Part 18

***PRECAP***
Arm - Tum ne nahin khaya? (he asks angrily), tho main bhi nahin kharaha (he turns away from her and crosses his arm)
Rid - Hmm! (she turns away from him and puts down the plate) Ek tho ayo, phir ye sab naraazgi bhi saho.
Arm - (he's about to walk away)
Rid - Rukeey Doctor Armaan (she holds his hand...)
*****************

The girls and the boys were both venturing in the dense forest across the camp area at night, unaware of each other. The girls thought the boys were at the camp and the boys thought the girls would be fast asleep.

Mus - Arey yar...bohot dar lagraha hai (she says shaking and clinging on to Sapna)
Anj - Just stop it Muskaan! Itni bacchi mat bano.
Rid - Lekin di...ye avaazein kaisi aarahee hain? Aur itna dense forest...hum kho tho naheen jayengay? (she says walking right next to Anjali with a worried look)
Sap - Lekin Riddhima, hum tho puri puri preparation ke saath aye hain! Yeh dekho(she pulls out a compass and Muskaan takes it in her hands) aur jaise hi vo plant mileyga hum vapes camp ke raaste chaley jayenge...phir uss "Kiwanch" plant se itching powder...for the boys (they all smiled and high-fived each other).

In another part of the forest, the boys had the same idea:

Atl - Yar...I don't think ke humey vo Kiwanch plant milney vaala hai...itni der se tho dhoondh rahe hain...aur vaise bhi, uss ko todna pareyga, aur plants ko raat main disturb karna, not good.
Arm - Haan yar...vaise...
Atl - Why don't we just...give up on the idea?
Rahul and Armaan turn towards Atul. They look at him and then look at each other...Rahul is thinking 'If I just knew ke ye kya soch raha hai, tho ye sab naatak nahin karna parta' and Armaan is thinking 'Ye Rahul bhi na...Kuch to bole!'

As they're walking quietly waiting for the other to agree or say something, they didn't notice that they had gotten quite far along into this dense forest. Rahul sees what looks like the shadow of a great huge lion.
Rah - Sh...sh...shhhh...
Atl - Tujhe susu ayee hai?
Rah - Abey, VO DEKH! (he turns Atul around)
Arm - Sher!!!! (he says loudly)

They were all screaming and the girls heard what sounded like roars from far away to them so they all ran in their own directions screaming, even Anjali got freaked out. Muskaan had the compass, Anjali had the torch...and Sapna luckily headed for the right direction.

Riddhima on the other hand was headed the opposite way and stopped to catch her breath. She screamed out for Muskaan, Sapna and Anjali but nothing. She backed up and saw something moving in the bushes. She picked up a frail branch. There! it moved again, she screamed loudly, closed her eyes tight, and started screaming "Bachaao!!" and beating the bush with the branch this way and that.
Arm - Jeez...just...AH! (he screamed loudly)
Rid - (stopped when she finally heard Armaan talking, she opened her eyes that she had closed so tightly...she opened them one by one) Oops...
Arm - (stands up holding his head) Kiss janam ka badla lerahi ho?
Rid - (takes a sigh of relief) Sirf tum ho! (throws the branch on the ground)
Arm - Haan! Tumhe kiya laga...that there are bears and lions here? Funny girl!
Rid - Tum bhi koi jaanwar se kam nahin ho!
Arm - Acha (he said opening his eyes wide, he picked up the stick she beat him with) says the jangli billi!
Rid - (opened her mouth in surprise) Mujhe jangli billi kaha? (she says with her hands on her hips)
Arm - Haan...lekin fikr nahin karo! Kyunki...mujhe jangli billiyian bohot pasand hain (he said winking and touching her nose with his finger cutely in a teasing way, at which Riddhima thodi si chidgayee...but deeply, she didn't mind.)

Armaan still had the stick Riddhima literally beat him with and he used it to clear the way of all the branches and leaves in their way.

