Best Friends Forever

a story of three friends who meet by chance and also stay together by chance......

I was walking in the market with my parents, looking for the things I would need for my new school. I was moving to another school, in another city, where I was going to stay in the hostel. I was going to miss being with my parents, but this might be a great opportunity for me. And anyway, my parents might pay me a visit. Oh, I am so sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I am Akruti, 15 years old, my father is in army, and my mother teaches at an army school. Well, where were we? Oh yes! We were shopping at the market for the things I would need. The days flew by, and before we knew it, it was time for me to leave. As I waved goodbye to them from my compartment, I felt as if my heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. Why oh Why, had I agreed to move to Shimla, when I could have stayed with my parents? Now, the train was out and about. My parents became smaller and smaller as the train went on.
 By now, the station had been left behind. I had boarded the train early in the morning, and I was going to reach Shimla tomorrow,
at around 5:30. At the next stop, another girl entered the compartment. She looked of my age, and by looking at her trunk (which had SGIS printed on it, like mine), I could tell she was going to the same school as me. “Hello” she said, “I am Saumya, who are you?” my reply was "“Hi, I am Akruti, are you also going to SGIS?” I asked. “Yes” she replied “are you also going there?” And then we talked about this and that. We became friends right away!
After a few more stops, another girl entered the compartment. She also looked of our age, and her trunk had SGIS printed on it. “Hi, I am Akruti, and this is Saumya” I said while pointing at Saumya at the last part. “Hi, I am Janhavi, you two seem to be going to SGIS as well.” “Guessed right!” Saumya replied. We chatted away while the train went on. At night, we went to sleep.
We were woken when the train came to a sudden stop with a jerk. “Whoa! What was that?” exclaimed Janhavi. I looked at the watch I had been wearing, and on my shout Saumya and Janhavi, practically, fell off their beds, “Wake UPPP!!!!!!” they both looked at me with a strange look as I almost jumped off my bed(I had the upper birth) in my hurry.”What’s up?”  Saumya finally asked what was on both of their minds. “Its 5o’clock, and the train arrives at Shimla at 5:30. Get ready!” I yelled in their faces. At this they ran around, getting ready, faster than anyone I had seen! Collecting their belongings and wearing the shoes. After that I got ready, and we waited for the station to come.
As we got down from the train at Shimla, we made sure that we didn’t get lost in the hustle and bustle of the station. There at the platform was waiting our school warden, holding placards with our names. At the school, the teachers greeted us warmly. “I hope you girls had no problem on your way. The three of you will be placed in the same dorms, so that you have no problem at all in getting settled.” One of the teachers said to us. Our eyes became as large as dinner plates! We were in the same dorms? Well, I was actually relieved to hear that. I was glad for one more thing. We were allowed to choose our own beds! Imagine if our beds had been already decided, and I got a bed beside some irritating, mean girl? Thank god that wasn’t the case. Now I just hope that there were three beds in a row left! I guess that was on the other’s mind as well, seeing the look on their face. “What’s our room number?” Janhavi exclaimed in excitement.” Room number 243.” Said one of the teachers.
 
We rushed to number 243, pushing aside other students. When we reached there, we were out of breath. We were also relieved, as it seemed that we were the first to reach our dorm. We wasted no time in choosing our beds, the first three ones. As I unpacked, I looked around the room. There were total 7 beds in the dorm, which meant we had to share with 4 more girls. Just as I was thinking this, another girl entered the dorm. She was very tall, almost as tall as Janhavi (who was about 5 feet and 10 inches tall). She had a dark skin tone. She had large, light blue eyes. She looked rather friendly, and I came to know I was right, when she said in the friendliest voice I had ever heard, “Hi there, I’m Priyanka, what is your name?” currently addressing me. I couldn’t help replying her in a friendly way,” hello, I am Akruti. And these are my friends, Saumya and Janhavi.”  “Hi” my friends replied. “Hello” she said to my friends, “it’s good to meet you.” She said in a refined way. What a well behaved girl. It’s very hard to dislike these types of girls. “May I have that bed?” she asked, looking towards the bed beside ours, “Or are you saving it for someone?”This time she spoke in a mischievous way. Oh well, at least we now knew she was humorous as well. “Sure, why not? We aren’t saving it for anyone. Are we, guys?”Janhavi asked us. “Of course not” we (me and Saumya) replied. As Priyanka put down her bag on the bed beside us, two more people entered the dorm, hand in hand. They looked like good friends, just as me, Saumya and Janhavi. “Hallo” the shorter one said,” I’m Ananya and my friend’s name is Nyonika” she said, introducing the taller one as well. “Hi” Nyonika said. “Hello” Priyanka said, “I am Priyanka, and they are….” She wasn’t able to complete as we cut in “I’m Janhavi.” “I am Akruti.” “I am Saumya” they put down their bags, as we thought, on two beds in a row. “Looks like there’s one more still to come” said Nyonika. “You’re right” I said, “I wonder who it is.”I added. “I think we will just have to wait to know.” said Priyanka. “She may arrive later on, maybe even tomorrow” said Ananya. “Well, she is lucky she won’t miss any work as all of the new term’s first and last week is always off, it will be announced in the principal’s speech later this afternoon.” said Janhavi. All faces turned towards her, “What?” she asked. “How do you know that?” I asked. “My sister used to study here, and she told me everything about the school. Even how to find my way here, in this huge school!” answered Janhavi.” Well then, you’ll be our guide through this school. Who’s with me?” asked the enthusiastic Ananya. “Of course” why not” “I am with you” “you can’t leave me out” came the replies of me, Saumya, Priyanka and Nyonika.” ok, I will be your guide, but no pushing around.” Said Janhavi. We all nodded in agreement. We spent the rest of the day exploring school, and at afternoon we went to the principal’s speech. At night we had a good night’s sleep. Anaya was right; the last girl of our dorm didn’t arrive till next day, and then we wished she had never arrived. Her name was Shivalika, and by the way she looked, she was in need of some serious exercise. She talked rudely and was really mean (gosh, I hope I am not very rude), but when she came to about my grades (don’t want to boast but I really do get very good grades) she talked in a sickly, sweet voice with me. Probably trying to make a good impression, too late. The rest of the term was rather uneventful, at least Shivalika soothed down a little when she was scolded by the principal herself for misbehaving, can you believe it? And then the next term came and went, and then the next term, then the next, and next and so on. By the time we had to leave SGIS, my, Saumya and Janhavi’s bond had strengthened, and Shivalika was not mean anymore, and didn’t talk rudely anymore. What a miracle! But now it was our last week at school, and we had to return to our homes, in different places. All of us were busy packing our bags. I sighed as I remembered all the amazing memories I had at this school, and all of them had Saumya, Janhavi or both of them in it. Suddenly, I felt a hand on either of my shoulders. At one side there was Janhavi, and on the other Saumya. “I know” said Saumya; “I wish we could all stay together” added Janhavi. “I am going to miss you guys’ I said with tears in my eyes as I trapped both of them in a giant bear hug. Then, there was a knock on the door. We parted and Janhavi, who stood nearest to the door, opened it. “Yes?” she asked to whoever stood there (we couldn’t see who it was) after a moment she closed the door, she had three letters in her hand. “Who was it?” I asked. “It was the mailman.” She said. She handed one of the letters to me and the second to Saumya and the third she kept herself “it’s from our parents.” she said. This is what was on my letter:
Dear Akruti
You don’t need to catch a train back home, instead catch a train to Chandigarh. You might be wondering why we are asking you to go to Chandigarh, when we know that it’s not where we live. Cause that’s where we live, in Chandigarh! Now, I know you might be getting confused. The thing is your father got posted, to Chandigarh! We will be waiting for you this is your mother, and now I think your father wants to write the rest of the letter.
Hello dear, it’s been ages since we were posted to a new place. I hope you are all right, we are all okay here. I hope you didn’t freak out when you read the part that your mother wrote. Sorry, can’t write any longer as we have to leave for the railway station.   Bye. With love,
Your Parents.
