"Prakruth I heard you stay in farm house, can I see it once?" asked Punya.
Prakruth was driving her home, he just chuckled.
"Am I not eligible for visiting your farm house too?" asked Punya in a fake sad voice.
"No Punya, you may not like it. It lies in a village, not like this city" he replied.
"How can you decide that without showing it to me?"
"Ok I'll take you once, you can decide it yourself"
"When tomorrow, day after or weekend?" she was enthusiastic about it.
He laughed... "After final exams. I can't risk when your hand is like this and after that it's exams so..." he explained.
"That's too long, I want to go now" she demanded like a kid.
He laughed and said "Go"
She was surprised by that word and asked "Where?"
"Your home Punya, we've reached" he smiled and walked down to open the door for her.
"I forget everything in your presence, you're mesmerizing" she said and got down from the car.
"Can I take that as a compliment?" he asked.
"Of course why not? But many might have given such comments already, may be mine doesn't even matter" she chaffed.
"Your every word is important to me, this is the precious compliment I will remember forever" he said with a charming smile.
Punya's heart started pounding on his smile. Both the young hearts bid a bye with the heaviness. .
.......
Classes, lab practicals, notes, Thrishul's pick up and sometimes Prakruth dropping off, assignments, records filled up the routine schedule of Punya's college.
After three weeks the cast on her right hand was removed but parents restricted her from taking two wheeler for another month.
One day at college during lunch hour, Disha came running to Punya and said something so fast that no one understood.....
"Disha relax, drink water, sit down" Punya eased her.
After a couple of minutes, Disha said "Prakruth doesn't love Roshni".
Siri and Jyoti were shocked but Punya felt happy.
"Explain properly" ordered Siri.
"I heard her talking to her friends in her classroom, I was sitting in the corridor just outside the window with Dikshith and she revealed all the secrets" said Disha.
"What secrets?" asked Jyoti curiously.
"Roshni is forced to make Prakruth fall in love with her by her father. Her father wants a rich son in law, so he is using her as weapon but poor girl couldn't turn him from past two years. She was scolding Prakruth as stone hearted, cold and typical idiot... who doesn't know what is love or romance or at least the value of her beauty." Disha narrated what she heard and turned to Punya and said "She also knows that Prakruth is close with you Punya, she might plan a revenge, be careful".
"I can handle it don't worry about it" said Punya.
"Well hurting Punya when I'm alive is impossible, your senior has to learn that" said Thrishul who had just heard about revenge.
"Thrishul I can...." Punya tried to tell something but....
He interrupted "Shshshhhhh Punya, I know you are strong, independent and doesn't want me to help, but it's my responsibility to protect you" he said in authority.
"But why" she raised her voice.
"..... because" he muddled between telling her or not.
"Tell me why you interfere in all my issues, I told you 100 times that I can handle yet you do this, you warn me not to do this, not to do that, not to be close with senior, poke nose in my relationships and friendships, why are you doing all this.... Thrishul you have to explain it now...." she almost screamed.
"Now?" he asked.
"Yes right now, or else I'll never talk to you" she warned.
"I can't stay without talking to you, or even seeing you...." he panicked as his heart was sinking low.
"Why?" she satirized which further triggered him.
"Because I love you, I love you from the bottom of my heart" he yelled.
Jyoti's heart broke. Punya was startled.
Silence filled the whole classroom till the bell rang for the next class.
Thrishul spoke first "I wanted to plan this in a more special way, but you enraged me to blurt out, I'm sorry" he said and walked out of the classroom.
Jyoti ran out with eyes welled up. She enters the indoor badminton stadium, sits on a chair and starts crying loudly.
Prakruth who accidentally walks in approaches her....
"Jyoti, are you crying?"
She closes her face and continues to cry.
He sits next to her and rubs her back to console her.... She turns to him and sobs on his shoulder.
"What happened?"
"I'm unlucky girl on this universe" she said sobbing.
"That I'll decide after you tell me what happened? So please drink this water and tell me..." said Prakruth giving her a bottle of water.
After relaxing a bit, she starts "I liked a guy in my class from day one, I used to do anything he asked me to, he used to be so close to me... I have helped him with math. Though he's bad at it, I never lost my cool. He offers me chocolates every single day. He gave me a coat on the beach when we went out. I love him very much, I wanted to tell him but... " she stopped.
"But....?" asked Prakruth.
"But he proposed to my close friend today, I can't blame her as she doesn't love him, it's all my ill fate" she burst out crying again.
"You relax..., I will come back" said Prakruth and rushed out in search of Punya.
Punya was busy with her chemistry practicals, he left out a deep breath. He was relieved to see her calm. He decided to wait for her, so he sat on the stairs.
