'Woah ! This campus must be twice as big as ours! ', Anjali exclaimed, gaping widely at the vast premises of NTI.

Harshita followed her down the bus, nodding her head in agreement. Aarushi and Sarthak soon joined them, looking around the colossal and beautiful campus.

'We are poor, mates!', Sarthak sighed, clearly envious of the well kept college premises. Their college was nice, but NTI was doubtlessly fabulous. Even Aarushi was struck by a wave of resent after entering the magnificent university. They followed the fellow sixteen medical students into the campus; every eye was admiring the stunning buildings and lavish gardens. Their college was amongst the top medical colleges, but it wasn't as magnanimously designed as their current location.

Suhani and her other three group mates were walking ahead of them. Their projects haven't been disclosed yet to other groups officially, but they had the slight inclination of each other's ideas. Suhani's team was designing a solar powered medical help buses for remote villages of India. Others too had come up with innovative ideas. Today's program was aimed at pitching for their ideas in front of authorities and students of both colleges by the means of presentation, street plays, social media etc. A poll had been developed which would be opened to pupils for upcoming week starting from today where they can vote in their support for the project they consider worthy of attention, top three final projects would be announced in the meeting next week. They had one week to gather in support for their ideas. Combined teams who would be working on accomplishment would also be announced publicly in next meeting.

Aarushi could feel a vein twitching in the back of her neck as she followed the signs leading to auditorium. It was the similar anxiety she had experienced while writing her medical exam a year ago. Temperature had dropped quite a few degrees after the onset of early winters in North India, but Aarushi could still feel sweat drenching her palms. She inhaled a deep slow breath; she cannot let herself down this time!

They entered the enormous auditorium with a capacity of over fifty thousand students. Participants were supposed to be seated in the first few rows, the empty seats behind them would soon be filled in by flood of students. Aarushi took her seat between Sarthak and Anjali, and revised her presentation speech once again as the students started pouring in behind them.

After about half an hour, they were all prepared to start the program. Hosts announced the arrival of concerned authorities and invited the first team on stage.

Aarushi and her friends waited anxiously in backstage as the hall was filled with roar of applause for the fourth time. The anchors called for them to perform. Aarushi adjusted her microphone and calmed her unsettled nerves. She joined Harshita and Sarthak onstage. Every seat in auditorium was occupied by students of both colleges. The lights went dim as their presentation was projected behind them. Aarushi launched into her opening paragraph.

'We did great!' Harshita told others as they climbed the stairs down from stage. Sarthak and Anjali had broad smiles pasted on their faces as they nodded in agreement. They took their seats back among audience as the next group's performance was announced. Aarushi froze in her seat as she heard the names of participants.

'Please welcome our sixth group for today's orientation, Viraj Mishra, Garvit Agarwal , Hardik Yadav and Ajay Sanghvi', the hall erupted in cheers as four team members emerged onstage.

Anjali and Harshita exchanged twinkling looks. They looked at their friend; Aarushi had gone stationary in her seat. Her hands were effortlessly lying on her lap as she stared blankly at the stage. Aarushi could feel the increase in her heart rate and a lump forming in her throat as her mind played the vivacious scenarios of past. The anguish of past many years could be reflected in her glassy eyes as they looked emptily in the space. Ajay followed his three friends onstage, adjusting his devices. The hollow engraved in her heart was unveiled once again burning around its edges; she lay back in her seat and closed her eyes, halting her unsaid emotions. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

She could hear his uniquely raspy and slightly high frequency voice echoing around the hall. She did not dare open her eyes and look at that angelic figure in front of her as she listened intently. Her face broke into a relieved smile as she felt the warmth illuminating the darkness of her heart.

'Finally, after all these years!', Aarushi thought smiling warmly.

----xxx----

'Aashi, Aadi come on, we have to meet your instructor today', Aarushi's father called out. Aarushi's parents had decided to get their kids admitted in lawn tennis academy for perfect development of mind and brain. Initially reluctant Aarushi had finally given in to her persuasive parents after a series of emotional blackmail and scolding.

Aarushi was in her fifth grade; as much as she loved her books more than that she loathed sports. Her parents had desired for her to become an ideal and obedient kid and she had always stood up to their expectations. Seeing her lack of interest in sports, they had decided to get both their children join in lawn tennis.

Aarushi dragged herself into their car, sighing dismally.

'Aarushi don't make that face now, your uncle had also played the same sport. You will definitely find it amazing', her father said, trying to cheer up her glum attitude. Aarushi did not answer and stared out of window, refusing to meet her father's bright gaze.

After one and half hour, they were seated with their father in the office of senior coach, who happened to be their family's acquaintance. Aarushi's father's younger brother or rather her paternal uncle had been a state champion in lawn tennis, and somehow he was the favorite disciple of their senior coach. Aarushi listened sloppily to animated conversation, worn out after the workout.

