Meri Jaan Ho Tum (AR)Prt 14/pge 123-*Note pge 140* - Page 5

'K.. Walk straight from here and it's the first room on your left,' he directed and smiled. Riddhima couldn't help but smile back at him. She was thankful he gave her directions, her first impression of him was really bad, but she was thankful Muskaan told her he wasn't a bad person.

Riddhima whispered: 'Thanks', and walked away. Armaan grinned to himself shamelessly and followed her quietly once he saw she was out of reach.

Riddhima found the room Armaan had directed her two, she peeked in the room and realised it was a lecture hall. 'Hmm.. a hall??.. I don't remember having a lecture first thing today...'. She slowly turned the handle, with a soft click trying to make as less noise as possible. After all, this was Professor Dr. Keerti, who hated late comers. She opened the door and walked in.

The hall was the smallest of the three in the building. There were roughly 300 students sitting there listening to the lecture. Most of them were busy yawning or whispering to each other. She noticed the professor was a man. Hmm… Miss. Keerti must be busy somewhere else, she thought and walked in slowly and said apologetically, 'Sorry, I'm late Sir, actually wo mai--'.

She was interrupted half- way, ' Sorry, i'm late Sir,' she turned around and noticed Armaan. 'Wo.. actually main aa raha tha par koi nahi student hai, she lost her way so I guided her to her class.....,' he pretended not seeing Riddhima there. Then turned towards her, acting shocked, ' O Miss Gupta.. aap yahan?.. maine abhi to aap ko bataya tha na.. fourth door to your left.. this is the first.. and anyways you have your timetable with you.. this is the wrong class!', he said innocently and muttered the last bit so only she could hear it.

Riddhima frowned at him, then slowly turned her head to the door and saw the room number. 'O NO... yeh to B13 hai.. meri class to B17 main hai.. ', she thought. She turned back around and gave an angry glare to Armaan who looked at her innocently.

She muttered, 'sorry, i think i have the wrong class', she turned once again to Armaan and gave him a cold glare. She muttered something under her breath but he couldn't make out what as the hall was filled with whispers. He mocked a smile at her, rather a smirk, as she turned around to leave. The lecture hall was filled with a roar of laughter as she made her way out. Armaan laughed, holding his head back and thought, 'bohat seedhi hai, , she should have known I wouldn't have helped her after the whole ragging fiasco… you should trust no one.', and grinned shamelessly.

Riddhima walked out of the room feeling humiliated, 'stupid, lafanga.. arrogant, selfish, creep… samajhta kya hai apne aap ko, he had no reason to insult me like this.. mujhe aisa laga shayad wo eik achcha insaan ho.. but i was wrong.. in jesse ladko ka kuch barhosa nai.. he's lucky this is HIS mumbai.. Delhi main hota to sahi sabak sikhati.. do (2) minute main line pe le aati..isse pata hai main pehle he itna late ho gayi hoon, aur oopar se isne aur late kar diya. Agar phir se mere saath batemeezi ki to bade papa ko batao gee.. aur college se nikalwa doo gee..', she muttered to herself and cursed him as she walked to her class. She knew it was partly her own fault, she should have known he wouldn't help her. After all, he had 'ragged' her only a few minutes ago, so how can she expect the same guy to help her? She thought they were all being rather immature, there only hurting someone's feelings.. how can this be classified as 'FUN', she questioned herself. She had heard Armaan's last comment as she walked with Shashank, 'I'm not finished with her yet'. Suddenly, she felt frightened, what if he bothers me again tomorrow, she thought to herself. This time she was saved by her bade papa, there won't be anyone there tomorrow.

 She found her class, this time she made sure to check the room number before she walked in. 'Sorry I'm late Mrs. Keertik, actually I had to sort some papers out with Mr. Shashank, so I got held back,' she lied. Mrs. Keert seemed like a very strict woman. Muskaan had warned her about keerti and how she hated late comers. She told Riddhima to find a seat and got started with the lesson, without any other discussions with her, as it was only her first day. But she made a mental note to herself about Riddhima. Riddhima found an empty seat next to Sapna, she had remembered Muskaan telling her about her.

Sapna was a very sweet, pretty girl. She wore a Kurta with some dark blue, tight-skin jeans. Sapna offered Riddhima the notes she had missed in the beginning of that lesson. Though she had had a rough start this morning, Riddhima became her usual chirpy self with Sapna. Sapna liked Riddhima's company as she was very talkative, smart and of course very pretty. They became very close to each other within a few minutes of the lesson.

