"There are as many kinds of love as there are hearts"

"I....I'm A..a...aradh...ya...o...o..b.ero..i" she shuttered out her name, fearfully she knew they will hate her knowing her origins. She waited for the first sign of hate shinning in their eyes, the  first sign of scorn making it's way on their beautiful faces but their faces remained neutral, their was no sign of hate on their facial expressions or body language.

"whose daughter are you?" Tanish asked her in a neutral voice, his voice has lost it's earlier friendly tone but his tone wasn't cold yet, just neutral concealing all his feelings.

"E..el..ina and S..shi...va...ye" She again shuttered the fear of facing rejection, breaking her at a rate she thought impossible as she questioned herself why his acceptance matter so much to her.

His face was still expressionless as he stared at Kashika, their eyes speaking volumes she couldn't understand, how do you read each other's unspoken words in their eyes, she didn't knew, she hadn't learnt the art of conversing through eyes yet. She waited with bated breath for their final judgement, for the rejection she knew will come. She can't expect them to accept her when her parents destroyed his mother's life, she has heard many stories of Tanish love for his mother. so, she was certain she will face only rejection here

"do you mind if we call you only Aradhya or Aru actually we don't like the oberoi title, so will you mind if we don't call you oberoi, just Aradhya or any other name you prefer" He asked her with an eyebrow perfectly arched upwards. you might have heard the phrase god has made her leisurely the phrase suits him perfectly, god really had made this guy leisurely.

"yeah, not at all and you can call me anything you guys want I don't mind" She replied grinning feeling so light for the first time in her life, her smile was genuine

"your smile shines brighter than the sun,  do you mind if I call you snowflake you look like a snowflake to me" Tanish added sweetly, his eyes shinning so bright that it could even shame the sun, his hazel orbs were captivating and deep, his words were the sweetest thing anyone haw ever said to her.

"sure" She replied her eyes sparkling with genuine happiness, which made the girl standing beside Tanish giggle happily

"now, see I've a snowflake and starlight" Tanish added happily as he winked at kashika

"starlight??" she questioned them confused

"Ansh calls me, Starlight" Kashika added smiling as her eyes sparkled with unconditional love, her smile was bright and dazzling

"btw with whom you're here??" Tanish questioned her was it concern fleeting through his eyes

" Mom, I mean Annanya mom" She informed them shyly

"Oh, Ananya auntie we will meeting her after long, right Kashi" Tanish questioned Kashika who was gazing towards the changing rooms

"yes, but why are the others taking so much time, Don't tell me Abhi slept in the changing room" Kashika said so making a funny face while Tanish laughed his heart out at her remark, as she stood their confused about whom they were talking but she doesn't have enough courage to ask them. But looks like she didn't need to as four equally looking hot boys got out of the changing room and approached them.

" Finally dude, even girls take less time than you guys, what were you doing in their sleeping" Kashika taunted them haughtily

"we don't take too much time, you two get ready super fast and the stalls weren't empty" Abhi replied in a mocking tone

"whatever sails your boat" Kashika's reply was haughty but her voice was warm, and for the first time in her life she watched what friendship is like, the mock fights b/w the gang was clear, love was shinning clearly for each other in their eyes, they adored each other, they were protective and possessive for each other, even though Kashika was using haughty tone, her tone and behavior was different from Nia, she didn't look at others as if they were below her, her behavior was regal, her eyes were wise, full of knowledge and secrets.

"okh, okh, enough guys" Tanish cut in their banter finally as he glanced towards me and spoke joyfully as he introduced her to his gang " Snowflake, meet my buddies, my brothers that idiot their is Abhishek, we call him Abhi, the one next to him is sidhant aka Sid, beside him is Subhman aka subh or maan and the kiddo beside him is my cousin Satvik Rana, he just begin his high school life and guys this is Aradhya, Aradhya Oberoi"

the gang again exchanged some silent eye conversations after which Satvik was the first one to spoke to her

"heya snowflake, I'm Satvik as Anshu just smtated it is nice to meet you"he spoke happily, and if I compared him to seasons he is summer all warm

"hi, I'm Abhi sweetheart, the most handsome guy in this group" Abhi stated while the other made an long suffering sigh specially Kashika

"ignore him snowflake, I'm sid , nice to meet you"Sid stated politely

"subh, nice to meet you" stated the last guy forwarding his hand for a handshake which she took happily

"so, in which college are you??" asked Abhi looking around

"St. Louis" she replied shyly

"really, we are in the same college, which department??" Tanish asked interested

" Law" Aru replied softly

"really, we are too in the same department but we never saw you in class" Kashika questioned her

"actually I haven't attended the class yet I was going to attend the class for tomorrow" She informed them shrugging her shoulder

"Oh, then why don't you come to college with us tomorrow, you know what we will pick you up from your house ugh I mean gate of your mansion, we won't enter OM, is it fine by you??" Tanish asked her smiling softly

"yeah, if you guys don't have any problem" She replied to him shyly

"no we don't have any prob" he replied laughing boyishly

"And then we will take you to our hangout place, Utopia, it's pure bliss there, we will enjoy a lot"

They were telling her about the classes, when the elders joined them. The gang introduced them to her all of them were charismatic, the women in the group were icons of women power, The Taani Sekhawat is a whole book in herself, Mallika Rana was another story of success and Omisha the invincible lady, who doesn't know them not to mention Rian and Sidharth Rana, they were one of the most respected people in the city and they knew her mom, Annanya as they all seemed friendly. The following hours were the best hours of her life, she never had so much fun. The guys never let her feel alienated, they took care of her. They took the rides with her, splashed in the pool, go on the big slides. the hours were full of fun and mischief, they didn't even realize when the fun hours were over and it was time to go back home.

In all the fun moments, she realized one thing she will never be able to share same bond with Tanish as Kashika shares with Tanish, Kashika was Tanish's lifeline. She may be Tanish's blood related sister but Kashika was Tanish's real sister. Even their nicknames clear that She was a snowflake, fragile, soft, beautiful and easily destroyed, so he decided to be her savior, he decided to protect her from herself while Kashika was starlight, bright and dazzling, the source of light is Tanish's life. he doesn't need to protect her but she protects him from his darkness.

To be continued

And this is Satvik...