This is the final chapter for Book 1
...The rest of the day went smoothly for the gang; Rahul made it up to Muskaan by lunch and all was back to normal between the love birds which made Riddhima happy; they were both her best friends and she hated to see them apart. She had seen their relationship grow from friendship to love and she liked to know that they were happy at all times.
Once their final lesson for the day was over Riddhima said a quick bye to her friends and rushed home as they were given a last minute piece of coursework which was supposed to be handing in the very next Monday and she was highly annoyed that it was thrown onto them at the very end.
No one was able to change her mind to come and hang out with them at Borders; not even Armaan...
...The moment she entered her house she said a quick hi to Padma and got down to work in her room until late when her phone rang making her jump out of her concentration.
"Hello..." she answered her phone without looking at the caller ID; she continued looking down at her paper work.
"Hey Ridzi...I'm just calling to let you know we're going out to dinner tonight and you're coming with us..." Anjali told her.
Riddhima shook her head and looked away from her work; she sat back in her chair; "Sorry Dii...I can't make it tonight..."
"Why not?"
"Don't ask Dii...I told you about this stupid coursework...and the teachers are just not helping...they just handed us another last piece of work...it's due on Monday morning...I have to finish it now..." she rambled on.
"Ridzi you have the weekend to do it...why are you stressing yourself...?" Anjali said to her.
"I know Dii...but you know I hate last minute stuff...I thought I'd get it over and done with today...but thanks for the offer...maybe next time..."
"No...not next time...you put your work away and get ready right now...we'll be there in forty five minutes to pick you up...and that's an order...okay little sister?" Anjali ordered.
"Please Dii...try to understand...I really have to finish this now..." Riddhima tried.
"I'm not listening to anything...we are going to be there soon and you better be ready...okay bye...I'll see you in a bit..." Anjali ended the call without listening to another word.
Riddhima groaned loudly and put her head down onto the desk in front of her...
...Just as promised; an hour later; Anjali, Atul and Armaan were sitting in the Guptas' living room waiting for Riddhima who joined them a few moments later with a frown on her face to which everyone laughed at.
"Sorry little sis...but you need to liven up and stop stressing yourself around this coursework..." Anjali told her giving her a side hug.
"Dii...you couldn't think of going another day?" Riddhima tried once more.
"Nope..." Anjali smiled popping the "P".
Atul laughed; "Come on Ridzi...let's go..."
They left saying bye to Padma and Shashank; as they settled in the car Riddhima looked over at Armaan who had a sneaky smile on his face and Riddhima knew this was his idea but she thought of getting rid of her annoyance and enjoying herself now that she was out of the house. The car ride was quite fun as they joked and listened to the music on the radio until they arrived at Chaudhary's buffet restaurant.
They entered the restaurant in pairs and waited to be seated; Armaan kept going on about how much he was going to eat as he was starving while Atul and Riddhima teased him about being a "bhukad" (starving person); Anjali as usual took his side and stuck up for him.
They headed to the food counter and started helping themselves to the hot, delicious starters; Riddhima stayed back a while with Armaan while Anjali and Atul headed to the salad bar.
"This was your idea wasn't it...?" she asked him.
He nodded with a sly grin and she shook her head; "I don't believe you would do this to me..."
"I didn't do it purposely to disturb you...actually you have to blame Abhi and Su for this..." he told her.
She raised her eyebrow at him; "Abhi and Su?"
"Yeah...because of them I just had the urge to take you out on a date...and this was the only way..." he grinned; "...sorry..."
"You're unbelievable..." she grinned.
They walked back to their table and the four of them had a great evening dinning, laughing and having a great time. Armaan just enjoyed every moment spent with Riddhima; even if it meant teasing or romancing; once they were together that's all he cared about.
Once they had finished their dinner; two hours later; they headed to Baskin Robbins for ice creams and milkshakes; yet again having a good time until late into the night. It was past twelve when they dropped Riddhima home and she thanked them for a wonderful evening.
She made her way up to bed after wishing her parents goodnight; she flopped onto her bed and quickly typed a Whatsapp message to Armaan; "Thanks for the best date ever...love you..."
