You’re Trending in my Dreams Read online

  The girls hugged each other. Ahana was strong but not impassive. She felt strongly for her friends, it was evident. A single moment of misunderstanding is toxic, because within a minute it can make us forget the hundred lovable moments spent together. However, they had no hard feelings or misunderstandings. Relationships are built with love, trust and caring.

  Varun went back into the room with Malvika and stood beside Garima. She knew she had done something unforgivable.

  ‘Friendship is a full-time responsibility. Not just when it is convenient for you. We never thought you would take such a hasty step without even discussing your troubles with us once. Life has given you a second chance. It doesn’t always. Never do this again. Never. I may not have told you this but you are like my sister and I love you for who you are. I know you are stronger than this,’ Varun said, holding Garima’s hand.

  ‘I won’t leave you all so easily,’ Garima said with a slight smile, trying to ease the tension.

  ‘You bitch! Never do that. How will I live without you? You ass. I will fuck the shit out of you.’ Malvika wept and hugged Garima. They loved each other unconditionally.

  All four of them not only valued each other’s company, they also looked out for each other in turbulent times. Today they were each other’s strength. It’s not about how many friends you have; it’s all about how much those few friends love you and care about you.

  Last Slice of Pizza

  ‘Are you feeling better now?’ Malvika asked Garima as she woke her up for dinner.

  Malvika and Varun had successfully diverted her attention from the video clip. Ahana too was pampering her but was worried that Garima’s condition might deteriorate as she wasn’t eating properly. Malvika had tried informing Garima’s parents but unfortunately they were not in town and their alternate numbers were not reachable. They were supposed to be back after a couple of weeks and hence she had left a message for them on voicemail. Garima, however, was upset about Malvika contacting her parents as she had always kept her distance from them.

  Due to the heavy dose of medicines Garima felt drowsy and had slept for a few hours. Her hand hurt a bit but she felt comfortable otherwise.

  ‘When are they discharging me?’ she asked.

  ‘Tomorrow afternoon,’ Malvika replied, serving her the food provided by the hospital.

  Garima felt the urge to eat something spicy. The hospital meals were too tasteless and bland. The rules did not allow outside food for patients and they had to consume only the food prescribed by the doctors at the hospital. But Garima hardly ate any of the hospital food. She revealed that she felt like eating pizza and pasta and garlic bread.

  ‘Don’t worry. I will do something,’ said Varun and left.

  Ahana sat beside Garima and asked her, ‘Don’t you want to meet your parents?’

  ‘I guess not.’

  ‘But why? You can tell them everything now.’

  ‘I just feel they left me to suffer. You won’t understand. Please let’s j…j…just change the topic,’ she stammered.

  Ahana could feel her hands tremble at the very mention of her family. Emotions have a language of their own. Garima had kept all her past memories to herself, and even though these memories haunted her, she never could open up to anyone. She could never get rid of the horror. Malvika tried to distract her by clicking a few selfies.

  ‘This one is so cool. I am uploading it,’ Malvika said in excitement.

  ‘You will never change.’

  ‘I’m my favourite,’ said Malvika, reciting Kareena’s dialogue from Jab We Met.

  All of them laughed and Ahana added, ‘If these doctors allow two people to stay here tonight, I am sure Varun and you won’t miss the opportunity to make out even here.’

  ‘It will be thrilling. Especially in front of Garima while she is fast asleep.’ Malvika winked.

  Garima finally had a smile on her face. That’s what they were aiming for with their senseless talk. Just then Varun entered with a backpack on his shoulders. Everyone looked at him in confusion.

  ‘Are you planning to go to college?’ Malvika seemed surprised.

  ‘Of course not. But I am in a mood to party. And what can be more adventurous than a party in a hospital room?’

  He opened his bag to reveal not college books but boxes of BBQ chicken pizza, pasta in red sauce and garlic bread with cheese. Garima looked at him wide-eyed and said that if a nurse or a ward boy walked in, they would land in serious trouble for breaking the rules. But Varun was not made to follow rules and he was ready to face the consequences if any. He just wanted to cheer everyone up, and there is nothing better than some delicious food to knock out the blues. Varun locked the door from the inside so that no one could enter, and opened the boxes, placing them on the table in front of Garima. Everyone pounced on it as if they hadn’t eaten pizza for a decade.

  ‘Now this is the life. And you wanted to end it,’ Varun said, glancing at Garima.

  Garima gave him an apologetic look. Her friends meant more to her than family and were trying their best to pamper her, doing the things she loved. They knew she was a foodie and were indulging her cravings.

  The last piece of pizza remained and they were looking at each other, wondering who was going to grab it first. Generally they would have put up a fight over the last slice but today they insisted that Garima eat it. Within minutes all the food was over. Varun took a can of air freshener and sprayed it all over the room. He put all the empty boxes back into his bag and unlocked the door. A few minutes later the doctor came on his rounds. Everyone sat glued to their places as if nothing had happened.

  ‘How are you feeling now?’ the doctor asked, checking Garima’s pulse rate.

  ‘Now, I’m actually feeling better.’ Garima winked at Varun.

