9
“Arjun?”
It wasn’t the first time she had visited Arjun’s place, but today it was so quiet that it almost seemed uninhabited.
When there wasn’t any response even after she called repeatedly, she climbed the stairs to his room. The door to his room was ajar, she knocked, but he didn’t respond, so she finally decided to get in. He hadn’t even bothered to take off his shoes and was lying face down on the bed.
“Arjun?”
She was getting mildly irritated and finally shouted out his name loud.
“ARJUN! WAKE UP!”
He got up with a start, a little disoriented after sleeping for about an hour, and almost screamed on seeing her in his room.
“God Hazel! You scared the shit outta me! Don’t you have manners?”
“Don’t you talk to me about manners! I have been calling you for the past 20 minutes. Go freshen up! I’ll wait downstairs, we need to get this place all wired up”
“Oh crap! I totally forgot. I’ll be there ASAP!”
“Sebina?”
“Ya Anam…tell me!”
“I am so tired! I think I’ll leave now!”
“Now? In between? Seriously? Anam is leaving in between a program?”
“Yeah! This thing is getting on my nerves. The felicitation is so slow!”
“Alright then, I’ve got Hazel’s car keys. Why don’t you take her car? Take along Divya as well. I’ll come in my car.”
“Sounds good! I’ll see you soon at Arjun’s then?”
“Yeah…take care.”
Anam managed to catch Divya and they started walking towards the CSE block. Walking at 11 in the night was not very appealing to either of them but since they didn’t have a choice they stay put. When they finally reached the CSE block, they heard some laughter and noises. It was pitch dark so they were unable to see the source of the noise. As Anam unlocked the car, she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She almost jumped out of her skin.
“Going somewhere?”
“Krish! God! Shit! Can’t you be a little more civil?”
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you!”
“Yeah, Divya and I are leaving to Arjun’s place. What are you doing here? Is that Karan?”
“Yes, yes…it is me! We just came out for some fresh air, the place was getting stuffy.”
“Hmm…alright.”
“ We’ll also come with you, if that is ok?”
“Yeah that’s fine Krish, come along” said Divya.
“So the four of them got into Hazel’s car and Anam drove off to Arjun’s place.
Vinay and Sameer soon followed them in Vinay’s bike. It was as though everyone had forgotten about Chloe. Still trapped in her classroom and with no phone by her side, she was frustrated, tired and worried. She realized that maybe she’ll have to spend the night at college.