Five weeks of the vacation flew by and college reopened on a cloudy day. It was June 1st and Prakruth was excited to meet all his friends. 6 weeks at farm house had filled great energy in him and he had more tolerance towards the same old faces.
"Hi Prakruth, how are you?" asked Rahul who hugged him and other classmates waved at him. He patted Rahul's back and waved back to others mechanically.
"Hi Prakruth" said a gloomy voice from my back... he wasn't familiar with the voice but he could easily guess her as faces of his friends lit up. He just waved at her even without turning at her. "I think she walked away.... I could see the gaze of boys following her" thought Prakruth. All boys proceeded towards their classes as the bell rang. Roshni sat diagonally opposite to Prakruth and kept staring at him... That's her usual behavior. Initially Prakruth used to get edgy but now he just ignored. After three hours of English, Chemistry and Maths lectures, they had lunch hour.
Most of the gossips are heard in the cafeteria. Prakruth sat with his friends and they were all busy discussing freshers.
"Prakruth have you seen anyone of them, they're all like love birds just out of a cage... So cute and sweet." said Prajwal.
"No I didn't see any of them... Sorry" Prakruth replied.
"You're asking the forever bachelor about girls, he won't like love birds at all as the beautiful peacock in our college is behind him" winked Rahul. Prakruth just smiled. They all howled to tease him. They had no classes after lunch as it was half day week, so the boys headed to play in the grounds instead of going home so early.
.....
Punya decided to take all courage with her. She confidently left in her new bike to college 30 minutes earlier than college timings. It took only 10 mins in her bike. She had joined one of the reputable colleges in Mangalore. As she parked her vehicle in designated space, she walked towards her classes. Many eyes were on her, making her feel uncomfortable. She was wondering if she's oddly dressed or walking in a wrong way or something which drew their attention but failed to find a reason. Siri came to her rescue at the entrance of PU block, she sighed in relief. Her first day just went smooth...
.....
Next day, Prakruth parked his car and started walking towards his classes. A car came screeching down the street. He could easily guess that it would hit the vehicles in parking lot. Meanwhile Punya entered between the cars with earphones from the other end...he screamed at her but she couldn't hear. He knew he had to act immediately, so he rushed and tried to pull her out but break-less car swiftly collided against the car behind him crushing both of them in between two cars. He tried his best to keep distance between the cars from crushing further and prevent her from getting injured but they were stuck to each other between the cars. They had to wait for some help. Punya looked at Prakruth and scowled at him... "God, again it's you" she exclaimed in anxiety.... "You...." before I could complete, students from all directions arrived to free them.
Within seconds, she was seen nowhere. Prakruth stood there explaining everything to the gathering. Ambulance arrived at the site of accident, it was a fresher named Rishab, driving the car. He was taken to the hospital. This college had most of its students from rich affluent class, so many of them drove cars to college from first year and sometimes resulted in such accidents.
After sometime in Kannada class, Prakruth tried to remember what had happened in the morning..."This is the third time, she was so close to me, yet I don't know anything about her. What's she doing in our campus? Did she join my college? How come I didn't see her yesterday? Oh I didn't see anyone from first year yesterday... I should warn her not to hear music while walking. She would be killed today, if I wasn't there. Doesn't she know that she's important to me? How does she know? Poor girl.... I will tell her soon. I should've at least asked her name…I forgot"…
"Prakruth" screamed the lecturer who had caught him being inattentive.
"Sir" Prakruth stood up. "Get out" he yelled.
He took his bag and walked out. This was his first suspension in his life but he didn't feel disappointed. He just walked down the corridor towards the cafeteria. As he was walking, he saw Punya playing in the badminton court of indoor stadium. In white shirt and skirt, she was looking like the small girl, he met at beach. He stood there as he froze in thoughts until Rahul interrupted him from behind.
"How come you're interested in Ladies badminton suddenly?" he asked in a taunting voice.
"Nothing like that, I didn't know where to go, so I stood watching them" Prakruth tried to lie but he was bad at it.
"That girl who's playing over there is Punya, one of the prettiest girl in fresher's batch" said Prajwal showing the same girl Prakruth was staring all these days.