Arm - Riddhima, vaise, tum kar kiya rahi ho, itni raat ko, iss GHANE jungle main, jahan sher aur chuhay aur cockroaches bhi..(trying to scare her)
Rid - (makes a disgusted face) chuhay? cockroaches? Mujhe daraneki koishish karrahe ho? Vaise sabse bada cockroach tho mere saath chalraha hai (she says looking at him)
Arm - OHO, bohot kuch seek gayee Basket (raising his eyebrows), aur sher bhool gayeen, ya phir sher se darti hi nahin ho? (they both stopped to examine the situation standing face-to-face from each other.)
Rid - Sher se to bilkul nahin...(she suddenly felt an odd pain in her foot. Like something latched onto it and was sucking blood) Ouch!
Arm - (throws the stick down and turns to her) kya hua???
Rid - Pata nahin, lekin, bohot...ahh...pain horaha hai. Jaise kisi cheez ne kata ho (she said holding her foot that hurt)
Arm - Dikhao. (he says approaching her way)
Rid - No it's fine Armaan, koi kaanta hoga...main khud dekhloungi (she says as she starts to limp while walking)
Arm - (sighs...'kitniii stubborn hai Basket' he thinks. He approaches her and bends down to pick her up)
Rid - Armaan...k...kya kar rahe ho? (she backs up)
Arm - Basket, tum mujhe help nahin karne desakti ho kya (holding his hands up)?
Rid - Please Armaan, main apney aap ko achi tarha se sambhal sakti hoon.
Arm - (blows up a piece of his hair that got into his eyes in exasperation...and then gets an idea 'distraction!' so he screams loudly while looking behind her) SHER!

Rid - KYYAAAA??? (she doesn't bother looking around cuz she is terrified! An animal bigger than her is something she did not want to come face-to-face with. She had no desire to be clobbered by a lion. She ran to Armaan who was already only inches away from her and hid into him. She burried her face into his chest. Armaan's eyes close with the rushing feeling of Riddhima and his closeness. His arms reach out to hug her, he just wants to envelop her with his arms and stay like that forever, but he stops, his arms stop midway. Riddhima realizes what she had just done and that there was no animal around, she slowly pulls away from him, only to catch him looking intensely at her. Their eyes meet and they get lost in each other. Armaan slowly puts one arm behind her back and his other arm near her legs and picks her up like she was the lightest thing in the world. Riddhima puts her arm around Armaan's neck like a necklace and her eyes can't help but look at him. The wind blew Riddhima's hair out of her face and the moonlight shone on it. Armaan started walking with Riddhima in his arms while they both kept looking at each other.

Armaan spots a big boulder. He would settle down Riddhima on this and check what was wrong with her foot, lekin dil hai ke maanta nahin. 'Kitni khoobsurat lagrahi hai, jaise jungle mein ek akela khila hua phool, dil nahin chahraha ke iss phool jaisi basket ke paoon zameen ko chuyen, lekin kya karein...iss ka dard bhi nahin dekhajata.' He puts her down on the boulder and sees the bottom of her foot. It was a tick that was latched onto her foot. He pulled it out.

Arm - Ab thik hai? (he said looking up at her)
Rid - Haan, ab...sahi hai (she said with her heart thumping loudly while he slowly massaged her foot, and got a band aid out of his pocket and put it onto her cut.)

They heard their friends calling their names. Riddhima and Armaan both got up.

Arm - Riddhima, agar dard horaha hai, tho baith sakte hain, we can wait here...I mean, if you want (he said looking down at the palm of his hands, hoping she'd agree).

In that time, Sapna came and saw Riddhima and Armaan, and called out to all the others that she had found them. When they all got back together, they remembered about their fight and got angry with each other again and started arguing. Armaan was fed up with all the nonsense fighting so he got out of the forest from the other side of the forest, of course making sure that Riddhima was in good hands, with Sapna. Riddhima walked with all the others.

'Pata nahin kahan se aajate hain, kitni sahii timing hoti hai na sab ki? (sarcastically) Just FABULOUS, just GREAT!' He heard the others get out of the forest but then, he also heard...Dr. KEERTI!

Kee - DOCTORS! Ya phir mujhe kehnachahiye adventurers of the forest? Koi mujhe batasakta hai ke aap log raat ke 2 baje forest mein kya karnekeliye gaye the? Would somebody PLEASE explain to me what is going on?

Everyone was quiet.

Kee - Oh, tho ab jaake aap me se kisi ke paas javaab bhi nahin hai? (she says circling them)

Armaan comes in from behind.

Arm - Dr. Keerti...
Kee - Please doctor Armaan. Aap iss sab me included nahin hain. Aap ko apney doston ke liye cover karneki KOI zarurat nahin hai!
Arm - Lekin doctor Keerti, main bhi...
Kee - Aap ko samajhme nahin aati? I want complete silence from you! (she says looking sternly at Armaan)
Arm - (Dr. Keerti seems serious, Armaan chup hojatha hai)
Kee - Aur aap log, mujhe itne saare doctors ke aas paas scene banane ka koi shauk nahin hai, tho...all I have to say for all of you is that...(she approaches them all) Sanjeevni mein bohot saare rectal exams aapka intezar karrahe hain. You're dismissed!

