Chapter 2 : A Series Of Firsts
“Holy cow, I am dead. Nothing and nobody can save me now. I am officially and royally screwed.” These are the first thoughts that run through my mind when I wake up groggy eyed.
It’s nine and I had to be at the university at eight twenty for my first lecture. What the hell! I am late. I have never, ever been late for a lecture till date. And also, I have a splitting headache. It feels as though a thousand trucks rammed into my skull. I don’t have the energy to get up and worst of all, I can’t remember a thing that happened yesterday.
“Good Morning, Sunshine,” Ava, my roommate, enters my room without knocking yet again. She has an aversion to doors, something I realized during my first year when we became roommates. She pulls apart my favorite blue floral curtains, the ones gifted to me by Pia for my room, to let the sunshine in and blinds me momentarily.
“Ava, please don’t do this to me. I have a splitting headache, and your sunshine is doing nothing to cure it. Plus, I’m late for my lecture. ”
Ava smiles and says, “It’s okay, Z. Classes starts tomorrow. God, I don’t know how you can remember complicated equations, but not the first day of your college year. I find that hard to believe. And about your headache, well...”
She starts smiling her famous secretive smile.
“Ava, what the hell did you put in my orange juice yesterday?” Ava’s smile just grows bigger. “Top secret, babe. I’d tell you, but then I’ll have to kill you, or rather you will kill me. You really don’t need a murder to stain that GPA of 4.0 on your immaculate records now, do you?”
“Ava, please tell me,” I beg her.
Ava is tall, at around 5'9", very pretty, and looks a lot like the models in the Yves Saint Laurent shows. She has hazel eyes and is a brunette. In short, she is everything I’m not. I have an average height of 5'6", a thin frame, black doe-like eyes in an long face, jet black hair and tanned skin thanks to years of playing in the sun.
We are as different as chalk and cheese, so imagine my surprise when on my first year of college as an undergrad student, she came up to me in the cafeteria and started chatting as though we had been friends for ages although we had just been introduced as roommates. From then on, there was no looking back.
Sometimes I still wonder what happened that day. I may never know for sure, but I do know I gained a best friend for life.
It's easy to see why when we go out boys make a queue in front of her. She is really sweet once you get to know her. Her biggest weakness is that she can’t keep a secret. Ava is the college newspaper. She knows everything. Who is dating whom, who hates whom, who gained and who shed a few pounds, who broke up with whom, and who hooked up whom. So it just took a little more persuasion, and finally Ava spilled the beans
“Okay, babe. Please don’t get angry with me. I just wanted you to have some fun, thus I poured a little vodka in your orange juice. There. Are you happy now?” I couldn't help but groan loudly after hearing this confession.
It all started coming back to me now. Since Ava is so generously blessed in the looks department, she is constantly invited to parties, soirees and other social events.
Yesterday, I was feeling a little homesick, and to cheer me up, she took me to this launch party of a trendy club called Indigo.
I’m not the fashionista kind. If left to me, I would probably roam in my sweatshirt and comfy jeans. Ava took the initiative to get me dressed up. Before leaving, I glanced at myself in the mirror and was truly surprised by what I saw.
The girl staring back at me was wearing black jeans, a sexy royal blue halter top and a dashing pair of pumps. Ava knows I hate accessories, so it was a simple black watch and a pair of studs for me. She had done my eyes in such a way that the black in them was enhanced. My hair was falling on my shoulders in layers. I looked and felt BLOODY GOOD. Ava was looking absolutely smashing in a slinky black number that highlighted all her assets. She had to be the star, as Indigo is managed by her current boyfriend Laurent.
Ava knows that I don’t drink alcohol, so she got me an orange juice, and gin and tonic for herself. The first glass down, I actually felt very nice and after a few more, I was feeling bloody awesome. Ava pulled me to the dance floor and we danced like crazy, grinding our bodies together to Fun.'s " We are Young."
The DJ started playing a slow romantic number, and Laurent whisked Ava away. Ava and he were slow dancing and simultaneously making out right there on the dance floor. The club was full of couples. I felt like an intruder in their personal space.
Just then a cute guy came up to me and asked me to dance with him. I agreed. The dancing floor was crowded. All I could gauge about this mystery man was that he was taller than me and way more handsome than most guys in the club. With my head resting on his chest, I could hear the peaceful rhythm of his heartbeat.
He had beautiful eyes, the color of liquid gold. Those eyes. I could drown myself in them and be happy to lie there. He had a small smile tugging the corners of his lips. Such full lips, so very kissable.
The dance ended and Ava was nowhere to be found, so Mr. Mystery Man gave me a ride home. I find hard to believe how I could remember my address in that drunken state. He left me on the porch, kissed me goodnight on the forehead and left. Something was amiss, but I couldn’t place a finger on it. It was the first time I was kissed by a guy, and even though it was on the forehead, a kiss is a KISS. And this was not any random dude, he was a HOT Random Dude.
As soon as I entered the apartment, I rushed to the washroom and emptied the contents of my stomach. As I went to my bedroom to change and got to bed, it suddenly struck me that I did not ask Mr. Mystery Man his name and I forgot to thank him.
How could I be so careless?If my mother ever heard about this ungrateful act of mine, she willl never forgive me and I will never hear the end of it. Oh boy!
A/N : Do give me your feedback on the story, and your suggestions if I can improve it in any manner. Do tell me if you like Zoya. Mr. Mystery Man’s identity will be revealed in the next chapter. Hopefully. Picture on the side is Zoya (Frieda Pinto)