Chapter 1- It's Time to Dance
Thump, Thump, Thump
A basketball is being
dribbled, forming a rhythmic sound. Suddenly it flies up in the air and BOOM, falls
through the loop more commonly referred to as a basketball hoop. There's a
thrill in the air, the kind one feels when victoriously coming through
something.
The kind of victory one
would feel upon winning the World Cup, an Olympic match, or the Super Bowl. This
is the kind of thrill Armaan Malik was feeling right now. Thump, Thump,
Thump, he dribbled the ball once again, eventually letting it fly through
the air, through the hoop, and back to the ground.
Making a shot through the basketball
hoop wasn't the glorious victory that was the cause of the excitement running
through his veins at the moment. That was just a small victory compared to what
he'd achieved. He was one step closer to his dream- the dream of becoming a great
doctor, living his life his own way, and the biggest of all- the dream of doing
something that will make him proud of his very existence in the world.
Tomorrow was a very special
day for him. He'd then be starting his internship at Sanjeevani Hospital. The boyish grin on his face as he played basketball with himself wasn't
enough to show the excitement he felt. Though one would expect him to be
nervous- he didn't have a drop of that emotion in him. After all, he was Sahil Malik's
son. Sahil Malik, the rich, famous, confident overachiever.
But Armaan would much
rather have his own identity. He'd much rather be known as the intelligent,
young, aspiring doctor, Armaan Malik. If he'd used his father's contacts, he'd
be farther in life. He'd probably have a thousand cars, several houses, and
control over his father's business.
But this wasn't what he
wished for. He'd always wished for a simple life. True, he sometimes did take
advantage of the luxuries he was provided with since birth. He'd attended the
top private schools, visited more than 18 countries, and had dinner in the
houses of the richest people in the world.
Sometimes though, he'd wish
to much rather have been the son of a middle-class couple, live in a normal
house, and have parents who had normal jobs and most of all, time for him. Tomorrow
was such a special day for him, yet his parents hadn't even bothered to get in
touch with him in the past month. He had decided not to call them either. For
once, they should take the first step. He was going to test them. See if they
call to check on him- check if he's alive maybe. All they cared about was—
He pushed all theses
thoughts aside. Today, he wasn't going to let them kill his mood. It was time
to celebrate. Make dinner, watch a movie, and listen to some music maybe. He hummed
to himself as be dribbled the ball back to his apartment.
?????
*Splash*
Afreen sprayed water around the bathroom, playing
with the little rubber ducky sitting in there.
After an hour of playing in the shower like a kid,
she finally got out. Going to her dresser, she put on some body lotion that
made her skin glow more than it already did.
"Hey Beautiful"
She turned around with her eyes wide. Upon seeing
the person sitting on her bed, she took a sigh of relief, and then abruptly
stood up and started chasing them.
"Tambreen, you idiot! Scared the heck out of me!"
She chased her around the house, finally catching
her once she tried to hide in their parents room. She threw some pillows at
her, starting a pillow fight that went on for a long time. Both were laughing
crazily when the pillow fight finally ended.
"Hai Allah, that was so scary! You should come in
one of Ekta Kapoor's serials, you can totally play a negative role, a girl that
can talk like a guy" said Afreen, laughing.
Tambreen threw a pillow at her and then began
laughing too. "No way, not in Ekta's serials. I'm going to become a famous
actress. And you will regret ever making fun of me sis."
"Yea yea, whatever" said Afreen rolling her eyes. When
doing so, her eyes fell upon the clock that reached 8 o'clock. "Oh NO! It's 8! I need to go to sleep, or else I'll
be sleepy at work tomorrow!"
"If only you'd spend less time playing in the
shower!" Tambreean teased her. "Anyways, I'm going to quickly do my prayers,
have you done them yet?"
Afreen nodded, "Of course, I always pray before
eating. Go and pray quickly, make sure you pray for me!"
"Will do" said Tambreen, as she ran off to her
room.
Afreen got up with a smile on her face and walked
back to her room. She was very excited for her first day at Sanjeevani. Her
father's dream would finally come true. She'd be able to cure people and save
lives.
Even though she hadn't thought about the money while
choosing her career, she was glad to have a job that offered so much money. She'd
make her dad quit working; this was his time to rest, not work to raise his
daughters who could fend for themselves. She'd pay not only her expenses, but
theirs as well. It was her duty as a daughter and a sister.
She happily lay in bed, praying that everything
goes well the next day before finally falling asleep.
?????
Tick, tick, tick.
The clock on the wall struck 2.
The shadow of streetlights and the moon were the
only sources of light in the otherwise dark room.
There was a loud tapping sound at the window. The
trees outside shook fiercely.
Suddenly, the window opened and in jumped a figure,
face covered by the hood of their sweater. The sudden wind sent papers flying. The
figure that had just jumped through muttered something incorrigible and began grabbing
the papers.
*Knock, Knock*
There was a low tap on the door. The figure was
suddenly alert. They slowly pulled the window down and swiftly jumped in bed,
pulling the covers over them. The door slowly opened with a squeaking sound. The
person behind the door entered, stifling their yawn.
The moon reflected on the bottom of his face. He smiled
sleepily and walked up to the bed. Still smiling, he pulled up the covers on
the person in bed and picked at the papers that were still lying on the floor.
After checking the alarm on the clock and sending
one last glance at the person lying in bed, he gently closed the door and went
back to his room to sleep.
