Crystal Clear

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

"Get down here, this second Suru!" she heard her mom shout.

"Yes, mum! Getting down." Sarojini tucked the last sweater that she had bought yesterday into the large purple bag and chucked it on the floor, amidst the other brightly colored ones. They created quite a contrast to her grey painted room. She looked around, her desk was now void of any mess, all her necessary books were in one of the bags, her cupboard, on the other side of the room, was all open and half empty. The showpieces and the pictures on the wall were, too, missing, they were now inside their boxes and neatly packed to be taken with her. All looked almost well, except for the large purple bag unwilling to be closed.

"Just, help me get this bag!" she strained as she tried to pick up the load,, to keep it aside, get it shut, but there was no way her 5 ft self was ever going to be able to do that. She tied her sleek black hair in a knot and pushed back the sleeves of her old purple t-shirt that she loved. Then, she tried again, but the battle with the bag was unsuccessful.

She had overpacked, there was no way to say this lightly, but some stuff had to be thrown out. It was time to call her mom upstairs and admit defeat- she couldn't pack on her own. The purple bag lying on the floor seemed to be moments from bursting open. Sarojini got up from her bed and headed towards the door.

"Mum!?" she called out

Not a moment was spared when the door opened and peeked inside, the petite short lady with curly black hair, which were, of course, colored. Sarojini's mom, even though she had crossed the good old half century, was a youngster at heart.

"Overpacked?" her Mom asked with a smug smile on her face.

"Leave that to me." her mother for sure loved to pack but this was a bittersweet moment for her. Packing- that she loved, packing for her daughter who was going away for many years- something that she was proud of but it left her alone in the house. It took time till the blunder in her bags was fixed. A small tear left her mother's eyes as she pulled the chain of the last bag that she neatly arranged.

"Mum?" Sarojini looked at her mother lost in thoughts and hugged her. "Come on, Mum, it's just three years and I'll be back for good."

"Promise?" her mother childishly held a pinky finger in front of her.

"We do this the Potter-way, mother, I'm going to London after all. Here's the unbreakable vow I make to you," she joked. Ofcourse, Jenny was a headstrong potter fanatic. No-one, and I mean no-one knew the amount of excitement that she was experiencing from the time that she knew that she had been accepted for scholarship at London, it was like a dream come true in so many ways!

"Always the Potterhead!" The mother laughed at her child's antics and held her arm like she had shown.

"You know, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a wand so that next time we do this, we do this more authentically." Sarojini spoke in all seriousness. "Now we go find dad, we need a witness don't we?"

Their banter continued for a long-while. There was a mellow atmosphere at the house. Her father's teasing and then a very serious talk later, they looked packed. Jenny looked one last time around her as she and the family boarded the taxi that took them to the airport. Their apartment building and the lush green trees that surrounded it, there was going to be a long time for when she would see all that again. The ride to the airport went smoothly.

The moment they stepped out of the car and got down, though, Sarojini's excitement and her Mother's tears were uncontrollable.

"Be safe." he father tried to mess up her hair but she ducked.

"Of course, dad," she laughed out.

"Mom, stop your crying and bid me bye, please," Sarojini pouted and hugged her parents once again.

"Look, if I cry my head aches and I really don't want to spend time on a flight with a massive headache, okay?" she tried to convince her mother once again.

"Okay, honey okay, I'm sorry, just come here." They hugged once again.

"Not your mascara on my shirt, woman," her father jokingly pushed them away. But Sarojini knew that he was going to shed a tear or two. She couldn't bear that, so she fiercely hugged them once again. Her dad patted her head and her mom just burst into another stream of tears.

"Now go." her father gently told her.

"Bye.." Sarojini took one last look at the couple in front of her looking at her lovingly. "I'm going to miss you guys," and she turned to get inside through security checking.

Sarojini wandered in through the security with butterflies in her stomach. She went towards her terminal after security check-up and settled down with her bag on the next seat. The scene around her was bustling. People rushing with their baggage form one place to another, little children crying, the sweet aroma of the coffee that was being brewed at the shop next to them, Jenny only felt her excitement grow even more at every event that took place before her eyes.

'Boarding: In 20 minutes' she read on the screen in front of her. This was her second international trip, but her first time flying alone. Jenny took out a book from her small bag to pass time and to stop thinking about her trip, but that plan was unsuccessful. She couldn't contain the cheshire cat smile that played on her lips every time she thought about London, thus it was a constant.

"You look creepy."

"Huh?" she turned behind to find the source of the noise to find a boy similar to her age, clad in black jeans and a James Bond t-shirt with a '007' written there that caught her eye. Her eyes slowly met his face of which his brown eyes caught her attention. A slow blush was creeping up his cheeks as he understood the abruptness of his question.

"I.. just..." he looked lost for words, at first he had only noticed her smile, but his eyes skimmed her outfit. Black jeans and black top He would have taken her for a goth if not for the smile that lit everything up.

"I'm sorry, I'm just excited." Jenny was excited and relieved to have someone to finally talk to, else she would have burst from over-excitement pretty soon.

"Me too! I'm Pranav."

"Pranav, I'm Roy, Sarojini Roy. And, I'm hurt you don't introduce yourself in this way, afterall, I see you are a big fan of James Bond from that shirt!"

He chuckled at her joke.

"Here goes nothing, I'm Dubey, Pranav Dubey. How 'bout that?" Pranav joked ahead.

"Eh, alright." Sarojini looked at him and both began to laugh.

"I'm really sorry, I'm just excited and thus, I'm babbling." Sarojini apologised but he waved it off.

"Where in Lon....." Pranav's words were cut off by the announcement of Boarding of the plane.

"Well, gotta go, see you someday in the future," Sarojini laughed and took her hand bag, she had chucked the heavy bag in the luggage a long time ago.

"Sure," he went to take his own luggage and stand in the line for boarding.

Sarojini couldn't believe she was actually going to London until she entered the plane.

Fortunately, she had bagged the window-seat and she had been day dreaming of the view she would see while landing at Heathrow. She settled down as fast as she could. Forgetting all about her encounter at the Terminal gate, she sent a quick 'Boarded' message to her parents and switched off her phone. If she was excited before, right now she was ecstatic. She looked out of the window to see the long runaway in front of her. The plane began to move with a slow speed and Jenny's stomach lurched. She held the handrests of her seat tightly as the plane took off, not once closing her eyes to take in every detail she could through the window. The scenery outside left her mesmerized. The buildings and people turned to blinking lights and dots.

As the warning for the seat-belt turned off, Jenny put down the tray table in front of her and brought out the books she had gathered about her University and London itself. She couldn't ignore the anticipation inside her as she began to read.

"London, here we go!" she thought.

Her Mother and Father just watched through the glass window as her flight left.