RAYA Fan Fiction OS : It's Not A Dream Part 1

Part 1

Priya was in a crowd of loud fans. She wanted to scream too, but she was so excited to see him that she could hardly breathe. The screams got even louder, which meant he was coming. She pushed through the crowd to get a better view. There he was, Ram Kapoor. He smiled and waved to the screaming girls as he passed, stopping to sign a few autographs. He had just finished signing one girl's when he turned and caught her gaze. He looked at her for what felt like a long time. She felt her heart stop for a moment. Then he smiled and walked up to her. The other girls noticed her reaction and started whispering to each other. She felt her face turn red. He gestured for her notebook. She handed it to him while still staring into his brown eyes.

"May I know your name?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm Priya," she replied nervously.

He chuckled at her nervousness, which helped her relax a bit. He quickly wrote something on a small piece of paper, then handed it to her, giving her a gentle kiss on the hand. "Nice to meet you, Priya," he said.

He seemed mischievous and sly as he let go of her hand and turned his attention back to the crowd of fangirls. Others were still gossiping about her. Part of her wanted the attention, while the other part wanted to disappear. She managed to slip away from the crowd and onto the road. Her heart was racing; it felt surreal. "That was strange," she thought, but a smile crept onto her face. Out of all the girls, she was the only one who got a kiss on the hand. She hoped it wasn't just a dream.


Ram finished signing another autograph. He glanced back, hoping to catch another glimpse of her, but she had already disappeared into the crowd. She was beautiful, with black hair and black eyes. Ram felt a sudden urge to meet her, but he worried he might have made her uncomfortable. Though he longed to apologize and see her again, he couldn't leave. He realized he might never have another chance encounter like this. With a sigh, he turned back and made his way into the theater.

Priya sat down heavily on her couch and let out a big sigh. She was relieved she made it back to her apartment without being surrounded by upset fans. Her dog hopped onto her lap, and she gently petted him. "I've had a really busy day," she told her dog. He simply gazed back at her. "Okay, I'll get you some food now."

She got up and went into her small kitchen. Then she put some dog food in a bowl and placed it on the ground for her dog. After that, she went into the bathroom to change. While looking in the mirror, she gasped. She realized her favorite necklace was missing. Quickly, she ran out of the bathroom and grabbed her purse, but it wasn't there. She looked around the room and even checked under the cushions of her couch, but it wasn't there either. Feeling frustrated, she sighed. She thought it might have fallen out while she was out. She decided to call the movie theater to see if she left it there. She picked up her cell phone and dialed the number.

"Hello," said a woman's voice on the other end.

"Hi, I seem to have lost my necklace. It's a heart locket with a small moon etched into the top of it."

The woman said, "Wait a minute." She waited for a few minutes before speaking again. "I'm sorry, Mam, but there's no sign of a necklace like that."

"Oh well, thanks for checking. Goodbye," she said.

"Goodbye," said the woman as she hung up. She sat back down on the couch, feeling overwhelmed. "Just one thing after another," she said to herself.

Then, she noticed the notebook Ram had left on the floor. She picked it up and turned to the page where he had signed. It read, "For a beautiful fan, with love, Ram Kapoor." She looked at her hand, the one he had kissed. She could still feel the soft touch of his lips. She sighed and closed the notebook. "Get real," she told herself. "He was probably just teasing you."

She changed into her pajamas and got ready for bed. After turning off the lights, she closed her eyes but couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about it, but she knew she had to if she wanted any rest.
Ram left the theater with his manager late at night, when all the screaming fans had already left. As they headed towards the car waiting for them by the road, Ram noticed something shiny in the gutter. He bent down to take a closer look and found a beautiful but simple heart-shaped locket with a moon etched on top and a pattern around it. Opening it, he saw a picture of a smiling couple with a little girl between them, who resembled Priya. Remembering her wearing something similar, he showed it to his manager, asking if they could find her, even just her phone number. His manager, recalling the incident when Ram kissed the girl's hand earlier, reassured him it was his personal matter. Taking the locket, the manager promised to help. As they got into the car, heading home, Ram couldn't help but smile, hoping to see Priya again.

