Heart wrenching adoration Part-38

The day passed in the worst of anxiety as we sat in tight groups, unable to utter words more than absolutely necessary. We were still reeling in the horrors of the debilitating revelation that we had just heard.

I was absolutely jumpy the entire day, getting startled with the slightest of sound, still I couldn’t be blamed not when I half expected an attack any second and it seemed as if my friends opined the same for Akash, Aman and Anvesh literally oriented themselves around khushi protectively. 

My nerves were tightened to their breaking point and I practically stuck around with khushi, not letting her out of my sight for even a nanosecond. I couldn’t take any chances with her safety.

But as the dim of dusk dissipated into velvety ink of night, I had to let go of her, much to my immense discomfort, for guys weren’t allowed inside the Girl’s Hostel. 

Despite knowing that it was a lost cause, I was al but set to argue with Manju ma’am about that but Payal stopped me pointing that my insistence will needlessly bring the entire debacle in teacher’s knowledge and it was the last thing that we wanted.

I knew I was being absolutely dickhead for who ever heard of guys sleeping in a girl’s hostel. Heck, that was the point of having separate hostel for girls and boys, still I was more than terrified to leave khushi alone!

If something happened to her, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself!

“Arnav go! I’ll be alright! And I promise if anything goes wrong, you’ll be the first one I’ll yell for!” Khushi said, trying to ease the tension.

“She’s right! Besides, Manju ma’am will all but kick you out if you so much as set a toe in the lobby of the girls’ hostel!” Anvesh tried to reason with me.

 It was very rare to find Anvesh all so serious and not trying to pull someone’s leg and usually I would’ve laughed at this avatar of his, but laughing was the last thing I wanted to do now. 

So all in all after a lot of persuasion and reassurances, especially from khushi, I finally let go off her and allowed my friends to drag me back to the boy’s hostel.

That night was a sheer torture, the longest one I had every endured in 16 years of my existence! I tossed and turned restlessly in my bed.

 What if those nutters did something to my khushi? What if they chocked her with a pillow or poisoned her? 

I knew I was being stupid and paranoid, yet all the crime thrillers I had ever seen on T.V. came back to me en mass, harassing me and making my imagination run sickeningly wide. Even the though of someone so much as scratching my khushi was unbearably agonizing!

Suddenly my phone buzzed and that sent my heart into a frenzied palpitation. I could literally feel it pounding my rib cage, fit to burst. Trembling, I grabbed the phone to find a message from khushi.

“Stop fretting and go to sleep Arnav!”Khushi had texted.

I sighed. It was so characteristic khushi! She had a death sentence hanging on her head and here she was worrying about me! Miffed, I dialled her number.

“Stop acting so calm khushi as if nothing has happened!” I had to try very hard to keep my voice down!

 I had reached the end of my patience. Throughout the day I was the one who had been on the edge, worrying over her safety, yet she acted as if nothing was out of normal, except the time she cried and lost her control while telling us about her hideous past.

“What do you want me to do Arnav? Cry? What for? I don’t have any fear and regret Arnav. Even if that Mafia and his men catch up with me and kill me, I don’t have any reason to be afraid. What am I if not a liability. I’m the cause of threat on Payal di’s family too. I’m jeopardizing their safety, not that they have any problem with that...not that they will say anything like that to me, still that doesn’t lessen my guilt! If I’m gone then everyone can live happily! They won’t....”

“Shut the hell up khushi!” I yelled, making Aman literally fall from his bed in fright and Anvesh to sit up bolt upright with a yelp.

“Do you know what you’re talking about?Have you lost your senses? Don’t you have anything in that thick skull of yours? How dare you call yourself a liability and entertain all those ridiculous notion? How can you even say something like that damn it!” I shrieked, even as blinding pain ripped through my heart at the painful picture her words had painted.

“Arnav mate! Calm down! Why are you yelling like that?!” Anvesh flounced over to my bed, alarmed.

“Shut up Anvesh! Just hear what she is saying! She’s giving up damn it!” I bellowed, like a wounded animal.

“Jeez Arnav! Take a breath. I was just...” Khushi began, her voice trembling.

“You were just what khushi? Do you have any idea how important you are to me?” I growled and I distinctly heard khushi's breath hitch, before my phone was snatched away from me.

“Khushi, we’ll talk in the morning, ok? Don’t take tension. Everything is gonna be alright, l’ll sis!” Aman assured her before snapping the phone shut even as I tried to snatch my phone from him from Anvesh’s restraining arms. 

“What the hell was that for Arnav?”

“ How can you yell at her like that? Do you know how tensed she must be and you made her even more upset!”

Aman and Anvesh began at the same time, looking beyond mad! They were literally breathing fire down my neck!

“You didn’t hear her talk! She’s giving up...I can’t just bear it!” I whispered, closing my eyes and plopping back on my bed, ashamed. I knew I had no right to lose control like that on khushi, not when she was already so messed up!

So, I simply lay there, letting Anvesh and Aman rant angrily at me, thinking. When they returned to their beds, I sat up with a blazing determination. I took my phone and dialled a number.

The ring went on until a sleepy voice responded.

“Jijaji!” I whispered, quickly whispering all that I needed to say.

I had a plan to protect my khushi!