Naina found Pooja in her room as her roommate. Pooja's side of the room was a little 'girly' as compared to Naina's side. Pooja was unaware of Naina's original identity yet. So, she smiled warmly at Naina as she welcomed her. Naina on the other hand, got a bit uncomfortable. Ever since Naveen was accused as a traitor, Naina could read people's faces like an open book. She stared at Pooja for a few seconds, then she moved towards her side.
Pooja began her introduction as soon as Naina sat down on her bed.
"Hello, mere handset ka naam Pooja Ghai hai. Aaj hi is academy me mera SIM card insert hua hai. Tere handset ka kaun sa model hai?" She said in her cheery voice and Naina took a second to process her words.
'Handset? SIM Card? Model? What is she talking about?' Naina thought to herself.
"Umm... mera naam Naina hai." Naina said in a low voice. She was now used to hiding her real identity.
Naina was aware of the dreadful fact that soon enough, maybe after a few minutes, even Pooja will become aware of Naina's real name, so she just wanted to feel what being a normal cadet in an academy felt like.
"Tera is academy ke network area mein aane ke peechhe kya karan hai?" Pooja asked as she failed to see Naina's now paled face.
"Main to apne Rohit ka network catch karne yahan ayi hu." Pooja said in a bubbly voice as she got busy in organizing her clothes in the cupboard.
Naina understood that she meant it normally, not in an enquiring or suspicious way.
"Ah... yun hi." She answered.
"Yun hi? Oye aise kaise?" Pooja was slightly taken aback by Naina's nonchalant answer.
In reply, Naina just shrugged her shoulders and then she too, got busy in arranging her things.
Here, Brigadier Chandok had already gave a heads up to the faculties. As mentioned earlier, he may look like he didn't care but in reality he was well aware of the psychology of the new cadets. Therefore, he made to sure to schedule a meeting for the faculties with Dr. Ritu, the psychologist for the cadets. Dr. Ritu Mishra was part of the SSB board psychology team. Therefore, she had all the records of how the cadets did in their psychological tests in the screening phase.
The only exception was Cadet Alekh Sharma. She had no idea why the selection board would select an ex-convict like him. His records was not so impressive, apart from the fact that the boy managed to score a good score and even a good All-India rank.
The faculties, Capt. Rajveer Singh Shekhawat, Capt. Dr. Shalini Singhal, Maj. Prabhat Nair, Sub. Maj. Lolita Sen, Sub. Suri ji were informed of the meeting.
But here, a new 'accident' took place in the girls hostel.
It was late at night. Pooja and Naina were were fast asleep when suddenly Naina woke by rustling of the branches outside her window.
Since the lights were off, she was not able to see anything but was shocked the next moment, when she could clearly see a silhouette of a young man.
She and Pooja woke up in alarm. But it seemed like the other person was too busy in glancing around the room that he didn't notice the two girls in front of him.
Naina's instinct's overpowered her as she gestured Pooja to call security.
The young man, still unaware of the situation, sat down calmly in Pooja's now vacant bed.
Naina moved towards the switch and turned on the lights to see the intruder.
The young man was startled by the sudden blinding lights but then stood enchanted, seeing the girl in front of her. She looked nervous but at the same time, her stance told him that she wouldn't hesitate to break his bones.
Only after hearing her angry voice, he was brought back to the reality.
"Kaun ho tum? Or yahan humare kamre mein kya kar rahe ho?" Naina said fuming.
"Oye kudiye.... ye sahi hai.. direct jaan-pehchan par aa gayi..." He gave boyish grin which infuriated Naina further.
"Maine puchha tum yahan girls hostel mein kya kar rahe ho?" Naina asked again.
"O ji main to.... oye ek minute... kya kaha? Girls hostel?" The boy then turned around to see the room. The huge teddy bear in Pooja's bed confirmed what Naina was saying.
"Ji haan.... Girls hostel... tumhari himmat kaise hui girls hostel mein... humare room mein aise choro jaise aane ki....?" This guy's non-chalant behavior was irking her.
"Are thand rakh soniye... itni khubsoorat ladkiyan gussa karti hui achhi nahi lagti..." The boy flirted with Naina and she lost it.
"Listen... ye over-smartness dikhana band karo. Jitna puchha hai utna jawab do..." She yelled at him.
"Is gabru jawan ko Huda bulate hai... Amardeep Huda... aur mujhe koi girls hostel mein aane ka shouq nahi hai. Wo to main academy aane mein late ho gaya tha to socha ki seedha boys hostel mein chup-chap chala jata hu." Huda explained and Naina looked at him like he was crazy.
This idiot really took such a huge risk of sneaking in a military academy, that too in the middle of the night.