"You're welcome...love you too...good night..."
She smiled and quickly got dressed for bed; once her head had touched the pillow she was out to the world; it had been a long day but it had ended perfectly and she wished for more like this as she slept peacefully...
...The end of term dragged on like the first half did and once again Riddhima found herself counting down the days to the Christmas holidays. She woke up slightly late on a Friday morning; a week into December; she groaned as she switched off her alarm and jumped out of bed. She whipped open her curtains to see a rainy morning; groaning some more she rushed into the bathroom.
Sometime later when she was ready she rushed down the stairs; she was late and in a bad mood but as she entered the kitchen she saw Shashank sitting at the breakfast table looking a bit worried and Padma was rushing around.
"Good Morning papa...morning mama..." she said looking from one to the next hoping someone would say something.
"Riddhima beta..." Padma started; she was about to say something but changed her mind; "...have your breakfast..."
Riddhima sat down; she started on her breakfast and stared from Padma to Shashank who looked up at her with a worried look; "Riddhima beta...an emergency has come up and we need to go up north for some time..."
Riddhima now looked even more concerned; "Papa...what's wrong?"
He was about to say something when the doorbell rang; Shashank got up; looking at Padma who nodded.
He left the room; and Padma walked towards her; "Riddhima...there's something but we can't say right now...we might have to stay for a week...stay at Juhi Auntie's house...when we come back we'll tell you...right now you just think about your studies and don't worry...we'll call you...we are leaving in half an hour..."
Riddhima nodded; "Theek hain (Okay) mama...I know something is wrong...but you can tell me when you come back...I hope everything works out...and don't worry about me...I'll be fine..." she hugged her mum as Armaan and Shashank came in.
Riddhima gave Shashank a hug and said bye to her parents before leaving. They got into the car and Armaan drove while Riddhima sat beside him in silence with lots going on in her mind.
"I hope everything is okay..." she thought to herself; "...pata nahi kyon aaj kuch ajeeb lag raha hain (I don't know why something feels strange today)...like there's a big storm up ahead...I just hope nothing bad happens...papa seemed very upset...and mama..." she stared out of the window as she ran through her thoughts; "...I know we have family there but...Papa and Mama never speak about them... something happened between them long time ago...I know Papa doesn't even like to talk about this topic and they were not even invited to dii's wedding but suddenly what has happened...I just hope everything is okay..."
Her thoughts were disrupted when Armaan stretched his hand over to hold hers making her look up at him suddenly; "Jaan...everything okay?"
Riddhima didn't know how to say what was on her mind; "Hmm...yeah everything's okay..." she forced a smile.
They arrived at school a few moments later and made their way up to their tutor room which was slightly empty apart from Muskaan, Nikita and two other students. Armaan and Riddhima settled down next to the girls who were already in deep discussion about their usual topic while the other two rolled their eyes.
"Seriously Ridzi...how can you find her sweet...she's so annoying...if I hear that word again I swear I might just stuff toilet paper in her mouth..." Muskaan told her.
Riddhima sighed; "But Muskaan...they're in love...and nothing is wrong with that..."
Nikita shook her head; "I just can't stand her...Ridz please don't ask her to stay with us...having both of them around is bad...but her alone..." she made a sickening expression; "...I agree with Muskaan...let's stuff her with toilet paper...I bet that's what she has stuffed there anyway..."
Riddhima looked shocked by her friend's reaction and statement; "Niki...that's mean...how can you say that?"
"Ridz...don't act too innocent...you know she stuffs herself unless she wears a massive wonder bra..." Muskaan said.
Armaan who sat there quietly burst out in laughter and Nikita and Muskaan looked at him like they had now noticed he was there and laughed along with him.
"You guys are so mean..." Riddhima said.
Then they all stopped as they heard a loud hi-pitched voice and groaned; "Sweety Pooooo!"
Abhi and Suman entered the room arms around each other; Riddhima warned the girls through her eyes not to say anything then said hi to Abhi and Suman.
