Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 49. Stranded at College

Just then Sharad came back but with him was Lekha. Oh.

'I did not find rest of them but Lekha was stuck nearby. You don't mind sharing the umbrella with her, right?', he asked her. She shook her head. 'Of course, I don't mind. The rain is chilling the body.'

Whatever problems she had with Lekha and Sharad, she was not so cold hearted to leave a shivering Lekha without shelter.

'Come in.', she tugged Lekha closer. Sharad told them about finding her friends and ran away.

'You did not go home?', she asked Lekha. Lekha explained that she walked to train station and to take a train but the trains were not working, so she ended up walking back here.

'Oh poor you. I am waiting for my car but doubt it would come.'

Lekha sneezed and shivered and Shrishti felt for her. Atleast she had been under the tree once she arrived. Lekha must have braved the rain the whole way to the train station and back.

'What happened to your umbrella?'

'It flew away near the station.'

'Oh.'

She looked around. The wind was not fierce in the college area but she knew that the other areas could be different. She looked down. The water was reaching her calf now. Another half an hour and it would reach her knees. She swallowed at the implication.

Just then some of the college teachers still inside the college came out and asked them all to come in. By then more than thirty people were standing near the gates, several of them not even from their college but from offices nearby. According to the teachers, once the water reached their knees, coming into the college would become tough. Shrishti looked around worriedly. But what about her friends? Were they stranded somewhere?

Shrishti had the errant thought of going on a search for her friends but she was not a fool. If she went on a search now, she would have to take shelter at some random place all alone as the water was still rising. With a sigh, she helped Lekha walk into the college, the other girl still shivering.

Inside the college building, they were herded to a classroom and she saw Arpit, Daljeet and Divya there. Oh! Finally! She felt as if she could breathe properly again. She let go of Lekha and ran to them. They came running and there was lots of hugging going on.

Teachers were bringing in more people, some of them elderly who got stranded in the nearby areas and some students clearly not from their college. So the quartet moved to the side.

Shristhi asked about her friends and she was told that once Divya lost her, she searched but she could not find her. She reached the gates and informed Daljeet and Arpit. The trio decided to search inside the college, thinking that she was waiting for them there. She burst out laughing at that. She explained that she assumed they would be at the gate, so she left for the gate.

'We must have passed each other while we were coming from the gate and you were going to!', Daljeet giggled.

'The crowd must have made us not see each other.' Arpit shook his head.

'Crowd and the rain too! The visibility is almost zero outside.', Divya bemoaned.

'We were searching for you and found Sharad. He told us that he would get you and for us to get in and even informed the teachers that people from our college and even outsiders were stranded outside.', Daljeet explained.

Shrishti shrugged. 'There is a reason Sharad is our class leader. He cares.' She said nothing else. She was not some filmy heroine to swoon over how caring and helpful Sharad was! She was sure that anyone would have done that. As if to confirm her words, a familiar voice said, 'Agreed. Class leaders should be like this. Then only they get the post of class leader.'