It was the annual function of her college. The great fest that happened only once a year. It was going to be her first fest because she was in her first year of college. She hadn't made any friends. The only friend she had was her bench-mate who rarely came to college. Because she was young with a whole new experience waiting for her, she was excited to use this fest as an opportunity to build up new friendships.
So, she registered herself in the decoration department where she knew many students like her would be present. But, on the very first day, Kunal had to ruin her day and any possibility of colourful college life.
Kunal was a final year student when she had just entered college. And he had made sure that she entered the same college where he studied. He gained her parent's trust as well and dropped her to college and home every day. If her classes ended late, he would wait patiently and if his classes ended late, he skipped those classes, just to spend time with her.
She was too young...just into adulthood and hence, accepted whatever Kunal offered in their relationship. She did whatever he wanted. He even had control over her schedule.
In the decoration department, volunteers were divided into groups of five members each. Her group was headed by a second-year student. As he explained their task, she occasionally checked him out. She specifically liked the way he handled himself...the way he spoke and all...especially his rolled-up sleeve. It made him seem more attractive.
She was in the middle of the session when Kunal interrupted them. The whole college knew Kunal. And being senior-most, he had strong authority over college issues.
She still remembered his words clearly.
'Whose permission did you take before coming here? Did I tell you to do this?'
He had said loudly. Everybody heard. Powerless, she stood there dumbstruck; not knowing what to say. It was the worst day of her first year in college. And from then on, everybody knew that she was not to be messed up with because she was Kunal's girl.
This was the extent to which he had control over her life.
Now, as she sat on the balcony of her house, remembering that fateful day, she wondered if Advith is correct. Is Kunal still controlling her life? She had accepted his control when she was naive and young. But, when her father died, she got to understand things better and she made herself strong....unbreakable.
But was she really independent! She asked herself. Kunal still controlled her friend circle.
Should she let him decide whom she should be friends with?
She asked herself if she wanted to be friends with Advith. And she couldn't bring herself to say 'no'. She liked Advith as a friend. He was cheerful and made her laugh on occasions. She liked his company...whatever little time she had spent with him. And in this new place, she wanted to have a friend with whom she could forget about her solitary social life.
Above all, she wanted to befriend Advith because she wanted to show herself that Kunal did not control her life's decisions. That she was independent.
But there was always the threat of Kunal getting to know about her and Advith's association and he might hurt Advith. So, she came up with another plan.
She unlocked her phone and saw the time. It was 11 pm. She was sure he wouldn't be asleep by now.
So she dialled his number.
"Vidhu!" Came his voice from the other side.
"Hi, Kunal." She greeted.
"Hey! Why aren't you asleep by now? What happened? Is everything alright?" He asked, concerned.
"Yeah. Everything is fine. I called you to ask..." She took a deep breath. "When will you ask the priest to find out the best date for our wedding?" She finally asked.
Kunal, who was lazily sulking on his bed, stood up immediately. He couldn't believe his ears. Vidhushi was voluntarily asking for the wedding date! She had herself brought the topic when she clearly ran away from it.
She could hear the shuffling and knew that he must be thinking that she was playing with him. But, this was necessary. She wanted him to believe that she was seriously into the marriage.
"Are you asking me to... Do you want me to ask the priest?" He asked, his voice turning softer than usual.
"Yeah. I mean, I will have to make the necessary arrangements for that. I need to buy a dress and jewellery for mumma and me." She said.
"Are you alright, Vidhushi? Because you have always fought with me over our wedding!" He asked, still not believing his ears
She faked a chuckle.
"I know. But, I also know that our wedding is going to happen someday or the other. So, I wanted to be prepared for it. After all, I am the only daughter of my mother. So, I want it to be memorable for her. Why! Don't you want me to take any interest in our own wedding?" She asked.
"No! It's not like that. I just...can't believe such words coming from you. I will ask the priest first thing in the morning to set a date for the wedding. Okay?"
"Yes. I thought you would have done that already!" She asked.
"I didn't want to scare you off." He laughed.
"Okay then. Do tell me what the priest says and I will start searching for my dress accordingly." She said.
"Don't worry about your or your mother's dress and other things. I will take care of all that. Just be happy, that's all I want from you." He said.
