AbhiRa OS - My Bestie Forever |Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai | Abhi | Akshara | YRKKH

 'Yeh kya hai?' i picked up a photo from the drawer that i was cleaning.

I was at Abhi's house, helping him clean his room. Aunty gave him a right scolding when she came into his room and saw how messy it was.

'Abhi yeh kya kabaarkhaana banaya huwa hai tumne. Yaha khare hone ki bhi jaga nahi hai. Pura din dosto ke saath baahir rehthe ho aur jab ghar aathe ho thab bistar pe pare rehthe ho.  Abhi isi waqt apna room saaf karo. Right now' she demanded

So that's why i'm here. Me, Akshu, Abhi's bestest bestest friend! Abhi called me over to help him. I swear this guy can't do anything without me so i came over to help him afterall he's my best friend.

We've been best friends ever since kindergarten. When we first met i beat him up thab se we've been fighting but still we're best friends. We can't last a day without meeting each other.

I looked at the photo slightly torn at the edge with a browny tinge....i could tell it was an old photo.

'What is it?' he said

'Hahahaha' i laughed

'What?'

'It's some naked kid.....wait....he's got a 'R' pendant round his neck...Abhi yeh tum ho?'

Abhi's face blushed into a crimson red colour

'Ahaha Abhi it is you. Awww choo cute chota mota nangu pangu Abhi'

'Akshu woh photo mujhe do'

'Nahi, nahi do gi'

'Akshu give me the photo'

'No way....iske toh main poster bana ke pure college mey lagaogi'

'Akshu' he ran after me  'Akshu please mujhe photo waapis de do..you know that's not cool'

'Whatever Abhi main tumhe yeh photo nahi dene wali' i ran away from him.

He chased me around the room and grabbed me.

'Chor Abhi'

'Akshu give me the photo'

'Nahi doongi'

He struggled to get the photo off me and i struggled to keep the photo out of his reach. He turned me around and twisted my arm

'Aaaaarrgghhhh' i screamed

'Ab dethi hai ya nahi'

'Abhi chor mera haath'

'Pehle photo de' he reached to get it, i tiptoed and moved the photo as far as my free arm would let me

'Abhi let go' i squealed

'Auntyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy' i yelled but Abhi shut me up covering my mouth with his hand

'Aaarghhhhh' Abhi screamed as he bit his hand and ran

'Churail kahi ki. Ter tujhe batata ho' he chased after me but slipped on the roller blade lying on the floor and we both went crashing onto the bed.

'Get off Abhi' i said as Abhi lay on top of me on the bed

'Muahahaha' Abhi laughed evily as he took the opportunity and pinned my arms down to the bed

'Abhi let go off me'

'Ab kaha bachke jao gi' he grabbed the photo out of my hand

'Urrrghhh' i hated losing to him

All this was usual for us. Me and Abhi would always tease each other and chase each other around. But today....something was different. An unknown feeling overcame me which i had never felt before..not in Abhi's presence atleast.

He moved his face closer to mine still lying on top of me and whispered softly in my ear

'Better luck next time....babes' he winked and got up

I don't why but something happened then. Abhi's proximity did something to me. What? Why? I really didn't know. This wasn't the first time he was that close to me so why did it feel different this time?

'Need help?' Abhi snapped me out my thoughts offering his hand

I took it and got up

'Samajh aa gayi na..never mess with me cos im the best'

'Oh please ek baar jeet kya gaye tumhara sar toh saathve asmaan pe poonch gaya'

'Ek baar? Don't lie ok everyday staring contest mey main hi jeet tha ho'

'Oh hello tum kab jeet the ho? Aaj thak sirf mey hi jeethi ho ok'

'Uh...whatever'

The next day i was sitting in our spot at college. Our spot...? Mine and Abhi's crew's spot...the benches outside the west building.

I sat there with one of my buddies Rohan. All my friends were guys, i was a tomboy so i didn't get along with the girls in my college. They were all too girly for me. I mean all they ever did was talk about make-up and drool over boys..eugh! I hate make-up and boys! Except Abhi, he's my best friend =)

'Hey Abhi aa gaya' said Rohan

What was that? Hearing Abhi's name my face enlightened, my heart rose, i felt that weird unknown feeling again. Why? Abhi toh roz aatha hai toh aaj kya ho gaya?

