Chapter: Two
The spacious living room echoed with the lyrics of the song as the laptop streamed a famous track from Arijit Singh's album. Paras bobbed his knee up and down in a rhythm that matched the song's beat as he scribbled words on the paper; working on his English Assignment.
"Abhi, don't disturb me, please!" Paras grumbled at Abhimanyu when he picked the reference book up from the table swiftly.
"Dude, learn to write the answers on your own," Abhimanyu retorted as he shut the reference book and threw it across the room. The thick book landed on the purple bean bag, making a soft and safe landing.
"Not everyone's a talented hand, mister," Paras muttered as he turned back to his assignment on the coffee table.
"It's not about talent, my friend," Abhi spoke as he jumped up on the short coffee table, earning a death glare from Paras.
"Literature is... like love," Abhimanyu spoke, transforming his emotions into words. Paras only raised an eyebrow as if to ask 'really now?'
"You feel it surge from your heart and then it just flows out of you the way emotions do," Abhi went on as if he were speaking onstage, "It's the sole way your soul speaks and the world hears you. Every syllable, every word has a deep meaning hidden behind it,"
Finishing his rant with a satisfactory smile, Abhimanyu looked down to find Paras drooping down on the English Assignment, scribbling down the answers, all the while ignoring Abhi. The microwave in the kitchen-cum-dining area went off with a ping, stopping Abhimanyu short on his lecture about Paras missing out the most valuable knowledge of the world.
"Dinner!" Paras spoke in a relieved tone as he scurried out of the living room to reach the microwave.
"You just missed the best speech of the universe!" Abhi called after Paras with fake hurt, only to be ignored.
Abhimanyu jumped down the coffee table and reached for the main door when the calling bell rang once. Expecting it to be Shruti and Jiya, he put on the ghastly mask he had bought just today. He had planned on scaring the girls when they reached home from tuitions with that mask.
Holding the doorknob, he adjusted the mask with his free hand and flung open the door with a hilarious evil laugh as he leaped out in an attempt to scare the girls. The very next moment he regretted his actions when, instead of afraid squeals, he received a hard punch on his nose. Even the mask didn't help in saving his face underneath.
"Whoa!" A familiar voice reached Abhimanyu's ears as he pulled off the mask and roughly rubbed off the tears that pooled his eyes as an outcome of the assault on his face.
Squinting up he frowned when he met a pair of chocolate brown eyes and a slender, small face. For a moment he wondered who the girl was until he heard the claps echoing in the empty hall as Sekhar went on laughing.
"I'm proud of you Kirts!" Sekhar applauded one last time as he patted the girl's back with a smile.
"What?" Abhimanyu asked, feeling a numbness persist on his face, at the bridge of his nose.
"Oh, um... You're..." Kirti fumbled with her words as she gestured at his nose with a guilty face.
Bringing his finger over to his nose, Abhi raised his eyebrows when dark red liquid smeared over his hand as he wiped the sudden warmth from his nose. Kirti tried to speak and apologise for the punch but Sekhar had already took hold of the situation.
"Go get your nose washed up now. Don't ever try to scare anyone with that lame little trick for the sake of your handsome face," Sekhar commanded, gesturing towards Kirti.
"Yep, brother," Abhi muttered, not meeting Sekhar's eyes.
"Oh and this is Kirti Mishra, your new housemate," Sekhar introduced and Kirti awkwardly waved a hello at a wounded Abhimanyu.
"Enjoy your time while you're here," Sekhar spoke in a brotherly tone to Kirti, "Ring me up if any emergency comes up, okay?"
Kirti nodded at Sekhar. Abhimanyu kept looking back and forth at the duo until Sekhar waved a quick good bye and left, leaving Kirti and Abhi standing awkwardly at the hall.
"You really should..." Kirti said and gestured at his nose which was bleeding more profusely now.
"Yeah," Abhimanyu replied and turning on his heel marched into the house with Kirti following up silently.
"Hey, did the girls arrive-" Paras stopped short on his question when he took notice of Abhi's bleeding nose from the doorway of the dining area.
"What happened to that face of yours?" Paras asked straight away as Abhimanyu headed for the sink in the common bathroom to aid his poor nose.
"And who are you?" Paras announced his next question when he took notice of Kirti who stood awkwardly in the living room, both her hands holding onto her luggage.
"I-" Kirti had barely begun to introduce herself when Abhi answered on her behalf from the bathroom.
"She's Kirti Mishra," Abhi's muffled voice reached them, "The girl from Mumbai,"
Kirti smiled with a nod when Paras looked at her. She knew about the fake story she was to present to these students as directed by Sekhar. She couldn't tell them what all was happening in her life and that included hiding her hometown as well. There can be other Kirti Mishras in this world as well and she was pretending to be one from Mumbai. If she disclosed her true identity, it won't be long before Ifaaz showed up looking for her.
"Nice meeting you," Paras said as he extended a hand to shake in courtesy.
Grinning sheepishly, Paras retracted his hand when he realized that both her hands were busy holding onto the luggage.
