[Mukhra]

LOVE, LIFE, AND FRIENDSHIP: CHAPTER 4

About an hour later, Sabika went back to her room. To her surprise, Rohit was in her room, watching TV. I guess they set up the TV while I was gone, she thought. She shut the door, and Rohit looked up, startled by the noise.
“Oh, it’s just you,” he said, looking scared to death. Sabika looked at the TV. There was a movie called “Ring 2” on. It was supposed to be horrific
“Why? Did I scare you? If you’re that scared, why do you watch horror movies?” she teased him while ruffling his hair. Rohit looked up at her, clearly annoyed.
“I wasn’t scared. You just surprised me,” he said, making up excuses.
“Do you want me to help you unpack?”
“I’ll just do it tomorrow after classes. When’s your first class? Maybe you could help me after that, if you have time,” Rohit asked.
“It’s at 11. When’s yours? Oh, never mind; we are taking the same class. I’ll help you during my lunch hour,” Sabika said, sitting down on her bed. Rohit nodded.
“By the way, you told me you’d be back in ten minutes. It’s been over an hour. What did you and Sameer talk about that it took so long? After all, meri jaan kisi aur larke ke saath time spen kare, tho muje thori si jalan tho hogi na,” he said.
“Shut up yaar. Sameer is a really nice boy. Yeah, a very nice person,” Sabika said softly.
“Uhhan. And it looks like you like him,” Rohit said. He started singing “Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai”. Sabika threw a pillow at him.
“How can I like him? I’m your jaan remember?” she joked.
“Apart from jokes, tell me, are you interested?” Rohit asked quietly, playing with the TV remote. Sabika didn’t say anything, for she didn’t even know if she liked Sameer or not.
“Where’s Diya by the way? I haven’t seen her around here,” Sabika asked, changing the subject.
“She went to roam around the halls so she could get familiar with this place,” Rohit replied.
“Oh ok. Well she should have waited. I don’t want to get lost tomorrow either.”
“Hey Sabika. I’m going back to my room. I’m pretty tired. See you tomorrow ok?” Rohit said, yawning halfway. He started walking towards the door.
“Yeah ok. Don’t forget to your alarm. I don’t think you want to be late on the first day you?” Sabika reminded him while turning on the computer. Rohit stopped walking, and turnd around. For a minute, he rummaged through his pockets until he found what he as looking for. It was a small, blue box.
“I almost forgot. I bought this for you. I thought you’d like it,” Rohit said, throwing the box at Sabika and running out of the room. Sabika caught the box, and silently thanked Rohit for the gift. However, when she opened the box, her thoughts changed. The box contained……….a fake snake that jumped out at her. Boy oh boy, Rohit, she thought, I’m gonna make you be sorry for this. But in reality, Sabika was smiling. She was lucky to have a friend who made her laugh and enjoy life.
Diya came back while Sabika was reading something on the computer.
“You’re still up?” Diya asked, lying down on her bed.
“Yeah, I was just checking something online,” Sabika replied, reading a medical report on sever headaches.
“Oh. How was your walk with Sameer? It seems to me, you both get along really well,” Diya remarked. Sabika turned away from the computer.
“It was fun. I got to know him a bit more. He’s really interesting. He…makes me want to spend more time with him,” Sabika said, blushing.
“Ab baat yahan tak pohonch gayi,” Diya said, smiling, “Well, I’m going to sleep. Good night.”
Sabika turned off the computer, and went to bed. In about five minutes, she was asleep, lost in the world of dreams.
****
“Wake up…wake up…wake up…wake up,” went a high-pitched voice.
“Aargh!” Sabika said from under her blanket. She reached her hand out, and pressed the off button on the alarm clock. It took about ten minutes for Sabika to get out of bed. Then, it took her about another hour before she actually got ready for class.
Many days went with going to class, doing homework, and studying for tests. The evening were always filled with fun and laughter when the quartet: Sameer, Sabika, Rohit, and Diya got together. It was a normal college life.
One day was different from the others. Sabika ran to her theater class, thinking she was late. However, the room was empty. No one could be seen. Am I late or did Rohit change the time on my clock as a joke, she wondered.
Sabika was about to g oback to her room when an arm encircled her waist and pulled her into one of the side rooms of the class.
“Look who I caught just in time.”