"Hi guys..." Abhi called out to them.
Armaan and Riddhima answered with a quick; "Hey..."
Nikita and Muskaan ignored him and talked amongst themselves.
"Guess what?"
"What?" Riddhima replied smiling sweetly; maybe a little fake.
Suman grinned; "Me and Sweetie Poo went to watch a movie last night..."
"That's nice..." Armaan said sarcastically.
Suman did not pick up on it and instead carried on; "Guess what we watched?"
Riddhima controlled herself; "What?"
"Shah Rukh Khan's Fan..." she squealed; "...I just love Shah Rukh..."
"It was a nice movie..." Abhi added.
"We should go watch it some time...as a group..." Armaan said looking at Riddhima in particular.
Riddhima nodded; "That's a good idea..."
Sometime later Rahul and other students had turned up and so did their tutor who took the register and sent them off to class. The girls went to Textiles, the guys to Economics and Suman to History; in Textiles the girls got started with their new project as they chatted away.
"Ridz...does she really not annoy you?" Nikita asked her.
Riddhima rolled her eyes with a smile; "Niki...she's not that bad as you guys put it...she's okay...just her voice is a bit..."
"ANNOYING!" Muskaan finished off for Riddhima.
"Not just her voice...everything about her..." Nikita said.
Riddhima nodded; "I mean...yeah I kinda agree with you...the "guess what" game is slightly irritating..."
"SLIGHTLY?" Nikita asked in shock; "...Let me correct that...Very Annoying..."
"I don't even know why you answer to her Ridz...just ignore her and let Abhi answer her...he's the one that brought her into the group...I just can't wait for the day that he kicks her out..." Muskaan said.
Nikita silently agreed to Muskaan's comment in her thoughts; from the moment Abhi had introduced Suman to the gang she was paining; she felt heartbroken and found it hard to control herself.
After a month she had got slightly use to it; she realised that she had feelings for Abhi but nothing would ever happen between them as he already had a girlfriend and he hated her. She had stopped talking to him personally and would usually stay quiet when he was around. But everyone in the group found her annoying as she was extremely exaggerative with everything she did and said which also made her look like a joker.
The lesson carried on with the girls concentrating on their new project; their last set of coursework which would be marked as their final piece; at the moment they were totally lost in research and paper work.
At the end of their double lesson they met back up in the common room for break; by the time they left the class and got up there the room was packed; they found the guys sitting around the table near the glass windows looking down onto the courtyard.
"Hey guys..." Muskaan said sitting next to Rahul who kissed her cheek.
"Hey baby..." Rahul replied with a smile.
Armaan pulled a chair from the table next to them for Riddhima to sit; "How was your lesson?"
"It was really good...new project..." Riddhima told him smiling excitedly.
"That's great..."
Before anyone else could say anything; Suman bounded up to the table and flung her arms around Abhi; "Hi my sweetie poo..."
"Hey Su...sit..." Abhi said moving his chair back so she could sit on his lap.
"Aww...thank you...you're so sweet..." she replied sitting on his leg she kissed his cheek with her arms around his neck.
The rest of the gang watched her actions and silently giggled. Nikita ignored them and carried on sipping her juice as she looked out through the glass window down onto the courtyard where the younger students sat around. It was really a moody day; the dark clouds and the chilly weather made the atmosphere gloomy. Slowly the glass was pelted with tiny raindrops which became heavier as she sat and watched the water droplets run down the glass...
...After ten minutes the common room had become quiet and empty as the students made their way to their lessons after a short break. The gang stuck around as they had a free lesson; Rahul and Muskaan sat by the comfy chairs just chatting away cosily. Nikita also moved away from the table to the comfy chairs a little distance away from the couple and silently read a book ignoring Abhi who sat opposite her listening to music and playing a game on his phone.
Armaan and Riddhima stayed seated at the table; Armaan stretched his hand over to hold Riddhima's and they talked generally. There were a few other students sitting around the common room just relaxing.
"So have you heard from Tannu recently?" Riddhima asked.
"Yeah...she gave me a call...I think two nights ago or something..." Armaan replied.