'Hey guys' he high-fived everyone

'Yo kas' he said holding his hand up to give me a high 5

I just looked at him smiling. He was actually quite good looking, how come i hadn't noticed that before. The way he dressed and presented himself he looked quite.....hot. Woah what the heck was that? Why did i just say that? How can i find somebody hot? Forget somebody, how can i find Abhi hot? He's my best friend

'Helloooooo' said Abhi high-5ing my head

'Huh?' i said coming out my thoughts

'Eh move Rohan'

Rohan moved and Abhi sat next to me putting his arm around my neck

I looked at him and smiled. Why? I kept smiling looking at him, watching him as he spoke, as he chewed the chewing gum in his mouth. Stop it Akshu what are you doing? What's wrong with you. I shrugged the thoughts off my mind and joined the conversation.

'Ye le Abhi, tere beigan ke parathe'

Abhi thora ajeeb tha..actually thora nahi bohat ajeeb tha. Puri duniya mey logo ko aloo, gobi, mooli ya methi ke parathe ache lagthe hai lekin Abhi...use beigan ke parathe bohat pasand the. I mean beigan? Beigan ke parathe bhi koi khaatha hai kya? Abhi bhi na ek number ka weirdo hai lekin phir bhi he's my best friend.

'Wow Akshu beigan ke parathe my favourite! Thanks Akshu i love you' he said hugging me tight and kissed my cheek

He had hugged me a million times before, kissed me plenty times too then what happened today...why did his hug feel like a warm blanket wrapped around me...why did his kiss feel like a soft petal touch? Why was i feeling all this? I felt lost, the feeling was overcoming me but for some reason i liked it. It made me happy. The butterflies in my stomach tickled me. I smiled watching him eat; stuffing the paratas in his mouth and speaking with his mouth full. He's such a cutie! Stop it Akshu you're behaving like those silly girls I told myself.

'Hi Abhi'

Nisha, the churail of the college. I hated this girl so much. Seriously no-one irritated me as much as she did. I hated the sight of her. Jab dekho Abhi se chipakthi rehthi hai chipkali kahi ki.

'Hey beautiful' replied Abhi

'Hi Akshu' she said giving me a dirty look

'Hi' i gave her a dirtier look. No idiot was going to give me attitude and get away with it.

'Tum kya khaa rahe ho Abhi? She asked

'Beigan ke parathe. Bohat mazedaar hai tum khao gi? Akshu ne banaye hai' Abhi said with his mouth full.

'Ugh. Parathe? Eww no thanks! Mein yeh sab nahi khaathi dekho kitna oily hai. Chiii'

'Eh nisha. What's your problem huh mujhse bol'

I knew she hated me and she knew i hated her. She would always say something to show me down.

'I'm not talking to you' she said turning her face

'Oye bol na mere muh pe bol na jo bolna hai' i said getting off the bench and turning her around getting ready to punch her plastic face any minute now

'Kas, calm down' said Abhi

'Don't touch me' Nisha squealed

'Ye le kar diya touch, kya karle gi?' i pushed her

'Ugh you know what you're just disgusting. Tum kitni ajeeb ho, ladki ho lekin ladki jaisi ek bhi harqat nahi. Apne kapro ko dekho, tumhare baal aur tumhara bolne ka tareeka..tapori lagthi ho'

'Eh nisha watch it haan. Akshu meri best friend hai aur iske hilaaf main kuch nahi suno ga' Abhi said

I gave her a proud look

'Sorry' she said but i knew she didn't mean it from the way she looked at me.

'Acha Abhi tumhe tumhari best friend se fursath mil jaye toh....locker room mey aa jaana' she came close to Abhi, brushed her finger down his neck to his collar bone and grabbed his lace of his hoody, pulling him close

'Kuch baat karni thi....akele mey' she kissed her finger and put it on Abhi's lips and winked at him and walked off..giving me a dirty look ofcourse

Ugh how much i hate that girl. Aur yeh Abhi bhi na ugh why does he like her. Can't he see through her. Abhi ko har ladki pasand aathi hai aur abhi Nisha ka number laga hai. Yeh Abhi kabhi nahi sudhre ga.

'Ok bye guys see you later he said' licking his fingers and wiping them on his jeans

'Kaha jaa rahe ho Abhi?' I said

'Nisha ke paas...suna nahi usne mere se koi important baat karni hai' he winked.

'Math jao na' i don't know why but i stopped him. I didn't want him to go..not this time.

'What? Don't be silly Akshu. Samjha karo yaar. I'll see you later' he said and ran towards the locker room

My eyes followed him until he went out of sight

He's right. Don't be silly Akshu. Come on what's wrong with you. You know how Abhi is always after girls. Tujhe kyun farak partha hai. Chal lecture attend kar lethe hai'

***

 '100 100 ki lagathe hai'

'Aww harne ka darr hai tch tch tch'

'Main kisi se nahi darrtha'

'Acha toh 500 500 ki lag jaye?'