He wanted that...But he was the only one who was the barrier to it.
"That's a little cheesy, don't you think!" She laughed.
"But that's the truth. Your happiness is what matters to me." He said.
But only she knew the truth. For Kunal, only his happiness mattered.
"Okay then! I guess I must find ways of happiness, now that my future husband wants it!" She exclaimed sarcastically.
"Of course!" He smiled back.
After a short pause, he spoke.
"Vidhu, you have made me so happy today! I always thought that you would develop second thoughts over our marriage and try to break it off. But, I am so happy to see that you are as involved in it as I am." He said. She didn't want to burst the bubble of lies, so she simply nodded.
"Now that I have few months of bachelorette life left, I better make the best of it." She told him as a joke.
"Indeed. You should. Do whatever you want to. I am always with you." He said.
Talking for a little while more, she hung up.
Her brain started overthinking again.
She analysed their future marriage. She didn't have any problem with marrying Kunal-her childhood friend.
But she definitely had a problem getting married to a criminal cum murderer-also her childhood friend, ironically.
The conversation stressed her more but one thing came out to be good from it.
She could now befriend anyone she wanted, now that she had Kunal's trust that no matter what she was going to get married to him...willingly.
She slept peacefully thinking of how she would accept Advith's friendship.
.
.
.
It had been three days and there wasn't any sight of Advith. So, Vidhushi calmed her anxiety and told herself that he wasn't going to come to the lab anymore. He might have been kidding that night, she told herself. All the convincing she did to Kunal had gone to waste. She shouldn't have trusted Advith in the first place. She thought angrily.
Focusing on reading the journal was even more difficult as instances of their brief encounters played in her mind. How he approached her...how he talked to her...how he smiled and cracked jokes that weren't even funny. Above all, she liked the fact that he tried instead of being egoistic and thinking of himself as some god.
Slapping herself internally and forcing herself to concentrate on the journal she was reading, she tried to read the paragraph. But, she was reading the same line for the past five minutes. So, she understood that she needed a break and decided to go to the canteen with the two college kids. It would be good to learn more about the kids. It would be the best way to divert her mind.
Closing the journal, she turned around in her chair and shouted like a maniac when she saw Advith sitting just behind her, on a chair casually.
"Advith, you moron! You gave me a heart attack!" She shouted, completely startled.
Thankfully they were the only ones in the laboratory or else it would have been too dramatic for others.
"What! I was just waiting for you to complete your work! You looked so focused, so, I didn't disturb you." He said with a chuckle.
Vidhushi smacked his arm as she stood up.
"At least let your presence be known!" She scolded him.
Advith stood as well.
"I am not that bad looking that you shouted like that after seeing me." He complained, faking hurt.
"It's not about the looks. Imagine yourself in peace and then suddenly see someone staring at you like that! It's not funny!" She scolded again as she saw him laughing.
"Sorry!" He said mid-laugh.
Vidhushi walked towards the shelf containing chemical bottles. She didn't want to accept but she felt a little shy being around him, today. Why! She herself couldn't decipher.
"Did you think about my offer?" He slowly asked, trying not to anger her. Her back was facing him and he checked out her hairstyle which was nothing but a tight pony.
Vidhushi stared at the chemicals for a little longer than necessary while internally, she was balancing her own contradictory questions. If she accepted his friendship today, she won't be able to back out. But then she thought... 'It's just friendship! It's not as if he is asking me to be his girlfriend or so!'
So, she turned around with a smile.
"Let's play a game." She told him.
His brows raised. It wasn't the answer he was expecting. But, then, she always did something unexpected all the time.
"Oh! I'd love to play with you." He said, a little too huskily that earned him another smack from her on his head.
"No lines, Advith. You are so bad at it. I have told you before." She chuckled and crouched down to take out some glass beakers.
Keeping two beakers in front of him on the working slab, she searched for two specific chemicals on the shelf.
When she found what she wanted, she took the bottles out.
"Aaa...what are you doing, Vidhushi?" He asked, confused.
"Just a game." She replied.
"You are not going to put me on fire, right!" He asked.
"Ha ha ha!" She mocked sarcastically.
"What are these?" He asked as she poured one chemical into one beaker and the other chemical into the other beaker. She took the phenolphthalein indicator from the mini-shelf and put it in front of Advith.
