Arshika's Big Plans
“So,” Rithvik Sir starts, after Arshika’s scary performance was over, along with the judges’ comments. “Arshika did not only spook us here, but fellows Super Dancers as well. Let’s take a look.”
We turn to the TV screens mounted above the seats. I’m having a feeling I know what this is about. Oh, and I know this is a nightmare.
The screen turns on, and a shot of Arshika sitting with her friends in a dark room. There are dark circles underneath her eyes, and I know it is makeup.
“Look, there has been lots of halla after the ASP thing started,” she tells her friends. “Aman, Sankalp and Prithvi.”
She straightens her back. “Girls, I think it is time we show them who’s boss.”
“And how are we going to do that?” Anshita asks.
She rubs her hands menacingly. And I know that means that she is going to give the most devious, most horrifying, most hilarious idea ever.
“Watch me, ladies.”
The screen shifts to inside the elevator. Aman gulps in the seat beside me. He knows it is his bad moment. On the screen, it shows Aman in the elevator, whistling as he waits to reach his desired floor. There’s a box next to him. And then, the box opens, and out pops—a ghost! Oh, it looks horrifying, but I am yet to realise it is Arshika who is playing a prank on Aman. She scares him good, though, I cannot deny. Aman screams so loudly it sounds so scary and so funny at the same time. We all laugh hard, including me. I slap Aman on the back, who is covering his face in embarrassment.
The next part shows Prithvi with a towel around his neck. Of course, he is returning from a gruelling practice session. I had those sometimes. But when he opens his room door, Arshika jumps out, again, clothed in the same white leotard and wearing the same scary hairstyle and makeup. Poor Prithvi has probably never seen a ghost in his life, and he cries out so loudly it shook the walls o the hotel. It gets everyone laughing and hooting again, and Prithvi is wishing he disappeared right now. I can hear him muttering under his breath in Kannada. Maybe he swears revenge on Arshika, and I can’t blame him if he did.
But I am going to get double-dosed with double embarrassment now. My shot comes in, and I have to go to the bathroom. But when I step in, Arshika, for the third time, pops out from the bathtub, and I am scared worse than Prithvi and Aman. I scream and run out, and everyone in the seats laughs their heads off. Varangi Ma’am ruffles my hair. “Sankalp, really?”
“What?” I murmur, my face as read as Anurima Ma’am’s costume. “I had to go, okay? I’m glad I did not pee my pants on sight.”
“Well, I would’ve been scared, too. But—man!” She laughs even harder.
But the ASP group is saved from embarrassment—at the cost of some other kids. In the last shot, Parita and Sobhit, some of the youngest dancers, are freaked out more than us—as Arshika spooks them by walking in a backbend! It was scary enough to see Arshika upright, but a backbend put the lid on it. We laughed the hardest seeing the little children go ballistic in horror.
“Boys!” Anshuman Sir calls us from the judges’ table. “You’re getting revenge for this, right?”
“Yes!” All of the boys, including me, hold our fists up, as if declaring war. And we are.
Oh, it was going to be painful.
Signed,
Melody Vega
We turn to the TV screens mounted above the seats. I’m having a feeling I know what this is about. Oh, and I know this is a nightmare.
The screen turns on, and a shot of Arshika sitting with her friends in a dark room. There are dark circles underneath her eyes, and I know it is makeup.
“Look, there has been lots of halla after the ASP thing started,” she tells her friends. “Aman, Sankalp and Prithvi.”
She straightens her back. “Girls, I think it is time we show them who’s boss.”
“And how are we going to do that?” Anshita asks.
She rubs her hands menacingly. And I know that means that she is going to give the most devious, most horrifying, most hilarious idea ever.
“Watch me, ladies.”
The screen shifts to inside the elevator. Aman gulps in the seat beside me. He knows it is his bad moment. On the screen, it shows Aman in the elevator, whistling as he waits to reach his desired floor. There’s a box next to him. And then, the box opens, and out pops—a ghost! Oh, it looks horrifying, but I am yet to realise it is Arshika who is playing a prank on Aman. She scares him good, though, I cannot deny. Aman screams so loudly it sounds so scary and so funny at the same time. We all laugh hard, including me. I slap Aman on the back, who is covering his face in embarrassment.
The next part shows Prithvi with a towel around his neck. Of course, he is returning from a gruelling practice session. I had those sometimes. But when he opens his room door, Arshika jumps out, again, clothed in the same white leotard and wearing the same scary hairstyle and makeup. Poor Prithvi has probably never seen a ghost in his life, and he cries out so loudly it shook the walls o the hotel. It gets everyone laughing and hooting again, and Prithvi is wishing he disappeared right now. I can hear him muttering under his breath in Kannada. Maybe he swears revenge on Arshika, and I can’t blame him if he did.
But I am going to get double-dosed with double embarrassment now. My shot comes in, and I have to go to the bathroom. But when I step in, Arshika, for the third time, pops out from the bathtub, and I am scared worse than Prithvi and Aman. I scream and run out, and everyone in the seats laughs their heads off. Varangi Ma’am ruffles my hair. “Sankalp, really?”
“What?” I murmur, my face as read as Anurima Ma’am’s costume. “I had to go, okay? I’m glad I did not pee my pants on sight.”
“Well, I would’ve been scared, too. But—man!” She laughs even harder.
But the ASP group is saved from embarrassment—at the cost of some other kids. In the last shot, Parita and Sobhit, some of the youngest dancers, are freaked out more than us—as Arshika spooks them by walking in a backbend! It was scary enough to see Arshika upright, but a backbend put the lid on it. We laughed the hardest seeing the little children go ballistic in horror.
“Boys!” Anshuman Sir calls us from the judges’ table. “You’re getting revenge for this, right?”
“Yes!” All of the boys, including me, hold our fists up, as if declaring war. And we are.
Oh, it was going to be painful.
Signed,
Melody Vega
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