The figure on the bed instantly shot up. They pull
off their hood and slowly walk up to the door. Locking the door, they lean
across the door and take a breath of relief.
The moon suddenly shifts and shadows the person's
face. Azaan Khan was grinning to himself; he'd escaped the wrath of his brother
yet again! He took off his sweater and put on a t-shirt, hiding his six-packs
that any girl would swoon at.
Getting into his pajamas and plugging his iPod
headphones into his ears, he jumped in bed, pumped for the next day. "Enough
partying Dr. Azaan Khan, time to get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a
great day," he said to himself, closing his eyes with a sweet smile on his
face.
?????
*Tringg*
The alarm rang,
yet her sister threw her arm at it, shutting it. Ugh, I'll be up in 2 minutes, she muttered, excited,
nervous, yet even more sleepy. Sleep got the best of her and she eventually
slept on, not hearing her sister wake up, shower, and leave. She kept sleeping,
having a sweet dream about a handsome prince—
*Ding Dong*
Agh, darn that sound, why was the milk man here so
early today? She threw off the alarm and walked up to the front door, cursing
at him. It wasn't in her nature to speak so vulgarly, but she wasn't really in
her senses then. "Ramu, why so early today?" she asked the milkman.
"Ma'am, I'm here at the right time. I come at 9:30 daily. In fact, today I'm late, it's 10." That definitely took away all sleepiness. "TEN!
WHAT?! I'M LATE! AGHHHH!"
She screamed as she hit the shower, coming out in a record 3 minutes,
changing, skipping breakfast and upon not finding a car, grabbing a motorcycle.
By the time she reached Sanjeevani, she was not only late, but also
very hungry, muddy, and angry. She quickly ran in to the room she'd almost
memorized by now. "Dr. RIDHIMMA GUPTA!" someone screamed.
Her father was angrily standing behind her. "Where have you been?"
She'd never really seen her father so angry before.
"Papa I…"
Suddenly, a man came from behind. "I think Dr. Gupta should get fired,
she's 3 hours late, and it's only her first day."
The tears instantly stung at her eye. "But Sir…" Suddenly, she felt
someone's hand on her shoulder. A soothing voice said, "I'd like to apologize
for her delay sir." She felt his breath near her, as he sweetly whispered her
name.
It was him. He was so close to her today. She had to ask his name. She
quickly turned around.
At
the exact moment, her eyes opened and she came out of her dream. She stared at
her surroundings and felt around for her cell phone. Two thirty AM. WOW! What a weird dream! She went
to the portable refrigerator in her room and drank a glass of cold water. Holding
the glass in her hand, she stood there for a few minutes, recalling the voice
of the man in her dream. Dream Boy. She had yet to see his face. He'd come
in so many dreams. But today, today he was so close to her; it sent shivers
down her spine. There was something about his voice, his closeness, which
attracted her.
She
put the now empty glass back, and went back to bed. Now, she was even more
excited for tomorrow. She had a feeling something really good was about to
happen.
?????
*Light
Snoring Sounds*
Anjali
Gupta was sound asleep, oblivious to her sister's nightmare. She was a very
confident and optimistic girl – she'd never let such thoughts come to her.
Anjali
was the princess of the house, she'd been the most spoilt – specially by her
father and grandmother. Her mother, Padma, was more attached to her sister
Ridhimma, but Anjali would usually ignore that- for she got enough love from Shashank
and his mother.
She'd
definitely gotten her confidence from her father, for Padma was always the less
confident and more nervous type of person. And now, this confident was the
cause of her carefree sleep.
Tomorrow
was going to be an exciting day for her, boy was she looking forward to it. Sanjeevani
was her father's hospital, so she didn't have to worry about sticking up to
him. All she had to do was charm the senior doctors and win over her fellow
interns. If they were a competitive batch, she didn't have to worry, for her
father OWNED Sanjeevani. She felt that she had a better chance at everything
over them.
Everyone
except Ridhimma. But Ridhimma, according to her, was too soft-hearted to be a
doctor. Even though both sisters were born with the dream of becoming doctors, Anjali
always had felt that Ridz, as she called her sister, was too sensitive to
become one. She would never be able to control her emotions if a patient was in
a horrible or condition, or worst, dead.
But
she always pushed it off as a waste of time. Ridhimma was too much of a
scaredy-cat and goody-goody, she'd never go against her father's wishes and
never make her own choices. According to Anjali, Ridz would probably marry the
guy of her father's choice, let it be a rich lad or a poor one, and she'd
probably quit her career and have a nice little family.
Bleh,
what a waste of life. Anjali would never marry at an early age, and the guy she
married would have to be dirty rich. She hadn't really given thought to it much
for she'd spent too much time on her studies. She'd dated a lot of men, but
those were just small affairs. She never really thought of marrying any of
them. What a horrid image. Her ideal guy would probably be just someone rich
and handsome that would spoil her like her father did.
And
Ridhimma's ideal guy, according to her, would be some very religious,
middle-class, goody-goody. For her sister never lived life like she should. She
never showed off their money, and never dated. She wasted her life on
impressing her parents. Or did she?
?????
Loved
it? Hated it?
Throw
me some constructive criticism please!
Be
honest with your comments please! I know I hurried some of the intros because I wasn't
sure how to introduce those characters.
Questions
to Answer in your Comments:
Was
the chapter short?
Which
was your favorite intro, and why?
Which
character do you most identify with?
Were
all the intros equally written, or did I waste too much time on some?
Likes/Dislikes?
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