"Oh...how is she?"
"She's good...all she talks about is you..." he told her.
Riddhima smiled; "I spoke to her last week...she said she wishes she could move down here..."
"That would be a nightmare!" Armaan smirked.
Riddhima smacked his arm; "Armaan...you're mean!"
Armaan tried to shield himself; "I'm just kidding..."
"Armaan..." Riddhima said seriously a few moments later.
"Hmm?" he looked closely at him.
"If..." she stuttered; "...if we had to tell our parents about our relationship...you think they would agree?"
"Yeh kaisa sawal hain..." (What kind of question is that?) Armaan raised his eyebrow at her; "...Of course they will...my parents already love you...and your parents are quite fond of me...then why should they have any problem?"
"But what if..."
Armaan squeezed her hand slightly; "Riddhima...don't think too much...I mean...I know what is bothering you...it's because you're hiding this from bhabs that's why..."
Riddhima nodded her head slightly.
"Listen...don't worry about it...we've been together for what..." he thought for a moment; "...umm...almost a year..."
Riddhima smiled; "Eight days from today it will be a year..."
Armaan grinned; he found it sweet that she was counting the days; "Haan...one year...we've been together for one year...and in this one year no one has found out...so why are you worrying...just another year...let's finish our studies, get a job then we will tell them...and first of all you have to tell bhabs that's it..."
"But Armaan..."
"But Armaan nothing...c'mon Ridz...we can do it...we're not doing anything wrong...we're not lying...we're just not making it public...that's all...don't worry..." Armaan told her.
"Okay..." she said slowly.
"I love you..."
Armaan squeezed her hand slightly and winked at her making her smile; he watched her cute expressions as she became shy and looked out of the window with a big smile on her face.
A few seconds passed then she looked back towards Armaan's direction but her expression had changed as she saw a person walking towards Armaan with a baseball bat; he wore a hooded top and a bandana covering his face. Riddhima's expression turned to shock; she had lost her voice as the guy lifted the bat and smashed it against Armaan's shoulder with full force making him fall off of the chair.
"ARMAAN!" she yelled as she finally got her voice back and stood up.
The others were now also up; Riddhima looked around to see there were three other guys who were fighting Abhi and Rahul while this guy punched and kicked Armaan in all directions; he was now on the floor and was bruised. Riddhima stood there in shock, not knowing what to do she watched her Armaan being beaten with tears running down her face.
The guy picked Armaan up who tried to defend himself and hit back but he failed as the guy pushed him up against the glass door and punched him in the face. Armaan now looked defeated; he shielded himself as he was punched in the stomach making him double over in pain; the guy picked up the baseball bat again and smashed it against Armaan's arm for the second time. He held onto Armaan's shirt pulling him forward then with full force he pushed Armaan onto the glass which smashed into millions of pieces. Armaan was thrown backwards onto the railings outside of the room and was hanging over it.
The others had heard the glass smashed and ran towards Armaan; who was now bleeding all over. Abhi and Rahul pulled Armaan back into the room and laid him onto the floor. The guy knew he had won; he turned and rushed out of the room with his friends; Abhi and Rahul saw them and rushed after. The other students in the room now stood around Armaan; one of them had rushed off to find a teacher when the fight had broke out and had just returned with three of them; Riddhima kneeled next to Armaan in tears.
"Someone call an ambulance..." Muskaan called out scared.
"Rid..." Armaan whispered.
Riddhima moved closer to hear what he was saying; she was trembling all over.
"Kissi ko...kissi ko mat...batana..." (Don't...don't tell anyone) he choked; "...mat batana...ke yeh...yeh kisne...kiya..." (Don't tell anyone who did this)
Riddhima cried uncontrollably as she felt Armaan's body sinking.
"I...lo...I love...love you..." he stammered before he passed out.
Riddhima held onto him and cried while the teachers moved everyone away...
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Well that's it for book 1...this book has been up for one year and I'm honestly not really happy with the outcome of the amount of comments I've received from it compared to my other stories...
I'd like to see you all convince me to publish Book 2...