Their banter was interrupted by the warden, Sub. Maj. Lolita Sen.
"Ye sab kya laga rakha hai tum ladkiyon ne? Academy ke pehle din hi boyfriend ko room bulana shuru kar diya? Dekho ladkiyo... bahar jo bhi harkatein ki ho tum logon ne, I don't care. Par academy mein ye harkatein main bilkul tolerate nahi karne wali hu." She yelled at both of them.
Naina and Pooja both were shocked by her accusation.
"Boyfriend? Ma'am ye koi mera boyfriend nahi hai. Ye ladka to achanak se humare kamre mein aa gaya." Naina tried to explain but the warden's next words hit her too hard.
"Don't explain anything to me, Cadet Naina Singh Ahluwalia. I am not going to have any conversation with you. Jo bhi baat karni hai.. kal Brigadier sir ke samne karna. Ae ladke... come out of the room right now." The warden dragged Huda out of the room who was standing in the corner thinking that he got out of the hook.
Naina stood in the room with her eyes closed as she calmed herself. What was she thinking.... that she could actually have a normal life? Maybe..... she could.....
Naina felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Pooja standing next to her but her eyes didn't have any hatred in them.
"Aa jaa... andar chalte hein." She said in a soft voice.
Naina was shocked by her behavior and moved in. She just closed her eyes and she sat with her head down, on the bed.
"Kya hua? Tujhe ye hi lag raha hai na ki Lolita Ma'am ka message milne ke baad... main out of reach kyun nahi hu?" Pooja asked in a gentle voice.
Naina looked up at her.
"Dekh Naina.... main to yahan sirf apne Rohit ko dhundhne aayi hu... Main ye army ke network area mein kabhi utni thi hi nahi... par ek cheez meri memory mein abhi bhi achhe se feed hai...." Pooja said as she locked her eyes with Naina.
"Punjab mein... ek din main practice ground se lautne mein late ho gayi thi. Us waqt mujhe ek army wale ne ghar tak drop kiya tha. Mujhe to Rohit ke sath ka koi hoga. Ghar par utarte waqt us army wale ka naam dekha tha maine, kandhe par do star.... naam Naveen Singh Ahluwalia." Pooja explained.
Naina sat shocked by this new information. It was then that she realized that maybe, just maybe her and Pooja can get along well because inside this cheery and bubbly girl was a young and mature young woman.
"Mere bhaiya aise hi the. Bachpan mein bhi... wo mere sath-sath mere saare friends ke liye bhi over-protective the." Naina said in a small voice, trying keep her tears at bay.
"Dekh Naina... main nahi janti ki army ka ye wrong connection tha ya right.... par personally batau... to mera system is message of accept hi nahi kar paa raha hai ki aisa insan kuchh itna bada kadam utha sakta hai." Pooja said as she turned off the lights and laid down to sleep.
HELLO EVERYONE. FIRST OF ALL, I AM SO SO SORRY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO REPLY TO THE COMMENTS. YOU KNOW HOW FESTIVALS ARE.... SO HECTIC... LITERALLY, SOMEONE WAS COMING TO VISIT IN EVERY 5 MINUTES. THIS IS WHY THIS UPDATE WAS SO LATE.
ANOTHER REASON FOR LATE UPDATE IS WELL.... I AM GETTING SO NERVOUS WHILE WRITING THIS STORY. EVERY SINGLE TIME, I SIT DOWN TO UPDATE THE CHAPTERS... I GET SO NERVOUS BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO SPOIL THE STORY FOR YOU GUYS. I MEAN THE STRONG POTRAYAL OF THE ACTORS HAS MADE THESE CHARACTERS ETCHED IN OUR HEARTS. SO I AM CONSTANTLY SCARED FOR RUINING IT FOR YOU GUYS. TRUTH TO BE TOLD, IT WAS SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE I SAW THIS SHOW ON TV. WHICH IS WHY THERE WILL BE CERTAIN POINTS THAT MAY BE MISSING FROM THIS STORY. THAT WOULD SOLELY BE BECAUSE I DO NOT REMEMBER THE COMPLETE DETAILED STORYLINE... SO I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR ALL THE MISTAKES AND ERRORS IN THE STORYLINE. PLEASE BEAR WITH ME.🥺🙏
THAT BEING SAID... DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND LEAVE LOTS OF COMMENTS. I PROMISE TO REPLY EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. UNTIL NEXT TIME. TAKE CARE. LOVE YOU ALL. ❤️
NEXT UPDATE WILL BE ON : NOT DECIDED YET
WORD COUNT : 1565 WORDS
DATE : MARCH 11, 2023