The alarm clock
boomed with Kesha’s spunky voice, causing Ariana to break away from her
dreamless sleep. Creasing her eyebrows and rubbing her sleepy eyes, she managed
to get out of bed somehow and switched off the alarm. 8:15 a.m. This is not
fair, she thought. She wasn't supposed to wake up so early. Today was supposed
to be a ‘stay-at-home-and-hibernate’ day, not a
‘wake-up-early-and-go-to-college’ day. She didn't want to go, not even a bit.
It seemed as if the bed was calling out to her, tempting her to hide herself
under the blanket and drift off to a peaceful siesta. But she couldn't give in
to the irresistible temptation, because her handful of friends had threatened
to murder her if she didn't make it to college for their Fresher’s Day; and her life was way more dear to her than temporary hibernation. So, mustering all her dormant energy, she started to
freshen up and get ready for the very dubious day that lay ahead of her.
Being a swift
person had its own advantages, and Ariana was determined to make complete use
of it this morning; because she knew that if she took her sweet time to get
ready, she would definitely decide to chuck this all and ditch the day. So, she
moved as fast as she could. A cool shower, some light breakfast, touch of dryer
to calm down her Medusa-like her, dress on, kitten heels to uplift her short height
(because stilettos were something she could never manage) and Voila! She was
good to go. She checked her reflection in the mirror, and surprisingly, liked
what she saw. Had Mom been here, she would have definitely showered me with pictures,
Ariana thought with a sad smile. But her mom’s absence was semi-compensated by
her very enthusiastic PG auntie, who couldn't stop gushing about how pretty she
looked. Ariana was happy. Maybe the day wasn't going to be so bad after all, or
at least she hoped so. Outside, the pleasant sky was beginning to be
overshadowed by the scorching sun.
Her punctual
driver arrived at her doorstep exactly when she’d asked him to. Bidding goodbye
to her auntie, she got in the car and soon they were on their way to her
college. Just when they’d crossed the first street, her phone beeped with a
Whatsapp notification. Ariana checked it, and made her patent
‘you've-got-to-be-kidding-me’ face. Her dear friend Jane announced that she
wouldn't be able to make it because apparently her contact lenses had found
their way down the sink. Awesome, just awesome, she grumbled under her breath.
Fearing the futility of her decision to go today, she called Shiona, just to
ensure that she wasn't going to endure the torture alone. To her relief, Shiona
was very much pumped up to attend the function, and said she would soon reach
college once she was done deciding the colour of her eye shadow. She knew that
‘soon’ was Shiona’s keyword for ‘an hour’. “Women”, Ariana said grumpily,
making her driver-uncle chuckle. She spent the rest of the ride admiring the
sunlit river on the other side of the window, with her earphones plugged in. As
they were about to reach, she checked her watch. 12:20 p.m. Talk about being
the opposite of fashionably late, she thought, and sighed.
Ambling down the
car and asking her uncle to come pick up her up as soon as he could, Ariana
made her way through the palatial ambiance of her University crossing the
narrow, red corridor and stepped into her department. As expected, it resembled
a barren desert. She’d texted Katy, her neither-best friend-nor-enemy, a few
minutes back, suggesting to meet her at the department so that they could walk
to the auditorium together where the very famous Freshers was to be held. After
having waited for half an hour, while talking to her mom and complaining about
how exasperated she was feeling, Ariana called Katy to ask where the hell she
was. When Katy told her that she was in the auditorium already, because her “dear
friends” were there with her too, Ariana wished she could shoot her right away.
But since that wasn't legal, she just took her purse and walked out of the
class and headed towards the auditorium. “If you don’t make it here within half
an hour, then I’m leaving”, she texted Shiona.