The coach turned into her and her brother's direction and she immediately straightened her posture.

'So Aarushi, did you like it today?', he asked her.

'It was a nice experience', Aarushi said honestly, to her immense astonishment she had actually developed a liking for Tennis and was looking forward to joining academy.

Their coach nodded appreciatively and repeated the question to her brother who answered enthusiastically.

'Very good, now which school do you both attend?' he asked them. Aarushi and Aadi had got admission in one the top schools of city, they chorused the name.

'Ok, that's great. We have many students from your school here', the elderly gentleman told them. Aarushi exchanged confounded looks with her brother who seemed to mirror her expression.

'Aarushi which grade are you in?', he further enquired.

'Fifth'

'Very well, so you must be familiar with Nikunj?', he asked. Aarushi was evidently amazed at hearing her batch mate's name. She nodded her head.

'And Vartika?'

Aarushi again signaled yes with her head.

'And Ajay Sanghvi?', their coach asked. Aarushi's mouth dropped open in surprise, she had never imagined to encounter him at tennis academy in the wildest of her dreams. She nodded in yes, her eyes open wide.

They left the coach's office and were on their way to exit, when she saw Ajay entering the court dressed in his sports attire and carrying a racquet behind him. Aarushi was stunned at the weird encounter; she quickly followed her father and brother out of the academy, managing to avoid Ajay.

That night Aarushi mused over the encounter. She could not let Ajay get an inclination about her joining the academy. He was sure to tease her ceaselessly for following many weeks as her lack of interest in sports was not a secret amongst the students.

Aarushi entered the court next day going through various strategies to avoid meeting her fellow classmate. Her brain stopped running with ideas when she heard his voice from behind her.

'Aarushi?', Ajay's voice asked her, she composed a surprised grin on her face as she turned to face him.

'Oh Ajay... It's so nice to see you, you also play tennis?', Aarushi asked him, pretending to be astonished at encountering him.

'Yes I do, when did you join?', Ajay asked her, his eyes were twinkling with friendliness.

'Yesterday', she answered.

'Great!', he nodded appreciatively, grinning widely. Aarushi could not sense the teasing in his voice, instead he sounded quite admiring and excited; she was perplexed by his response. This wasn't the Ajay she had known for past four and a half years. Ajay did not seem to notice her confused expression as he excitedly talked to her about school.

'By the way, Aarushi, which sport are you planning to write on for computer assignment?', he asked her.

'Oh, I think I would write about lawn tennis only. It is the only one I like so far', she said truthfully. They had been asked to prepare a power point presentation about their favorite sports for their computer class that day. Ajay's eyes brightened up in excitement at her response.

'Cool! I am also preparing on that. Care to work together?', Ajay asked her avidly.

Aarushi considered the idea in her mind before answering. Her knowledge in sports was just a little better than nil while Ajay was definitely one of the sought after sports players in their class. The deal wasn't bad.

'Yes!', she agreed to his proposal, smiling enthusiastically. She stopped smiling almost immediately. Ajay knew about her attending tennis academy, if he blabbers about it in front of his friends she would become a walking joke, due to her poor performance in games. Ajay saw through her apprehensive expression.

'I won't say anything', he told her with confidence. Aarushi chose to trust his words and passed him a reverent smile.

----xxx----

Aarushi opened her eyes as the audience launched into a round of thunderous applause. Her eyes were fixed on the raised platform. Ajay was looking past the crowd of students, straight in the direction where Aarushi was seated with her friends, he was as handsome as ever dressed in a black sport t-shirt and pair of blue jeans with his flawlessly sculpted features and elegantly tousled jet black hair. Aarushi looked at his lean figure standing in front of her, he had definitely became more personable over past few years, still, she can make out that something wasn't right with him; he had a strangely guarded and cold expression posted upon his face; the dazzling light that had shined in his deep set black eyes had been extinguished, replaced by profound darkness of moonless night. Aarushi followed the direction of his gaze and instantly looked away from the stage. She could feel the color filling in her cheeks as she stared towards the exit doors clapping incoherently.

The orientation ended after another one hour, streams of students filled past them discussing their takes on various projects in groups.

'It's going to be a neck to neck fight', Sarthak said, musing over the contents.

'Very true', Anjali said as Harshita nodded her vigorously.

'What's your say Aarushi?', Sarthak asked. There was no response. Three of them turned to look behind them; Aarushi was nowhere to be seen. They exchanged perturbed and confused glances, trying to find their friend amongst the mob of students around them.

Aarushi was at the exit doors of auditorium, her mind occupied with the peculiar impression and cold guise she had seen on Ajay's face, there wasn't any sign of warmth or amiability that had been an inseparable countenance of his charming appearance. She was still disconcerted by the uncanny attitude when a voice called her from behind. She turned to look behind her, stopping in her tracks.