Well that’s what was on my letter. Actually I did freak out at mother’s part. We were getting posted? Whoa! I was about to tell my friends, when I noticed the same looks of shock on my friends. Maybe it was because there was something in their letters as well. I wonder what was on their letters. Not wanting to disappoint my friends, I didn’t tell them about me moving to Chandigarh. So, instead I said,”Uh….guys, actually the thing is….um....I won’t be able to come in the sane train this time, sorry.”  I said with pauses in between. “Nor me” said Saumya, “neither me” concluded Janhavi. “Well, it seems that none of us will be travelling on the same train.” I was relieved yet disappointed. I chuckled a little as I remembered that when I was first coming here, I had felt the same, just for different people! “What’s so funny?”Asked Saumya,” We could use a bit of cheering up before leaving.” she added. “Oh, it’s nothing.” I replied. “well, as we may not be able to have fun on the train as usual, why don’t we enjoy our last remaining days here” I said, as the idea suddenly ‘popped’ into my head. “That’s a wonderful idea” said Janhavi, with Saumya nodding in agreement. So……….that was that. We had as much fun as we could in our last few days. We roamed the school; gossiping, we had sleepovers in our dorms, as everyone, including Shivalika, agreed to the idea as soon as it was laid out. But happy times always have to end, and to break these happy moments of ours came the end of term, our last term at SGIS. “Goodbye guys, I’m going to miss you a lot.” I whispered as me, Saumya and Janhavi came together into a last group hug. By this time, small-small tears had started to fall down my cheeks. We had almost become sisters! “Hey…hey, don’t cry Akruti! We should part happily, not while crying……” Said Saumya. “I’m not crying!” I interrupted as I hated to cry. “And don’t you lie either.” Added Janhavi finishing the sentence Saumya had started. “Ha, ha, ha.” Was I crazy? I was laughing with tears in my eyes! “Goodbye!” I yelled towards them as I went on my way. “Let’s see.” I thought as I looked at the ticket my parents had sent me. The platform no. was 4 and I was in the B2 coach. As I was sleeping in my compartment that night, I felt a little bit of tingling inside me, the one which I had when Saumya or Janhavi were around without me being aware of it. But I brushed off the thought with a shake of my head. “They can’t be on this train; they are going to different places in different trains!” I thought. As I got down at Chandigarh, I looked around the crowded station. I thought I saw Saumya getting down from the coach to my left and Janhavi from my right. “I may be missing them a lot; those people can have similar appearances to Saumya and Janhavi. And any way, how could they be here.” By then I noticed a couple of army men, both of them from my home. I walked towards them, and they assisted me with my bags. When we reached the gate used to enter the cantonment of Chandigarh, I glanced out the window, and saw a large gate. As we entered the cant, I drank in the beautiful roundabouts, the well kept parks on the way. When we reached the house in which I was supposed to reside with my parents, I was struck speechless! That’s what comes of my father having one of the high ranks. The house was gigantic, and the verandah was large, garden the greenest I had ever seen, a beautiful gazette, a wonderful swing, and a magnificent tree house! “Wow!” I exclaimed. “I hope you liked it, dear.” said my mother's voice. I looked towards the verandah, and saw my mother standing there, ready to receive me. I ran towards her, and she nearly fell over when I gave her a large bear hug. “I’ve missed you!” I said, “me as well” said mom. “Where’s dad? I asked as I finally let her breath. “At office, but he’s surely going to get a surprise when he sees you here.” Mom replied. We had a hearty talk. I shared all that had happened at SGIS over the course of time, and she shared what had happened in the cantonment while I was away. The time passed away as we talked, and we were startled when the bell rang. When we opened the door, well……time for another bear hug, ‘cause at the door stood…. “Dad!” I cried. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, now don’t you dare damage my eardrums” he said as he returned the hug while laughing. “So, you coming to the presentation tomorrow?” dad asked. “Uh……which presentation exactly?” I asked with a confused look on my face. “There’s going to be a presentation between our unit and two other business companies.” Explained mother, “well, I don’t know what I’m going to do at home, so I think I’m coming.” I replied. “Then it’s planned, you better be ready by 9:00 am tomorrow. Got it?” said father, “yup” came the reply. Tomorrow, when we reached the presentation, I was surprised to feel the same tingling inside me! Could one of them be here? “You got to go to that room over there.” Said dad, breaking my train of thoughts. I groaned. Why did we have to sit in a stupid room filled with small, naughty children? But I obeyed as I knew we had to follow the rules, I just hoped that there weren’t too many crazy children over there. But after a few minutes of sitting around, the door opened, I was dumbstruck. “Saumya?” I asked as I finally found my voice. “Akruti?” asked Saumya who had also lost her voice. “Saumya, Akruti?” came a voice behind Saumya and there she was, the only one remaining, “Janhavi?” me and Saumya said in unison. We ran towards each other and ‘crushed’ each other with the tightest hug we ever had. We started talking all at once, until our tongues were aching. We shared a hearty laugh together, and shared what had happened. “I hadn’t imagined that I would find you guys here!” I said. “Neither me” said Janhavi, “Count me out.” Added Saumya. As the presentation ended, we noted down each other’s new address. As the days passed, we became used to our new life. We met each other occasionally, as it seemed as if our unit and their companies had…..kind of….um…..formed a deal. As life went on, we had started to do a job, surprisingly, not in the same companies! We were sure that we were the happiest bunch of buddies!
True friends can never be parted.

The End