They all leave. Armaan stays and tries to talk to Dr. Keerti while Riddhima is around to take some medicine for her tick bite. She overhears their conversation.

Arm - Dr. Keerti, aap please meri ek dafa baat sunleyn
Kee - Kaheeay Dr. Armaan (she says this sarcastically)
Arm - Vo forest mein main bhi...
Kee - DOCTOR ARMAAN! I do not want to hear a word about that forest. Maana ke aap uss mein involved nahin the lekin, I do not want to hear about this incident from anyone understood?
Arm - Lekin Dr. Keerti, ye hi tho main aapko batana chahraha hoon, that I was also...
Kee - (she turns to him sternly) Dr. Armaan, ab aap ke paas se mujhe ek aur shabd sunne ko mila related to this forest incident, tho aap apne doston ko batadeegeeayga ke aap ki vajaa se unn ko aur zaada punishment mileyga, I'll make sure of it...so not one word. Understood?
Arm - (puts his head down) yes Dr. Keerti. (she walks away)

Riddhima overhears the whole thing, and how much he tried to tell Dr. Keerti that he was involved in the incident too but how Dr. Keerti didn't listen. She heads over to where the whole gang was sitting.

Mus - Yaar, hamari tho baand bajgayee.
Rah - Haan yar...socha hi nahi tha ke aisa hojaye ga.
Atl - Ab tho yar, rectal exams ke liye tayaar ho jao sab.
Sap - Hmm (sadly)
Anj - Aur dekha, dekha kaise Armaan Dr. Keerti ke saamne yun khamosh raha? Dekh liya kitna vafaadar hai tumhara "bhai"? (she says with airquotes)
Atl - Haan yar, I don't believe it, lekin...
Mus - Yaar, Armaan ne tho humay pakka phasadia, aur khud yun nilkalgaya!
Rah - Purani aadat hai vo tho uski
Rid - Guys, uss ne kehne ki tho koishish ki thi
Mus - Tu tho bol hi mat, dekha kaise hum sab se alag hogaya ke uss ko rectal exams na karne parein
Sap - Haan, chahta tho kehsakta tha...
(Armaan heads their way)
Arm - Guys vo...
Mus - Koi hava chalne ki aavaaz arahi hai na guys? (she says holding her hands to her ears)
Anj - Haan Muskaan, chalo guys yahan se chalte hain, I feel like eating a snack.
Atl - Haan Anji, bohot bhook lagi hai (he says but kind of sadly)
Sap - Chal Atul, hum bhi chalte hain, snack khaney.
Rah - Hmm, let's go.
They all get up as does Armaan, when Anji sees him get up, she says in a rude tone.
Anj - Lekin haan, hamaare tent me vo hi log invited hain who stuck together! (she says looking at Armaan, they all go to Anji's side and look at Armaan. Muskaan pulls Riddhima with them).
Armaan takes a step back, turns around and heads to the tent. He felt a bit of a stinging in his eyes. Riddhima watches him leave, she's being pulled by Muskaan to head in their tent...but she didn't want to leave Armaan, not like this.
Awhile sitting into their tent, they're having snacks, so Riddhima slips out unnoticed by anyone. They're too busy talking to each other and dividing up rectal exam shifts and talking about what they were gone to do in the forest, and also about how mad they were at Armaan.

She peers into the boys' tent and sees Armaan lying down there bouncing a tennis ball against the tent wall and catching it and bouncing it again and catching it. Something he usually did when he had nothing else to do. Riddhima sneaks in and grabs the ball mid-throw. Armaan sits up.
Arm - Ball please (he says holding out his hand)
Rid - Nahin dehrahi (she says sternly)
Arm - (thinks that Riddhima is thinking that he betrayed their group, like everyone else is thinking) Riddhima, maine doctor Keerti ko bataneki koishish ki thi...
Rid - (puts her hand on Armaan mouth) bohot bol liya tum ne, ab kuch khabhi lo. (she pulls her hand away and pulls out a plate she was holding with her other hand from behind her back. There was some food on it that she had packed in her tiffin.)
Arm - Mujhe bhook nahin hai Riddhima (he turns away from her)
Rid - (she heads on the other side to have him face her)
Arm - Riddhima, tum kyun aur sab ke paas nahin chali jaatin, tumhara intezaar karrahe hongay. Mujhe sach mein bhook nahin hai.
Rid - Sach mein? (she says raising her eyebrows sweetly)
Arm - Sach main (he turns back around away from her to hide his feelings of being hurt by all the others).

