INVISIBLE STRING

Delicate (part1)

" ok sir i will take care", he assured.

Two buses were arranged for the students to reach z college in Banglore where the intercollege fest was taking place. One bus was assigned for all the pgs and the professors travelled in the other bus allotted for ug students.

Varun, Rohit,Bala, Hasini and Shwetha settled on the long backseat while shreya and shalini took the three seater in front of them.Arjun after discussing the travel route with the driver came back and took a empty two seater adjacent to the three seater where shalini and hasini was sitting. Apart from them 10 more pgs travelled with them.

Arjun turned to his right and nudged shalini," kai ok va?"

" hmm,seriya pochu innum fulla close agala" she showed her finger where the cut skin still hadn't completely healed.

Arjun wanted to sit with her so he asked" comfortable ah anga? Inga variya?"

Varun and Rohit who were quietly watching their banters looked at each other,with a devilish smile and murmured " tho varom".

The next second,Rohit settled next to shalini while varun took the seat next to Arjun. Arjun annoyingly asked, " dei nee ethuku da inga vantha?"

Varun innocently said,"Comfortable ah illa machaan pinnadi"

Arjun rolled his eyes," apo munadi poi okaru, three seater gaaliya thaan iruku"

Varun placed his palm over his mouth and dramatically gasped" dei,enna ya po solra? Unaku nyabagam iruka ug la vacation ponapa nee enkooda thaanada fulla okanthutu vantha"

Arjun glared at him," nyabagam illa kelambu"

" drogi, po maaten da inga thaan irupen",

Varun said and comfortably leaned back in the seat. Seeing Arjun's face drooping, shalini understood he was disappointed for not being able to sit with her. Even she wanted to sit with him when he asked her to. So she planned to move to the empty 3 seater in front of her, and ask Arjun to join her. When she stood up to leave, Rohit blocked her way with his hand, " enga ma pora thangachi?"

" munnadi okara poren vazhi vidu"

He raised his eyebrows" ohhh...main road block panathala bypass la polanu pakariya? Onnum theva illa ingaye okaru"

" enaku inga comfortable ah illa nagaru" she tried to push his hand but he didnt budge

" enna comfortable? nalla kaathu varuthu vedika pathutu vaa, tho pakathula shreya iruka thookam vantha avamela paduthu thoongu, illa bore aducha sollu intha anna padren, ithuku mella enna venum?"

" enaku kaal edikuthu inga", she lied

" hey kd, tetra pack size la irunthutu unaku kaal idikutha?. Nee ethuku ippo munadi poranu theriyum enaku, olunga okaru inga"

Shalini pouted in disappointment and settled back in her seat.

Arjun and Shalini gave up as they knew their friends were not going to allow them to move from their place anytime soon. The first two hours of the ride was filled with music and fun banters. The buses then stopped at a hotel for dinner.

Eveyone got down and refreshed themselves and ordered food. Hasini had a severe headache and preferred staying back in the bus, along with shalini who insisted on accompanying her. The others left and decided to get them food when they return back.

Varun and Arjun came back with food and saw hasini leaning on shalini with her eyes closed.

" hasini enthiri saptu tablet podu ", Arjun forwarded the food parcel.

" shalini nee Arjun kooda poitu sapdu naan ivala pathukuren",Varun said.

Shalini refused," illa varun iva sapda maata naan kooda iruken"

" naan pathukuren nee po , naan solren la",he insisted.

Seeing shalini hesitating to leave her friend , Arjun assured her," vaa shalini naama saptu odane vanthudalam"

Shalini insisted Hasini to eat properly before leaving with Arjun.

Varun opened the box and extended the spoon," saapdu"

Hasini ate a little and closed the box ," pothum varun nauseating ah iruku"

" you cant' take the painkiller in empty stomach innum konjam sapdu"

" venam varun pothum"

Varun sighed " nee sonna keka maata vaya thora"

Hasini denied first but then Varun forcefully fed her a little more.

" intha tablet podu", he passed the tablet and water.

" apdiye paduthu rest edu..konjam thoongana seriya poidum. Naan shalini ah anupi vekaren", he said and was about to stand up when he felt a hold on his palm

" varun ingaye iru.. Please stay", Hasini mumbled.

His lips parted in surprise but he just sat down without saying anything as she rested her head on the headrest and closed her eyes still holding his hand.

Arjun and Shalini returned back along with others after dinner.
Shalini rushed to check on Hasini who was asleep. Varun softly said," thoongita, nee front la shwetha kooda okanthuko, i will sit with her".

Shalini nodded and everyone settled in their seats as the bus took off. Almost everyone slept after dinner but Shalini kept scrolling her phone unable to sleep.

Thoongama enna panra?

The message flashed on her screen.

Seeing the name of the sender, a smile crept through her face. She quickly turned back and noticed Arjun staring at her with a smile. She turned and typed something on the phone.

Nee thoongama ethuku enna pathutu iruka?

Arjun grinned reading the message.

He slowly got up from his seat without disturbing others and moved to the empty two seater in front of shalini, turned back and called her, " inga vaa"

Shalini slowly got up from her place and settled next to him

"Hi " ,she grinned

He raised his eyebrows," yen thoongala"

" thookam varla ",she shrugged

"kai kaatu".

She showed him the injured finger. He gently carressed it.

" it should heal, illana i wont be able to play the guitar tomorrow",she said

" u will dont worry."

" naan antha side okarava?",she asked pointing to the window

Arjun swaped seats with her.Shalini opened the windows slightly letting the cold wind seep in. The wind made her hair strands dance to their own rhythm, as she tried to put them back in their place. The light was dim inside the bus but still her face glowed. He kept staring at her unknowingly as she was peeking through the window enjoying the beautiful view of the city at night.

(To be continued...)

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