“There goes a pair of butterflies,” commented Rohit, a member of a clan started by Rocky in their school. More of his friends stood along the corridor so that they formed a gang. Rocky and his evil gang were already had terror within school . He was now the head boy, so obviously he had a lot of power. Their entire gang did whatever they wanted. Right now, there was a cold war between Dhruv and Rocky.
The comment, intended for him and Khushi, made Dhruv angry.
“Wait a minute,” Dhruv said. “I need to teach him a lesson.”
“What lesson and to whom?” asked Khushi innocently, as she had no idea that comment was for them.
“Head boy is flying these days,” replied Dhruv
Dhruv turned around and started taking quick steps towards the place where they formed their gang. On the other side, Rocky's gang watched him approach and continued to laugh louder.
“Who made that comment?” inquired Dhruv, clenching his teeth with anger.
“Look, what is this looser asking us?” Rocky said to his clan members. They all started laughing.
“Looser is asking who said that?” Dhruv said in a polite tone. Shouting wouldn't be appropriate right now, even though he would be glad to oblige.
“Figure it out yourself,” Rocky quipped.
“Rocky, this is too much,” Dhruv said. “You're going to pay for this.”
Rocky wasn't able to control his anger. Other kids didn't talk back to him. He wasn't one to be challenged.
“How dare you warn me,” Rocky said. His fingers landed on Dhruv's chest, and he pushed him backwards. “I dare you to mess with the head boy!”
Dhruv managed to maintain his balance. He decided to bottle his anger. Otherwise, the powers of the head boy would make his life a living hell.
“Yeah, you behave,” Rocky said. “What can you do?
Rocky pushed Dhruv again with greater force. This time he was not able to keep his balance. He toppled backwards into Khushi's legs.
Khushi lifted Dhruv back to his feet. Already, a group had gathered to watch the spectacle in the corridor.
“Let's go,” she said. Khushi never liked get into any kind fight, especially when it was about Dhruv.“There's no need to talk to those shit minds.”
Khushi pulled Dhruv in the direction away from the other boys.
“Make your boyfriend shut up or nobody will be able to save him,” Rocky hissed behind them. All his friends continued to laugh louder to provoke him.
Dhruv hissed back, “Rocky, I'll see you later. This time Khushi saved you!”
They stepped out of the corridor and headed towards the garden situated in the front of canteen.
Children from the junior section were busy playing games in the garden. Khushi found a old wooden bench at the corner of the garden.
“Have a seat, Dhruv,” she said tenderly, pointing to the bench.
“Ladies first, please,” Dhruv said, as if nothing had happened few minutes ago.
Khushi adjusted her skirt, and adjusted herself comfortably on the bench. She placed both her palms on her lap and looked at him nervously, “What do you mean 'played with emotions, fooled, and all that? You're confusing me, Dhruv.”
“Oh... what I said in the canteen?” Dhruv paused, unsure if he wanted to go further now. “Yeah, you didn't answer my question.”
“I didn't know what you meant. Can you be more precise?” she insisted.
Dhruv took her left palm in his hand and rubbed it softly. In his most sincere voice he asked, “Khushi, has anyone ever played with your emotions?”
Khushi didn't know what to think. He had never before held her hands that way, and now he wanted to know her private emotions. A pang of emotions burst through her once she understood. Dhruv never talked of such things, either. She tried to guess the significance of the question.
“Why are you talking like this today, what happened?”
“Has someone ever cheated you?” Dhruv continued.
Khushi took a deep breath, and then let her thoughts pour out.
“Did I do something wrong?” she said. She pulled her hand away, and looked him dead in the eyes.
Dhruv suddenly stopped. Then he stuttered, “No, no, not at all Khushi. Actually...”
“What happened Dhruv? Why are you behaving like this today? C’mon tell me what everything,” she insisted him.
He groped his pant pockets, but didn't find what he wanted. Finally,after a brief search, he found his cell phone in his backpack. He took the slick N-90 from the side pocket inside his bag and handed it to Khushi.
Khushi stared at the device with confusion.
“Okay, so this is the origin of your problems today, but what's that got to do with emotions?”
Dhruv slipped the cell phone from her hands, and pressed the 'INBOX' folder under 'Messages'.
“Read all the messages, and then you'll understand the entire story,” Dhruv said, as he handed the phone back to her.
“I can't read your personal messages. It would be better if you just told me,” Khushi said.
“C'mon, Khushi, you're my best friend,” Dhruv said appraisingly. “There's nothing personal between us.”
Khushi never denied her best friend anything, even if he needed help with homework or a project that might have been questionable to adults. Uncomfortably, she read the text messages.
INBOX MESSAGE READ:
Tanya: Hello Dhruv. Is this your number? Tanya here…
Tanya: Good. You saved my number?..Great!.It was nice talking to you in Orkut. Are you online now?
Tanya: I miss you. Are you going to be online in the evening?
