En Anbu Thozhi (SriDivya+KeerthySuresh)

Chapter 6 - The first proper meet

Flashback begins...

"Go," Sam pushed me and showed me a thumbs up to wish me good luck. I didn't want to hurry in this, but Sam scared me that it might already be too late. I slowly walked towards Atharvaa, trying to remind myself of all the practice I did to make sure I felt confident enough to speak. As far as I know about him, he is a guy from Chennai. His father had always strived to be an honest man which made him remain as a constable his whole life, since the higher officers who worked with him didn't like his honesty. So Atharvaa was naturally an honest guy himself. I knew I shouldn't be attracted to him without knowing him very well. But the only little details I knew had already made me fall for him.

Atharvaa was usually surrounded by his friends. It was really hard to find a moment when he was alone. Once I saw him standing alone today, I immediately felt the urge to talk to him. Now when I got closer and closer to him, my urge got stronger but my knees felt weaker. He was reading a book with his spectacles on. When I drew closer and closer towards him, I started noticing his features. He wasn't the fairest of all nor was he dark. He was the perfect color. His hair wasn't neatly combed, but it stubbornly stayed untidy which looked cute on him. He had trimmed his beard and moustache, which made his dimpled chin slightly visible. He had broad shoulders with medium biceps, which was the size I preferred. What about his abdomen? Will he have six packs? At that very thought, I slipped out of excitement and sat on the ground with a thud. Ouch! That hurt! I felt Atharvaa running towards me and my heart started to beat fast. I was sitting on the spot until he reached me. 

"Are you alright?" He asked and reached out his hand to help me up. That was when I properly saw his eyes. He had removed his glasses. Wow! That was the first thing that came into my mind. Just picture perfect. I took his hand and got up. Shivers were running all over my body. "Are you alright?" He asked again. "I'm...I'm fine," what's got into me? I'm stammering already. "Okay then," he smiled and turned around to leave. "No wait," words came out of my mouth without realizing. He turned again to face me and I remained speechless again. "Yeah?" he asked. "Err...err...yeah...I...err...I just want to...to thank you," finally all the words came out. "Oh!" he smiled, "That was nothing. I just stood up for what is right. That's all." His smile was melting me.

"Yesterday was my first day at college and it had to be this tragic," finally I found my confidence to speak. "And I've heard from my friend Sam that nobody ever stood against Divya. So it was a bit of a shock to me when you actually slapped her," I said in awe. "Oh, actually though I've been in college for the past three years, I haven't heard much about Divya. She's from the fresher's batch," he said. "I'm from the fresher's batch too," I said to make sure that Atharvaa knew something about me. "Same batch as her? Appa preferred this college for me out of all, because people said there's no ragging here. I'm a rebel when it comes to tolerating wrong things that happen in the society. When I was in school I broke one of my teacher's hand because he misbehaved with a female student," he said cheekily. "You mean you are a rowdy?" I asked teasingly. "A rowdy to the rowdies," he said smiling, "fortunately, I wasn't punished for this from school. But Appa made me promise that I will never get into a fight again. I was controlling myself all these days but here I am now with another trouble." 

"I'm sorry," I said immediately. "Hey I didn't say all this to make you feel bad. I am a troublemaker. I naturally fall into trouble," he tried to convince me. "But I am the reason for you to be in trouble," I said looking down in disappointment. "Oh God, I just told my story to entertain you. I won't fall into trouble for this. And even if I get suspended, so what? There are plenty of other colleges," his words did not convince me at all, it only made me feel worse. He? Suspended? That's gonna be a bad mark on him. And he'll go too far away from me if he leaves this college. I didn't want to hurt him. His eyes looked hurt, so I quickly wiped away my bad feeling. "Okay I'm convinced," I said smiling. "Are you sure?" he asked. "YAS!" I screamed and both of us laughed. Through my laughter, I made up myself to meet Divya and ask her not to suspend Atharvaa.

Flashback ends...

BANG! Sam threw her books on the table with a bang. I came back to senses after re-imagining what happened yesterday before I met Divya. Sam was showing her anger in various ways, but she didn't even speak a word to me. I didn't talk to her all day, not out of anger but out of guilt. I just can't lose my friends because of a bully. I picked up my courage and walked towards Sam. She was sitting on her study desk and I stood in front of her. Though she noticed me, she didn't look up at me. "Ahem," I tried to get her attention, but it was in vain. "Sam, listen. I'm in a situation where I can't tell you anything about what's going on," I said. "Okay don't tell. After all I'm nobody to you," she almost squeaked. "You are my good friend. You are the one who thought me all about this new place when I was lost. I know what you're worth, and that's surely not trouble because of me," I said with pain in my eyes.

Sam's anger softened. "What does that Divya want from you?" "No, it's nothing to do with her either," I quickly added before I spill the truth. "I...err...I'm trying to get her to the right track," I finished though I knew that it won't be a convincing answer. Sam bursted out laughing, "You? You're gonna convert her into a good girl? Seriously? Are you out of your mind?" "Why can't I?" I tried to look serious controlling myself from laughing too. I know very well that I can never change Divya. It would be easier to enter a lion's den than that. "It would be easier to enter a lion's den than that," Sam voiced the words that was in my mind. "I know," I couldn't control my laugh anymore. "But what if I enter with another lion beside me," I asked dramatically with my eyebrows raised. Sam thought for a while and after realizing who I was talking about, she gave a teasing smile and screamed, "Atharvaa!"

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