After a couple of hours, Punya came out with Siri laughing on the way the Tarak's test tube caught fire because of Vedant's prank. Boys were still fighting and Thrishul was found nowhere.
"Punya" called Prakruth.
"Hi, you were waiting for me?" she asked.
"Yes come with me, I need to talk to you" he said.
"OK, bye Siri, bye Tarak and Vedant" said Punya. All her three friends howled when the duo walked away.
"Why are you so serious? Anything wrong?" asked Punya in a normal voice.
"How can she be so normal, my heart is boiling...." thought Prakruth "Do you know where's Jyoti?" he asked.
"She might be in physics lab, she and disha are in same batch, so I don't know" answered Punya.
"Where's Thrishul?" he asked
"I don't know"
"He's from your batch right? You must know...." he said in a firm tone.
"He's absent, might be he left" she shrugged.
"Why did he leave you in college? Doesn't he remember that he has to take you home?" he urged to know the truth.
"I thought you brought me to talk but you're interrogating me.... This is bad" she said in a teasing tone.
"Follow me" he ordered.
She just followed him and reached the indoor stadium. Jyoti was sitting disappointed.
"Jyoti, why are you here? You didn't go to practicals??" asked Punya.
"No, I wasn't in good mood. Who told you I'm here?" asked Jyoti.
"I brought her here" said Prakruth.
Panic was seen in Jyoti's eyes. Prakruth nodded sideways to assure that he didn't tell Punya anything.... Jyoti sighed.
"What happened to you? I feel you've cried a lot...." asked Punya.
"My... My..... Unc my aunty died out of heart attack, so I was crying" she bluffed.
"Oh poor you, come we'll drop you home" said Punya.
"Yes we can drop you on the way" added Prakruth.
"I'll wash my face and come" said Jyoti.
"Punya, can you please go get the car from parking, I'll get her something to drink" asked Prakruth.
"OK" she said. Car had to be brought from front to back yard of college.
When Prakruth handed over the juice to Jyoti, she asked "why did you take so long, brother... to bring Punya?..." walking out of the stadium.
"I went to console Punya, I thought she's hurt too but I had to wait as she was doing her chemistry lab work."
"Why will she be hurt?" asked Jyoti.
"Thrishul proposed Punya right? I thought she might be hurt but she seemed undisturbed" smirked Prakruth.
Jyoti was awestruck, "I think I didn't reveal both their names, how did you come to know about this?" she asked.
"I know your close friend is Punya and I can read faces. I have seen admiration in your eyes for Thrishul and a unconditional hunger in his eyes for Punya, I knew such a day would arise but it happened quite early" he sighed.
"Mind blowing.... Punya is very lucky to have such a great lover" exclaimed Jyoti.
"Who great lover?" gasped Prakruth.
"You bro, 75% of the college knows that you love Punya, we're waiting for you to reveal... When will that day come???" she asked excitedly.
Prakruth liked her plain heart who forgot her pain and started rejoicing her friend's love.... He chuckled "She'll reject me anyway.... Remember she shouted that she hates me in front of the whole college?"
Jyoti wanted to tell him about the misunderstanding Punya had....
Honk honk.....
Punya was honking for their arrival. Prakruth took the driving seat and asked Punya to sit with Jyoti. They dropped Jyoti first and headed towards Punya's house.
As Prakruth face was cold, "Hm hm" Punya coughed to correct her throat.
"Speak Punya, I'm not angry at you" he smiled.
"I know Jyoti loves Thrishul, but that idiot proposed me today. I was feeling so guilty that I couldn't even console her. Thrishul won't change even if I tell him to, I can't promise anything to Jyoti. I'm helpless" said Punya in a sad tone.
"Oh you knew, why didn't you stop Thrishul when Jyoti was around?" he asked.
"I was angry, I didn't see anyone around. It's my mistake" she closed her face and started crying.
Prakruth stopped the vehicle on the pavement and embraced her close to his chest. "You shouldn't cry, it is not your fault.... He must have been little patient" he rubbed her back.
"I have never encouraged him to do so, Jyoti is very close to me yet she didn't tell me that she loves Thrishul. I lost her trust in me. If Siri comes to know about this, she'll look down on me..." she explained amidst sobbing.
"Punya you're a strong girl, you should stay calm and unaffected as you were in chemistry lab today.... I never thought dare devil like you will cry like this...." he chuckled softly to cheer her up.
"I won't cry" she got herself released from his embrace. She wiped her eyes and face with tissues and looked in the mirror and said "In front of you, all my characters are lost. I don't understand why.... Now drop me home" she commanded.
"OK, as you order ma'am" he saluted driving the car to the road. She laughed at his gesture. He smiled "This is the Punya, I want to see always...God bless you with more happiness dear" he wished.
"Amen" said Punya. Both started laughing.