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'Come on Riddhima.. tum mere saath aao.. i'll lead you to your next class… you're with me!' Sapna offered.
'Thanks..' Riddhima said softely and walked with Sapna. Riddhima had checked Sapna's and her timetables during first period, they were both similar. Sapna also wanted to become a doctor and there was no reason why she shouldn't. She had all the money to be accepted in a great college. Though Sapna was a smart girl, Riddhima knew money talked and this was probably the reason why most the students in this college got accepted. She obviously had Armaan and his gang in her mind as she thought about them messing around and not attending any lessons. But she also remember Muskaan telling her Armaan was really smart, so maybe he got accepted because of his good reports rather than his dad's money, she thought. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Sapna, 'Kyun..kya soch rahi ho..' she questionned. Riddhima came out of her trance.

'Er.. nai.. kuch nai...' she lied. How can she tell Sapna she had been thinking about Armaan? 'Acha chodo in baato ko, ok tell me, why were you late this morning', Sapna questianed, 'O come on, i know it couldn't have been Mr. Shashank...???... waisse.. I saw you with Armaan! Kya hua?', she added.

'Hmm.. actually tumhe to pata hoga.. ragging aur wo sab.. aur phir Armaan lead me to-o', Sapna cracked up laughing. 'Ok i wan't more details, what did he do this time.. hahahah...' she laughed again. 'I remember the last year, this so-called- jock came to this college, and didn't last a week... hahaha... due to Armaan....' she laughed again sarcastically. 'But no one knows that.. except me... well and you now. It was actually pretty hilarious... bichara... but it wasn't Armaan's fault..' she admitted softely.

'Kyun.. Armaan ki kaisse na galti ho.. i'm sure ussi nai kuch kiya hoga, otherwise why would someone leave after a week,' she deffended the so-called- bechara.

'Arre nai yaar, Armaan ki galti nai thi.. it was him.. actually what had happened was that, he was ragged by Armaan, so this creep wanted to get his own back on him. Well it wasn't a big deal.. he just accused Armaan of something he didn't do.. but his plan backfired.' She laughed again and mocked, 'bechara… tutt tutt… Armaan se panga liya.. well he had another thing coming.. no one messes with MY brother and gets away with it.

'Kya.. are you serious?.. Armaan.. aur tumhara bhai' Riddhima blurted out, really shocked. Sapna looked at Riddhima annoyed, 'What do you mean..??'.

'Nahi.. actually.. main to bas aesse hi.. I mean Muski told me he was an only child' she covered herself. Sapna smiled, 'haan.. humara khoon ka rishta to nahi hai.. par Armaan is more than a brother to me. Bohat acha hai, jab bhi mujhe kuch bhi zaroorat parta hai.. I ask him before my parents. He's a darling.. bohat sweet hai'. Sapna and Armaan have known each other since childhood. Their parents were business partners, so they both grew up together. Naina, Armaan's mom, preferred to 'hang around' with the rich ones and to keep herself in the high society, so therefore is a close friend of Sapna's mom.

'Sweet???… my foot', she added the last bit softely so Sapna didn't hear it. Sapna laughed a little, 'haa.. tumhara to uss ke saath start hi galat hua hai na?.. actually bara mazaa aata hai watching people get ragged.. hahahah… And of course Armaan is the best at doing so… actually main to BOHAT lucky hoon… he was there to defend me… meri to ragging hi nahi hui first year main.. lucky or what?..', she defended Armaan. Riddhima smiled

This Armaan guy seemed different on the outside but was a very caring person from the inside, Riddhima thought. She shuddered as she thought about Armaan again. Why am I keep thinking about this guy.. this.. this arrogant, selfish, matlabbi.. lucha laffanga.. she got carried away in her thoughts once again as they finally reached their class.

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 'Hahahah.. yaar tujhe uss ka chehra dekhna chahiya tha.. bilkul ron pe aayi thi..' Armaan exaggerated to his friends, as he described what had happened. Hi sfriends gave each other high- fives.

'hahaha.. par yaar ab chor de use.. pehle hi bohat pareshan kar diya hai bechari ko.. aur waisse bhi principle ko complain kar dee to.. yaar, kyun apne aap ko museebat main daal raha hai…' Rahul tried to defend Riddhima.

'bechari??.. Come on yaar… abhi to mazaa aaye ga.. I haven't had enough of her yet..aur mujhe pata hai wo complain nahi kare gee..' Armaan replied confidentaly and thought of what to do next.

'Par zaada na karna.. bohat seedhi hai.. she'll get hurt.. aur akele main to bilkul kuch mat keha,' Rahul himself didn't know why he was beginning to have a soft corner for her.

Unknowingly, Rahul had given Armaan a hint of what to do next. Just the thought of having her alone to himself made Armaan smile. He had once always been against the idea of hurting someone, but the ups and downs of life had made him strong and self-centereed, or atleast its what others thought. Armaan, however, was very caring towards those he loved and would do anything to stop them getting hurt, let it be mentally or physically.