'I'll surely see you later,' he said. He was angry at me. They all walked back, except one- that short noodle haired guy. 'I am Karthik, president of the Arts club. I hope you can join my club,' he walked away after saying this.