Chapter 2
"Guys walk a little slow will you? My foot is still sensitive" Khushi lagged behind the group.
"Khushi your foot is perfectly fine. Stop making an excuse to avoid brisk walking" Payal talked to her without looking back.
"Whatever, its not easy to walk at that speed with all this weight" Khushi imitated a penguin.
"You dont need to act like a penguin, you already look like one" Shyam walked over to Khushi.
"Loser shutup" Khushi snapped at him.
"Youre coming running with me tomorrow. We will make all this go away soon" Shyam put his arm around Khushi and punched her in the stomach.
"Ouch Shyam!" Khushi yelped in pain.
"Shyam dude, you need to keep a check on the strength of your punches" said Aman when he turned in time see Khushi yell in pain.
"Aman dude, you need to keep a check on your public affection with my sister" Shyam mimicked his brother in law.
"Chup" Payal stuck her tongue out at him first and then pecked Aman on his mouth.
"Gross!" Khushi and Shyam cried together.
"Theyre jealous honey" Aman smirked at them both.
"Oh please, nobody's jealous of that" Khushi rolled her eyes.
"Yeah I agree" Shyam sided with his sister.
"Hey you all go ahead, Im gonna go the bathroom and meet you guys inside the theatre" Khushi informed and turned to the restrooms.
"How much water does that girl drink?" Aman asked in amazement.
"Whatever lets go. I dont like to miss the trailers" Payal pulled onto her husbands arm and went inside, with her brother right behind.
~~~
Khushi had stood in line forever to pee. That time when show ended, the restrooms would always be full.
She washed her hands, took her time drying them in the automatic dryer and then walked out.
Of course there was a crowd of people waiting outside as well. She squeezed herself through them to make it out when a tall, hard body bumped into her, making her trip over her foot.
Silence.
Her face turned white, eyes popped wide and then, "MY FOOT"
"AAAH"
"MY FOOT! MY FOOT!"
"OUU! OUU! MY FOOT!" Khushi screamed.
"What the" Arnav looked back to see a girl screaming, her eyes closed tight.
He stood staring at her screaming. She was odly bent in the angle she was tripping and had not moved since.
Everyone were looking at her.
"Hey" Arnav called her.
She didnt respond to him and her shrill voice was starting to heat up his blood.
He stepped towards her and tapped her the shoulder to get her attention.
"Dont touch me! You broke my foot!" she yelled at him, whipping her long hair back in his face.
Everyone were looking at him too now.
"I did not break your foot. You didnt even completely trip" he told her in a harsh voice.
"Are you serious?! You are going to tell me whether my foot broke or not! Its my foot damn it! I know it broke and you broke it!" she yelled again.
"Stop yelling. I am right here, I can hear you" said Arnav through clenched teeth.
"You break my foot and now youre talking to me like that. Who do you think you are?" she snapped at him.
Arnav counted till ten, squatted down and reached for her foot.
Khushi panicked and asked him suspiciously, "what are you doing?"
"What do you think? Give me your foot. I'll twist it back to normal" he looked up to see narrowed eyes staring at him.
"Twist? Do I look like an idiot to you? Get away from me!" her volume was again starting to increase.
Arnav ignored her and grabbed her foot, making her fall on him. He felt her hands land on his shoulders and she held on to him for support.
He held her foot in his hand, which was small and looked delicate, and twisted it.
Her nails dug into his flesh as he had twisted her ankle. He was sure there would be marks left, actually he could have bet she scratched him.
Crack.
Silence.
"Devi Maiyya! You seriously broke my foot! You idiot! My foot! How am I going to walk now! Devi Maiyya help me out!" her shrill voice started.
"Shutup!" Arnav bellowed not able to take her yelling anymore.
She instantly shut her mouth. Her face was flushed, bangs fell over her eyes and her hands were still on his shoulder.
"Get your hands off me and stand on your feet" he barked.
She did as he ordered and it was fine. Hesitantly she took a step and then tried to put her weight on it and nothing happened.
Khushi was not going to thank him or apologize. It was his fault she nearly tripped. So she turned to him and said, "If you had watched where you were going, this wouldnt have had happened."
"Excuse me? I said you didnt even trip. So whatever happend was most probably becuase of your weight. Moti" Arnav snarled at her and left.
Khushi's mouth fell open. What did he just call her? Moti? What?!
By the time the word was digested, he had vanished.
She was fuming with anger. How dare he called her fat? Who the hell was he? Grumbling to herself she went and bought popcorn and rushed to tell her family what happened.
~~~
"I swear if I ever see him again, I will kill him" Khushi whispered angrily.
"Be quiet!" Aman hushed her.
She had related the entire story in the time she seated.
Payal couldnt believe some would say that. Specially if he was a young boy.
Shyam of course had started to laugh, while Aman did his best not to join him and agreed with Payal.
Khushi skipped the whole movie, replaying her scene again and again. She looked down to see herself. Yes she was fat. It's rude to call someone that on their face. Family is different, she didnt care but a stranger.
A tiny dot of pain formed in her heart. Her pretty face always got her smiles and compliments. It hid her chubbiness behind. Not today though.
She smoothed the non existing wrinkles from the boyfriend shrug she was wearing. It was new, she had bought it last week. It was from the AR designs, she had to save money to get it. The excitement of new clothes and the feeling of looking pretty evaporated from her and sadness took its place.
"Im not so fat. Just about 10kg more than the normal..." she talked to herself.
~~~
"Arnav that was most rudest thing to say!" Anjali scolded her devar.
"She asked for it bhabhi" Arnav replied without a care.
"So what? That doesnt matter, you still shouldnt have called her fat"
"Bhabhi, he called her moti not fat" Dhruv laughed.
Arnav grinned at his brother's retarded joke.
"If she had not left in a hurry I would have made you apologize" said Anjali.
"Oh come on, forget about it already. She wont ever see me again" Arnav drawled and sat in the car.
"She seemed like a nice girl" Anjali continued.
"Yep real nice drama queen" Dhruv added.
"Dhruv!"
"Kidding bhabhi!" he laughed and then quietly said to Arnav, "not."
p.s yes khushis on the chubby side. i know its hard to imagine...still time to say stop dont continue. Edited by justforuse - 11 years ago
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