  The doctor smiled and, after discussing the reports with the nurse, was about to leave when he sensed something fishy. He caught the lingering aroma of pizza in the room. But unsure about it, he asked Varun if something was wrong.

  ‘Yes doctor, I actually ordered one pizza, they sent two. I ate four slices and eight are still left.’

  ‘What?’ the doctor asked, surprised.

  ‘You didn’t hear me? See, I actually ordered one pizza, they sent two. I ate four slices and eight slices are still left.’

  Ahana interrupted their conversation to avoid further complications, saying, ‘Doctor, just ignore him. Actually he’s gone crazy ever since Garima landed up here. You see, they are dating and he loves Garima so much that he can’t see her in pain.’

  Malvika shot a surprised look at Ahana who signalled to her to be quiet.

  ‘But in the morning I saw this guy with that girl in the waiting lounge and they seemed pretty close,’ the doctor remarked, pointing towards Malvika.

  ‘That’s right. Actually he is in love with both girls. He was dating Malvika but for the past few months he has also been seeing Garima. Phew! Let me clear this up. The three of them are actually figuring out who they are more compatible with,’ said Ahana.

  ‘Sorry, doctor,’ said Varun. ‘I won’t drink henceforth. Actually I have a tendency to fart a lot after drinking. That must be my fart you smell.’

  The doctor was close to being driven mad. He was about to leave when Varun stopped him again and whispered, ‘Doctor, the best thing about being heavily drunk is that you save a lot of electricity. I haven’t switched on the fan, and it’s still rotating at this speed.’

  The doctor gave him a disgusted look and left.

  Varun smiled and closed the door. All of them burst out laughing. Garima actually felt better after all the reckless fun. When life gets too serious, you need someone with whom you can always be stupid! Ahana, Garima, Malvika and Varun acted stupidly, knowing they had to lower the intensity of the situation. Garima thanked the Almighty for sending such people in her life, people who could make her soul smile.

  Garima was discharged the next day but was advised to rest for a week which worked to her advant
age as she could study for the upcoming exams. Everyone took proper care of her and with each passing day she recovered. With their love and support, she had started to live again. But somewhere she was still worried about the clip that Sid had sent. She discussed the issue with Ahana who assured her that everything was under control.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ve known that son of a bitch for a long time. He may have recorded you but he does not have the guts to circulate the video. If he had it in him, he would have done it by now. But he is a coward. He just knows how to harass people and he wants attention. I ignored him to such an extent that his ego took a fall and hence he played this cheap trick.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Garima asked in fear.

  ‘Yes. And obviously we are not going to let him get away with it. But our first priority is your health. So get well soon. We have to kick his ass together,’ Ahana comforted Garima.

  Varun too consoled her and gave her medicines while she played games on her cell phone to distract herself. He told her that everyone trusted her without a doubt. Varun and Ahana managed to calm her but not for long. She saw her mobile ringing and picked up the call. It was an unknown number but the voice on the other end was not unknown. She started shivering. She couldn’t manage to speak a word.

  ‘I will expose you. If you don’t believe me then you can check your WhatsApp messages.’

  The phone got disconnected. With a heavy heart, she managed to look at the mobile screen.

  ‘1 WhatsApp message received.’

  It read, ‘You have just 2 choices. Do as I say or face the consequences.’

  A few pictures and a video accompanied the message. What had happened a few days ago was a mere trailer compared to what she saw in this message. Varun tried asking what was happening but Garima was devoid of any emotion. She looked dazed. He snatched the phone from her and what he saw shattered the ground beneath his feet.

  There were a series of nude images of Garima! Varun realized that her face had been cropped from the video of Sid and her and Photoshopped on to the naked bodies.

  He became furious and wanted to call the cops but Garima didn’t want them involved because she feared they would question her character instead of helping her. She didn’t want to revisit her past. She sobbed heavily on Ahana’s shoulder, cursing her life.

  She thought she had escaped the torture. Women are always thought of as the fragile sex, but nothing is as easily wounded as a man’s ego. When Malvika came home, she sat with Ahana, Varun and Garima to discuss what had happened.

  ‘Who made the phone call?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s not important.’

  ‘Why? What are you hiding? Why are you playing with your life?’

  ‘I am not. It’s not important who called but rather what he said.’

  They were all shocked when Garima told them about her conversation with the caller. He was blackmailing Garima to sleep with her. He threatened to make the photos and the video go viral, not just among the students of her college but on the Internet as well, if she didn’t agree. The other option he had presented her with was to pay him four lakh rupees in a couple of weeks. He knew Garima would not be able to arrange that huge an amount in such a short span of time and would be forced into giving in to his first demand. Under such circumstances it is natural to question the very existence of a supreme power. This was a test of not just her character, but also her moral fibre and her existence.

  ‘I really think we should approach the cops and let them handle it,’ Varun tried convincing them.

  ‘No way. Being a girl I know what it takes to file a complaint. They will ignore the case and instead ask questions about why I am sharing an apartment with a guy, what I was doing late at night at a pub, etc. Our society is not yet that liberal. Be it cops or your neighbours, they all narrow-minded. Please understand my concerns. I beg you,’ Garima cried.