Now that the setup was done, she faced him to explain.
"Alright! So, I have two beakers here that contain two different chemicals. And you have to add two drops of phenolphthalein indicator in any one of the two beakers. If the solution turns pink, we will be friends, as you suggested, and if not, we will be strangers who met a couple of times." She explained.
"So, you want a set of chemicals to decide our fate?" He asked; his tone serious.
"Yes. Because these are my chemicals that I have loved all my life. They have never betrayed me...ever. And I trust them. You may think of me as superstitious, but I think I deserve for once to be directed by superstition."
Advith stared at her for a while, trying to understand her motive. But, finally, he gave up.
"Fine. I will do what you say. But atleast tell me what is all this I am dealing with." He asked.
"One beaker contains a mild acid, while the other contains a mild base. Once you add phenolphthalein indicator, only one solution will change its colour. That's the whole thing." She concluded.
"Okay! That sounds fun." He said and took the indicator bottle in his hand, ready to put the content in the beaker.
"Wait! I am gonna turn around. I don't want you to see my expression. Who knows, I might show some kind of hint to you, unintentionally." She said sarcastically, while the truth was that she didn't have the courage to see her change of fate.
"Okay! Your wish." He said.
As Vidhushi turned around, Advith added two drops of indicator on the beaker that was on the left side. And the result shocked him.
It didn't change the colour. He had added the indicator in the acid solution.
His face became grim.
"Done?" She asked.
"Yes." He said and she turned around.
Her eyebrows raised as she saw that the solution had changed its colour to pink.
"I did what you wanted, friend, now you will do what I want." He said with a smile.
She looked at him from the beaker and smiled.
"Of course! What is it?" She asked.
"It is my mother's 50th birthday tomorrow. And my father wanted to celebrate it...let's say, grandly. So, all our relatives and friends are invited. I would very much like it if you would come as well." He asked.
"But....!" She was about to find a reason to deny when he interrupted.
"As a friend! Please." He requested to which she couldn't deny.
"Okay. Send me the details and I will be there." She smiled.
"Awesome." He said and took the liberty to hug her.
She patted his shoulders, stunned and a little awkwardly. Her cheeks must have turned red with the number of hormones her body was secreting because of Advith's touch. She was going insane...She concluded.
"I will wait for you tomorrow." He said as he left her.
"Yeah!" She said, tucking her hair behind her ear, involuntarily. And as a man, he easily saw that she was blushing...furiously.
He smiled.
"Do you wanna have lunch now?" He asked.
"No! I am sorry, Advith, but I have to report to Dr. Nambudiri." She lied, not having the courage to spend any more time with him. Her internal being was going crazy and she didn't want him to see that she was crazy. She needed to sort herself out, first.
"Okay!" He said. The disappointment was clear in his voice but he didn't want to force anything on her.
As they bid goodbyes to each other, she smiled to herself.
She was about to throw the content of the beakers when her curious mind thought of something. Just to check her suspicion, she took out the basic solution from the shelf and added it to the beaker that hadn't changed colour.
After adding a reasonable amount, her lips curved into a smile as she saw that the solution turned pink.
This had only one conclusion.
Advith had cheated.
He had added the indicator into both the beakers.
But, his act, instead of making her angry, made her laugh. Because his act made her realise that, he really wanted to be her friend.
But what must she do about her feelings that were going haphazard in front of him! She touched her heart to see how fast it was beating.
It was difficult to control her feelings but she suppressed them by saying that it was just....friendship.
.
.
.
(Hey all!
To those who did not know what happened in the experiment, I'd tell you briefly. Phenolphthalein is a chemical that gives pink colour only in base solution (also called basic solution). But in acid, it doesn't give any colour.
The first time that Advith added phenolphthalein, he had added it to the acid solution, which is why no colour was seen.
So, he added phenolphthalein to the other beaker too, that contained a base. So the colour changed to pink.
When Vidhushi added base to the acid solution to check her suspicion, she added a lot of base and after some time, when the amount of base exceeded acid in the beaker, the colour changed to pink because it already contained phenolphthalein. That's how she found out that Advith had cheated.
I hope I have made it clear.)