'Fine bring it' said Abhi and banged a 500 rupees note on the table

Everyday at lunchtime me and Abhi would place bets at who would win the staring contest. I hadn't lost once till date.

'1, 2, 3 go'

I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine. All i could see was victory...my victory...atleast that's what i used to see but today i saw something else..i actually saw his eyes. His eyes,....a luscious golden brown colour. How come i had never noticed that before? I've looked into his eyes a million times but never did i find his eyes as alluring as i did today.

Stop it Akshu. Get a grip over yourself, i told myself.

'Kya ho raha hai?'

I heard that irritating squeaky voice again. Ugh Nisha.

'Abhi aur Akshu ka staring contest. Aaj bhi Akshu hi jeethe gi dekh lena' said Vicky

I smiled victoriously at Abhi and he smiled back as if to say 'not this time'

'Itna math dekho Abhi ki aankhon mey...tumhe pyaar ho jaye ga Akshu' said nisha

'Kya?' i said blinking and almost falling off the chair

'Yayyyyy i won' cheered Abhi and the boys. 'I told you i'd win! Now pay up loser'

I wasn't paying attention to him; i was still in shock over what nisha had just said. For the first time ever Nisha's words affected me and the affect was for Abhi. What was happening with me? I really didn't know.

***

'Itna math dekho Abhi ki aankhon mey...tumhe pyaar ho jaye ga Akshu'

Nisha's words echoed in my ears and head again and again that night. I couldn't get to sleep, all i could think about was what Nisha said.

I put my hands over my ears and tried to ignore the voices.

You're just going through one of those weird phases Kas. Everything will be back to normal tomorrow, i assured myself.

 

The next day we were sitting in our spot again...that's right the benches.

'Abhi, Akshu tum dono ko principal bula rahe hai'

'Principal? Ab tune kya kiya Abhi?'

'Maine kuch nahi Akshu i swear'

'Toh phir?'

'Chalo let's find out what princi wants from us' We went to the principal's office.

 'Kya?' we both said shocked

'Please kal show hai aur humare main actors Dehradun jaa kar wahi pas gaye hai. Waha ke saare transport strike pe hai aur unka yaha ponchna namunkin hai.' The principal explained

'Lekin sir hume acting ka 'a' bhi nahi aatha aur show kal hai toh hum kaise...'

Our college had to enact a play as part of our leaving ceremony so we had no choice but to replace the lead actors in order to save the college's honour.

 'Ok sir' we sighed

'Well done mujhe tum dono se yehi umeed thi. Ab jao jaldo jao'

'Kaha?'

'Rehearsal hall....play ki rehearsal karne'

 

'Yeh sare huye dialogues kaun likhtha hai?' Abhi read the script and made faces.

'Sun kas... "Aaj thak aisa nahi huwa jo aaj huwa. Tumhe dekh ke aise laga ke tum wahi ho jo mujhe chahiye. Tum wahi ho Simran, tum wahi ho" Hahahaha how cheesy haina Akshu?'he lauhed

'Yaa' i tried to laugh but couldn't. I wanted to agree with him but couldn't. Those words which would previously make me sick i found meaningful. Why? I don't know.

We continued with our rehearsal. I picked up the script and said my dialogue

'Main tumse kuch kehna chahthi ho Raj.' I looked at Abhi

'Yeh mujhe pehle hi samajh jana chahiya tha. Pichle dino se mujhe jo ho raha tha, yeh ajnabee ehsaas jo mujhe badal raha tha, yeh ehsaas kya hai woh main samajh chuki ho. Yeh ehsaas pyaar hai, pyaar. Haan mujhe pyaar ho gaya hai....tumse. I love you Abhi....'

I looked deeply at Abhi as i spoke; each word seemed to come out my mouth naturally like it was coming from my heart. I realised why i had been acting weird for the past few days, why my feelings towards Abhi were changing....i was in love.....with Abhi.

'Raj...' Abhi interrupted my realisation

'Huh?'

'Character ka naam raj hai Akshu' he whispered

Everyone clapped bringing me out of my trance.

'Wow kas kya acting karthi hai tu. Tu toh natural actress hai. Mindblowing' he clapped

'Acting?'  