Five minutes and few layers of tanned skin later, she
reached the dark, abominably crowded auditorium. Glancing around, her eyes fell
onto the people she didn't want to see, but had to, every day. Who needed a
blusher when you had such bimbos to make your face flush? She ignored them, and
took her seat in the very cold hall. Katy behaved as if she was seeing Ariana
for the first time: scornful and snobbish. Ariana could feel every pore in her
body boiling with annoyance. Everywhere she looked, she saw girls dressed in short,
designer attires, donning exaggerated smiles, fake accents and unnecessary
pride. It took every ounce of self-control in her to not create a large scale
massacre. By the time lunch was announced, she’d already made up her mind that
she couldn't stand this grueling Gossip Girl-like show another minute. Owing to the
abhorrent network, neither was she able to call her driver nor Shiona. Just
when she was about to leave, she saw Shiona descending down the stairs, looking
radiant in a beautiful LBD.
“I’m leaving”, she blurted out.
“What? Why?” Shiona asked with a confused look.
“I can’t endure this shit anymore. You can stay if you like, but I’m done here.”
“Sweetie, please don’t do that to me. Let’s just stay for some time, and then
we’ll leave together, okay?” she tried convincing Ariana with her puppy-like
expression that was sure to make her melt.
Ariana couldn't help but give in. “Okay, but not more than
an hour.”
Shiona smiled and nodded her head, and pulled her friend to
the lunch area. Ariana watched Shiona eat to her heart’s content and waited for
her to finish, because the heat was getting too much to bear and she wanted to
get back inside the hall as soon as possible to avoid looking look like a
sweaty pig.
After Shiona was done savouring her meal, they went inside
the hall, and the function began.
Ten seconds into the program, and Ariana knew that she was
going to suffer from a migraine attack very soon. This wasn't a function; this
was an exhibition of hooligans trying to portray the talent they thought they
possessed. 2:30 p.m. If she had to witness another person molest Shakira’s Whenever Wherever, or ruin the music of
her ever-favourite Keane’s Somewhere Only
we Know, then she would probably explode!
As promised, she tolerated the freak-show for whole 3600
torturous seconds. “See you tomorrow”, she hugged Shiona and left, feeling free
and relieved. She tried running out of her college as soon as she could, trying
to delay her emotionally-wrecked self from making her debut. Never had she been
so relieved to see her driver-uncle; she got inside the car, and they sped
away.
Ariana couldn't stop
regretting her decision of going today. How different the day would have been
had she listened to her heart and stayed
at home, reading Gayle Forman’s If I Stay
and surfing Booktube videos. Because that’s who she was: an introvert nerd.
She didn't like getting dolled up and going to parties, she wasn't used to
getting drunk and dancing on the tables of night clubs, she liked neither the
odour of smoke nor the attention of perverted jerks. What she liked was the
smell of old books, the sound of rain, the taste of black tea and the bliss of
solitude.
They reached home, and she rushed out of the car and made
her way up the stairs. She rang the bell, and hugged auntie as soon as she opened
the door. Auntie knew her enough by now to question her about the day; so she
allowed her to walk to her room in quietude, both of them respecting their
silent conversation.
Once inside the room, she dropped her bag, dumped herself on
the bed, and cried. Cried because she missed her parents, cried because she
wanted to see her friends, cried because she wanted to go back Home, where her
heart was, where she belonged.
Auntie lightly knocked on her door, and when Ariana didn't
reply, she came in and sat beside her. “Black tea?” she asked, caressing her
wet cheeks. Ariana smiled through her foggy eyes, and nodded. Auntie smiled
back and walked out of the room towards the kitchen, closing the door behind
her.
A little while later, Ariana walked out of bed, freshened
up, and changed into her pajamas.
After an hour of refreshing black tea, a comforting Skype
session with her mom and a narration of the obnoxious events of the day to her
auntie, she grabbed her book and crawled back into bed. I shouldn't have left
you in the first place; she smiled at her own joke. She was reminded of the
time when she would come back from school after a horrible day, and her mother
would hug her tight until she felt better; and later she would make her
favourite meal and stay with her while Ariana read Harry Potter and immersed herself in the land of Witches, Wands and
Magic.
After reading a couple of pages, when her eyes could no
longer hold themselves open, she kept her book down beside the pillow, and
drifted off to sleep, dreaming of open fields, rainbows and home.