She puts the plate down and taps on his shoulder. When he turns around, she says in a heavy voice, imitating Armaan, along with the hand jestures he did.
Rid - Tumhari jhoot machine mein koi kharaabi hai kya? Main apni bike ke liye spare parts lene jaaraha hoon, main tumhari jhoot machine ke liye parts le aoon?
Arm - (Armaan looks at her for a second after that seriously, and can't keep it in him, he laughs whole-heartedly, leaving a genuine dimpled smile on his face and Riddhima laughs with him.)
Arm - God I love you! (it slips out unconciously through his laughter)
Rid - (Riddhima is busy laughing too, and she doesn't really hear it)
Their laughter subsides slowly. They both take a moment to gain their breath back.
Rid - (She holds the plate back in front of him. She pokes his shoulder) dekha, kaha tha na, tumhe bhook hai?
Arm - Tum ne nahi khaya?
Rid - Armaan, main TUMHARI baat karrahi hoon.
Arm - Tum ne nahin khaya na? (he asks angrily), tho main bhi nahin kharaha (he turns away from her and crosses his arm)
Rid - Hmm! (she turns around and puts down the plate) Ek tho ayo, phir ye sab naraazgi bhi saho.
Arm - (he's about to walk away)
Rid - Rukeey Doctor Armaan (she holds his hand with hers.)
Arm - (Armaan can't believe what he sees. Never would he have imagined that Riddhima would hold his hand like this...her hand holding his purposely, something he'd only imagined in his dreams. He turns around.)
Rid - Ab main yahan thak ayee hun, tho khana tho khana pareyga (she says pointing at him menacingly), mujhe bohot bhook lagee hai, ab bas bohot hogaya (she says taking some naan, dipping it in the daal, and she's about to eat it, and she looks at him, she holds it out to him).
Arm - (he looks at the piece of naan in her hand and back at her...there was that stinging feeling in his eyes again, this time, it was related to Riddhima and the fact that she cared so much for him.)
Rid - Armaan, I know ke tumnay Doctor Keerti ko batane ki bohot koishish ki, aur hum sub ke liye hi tumhe chup hona pada varna humey hi aur bada punishment miljata.
Arm - Basket, lekin I know that it's not fair, main Doctor Keerti ko phir se bataane ki koishish karounga, I promise. (he says quickly and sincerely)
Rid - Iss ki koi zarurat nahin hai. Tum bas khana khalo, Please (she says lovingly)
Arm - (with a dimpled smile on his face, 'Basket, mere peechay ayee ho, tho bol kyun nahin detee', he holds up his index finger so to say 'hold on one second'. Riddhima looks at him inquisitively. He takes a piece of naan and dips it in the daal and holds it up to her.) Pehle tum
Rid - Mmmhmmm (shakes her head from side to side) Ek saath? (they both eat from each others' hand. They sit down and start eating from the same plate.)
Arm - Vaise vo sab mujhse bohot ghussa hain kiya? (he says expecting the worse)
Rid - Nahin, unn sab ko bas sach pata nahin hai, tum vo sab mujhpe chod do.
Arm - Riddhima, tum kyun ayeen idhar? (he says looking up at her).
Rid - (silence for a bit, then as she looks down at the almost empty plate, she replies) Tum ne daal naheen lee? Main abhi leke aati hoon. (she walks away quickly with the plate)

Arm - (Armaan stands up calling after her) Riddhima...