Tanya: Shit you don’t care about your friends.
Tanya: That’s why I am saying you should come online.
Tanya: Not you. Go and take a look in the mirror and you’ll see a chimpanzee. He is my boyfriend. Is there a problem?
Khushi's interest was peeked. It surprised her to see a girl's message in Dhruv's phone. He hadn't told her that he had a girlfriend. She knew everything, whether it was good or bad, that happened to him. She continued reading.
Tanya: Of course, idiot. I consider you to be my boyfriend. Love you and Miss you. Take care.
“You never told me about your girlfriend, Dhruv! This isn't fair. I tell you everything!” Khushi scolded.
“It’s nothing like that,” Dhruv sighed.
“I can understand the story very well, thank you! The messages say it all,” she continued.
“Khushi, you are getting me wrong!” he said.
“Tell me, when did she become your girlfriend?”
“She is not my girlfriend!” he said getting irritated.
“Not?” she threw a tantrum. “I’m not blind. I can read very well what it says. ‘Love you - miss you’ here in your inbox.”
“Have I ever lied to you?” he questioned back to Khushi.
“No! But congratulations! One more chick is flat over you,” she said defiantly.
“Huh!!!!” snuffed Dhruv and then he snapped the phone from Khushi's hand. He opened the 'OUTBOX' folder.
“Now read the messages in the outbox,” he said.
“You mean the private messages that you sent Tanya?” Khushi asked. “No way!”
Khushi moved her head violently from side to side. “I don't want to read what you've said to her.”
“C’mon Khushi”
“No Dhruv, please don’t insist of me to read anymore of your private conversations. It's not good,” Khushi said as she continued to move her head. She wanted to read the messages, but she was afraid.
“You know? My best friend would have never denied me,” Dhruv said to emotionally blackmail her.
“I am your best friend!” Khushi said. She snatched the phone from Dhruv and read the messages in the 'OUTBOX'.
OUTBOX messages read:
DHRUV: Hi Tanya. What a pleasant surprise. My dad doesn’t even touch this number. Save my Number !
Dhruv: No, I have worked to do. I can’t come online now
Dhruv: Really sorry. I have a test tomorrow and I need to study.
Dhruv: Don’t you have BF? Tell him to come online. If you are getting bored.
Dhruv: Me? Your boyfriend?
Dhruv: No problem, But I can always see myself in the mirror... I am the one? :O
Dhruv: Love you too, take care Sweetheart.
Khushi was now bubbling inside. She wanted to kill Tanya, whoever she was. Khushi managed to stay calm, but she began to fire questions at Dhruv.
“Dhruv! What's this? I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend,” her anger flamed at him. “It says, 'Love you too'?”
“Its nothing like that,” Dhruv said, ignoring her. “Shut up, Khushi.”
“What shut up? I want to know whole thing! You're the one that made me read these messages.”
“Now read the messages in my Private folder, ” Dhruv requested.
“Private Folder?” Khushi hesitated. “ but there are only four folders ‘Inbox’,’ Outbox’, ‘Sent’, ‘Draft’… private folder?” she continued.
“Thanks to the latest technologies…” Dhruv replied.
“Technology?” Khushi wasn’t able to understand what he meant.
Dhruv started to explain to her, “Actually the latest mobiles can be uploaded with various softwares that can hide our most private messages. I have a secret, private folder in which there is collection of all the special messages that belongs to my ‘boys’ community. Hope you understand?”
Her eyes grew bigger when she heard this thought, “And Dhruv you are telling me to read all those boys messages.”
“ Yes,” he replied politely like it was nothing for her to read messages from boys.
“No Dhruv…” she refused.
“Khushi…” Dhruv countered.
“I am sorry, Dhruv, please…” she fixated on her answer, and didn't seem like she would budge this time.
“There is nothing I hide from you, and this is a small thing -- believe me,” Dhruv continued.
“Please Dhruv nooo...” she answered. ” I cannot read your secret folder. Why can’t you understand? I've already read too much.”
“C’mon, Khushi, you must know everything about me,” said Dhruv. He moved closer to her on the bench, and placed his hand on her shoulder. He dragged her closer to express how close they had been for so many years.
Khushi began to relax. Yet, she still knew nothing about what happened between Tanya and Dhruv. Were they or were they not committed? Maybe the secret folder might reveal the rest of the story.
“But... Dhruv,” she stammered.
“Forget everything and open the folder,” Dhruv instructed. “ You must know what happened between us.”
The message prompt, ‘ENTER PASSWORD’, appeared on the screen of the secret folder.
“Dhruv, what's your password,” Khushi asked.
“Password?” he gave her a sullen look. “You disappoint me.”
“ME? How?”
“Asking my password. I didn’t expect this from you,” Dhruv said..
“But how would I know your password?” she inquired in surprise.
“I thought you were my best friend, and nobody would know me better then you.”
“But how would I know your password for a secret folder I never even knew about?” she countered.