Viraj Mishra was waving heartily towards her over the sea of students. Aarushi smiled waving back. Viraj had been Aarushi's classmate back in school, they shared a great friendship bond with each other; interestingly Viraj also happened to be Ajay's best friend.

Viraj shoved across a few students before coming right up to her.

'Hey! What a great surprise!', Aarushi greeted him with a warm smile. He returned her greeting chuckling avidly at their encounter.

They escaped the crowd pausing in the sidewalk to chat.

'Never thought I would see you here today', Aarushi told him, with pretentious amazement. Viraj sniggered at her comment.

'Oh this is my precious fortune! What about you? Never got to hear a word from you since you left the city', Viraj asked her, straightening his clear framed spectacles. Viraj Mishra cherished a dream of becoming an automobile engineer; he had always been fascinated by the aspect of developing race cars and vehicles.

'Oh I was just a bit busy settling down in new city...', Aarushi said, her insides cried helplessly for falsifying yet another time. She couldn't share her real reasons of breaking off all previous contacts; it was too out of the place.

Viraj gave her an understanding nod, not protruding further.

'So you managed to get admission in medical school?', he said to her.

'I think so', she answered.

'Viraj... There's something I've been meaning to ask...', Aarushi continued hesitantly.

'About Ajay?', he asked, coolly. Aarushi was tongue tied by his perfect guess.

'Viraj!', another voice called from behind, both of them turned to look at the source. Two boys were hurrying towards them. Ajay was lagging a bit behind, his face masked under the same chary expression.

'Come over here! Look whom I have met!', Viraj shouted to his friends, beckoning them.

'So she is Aarushi Sharma, the brilliant doctor-to-be and my ex-classmate', Viraj introduced her.

'This is Hardik and Garvit, our new dorm mates and friends', Viraj said as Aarushi shook hands with each of them.

Hardik should be slightly less than six feet tall with a built musculature and scrupulously cropped chocolate brown hair. His rectangular jaw had been adjusted in a convivial grin as he greeted Aarushi. Garvit on the other hand was visibly shorter than his friend but still tall enough, he was wearing rectangular framed glasses which enhanced his nerdish appearance, his brown black hair were slightly unkempt to compliment his fabulous features. He gave Aarushi a slight nod and smiled amicably as he shook hands.

Aarushi gave them a gregarious smile. She felt like an elf standing amidst the three boys towering over her. Viraj was shortest among the crew, but still taller than Aarushi's five four.

'Viraj, is this the girl you had mentioned earlier?', Hardik asked, not attempting to hide his curiosity.

'Yeah, she is', Viraj answered. Boys exchanged a knowing look which went unnoticed by Aarushi who was looking at the slow paced figure approaching them. Garvit followed her line of sight.

'What are you looking at?', he asked, Hardik nudged his friend giving him a obvious look, Garvit eyes widened as he realized the fact Hardik was trying to convey. Aarushi looked from Hardik to Garvit, blinking obtusely.

'Ajay! Hurry up!', Viraj called to his friend who was still about fifty meters from them. Ajay rolled his eyes as his pace quickened.

'Oh right, what were you asking me Aarushi?', Viraj said, turning back to her.

'Oh it was nothing...', Aarushi answered, vaguely disheveled and embarrassed. She turned her eyes in the direction of Ajay walking towards them; he was looking straight at her. The cold façade had disappeared, and his deep set black eyes reflected nothing but empty longing anguish. Aarushi did not turn away; she could feel the agony of past years creeping back in her expression as she looked into his intense but aching gaze, she failed to discern the reason behind his befuddling look, but she didn't care about it at the moment. She stared back with despair and resentment reflected in her bare expressions, she had ached for this moment for past four years, dreamed about it multiple times in her fantasy worlds; some part of her heart was still persuading her that none of it is real, she would be back to the bitter darkness of her world as soon as she opened her eyes while Aarushi clenched on the desperate hope of living in the moment.

She could feel a range of emotions surging through her body, a weird combo of anguish, happiness, relief, dejection and admiration messed up her thought process, making her brain go blank. At that moment, she desired for that invisible clock to stop ticking away, and preserve this moment forever.

Ajay looked away abruptly, efficiently masking away his bare emotions. Aarushi retrieved her senses and turned her head in opposite direction, her eyes dampen with unsaid emotions. She blinked back the moisture in her long lashed seductive black eyes, reinstating her delighted disguise. She put on a cordial smile greeting Ajay cheerfully as he stopped beside Viraj. His fixture was back to stony and aloof.

'Ajay, did you not recognize her?', Viraj said, Aarushi felt desperation lining his question. Ajay looked at her; earlier emotions flickered back momentarily before he regained his composure.