  ‘I think she is right. Your character is seen as inversely proportional to the amount of cleavage you show. Approaching cops induces fear instead of a sense of security. We shouldn’t involve the cops. Also, look at her condition. She is shivering at the mere thought of it,’ Malvika said, holding on to Garima.

  ‘I will not accept his first choice. I would rather die than do that.’

  ‘Of course, darling, it will be a matter of shame for us if we tell you to sleep with him. I really wish I could chop his dick off and serve it to him for dessert.’

  ‘Let’s just agree to his second demand. We will give him the money. He will destroy my life otherwise.’

  ‘But is it Sid? I will screw his life, just tell me once. Sid is a coward. He won’t do anything,’ Ahana yelled.

  The discussion continued for some more time. No one wanted Garima to agree to the first choice. Eventually she was successful in convincing everyone about not approaching the cops or anybody outside their group. The only option left was to agree to give the four lakh rupees he had asked for.

  ‘But I don’t have so much money with me right now. Moreover, if I ask my dad or if he finds out that I have made a transaction worth four lakhs on a single day, we will land in big trouble. We need to think of some other way to arrange the money.’

  ‘Even Varun’s savings won’t be enough. Garima, how are we going to arrange for such a big amount? We are students and getting four lakh rupees is next to impossible,’ Malvika said in a dejected tone.

  Everyone turned towards Varun who was lost in thought. He looked at them and said that if they had no choice but to pay the money, there was only one way. Whether it was the right thing to do was for time to decide. But for now he had decided to stand by it. Varun’s plan was to leak a university examination question paper!

  ‘Have you gone nuts? Do you have the slightest idea how risky this is?’ Ahana screamed.

  Garima and Malvika didn’t utter a word for some time. There was pin-drop silence in the room until Malvika broke the silence. ‘How’s that possible?’

  ‘My seniors used to leak the university papers a day before the exam and sell them to a few students for a good amount of money. They used to do it so secretly that no one ever found out. I am sure we can sell them and collect enough money.’

  ‘Is it safe?’

  ‘I think so. They were never caught. We can surely take a chance now that we have no choice.’

  ‘I am up for it,’ Garima muttered.

  It was a huge risk, their careers were at stake. But they were willing to go to any lengths for Garima.

  Fulfilling the caller’s demand was indeed a bad idea but they agreed to do it for Garima’s sake.

  Varun had managed to convince himself and the others of this plan even though he knew that if his father got the slightest hint of it, he would be dead. What do you do when all you want is to do something for yourself, but are so used to doing things for everyone else that you don’t know what it is that you want.

  It was final now—they were going to leak a university examination paper.

  Breaking the Rules

  One has to be strong when life throws difficulties at you. But no one tells you what the hell you have to do to be strong. It’s not easy; emotions and feelings do not die natural deaths.

  Varun knew that he had chosen the wrong path but every other road led to a dead end. What was he supposed to do? Supporting a friend in trouble was a good thing to do, but supporting them by wrong means—was that right? Was that acceptable? It’s very easy to choose between right and wrong but your brain stops functioning when you have to choose between two wrongs. He could either leave Garima to her fate or rescue her from the mess by acquiring the money, by hook or by crook. He chose the latter.

  ‘Are you certain the plan will work? We don’t want any more complications.’ Malvika was visibly tense.

  ‘Yes. Still, just to be sure, I am going to meet the senior who accomplished this task before. I’m not going to reveal anything to him, just get the lab assistant’s name, the one who helped them,’ Varun said confidently.


  ‘But who will buy the question paper from us?’ Garima asked.

  ‘I have already sent a WhatsApp message to a few close friends of mine who have shared it with their contacts. We already have more than twenty-five people ready with the cash. We just need to hand over the question paper to them. Half the amount will be paid on the spot and the remainder after the exam,’ Varun added.

  ‘What if you get caught? You will have wasted three years of your life. Worse, they may never allow you to appear for your exams again,’ Garima whispered in a low tone. She was aware that everyone was taking this risk for her sake.

  Varun walked closer to Garima and said, ‘You know what, I had an imaginary friend when I was a kid. As I grew older I realized most of the people who claim to be your friends are imaginary. Luckily, I have got the three of you now. So now it’s my turn to do something. But on a serious note, I am clueless as to what I will do if they catch me.’

  They all hugged each other; no words were exchanged. Anxiety hovered in the air. The real test of life had begun already. After exchanging a few grave glances, Varun left to meet his senior.

  Life comes in boxes of various sizes, holding moments that are good and bad. The contents may vary in proportion but you can’t choose to escape any one of them at your convenience. An individual decides if they want to make the most of each one of the contents. No matter what our opinion, we have to accept things the way they are.

  ‘I am fucked. I don’t know how I will pass my mathematics exam tomorrow,’ Varun said, pretending to be nervous in front of his senior.

  ‘Shit happens, dude. That’s the whole idiotic part of our system. It ensures women live with fear and suppresses the youth with loads of exams,’ the senior cribbed as if he knew everything that went on in this world.

  ‘I wish I was gutsy enough to get help from the lab assistant, like you did. Life would be a cakewalk,’ Varun bemoaned, hoping that he would reveal something.