"Oh is it? She's pretty" said Prakruth "How do you people know everyone in college, I don't know even know how to pass time apart from class" he intrigued.
"Bunk classes with me, you'll know all the options" Rahul winked.
"Let's see" Prakruth said as he put his arms around Rahul and walked away. Prajwal joined them. "I didn't have to hurry to know about Punya, she's in my campus now, I still have time to find out…Punya - what a beautiful and unique name…" Prakruth's thoughts lingered around her....
"I won... I won" Punya was jumping in air, she had won the practice match with her new classmate Jyoti.
"Congrats Punya, you have the game in you" said Jyoti.
"Thanks for the compliments, you're also a tough fight" Punya complimented her back.
"Ok we'll meet tomorrow in class, bye" said Jyoti carrying her kit.
"See you" wished Punya and turned towards Siri.
"Siri, what are you drawing??" asked Punya.
"The guy who saved you must be very strong" Siri said....
"What? This is not the answer for my question" scowled Punya.
"Look, you were walking through the cars in parking lot, that break less car was at 90° angle to those cars, it headed towards them at more than 60km/hr and hit the cars. That speed was enough to crush both of your bones... But you survived without a scratch... Then he's a strong man... Trust me" concluded Siri showing her crazy drawing.
"I don't understand the Maths or Physics of this crash, please let us go" said Punya nodding her head sideways.
"Where was this guy before the crash?" Siri asked, "I don't know he appears from nowhere to save me always" said Punya gulping water.
"Always? How many times have you met him?" Siri asked anxiously.
Punya understood she blurted out…"No nothing, I said he'll try to appear when I'm in danger" she lied and failed miserably.
"Punya you can't lie to me!! Come on tell me everything in detail" she commanded.
"We'll go home and discuss, I'm hungry…please" pleaded Punya.
"Promise? You shouldn't find ways out later" said Siri.
"Sure, I'll not... Come let's go".
Punya drove Siri home. They were friends from childhood; they used to share their experiences without filters. So Punya had to tell her the three incidents about this new guy.... So Punya started "When I first saw him, he stumbled over me but held me above the ground safely… I had a special feeling towards him which didn't allow me to speak or scream at him though he sprained my arm... His perfect face must be designed by artists, he has a great charisma to his personality, he doesn't look like he's born here, he must be from some other planet. He started haunting me in dreams Siri"....
"Wow then?" Siri was completely curious.
"What's Wow, I never wanted to meet him again because he's a mental torture for me. That day at Mela, when bull attacked, I was running randomly and I crashed myself at a stranger, I felt strong arms around me pulling me away from danger... It took couple of minutes to know that I was safe... I felt shy about hugging a stranger but when I lifted my head up"....
"It was him again.... Che! I didn't see him that day" said Siri in a disappointing voice. "Ok Then" she asked.
"Good don't see him, instead of thanking him for saving me, I got angry that he was haunting me in dreams, so I scolded him" said Punya.
"Oh..... That's rude" said Siri in a sad voice.
"My heart pounds hard when I meet him, I can't control myself, I'll be lost...I just hate him, he disturbs me too much"
"Oh that's aweful, you better thank him, he saved you again at college today" ordered Siri.
"No, never... Out of everyone in this World, when I fall into his arms again and again, I think he's following me continuously" said Punya in suspicion.
"And planning these dangers for you, just to hold you in arms??? Right??" asked Siri.
"Aah yes, I feel the same way.... You're genius Siri..." clapped Punya in appreciation.
"Shut up, Idiot.... How can he tell the bull to chase everyone? How can he tell Rishab to ride a break less car and crush you both? Let's think he told, Did he dream that you will pass between those cars that too with earphones??" argued Siri pushing Punya to deep thoughts.
"Didn't Rishab send you an apology letter from hospital, he's hurt badly. Did he agree to get himself hurt so that you both can hug? You're nuts... go apologize tomorrow to the guy who saved you.... Is that ok? asked Siri.
"OK... I will" agreed Punya blankly.
"Bye, I'll go now, meet you at college" said Siri as she left. Punya was lost in her thoughts and feeling guilty about her behavior. What she thought about this new guy was blown away by her friend. Punya lay on her bed looking at the ceiling blankly...