'I did', his response was lukewarm. He tore his eyes away from her piercing his friend with an ice cold glare. Viraj gave him an impishly pleading look. Hardik and Garvit were struggling to hold straight faces. Aarushi looked from one boy to another, wondering about their offbeat interactions.

'Hi', she said awkwardly to Ajay, her voice sounded delicate and unsure. Ajay was caught off guard.

'Hey', was all he said, before looking away quickly. Aarushi wondered what was going on in his mind as she tried to work out their former wordless interaction.

'Your project idea is pretty amazing, by the way. I would be glad to join in yours', Viraj said, giving her an appreciative wink.

Aarushi chuckled at his comment.

'What about yours then?', she asked shrewdly. They had come up with the idea of designing an AI wheelchair for physically challenged people.

'Oh it wasn't original, Garvit had came up with it in spur of moment after someone asked him to...', Viraj said, shooting Ajay a sly glance. Ajay glowered at him fiercely.

'When will you stop that?', he asked, irritated.

Aarushi shuddered at the hostility in his voice; Viraj did not seem to get the hint of it. He neglected his friend and turned to look at Aarushi cheerfully.

'As you can see, Garvit here, is our Mr. Intelligent', Viraj said, giving him a friendly pat.

Garvit smiled shyly at the compliment.

'So what say? Can I join in?', Viraj asked, Ajay was still eyeing him darkly. Aarushi pretended to give it a thought before saying yes. Viraj whooped in joy and high fived her.

'Aarushi! Where had you been?', Harshita's voice reached her ears. She turned to look behind her, Harshita and Anjali were walking towards them, Sarthak was a few steps behind the girls. Three of them halted in front of her. She smiled at her friends apologetically. They rolled her eyes before enquiring about the identity of four unknown boys standing around her.

'This is Hardik, Garvit, Viraj and... Ajay', Aarushi said gesturing with her hand as she introduced each of them. Anjali and Harshita gave Aarushi a meaningful look. Aarushi signaled them to keep their thoughts under fair control; she didn't want to be humiliated.

'And these are my fellow classmates, Harshita, Anjali and Sarthak', Aarushi introduced the girls.

'How do you all girls manage to stay this pretty even after being surrounded with those thick books 24/7?', Viraj asked flirtatiously. Three of them laughed at his statement.

'You have done a pretty good job as well', Anjali replied. Viraj scratched the back of his neck blushing bright pink.

'You must be Ajay Sanghvi and Viraj Mishra', Sarthak interjected, eyeing both the boys keenly. Ajay looked at him, nodding in response.

'Aarushi mentioned you both a couple of times', Sarthak said. Ajay looked at her briefly before turning away.

'Ahh... We had been classmates in high school', Viraj explained. Sarthak nodded understandingly.

'And Viraj had just asked me if he could join our project', Aarushi said, smiling sarcastically at Viraj.

'Great! The more the merry', Sarthak responded excitedly, winking at Viraj. Viraj grinned at him.

'Ok, so see you guys tomorrow, our buses would be leaving shortly', Anjali said. They would be returning back to the campus to publicize about their idea.

They waved farewell to four boys and started walking towards the entrance gates, where their buses had been parked. Aarushi mused over her recent encounter with Ajay, while walking behind her friends. Her cell phone rang in her bag snapping her out of the reverie. It was from an unidentified caller. She received the call.

'Hello', she spoke.

'Hello? Am I speaking to Aarushi?', a male voice spoke from the other end.

'Yes who is it?', Aarushi asked.

'Miss Sharma I hope you remember the promise you made to us, the deadline for this month is due in fifteen days', the man spoke in an imposing voice. Aarushi's eyes turned stony as the identity of caller sunk in.

'I do, you will receive the amount before deadline', she answered, her voice was cold from the anger seething within her.

'Thank you, I hope you won't disappoint me', the man said. She cut the call. Aarushi could feel rage rising in her heart. She took a deep breath trying to retrieve her happy composure; she could not let her friends know about the secrets of her life.

Aarushi looked behind her, Ajay was chatting with his group of friends; she let out a miserable sigh. They belonged to different worlds, how can she drag him into this hell fire with her.

'Oh Ajay... I had always desired to meet you, but I am afraid to meet you and let you see this despairing side of my life, I want to see you cheery and smiling always, how can I destroy your life by approaching you, wouldn't that be too selfish? I cannot break the glass wall between us even if I want to, I cannot destruct your youth, I cannot be so selfish... but still my stupid heart is telling me something else... I don't know what to do? Is it really destiny or life is just playing another joke with me...'

Aarushi thought to herself as unconsolidated tears trickled down her cheeks.

A/N:

Who do you think had called her? What are the dark secrets hiding in her life?

If you are enjoying this story, do like vote and comment! I would be more than contented to hear your reviews!