A storm is raging, deep and strong
Penetrating the walls of despair,
Its angry façade slowly growing,
Beneath the happy faces, it bears.
-tintinspy
We all have Secrets, deep ones, and we all find our own way of shielding it from the world. It's not...
Sniff.. sniff.. sniff.. "What in the world are you doing Avni?" I asked looking at her. She was sniffing the air like a dog- army dog. Avni got a status. She came near me sniffing the air.
"Yew!! That's where the smell is from. You stink Abhi." she crunched her nose, moving her hand sideways repeatedly over her face as if to swat away the smell.
I pulled up my left hand and sniffed my arm pit. OK! That didn't smell quite good. "Uh.. Just a bit."
"Just a bit? I am sure even the last row can smell your stinky armpit. How can you skip bathing?" We were then standing in rows in a training hall in the ISB headquarter or academy. It was our training hour as mentioned in the schedule. There was a buzzing sound in the hall. Everyone was busy sharing their first day's adventure.
"I was tired." I said in my defense.
"Oh ya! You weren't tired to gobble up all those food in the dining hall. You didn't even spare mine. What did you guys cook anyway?"
"Guess what we might have cooked today?" I asked grinning at her.
She smirked at me,"After sniffing, all that I could guess is that you ended up burning whatever you cooked."
Karan and I exchanged glances. Ya, we actually did burn the Paneer Butter Masala. How can Avni know everything?
"It was our first time." Karan answered looking at Naina, studying her reaction. Naina blushed and looked away. What's with this two?
"Leave ours. What happened to your favorite fashion designing class?" I teased Avni.
"Don't even mention it." Naina giggled. "She learned quite a lot of brand names. I bet with this rate Avni will transform into a girl soon."
"I am a girl. I am just not those type of girls who flaunt themselves day and night, painting their face in make up and loosing their natural beauty." she growled at Naina and me.
"Wow..wow.. Cool down Avni. You.." Naina started.
"Attention everyone." we heard Mr. Singh's voice and Naina stopped herself in mid sentence. There resided a pin drop silence in the hall.
"Good." Miss Kiran smiled at us. "Its your first day as official trainee in this academy. So, we will start by making you guys familiar with some of the members of ISB headquarter. Of course there are some you are already familiar with. And the others would be introduced today." She ended and from a door at her right, few people started to enter.
We recognized some. Like there was Principal Jagmohan and Mr. Jain among others.
"What? She is too an agent? Wow." I heard Naina say.
"Whom are you talking about?" Of course Karan asked that.
"The one who is dressed fashionably. She is our ma'am in NIFT- our new college." We nodded to that information.
When Miss Kiran was introducing the members, we got to know that her name was Mrs. Khan. She looked really beautiful. We knew that she was quite older to us, but her make up managed to hid her age. I could see Mr. Jain flattered by her beauty.
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Now that I come to think about it, it seemed as if every college had an agent. That means there might have been a teacher in our school who was an agent. No, that's not possible. No, that can be possible. After all some of us are training to be a teacher.
"So now as you are familiar with them, except for one. You will get to know him later. You will be now meeting the other trainees, or most precisely your seniors." Mr. Singh informed and from the door to his left, some 20-25 people of our age started coming in.
There were some pretty girls too. We didn't recognize anyone until-
"He?... She?" Avni and I cried together. Karan and Naina looked at us, they must be thinking that we have lost our mind.
"You will get to know them eventually as you will be living in your accommodation together. Its very important to maintain a friendly and competitive relation with them. They will guide you. You may be newbies, but still lets see which of the group defeats whom in the exams." Mr. Singh continued. What? We even have exams here? Can't these exams leave us in peace?
"Now the senior trainees will hand out your new uniform and IDs. You will wear this for your training from today. And don't forget to bring your IDs everyday. They are your normal college IDs with a small unnoticeable difference. Get changed. You will start your training with them soon." Miss Kiran clapped her hands asking us to hurry.
That he and she walked towards us and handed us our things. Being the overtly curious person I am. I unfolded my uniform then and there. This particular uniform made us feel so overwhelmed. Wearing it even would be a matter of pride. This is what the armies wear. The pattern of the dress was same for both genders. Army green broad sleeved tops and baggy pants. We even had caps with that- probably to wear during open ground training. The new army boots were comfortable. Nice. (In the picture, minus the bullets)
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"Done with exploring the uniform buddy? Get ready." He smirked at me, while I glared.
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Hey Hey!! Updates.
So the training didn't start today. It was a linking chapter. I hope you liked it. I placed Sridevi as Mrs. Khan. What did you think of her? And I personally love their training hall and uniform. What did you think of it?
Guess who the he and she is? Please do comment. I really need to know your views. Should I make the chapters long?