“Think of it… Khushi” Dhruv frowned and refused to give it over so easily.
After thinking for a moment she blurted out, “Is it ‘Tanya’?”
“Tanya?” repeated Dhruv. “Khushi…”
“Just tell me, okay,” Khushi said. She was already frustrated, and this game was just making it worse.
“Type ‘Khushi,’”Dhruv instructed.
This astonished Khushi. Most people made passwords from the names of those they liked or were obsessed with 24/7. A stab of excitement rushed through her. It was the second time her B-Major chord string had been struck that day. She pushed her feelings aside, and began to read the messages.
TANYA: Man, you are such a Jerk. Really, nobody compares about you LOSER.
DHRUV: What happened Tanya? Why are you talking like this today?
TANYA: Tell me one thing… Are you Gay?
DHRUV: Gay? What are you talking? Of course I’m not.
TANYA: Then why did you say ‘Love you too’?
DHRUV: Because You said you loved me. That’s why I love you, too...
TANYA: Hello! I don’t Love men. That includes losers like you…
DHRUV: Love men? Are you a Lesbian?
TANYA: S***brick!! You stupid shit, don't you understand?
DHRUV: What happened? I can’t understand anything. Please tell me...
TANYA: Bhen**** Male here
DHRUV: Male? I thought you were a fe-male
TANYA: Bhen**** Tanya is my fake profile on Orkut. Understand Retard?
DHRUV: Then who the F*** are you? Why did you do this to me?
TANYA: Me???? Bhen**** you sent me the friend request. You asked me for my number.
DHRUV: How Can you fool somebody like that?
TANYA: I didn’t fool you. Everybody on earth has a right to fool, fool, in this world.
DHRUV: Go to Hell!
TANYA: You better go.... Fool, Fool, Fool…
The messages made the story clear to Khushi. She now understood why Dhruv had been so tense. She couldn't help laughing out loud. Even though she was laughing at her best friend.
“Khushi! Even you?” he was upset that she laughed.
Khushi allowed herself the luxury of thinking Dhruv had been an idiot. She couldn't stop laughing because she had never heard such a story before.
“Khushi, stop laughing,” Dhruv warned.
Khushi then realized she was laughing at her best friends expense. It wasn't right for her to laugh at him.
“Sorry Dhruv, it was something like..” she looked straight into his eyes and realized Dhruv was pretending to be serious. He even knew that he was a looser. Still, she tried to control her giggle. A smile washed over his face, and she couldn't control it anymore. They both began to laugh until they were exhausted.
“So, that's why you were upset,” Khushi said. “Tell me what happened.”
Dhruv began to tell her the whole story.
“I found Tanya in one of my friend's profiles. As usual, I gave her a friend request and a ‘Hi'. A reply came and the rest you can understand from the messages.”
“Ok, but how did you get her number?” Khushi inquired
“I thought she took keen interest in me. So, I asked for her number.”
“WOW!” Khushi said. “It's amazing how you guys come to a conclusion that a girl is interested in just a few days.”
“Instead of messaging why didn’t you just call her?” Khushi suggested.
“Call?” Dhruv gave a confused look “ How can I call her?”
“What do you mean ‘how can you call her’? You already had her number. You must have called her once.”
“She could've called me. She had my number, too. Why didn’t she call me?”
“Stupid, how could she call you. She was fake,” Khushi said. “It's your mistake for not calling to confirm.”
“Being a boy -- how can I call her First, after all I have my own Ego and Attitude to maintain.”
“Ego? Attitude?” repeated Khushi in surprise.
“It would have been shameful to call her first. That’s why I didn't call her,” Dhruv said.
“Well, I guess you deserve getting paid for it then.”
“Hmmm,” Dhruv paused. “You're right. But I know who did this to me, and I’ll teach them a lesson.”
“Who are they?” asked Khushi in surprise.
“They have to pay for their act,” Dhruv continued, refusing to tell her the name.
“Dhruv, you know this person?” Khushi asked. She wasn't able to contain her curiosity any longer.
“I’ll take revenge on them,” promised Dhruv. “They deserve their nemesis.”
“Dhruv, you won’t do anything with them,” Khushi countered.
“Why?” Dhruv stormed. “Why are you taking their side?”
“If you take revenge on them what difference is there left between you and them,” Khushi uttered like a saint. “It’s forgiveness that keeps you up.”
“Whatever,” Dhruv grunted.
“Dhruv, I know you won’t take revenge on them.”
“I will,” he said stubbornly.
“You are my best friend. Nobody knows you better than me Promise you wont hurt me by taking revenge, and doing destructive things like that. Revenge is sick and destructive peoples.”
Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding
The tone for next class sounded.
Khushi never received her promise. They walked briskly to each of their respective classes.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
END of Chapter 1
Hope, you people enjoyed reading my very first work.
Chapter two will be out as soon as i recieve review for this part.