Yeh kabhi nahi samajh paye ga. Yeh acting nahi thi. Lekin Abhi....Abhi yeh nahi samajh paye ga. Mujhe bhi Abhi se hi pyaar hona tha? Nahi, i can't love him. It will be too awkward, he's my best friend..i don't want to lose that relation with him. Besides he'll never understand...he'll never love me. I have to forget everything and behave normal. But how? How do you un-love someone? First i didn't know how to fall in love and now that i have i don't know how to fall out of it. What's going to happen? Why did i have to fall for Abhi? Why is this happening? I really don't know but what i do know is that i have to fight this feeling and be normal. Abhi was my best friend and will always be my best friend no matter what.

 

Then came the day of the play. We got into our costumes and can u believe it i had to wear a saree! Me, Akshu chawla jisne jeans aur hoody ke ilawa aur kuch kabhi nahi pehna usko saree pehenni padegi aur woh bhi pink! Eugh i hate pink.

'Abhi are you ready? We have to go on stage' i knocked on his changing room door

'Ek minute Akshu ye belt pas gayi hai'

'Main madat kar dethi ho'

I turned the handle and went inside. Abhi turned around and looked at me. Infact he was staring. He had never looked at me like that. It made me feel uncomfortable and conscious

'Abhi' i clicked my fingers in front of his face 'Kya huwa?'

'Akshu...you look....hot' he said looking at me up and down

For the first time ever i blushed!

'Seriously Akshu you look amazing. Tumhe dekhe toh kisi ko bhi tumse pyaar ho jaye'

I looked at him wondering if he would be the one. I tried to read his eyes but...

'Abhi, Akshu chalo play ka time ho gaya hai'

 

Half an hour later the hall echoed with loud applause. Everyone enjoyed the play. We all took a bow and left to our prospective changing rooms.

'Hey Kas' Abhi ran after me

I turned around

'...er....um....' he fumbled

I had never seen Abhi so apprehensive with me. What was wrong with him?

'Erm.....coffee ho jaye?' he spoke

'Coffe? Abhi tu kab se coffee peene laga?'

'Oh i mean.....pepsi..?'

I looked at him, why was he behaving so strange?

'Ye sure i'm just going to get changed...'

'No! Aise hi...please'

I watched him weirdly. Abhi seemed.....different....like not Abhi...

We went outside and sat in our usual spot...the benches, with pepsi cans in our hand. It was dark as it was quite late at night and it was chilly.

For the first time ever we felt uncomfortable and we didn't know what to say to each other. It was so awkard!

'Stupid saree' i said breaking the awkard silence

'Hmm?' said Abhi

'I'm dying from cold in this stupid saree' i rubbed my arms

He laughed 'but you look like a million bucks'

'Shut up Abhi'

'No seriously Akshu you look really beautiful'

I looked at him. Again he had that weird look in his eyes. I turned around and then i felt something over me. Abhi took his jacket off and put it around me.

We looked at each other and started laughing.

'Why are we behaving like this?' i said

'I know, it's weird...i feel that because you look like a lady today i should treat you like one too'

'Haww how rude' i said hitting him

'Just kidding'

Suddenly it started raining heavily

'OMG baarish' we both looked at each other and squealed. We loved rain!

I put the pepsi can down and jumped off the bench. I twirled and danced in the rain. Rain always made me feel happy. I stretched my arms out and looked up letting the rain pour down on me.

What was that? I felt a touch on my arm. A touch that ran from my arm slowly towards my shoulder. I knew the touch...it was Abhi how can i not recognise his touch but this touch was different. It sent shivers down my spine and gave me the goosebumps. Why was he doing that? I don't know but i just closed my eyes and got lost in the touch.

His fingers reached my neck and moved my wet tangled locks. And then he pressed his lips against my neck. My eyes tightened as i felt his warm lips and rough stubble. He turned me around, facing him and ran his fingers down my face. My heartbeats were racing, i was breathing heavily. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him. His eyes were full of love and care. I just wanted to drown in them.

'Abhi...'

'Sshhh' he put his finger on my lip

He came closer to me, slid his arm round my waist and pulled me close...close...close. His lips came close to mine and just as they were about to meet he suddenly jerked back letting go off me.

'Akshu i.....i'm sorry' he said taking his fingers through his hair

'I shouldn't have done that to you.......you're......you're my best friend...i'm sorry'

I couldn't take it anymore. The feelings i had for Abhi building up inside me were killing me...i had to let them out. I had to let them out now.

Not caring about what would happen; I kissed his wet lips soft and tender.

 I didn't want the moment to be incomplete so I moved back but as i was about to let go, he held on and responded. I had never been happier. It was the most beautiful moment of my life.

After a few minutes our lips parted and i looked at him. All i could see was love in his eyes...love for me.

 'I love you Abhi' i whispered

'I love you too Akshu' he replied and pulled me in his arms wrapping them around me as if to never let go.

Writer: Neena