The Trip and the Jubilant Turn

Team Rohit and Team Virat

The next morning, everyone on the second floor was woken up abruptly by Virat's roar, "WHERE'S MY CHARGER, ROHIT?"

Virat barged into Rohit's room, which was adjacent to his, and saw that Rohit hadn't even stirred.

Rohit's phone was lying on the bedside table over some old boarding pass, but the charger was nowhere to be seen.

"Rohit! Rohit!" Virat shook the sleeping Rohit roughly.

"What?" mumbled Rohit.

"Where did you keep my charger?"

"On the table," said Rohit, clearly still half asleep.

"It's not there!" said Virat. "Get up for a minute and give me back my charger!"

Rohit sat up groggily and did a double take when he caught sight of the time on the clock. "It's only 6:30!"

And he lay right back down and promptly went to sleep again.

"ROHIT!" yelled Virat fiercely.

No answer.

"JADDU! JADDU! BRING A GLASS OF WATER HERE IMMEDIATELY!" And this shout was enough to wake everyone on the first floor too, but Rohit still didn't stir.

Jaddu came running into the room with a bottle with Shikhar, Jinks and Kuldeep at his heels.

Virat opened the cap and emptied the bottle on Rohit's head--a trick which never got old and always had the same effect.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" screeched Rohit, sitting right up.

"Where. Is. My. Charger?" demanded Virat amidst their friends' laughter; nearly all the others had appeared by then.

"How can you wake me up like this for a mere charger?" demanded Rohit, holding his sopping wet head in horror.

"You weren't waking up in the decent way!" snapped Virat.

Rohit scowled darkly. "I don't know where the charger is. I kept it on the table, and I dunno who took it!"

Virat was rapidly swelling with rage when Bhuvi stumbled over the waste paper basket and the only waste in it--which happened to be Virat's charger--spilled out.

Everyone around there snorted with laughter as Bhuvi picked it up and held it out in front of Virat.

Virat took one look at the basket and rounded on Rohit. "You dropped it in the bin!"

"I didn't!" cried Rohit.

"Virat," said Jinks hastily. "He must've dropped it in place of that boarding pass by mistake."

"I DID NOTHING OF THAT SORT!" shouted Rohit.

"HE DID IT DELIBERATELY!"

"HE REMOVED MY CHARGER FROM MY SUITCASE SO THAT HE COULD LEND ME HIS CHARGER AND ACCUSE ME LIKE THIS! HE PLANNED ALL THIS!"

Of course, everyone had begun to go blue in the face trying not to laugh by now.

"I'M NOT DEMENTED, ROHIT! I WOULDN'T DO THAT!"

"YOU ARE!"

Jaddu and Hardik exploded at that point, and that set off everyone, and predictably Virat and Rohit's tempers worsened at that.

"I AM WHAT?"

"YOU JUST SAID IT, YOU'RE DEMENTED!"

Shikhar caught Bhuvi's eyes and winked.

"I'm on Team Rohit!" declared Shikhar. "You're demented, Virat!"

"I'm on Team Virat!" said Rahul promptly.

"I'm on Team Rohit!" yelled Jaddu.

"So am I," said Yuzi.

Kuldeep looked at Yuzi uncomfortably but managed to say, "I'm on Team Virat!"

"I'm on Team Virat too!" shouted Hardik.

"I'm on Team Rohit," said Ash, grinning.

Jassi looked completely torn. "I'm neutral," he said timidly.

"You can't be neutral!" screeched Hardik.

"He can be! You leave him alone!" said Bhuvi.

"I'm neutral, too," said Jinks, sending an amused glance at both his best friends, who were staring at their friends in disbelief.

Bhuvi decided that he couldn't let Team Rohit outnumber Team Virat, so he said determinedly, "Team Virat."

With the team division out of the way, the teams of course started shrieking in unison.

"I saw Virat sneaking Rohit's charger out from his suitcase," alleged Jaddu, his voice trembling with laughter as he held on to Rohit's ridiculous accusation.

"He didn't!" defended Hardik. "He was with me all the time while packing."

"Liar!" cried Bhuvi.

"You're on Virat's side," reminded Hardik.

"Oh, right," muttered Bhuvi.

Team Rohit started howling with delight and Team Virat started wailing in protest and finally Virat and Rohit were forced to shout, "SHUT UP!"

Everyone fell silent at once.

Rohit and Virat glared daggers at everyone.

"Get out of my room, all of you," ordered Rohit.

Virat turned and left at once.

"Again," muttered Jinks.

Rohit turned his back on his friends and prepared to go back to sleep.

"We have to go to the market in a few hours," Shikhar told Rohit.

"Ok," said Rohit sulkily.

They all left quietly and found Virat banging around in his room, clearly also in a foul mood like Rohit.