Riddhima enters the tent, she had an idea. They're all eating.
Anj - Kahan chaleegaee thi Ridzi?
Rid - Thodi si fresh air leneke liye bahar gayee thi, lekin aap kyun fikr karti ho di, I mean aap tho meree behen ho na, tho main aap ko kabhi akele chod sakti hoon kya? (hugs her from the back)
Anj - (a little weirded out) I guess...Ridzi are you alright?
Rid - Bas, I'm just saying ke agar koi behen ho ya phir bhai (she peers secretly towards Atul) tho uss ko kabhi akela nahin chodte.
Atl - (feels bad for behaving so rudely with Armaan) Umm guys, excuse me...
Rid - (thinks 'SCORE! One down four to go'.)
Anj - Iss ko kya hua?
Rid - Pata nahin (she says raising her shoulders, but she damn well knew that Atul would head to Armaan's tent and everything would be ok between those 2). Vaise di, aap logon ne rectal exam ki duties separate karleen?
Anj - Haan Riddhima, aur Rahul meri ek shift lene ko bhi tayyar hai, that day I needed off, remember, for Naani's birthday? Ye dekho chart (she shows it to her)
Rid - Hmmm...vaise thanks Rahul, di ki ek shift pick up karnekeliye, koi mere liye aisa karey, tho I would be so grateful, aur agar night duty mere liye le tho phir tho (she peers at Sapna this time), I would at least return the favour, aur mein uss ki aur zaada grateful hoti, I mean night duty lena, it's a big deal na? (she says to Muskaan, who had no idea what Riddhima was talking about...but Sapna sure did).
Sap - (she says remembering that night Armaan took the night shift dr. keerti se kehke so her, Atul and Anji wouldn't have to do it.) Guys, mujhe congestion horahi hai, thodi taazi hava khake aati hoon...
Rah - Ok...
Rid - (smiles to herself, two down, 3 to go.) Vaise di, vo Sunaina kaisi hai, koi news?
Anj - Haan Ridzi, (thinks 'iss ko achanak sunaina ki kaise yaad aagayee?) she got in Jeevan hospital. Uss ke marks bhi achey aye the.
Rid - Oh, that's good.
Mus - Vo kaun hai?
Rid - (thank god, she was waiting for that question) Sunaina? Sunaina aur di ek dusre ko kaafi saalon se jaante hain, college ki dinon se (she peers at Rahul secretly) Umm...pata hai Muski, Sunaina and Di would get in trouble and so many times they would cover up for each other, aur jahan unn donon me se ek se ghalti hojathi na, tho ek minute bhi nahin lagta maaf karne main!
Rah - (he thinks of Armaan and him during college days and gets up without saying a word).
Rid - (smiles again, but tries to hide it) Vaise di, aap Armaan se bohot ghussa ho?
Anj - Uss ka tho naam bhi mat le Ridzi, itna unloyal nikla.
Rid - You know, jab Armaan aur Doctor Keerti baat karrahe the, tho I overheard some of their conversation. (she says casually)
Mus - Oye, itni der se ye baath chupa ke rakhi, bata kya kaha uss khote de putr ne?
Rid - Vo koishish karey jaara tha, Doctor Keerti se baath karneki, aur phir doctor keerti ne ghussey mein aake kaha ke agar vo phir se bolega, tho hum sab ko aur bhi zaada punishment mileyga, tho uss ne sar neechey karliya, and doctor Keerti left angrily. (she gave them a moment to digest the information) Lekin di aur Muskaan, you're absolutely right! Uss ko aise maaf nahin karna chahiye, uss ko tho bohot badi sazaa milnee chahiye!
Mus - Arey yaar, lekin uss ne koishish tho ki na? Ab vo Gabbar hi nahin manee, tho vo bechara kiya kartha?
Rid - huh? (she makes a fake curious face)
Anj - That's true (she says reflectively) Vaise, Armaan did try, aur agar tu sach kehrahi hai Ridzi, tho phir it's not his fault...humey aisa nahin karna chahiye tha (she says regretfully)
Rid - Acha? (she says trying to look reflective, but really, this is exactly what she wanted them to think).
Anj - Chal, hum chalte hain uss ke paas.
Mus - Haan yar...let's go.
Rid - ok...(she thinks while smiling inside 'YES! Finally')

They all head to the tent where they go to Armaan. Rahul, Atul and Sapna were already there. Riddhima smiles at her plan being successful and holds two thumbs up to Armaan.
Rahul gives him a handshake, then a guy-hug.
Rah - Sorry man.
Atul gives him a kitne-janmon-se-bichde-hue-bhai hug.
Atl - Sorry mere yaar, mere bhai, hamari ankhon pe patti bandgayee thee!
Sap - Haan, so sorry Armaan, (she gives him a sisterly hug)
Mus - Oye, sorry yaar (hugs him).
Anj - Sorry Armaan (Armaan and her hug too).

Riddhima is standing a few steps away from him. Once they all get deep in their discussions, Armaan stands up casually with his hands in his pockets and goes to stand beside Riddhima.
Arm - Ye sab tumhari vajaa se hai?
Rid - Nahin tho.
Arm - Oye Hoye Basket, kiya jhoot bolne ka style hai!
Rid - (looks sideways at him)
Arm - (holds her wrist and twists her arm lightly. He whispers in her ear) I think you owe me a hug too.
Rid - (looks into Armaan's eyes and shakes her head in a 'no' shyly)
Arm - (he kisses her hair near her ear and lets go of her arm and relishes every moment that their hands are still touching...her wrist, then her palm and her fingers and he holds her finger for a nanosecond longer than one would usually and they finally break contact. She runs away holding her heart in fear that all her feelings will suddenly come out and her desire to kiss Armaan will invade.)

COMMENTS*****************

HEY Chatterbox!!
I'm so glad to see that you're still reading my story! Thank you so much for commenting and hope you like this part too :)
Simmy