The Movie Date

Part 1 - The Movie Date

The girl gang sat in the Red Rose Cafe munching on snacks and discussing the film, Beta. Swati and Naina told the girls about their movie date with Munna and Sameer then later how they were caught by Bela Chachi. Both of them rubbed their cheeks remembering the tight slap but thanked their stars that the boys were not caught with them. God knows what would have happened if they were!

Kamya and Hema had also seen the movie. The girls quietly asked each other what they thought about the sensational Dhak-Dhak song. "Hayee, I'm going to get an orange blouse just like Madhuri! The song was sizzling", exclaimed Swati. Naina covered her mouth with surprise. She found the song too sensual and provocative. She couldn't forget the look on Sameer's face. He was so mesmerized by the song and forgot that she was even sitting next to him! "You should have seen Munna's face! I was worried a fly would go into his mouth", laughed Swati. Hema and Kamya giggled along.

At the end of the table, the usually bubbly and chirpy, Preeti sat quietly watching all the girls gush over the film. They all had seen the movie except for her. Although she had forgiven Naina for seeing the film without her, she still felt left out of the conversation. She got up and muttered, "I need to go to the library. I need umm...a book for an assignment". Naina looked on sadly as she watched Preeti walk away. Naina knew that Preeti was lying and was still sad. She felt guilty for lying to her dear sister and not inviting her to the movie knowing that Madhuri was her favorite actress.

As Preeti walked through the corridor of the college, she ran into the boys gang. "Hey Saali-Sahiba, where are you going? Where is everyone?" Sameer smiled.

Preeti looked up with surprise as she was lost in her thoughts, "Oh Jija-ji, I didn't see you there! Everyone is in Red Rose. I need to go to the library. Bye". She forced a smile and quickly left.

Pandit watched her retreating figure and turned to Sameer, "I feel like she's upset about something". Sameer and Munna who looked equally confused agreed with him.

The boys joined the girls in Red Rose and heard them discussing the sensational film. All were engrossed in the discussion except Naina, which did not go unnoticed by Sameer. He gently nudged her elbow, "What's wrong? Here, you're upset and earlier Preeti seemed sad too. Is everything okay at home?"

Naina nodded and softly said, "I think Preeti is still angry that we went to see the film without her. We should have invited her too".

Swati, who had overheard the conversation, rolled her eyes and said, "Ugh, Preeti is making a big deal out of nothing. It's just a movie! She can watch it later".

Pandit, who was talking with Hema and Kamya, suddenly turned his attention to the two couples. He had coincidentally run into them at the theatre when they had gone to see the film. They had not bothered to invite him either. He spoke up in Preeti's defense, "It's not just about the film. She's upset that you didn't even think about inviting her when all of you were going. She has always supported you through thick and thin but when it came to having fun you conveniently forgot about her..." Pandit realized that he was voicing his own feelings about the situation and stopped from saying anything further when he saw the guilt-ridden faces of Sameer and Munna.

Later in class, everyone was focusing on JBR's lecture but Pandit was bored and his eyes naturally wandered towards Preeti. She briefly looked away from the board and gave him a small smile before returning her focus to the lecture. Pandit started thinking about the incident earlier and how Preeti had been upset. He understood her feelings well as he too felt somewhat betrayed by his friends. He smiled to himself as he got an idea to cheer her up.

The next day, Pandit ran over to Preeti and held out two tickets. "Preeti, I have an extra ticket for the Beta film. Sameer is busy and Munna said he can't go either. So, do you want to go see it with me?"