"Show her the room first, dude," Abhimanyu spoke as he walked out of the washroom, wiping his face with a white towel.
Now that his face looked cleaner without all of that blood, Kirti realized that Sekhar was right when he called Abhi handsome. He had light brown hair which looked faintly damp at the roots with the water that he had splashed on his face and nose in the bathroom; a few dark locks drooped down, falling over his forehead. He had hazel brown eyes and a distinct jawline that suited his features. Abhi was tall enough to make Kirti judge her own height and had broad shoulders which made him look older than his seventeen years.
"I'm too busy with preparing the plates," Paras excused himself and walked back into the dining area, leaving Abhi and Kirti by themselves.
"He's just annoyed with me," Abhimanyu waved off Paras's somewhat rude exit as he led the way into the house.
Walking through a short, narrow corridor the walls revealed four doors, two on each side.
"The first room belongs to me and Paras," Abhi said and pointed at the room on the right side.
"The one opposite to it belongs to Yash," Abhimanyu spoke, pointing at the door on the left.
"That room next to my and Paras's one belongs to the girls- Shruti and Jiya," Abhi said waving a hand at the second door on the right side, "You can share the room with the girls, they've got an extra bed in there as well,"
"What's the fourth room for?" Kirti asked, wondering how easily Abhimanyu had waved away the fact that not minutes ago she had punched him right on the nose.
"Oh that's a spare room," Abhi explained, "Sekhar uses it in case he stays over sometimes,"
Absorbing the information, Kirti nodded silently. She found it cute when Abhi smiled at her and cocked his head to the side. Now that there wasn't anything to speak about, both of them stood awkwardly at the confined little corridor, looking at anything but each other.
"Let me help you," Abhi offered when he realized that Kirti was still carrying her bags.
Leaning down, Abhimanyu took her bags from her despite her protests as he opened the door to his bedroom and placed the bags at a corner. Kirti frowned with confusion when he did that.
"You could've placed the bags in the girl's room," Kirti voiced her thoughts.
Abhimanyu passed her a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating if he should speak or not.
"You see, the girls don't trust us with their room left unlocked while they are out," Abhi said.
"Why?" Kirti asked, finding it interesting now.
"I may or may not have messed up with Shruti's make-up kit and Jiya's hairdryer when they were out," Abhi admitted honestly.
Kirti giggled at that. Of course the girls didn't trust the guys with their room.
"Hey, whose mask was lying at the doorstep?" A feminine voice reached Abhi and Kirti from the living room.
"That'd be mine, Shruti," Abhimanyu replied as he walked out with Kirti following up with exhausted steps.
"How many times do I tell you not to bring such ridiculous stuff into the house?" The other girl asked as she waved the mask with warning lacing her voice.
Kirti guessed the two girls were Shruti and Jiya. While Shruti looked like a soft-hearted girl, Jiya portrayed the exact opposite. Shruti had long, raven hair which was tied into a lose braid that matched her baby pink salwar. Jiya, on the other hand, had her hair tied up into a ponytail; dressed in dark blue jeans and a white tank top, Jiya looked like the modern Delhi girl.
"He was planning on scaring you two," Paras jumped into the conversation, "Too bad the mission failed,"
"You'll never grow up now, would you?" Jiya fumed, throwing the mask at Abhimanyu who dodged it off like a bolt of lightning.
"Throwing stuff at intellectual people is very 'grown up' for you, right?" Abhi countered as Jiya chased him around the living room with her bag turned into a makeshift weapon to be used at him.
Kirti stood baffled as she watched two seventeen year olds run circles around the couch like little seven year olds. Kirti wondered how long it will be before she qualified as a crazy monkey in their company.
"Don't worry, this is the daily dose of craziness you'll find at our humble abode," Shruti said as she reached Kirti with a warm smile.
Shruti had dark brown, almost black eyes which accentuated her bronze skin and dark hair. Her smile was a gentle one which could melt anyone down. Kirti almost immediately felt at ease with her. Shaking hands with Shruti, Kirti introduced herself.
"Kids!" Shruti scolded when Abhi and Jiya had begun a pillow fight with all the little pillows on the couch.
"Fine Mommy," Abhi sighed as he raised his hands up in surrender.
Jiya took the opportunity and smacked a pillow on his face as a final assault and sashayed out towards her room with a victorious smile.
"Not fair!" Abhi scowled while Kirti giggled at his funny frown.
"Come on, clean up the living room now before Yash shows up," Shruti ordered in a motherly tone while Abhi sulkily obeyed the order.
"Kirti will be staying with us, right?" Jiya asked as she unlocked the door to their room.
"Yep," Kirti replied as she transferred her bags from Abhi's room to hers.
Things are really going to be better now, Kirti felt. The optimism was gradually growing with the presence of people like Abhi and Shruti around her.
Author's Note:-
Hola Readers!
How was the entry of all the crazy housemates? Though Yash is yet to make an entry, who's your personal favorite among the four monkeys? Shruti, Paras, Jiya or Abhi?
Meet you all until the next update! *waves a goodbye*