Priya rested her head on her hand while listening to her science professor's lecture. Her friend Rajat, sitting next to her, had fallen asleep. She nudged him with her pencil. "Hmm, what?" he whispered, looking over at her. "Why did you have to wake me up? I was having a nice dream."

"You can't keep sleeping in class. You've already been caught twice. Besides, we only have a few minutes left," she whispered back. He sighed. "Fine," and then turned his attention to the lecture. In a few minutes, the bell rang, and everyone stood to gather their belongings. "Don't forget, class," said Professor, "we have an exam coming up."

"Great," she thought, grabbing her bag and joining Rajat, who was waiting for her outside. "So, I heard about what happened at the movie theater," he said to her.

"You did?" she said, feeling her face flush with embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He was probably just messing with you. After all, he is an actor."

"You can't just put all actors into one category. They're people too, you know. Not all of them are the same," she said. Rajat just shrugged. Ram was different. She had never liked an actor as much as she liked him. There was just something about him. Just then, her friend Richa came up and said, "Guess what?" She gave Rajat an exceptionally big smile because she had an enormous crush on him.

"What?" Priya asked.

"I just signed up for auditions for the play," Richa said excitedly.

"Wait, what play?" Priya asked.

Didn’t you hear? The college is holding an open audition for a play. Ram has it that an actor is sponsoring it and will play the lead role. He told them himself.

"Who’s the actor?" Rajat asked.

Richa gave a sly smile. "I’ve heard it’s none other than Ram Kapoor. After all, that’s how his acting career started—doing plays."

Priya couldn’t believe it. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"I’m pretty sure, and with your recent experience with him, I think you should try out."

"I don’t know. You know I have bad stage fright, and acting with him would make me even more nervous," she said.

"Come on," Richa started to say, but Rajat interrupted her. "Don’t force her if she doesn’t want to," he told Richa.

"It’s okay, Rajat. Maybe it’s time I faced my fears. I’ll at least audition, and if I don’t make it, I don’t make it."

"Alright, come on. we have to go there to fill in the audition form," Richa said, leading her down the hall. Priya could only hope she knew what she was getting herself into.

Ram peered over his manager's shoulder to look at his computer. "Have you found her yet?" he asked.

"Maybe," Vikram said.

"What? What have you found?" Ram asked.

"Possibly her Facebook account," Vikram pointed to the screen. "Is this her?"

Ram looked closely at the photo. "Yes, definitely. Look, she's even wearing the locket in the picture."

"Do you want me to send her a message?" Vikram asked.

"No, I'll email her myself. Facebook is too open, I don't want to embarrass her again," Ram said.

"Don't forget to send the picture you took. That way she knows for sure you have it. And then we have to get going soon," Vikram said.

"Hmm, why?" Ram asked.

"Remember, you have those auditions for that play you're doing at that college."

"Yes, of course. Don't worry, I'll be ready," Ram said and walked into his own office. He logged into his email account and created a new email. He typed a short message and then uploaded the picture. He thought about typing an apology but decided it would be better to do it in person. He hit send and then stared at the computer, hoping she would respond quickly. There was no response. He sighed and stood up. He would have to check later; besides, he had auditions to prepare for, and he had a feeling there were going to be a lot.

Priya stood in the audition line just outside the theater. Richa was with her.

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Priya said.

"Come on, it's going to be fun," Richa replied.

"Do you see this line? Every girl in the college is trying out, probably for the main role too. Do you really think I have a chance out of a hundred girls?" Priya asked.

"You've got a pretty good chance. You're pretty and talented. You can be really good at acting if you just don't think about your stage fright," Richa said.

Hey guys, Rajat said as he walked up to them.

"Rajat, what are you doing here? Did you also fill out the audition form," she said.

"I came to give moral support," he replied.

"We certainly could use it," she said. "But I thought you had to make up that chemistry exam."

"I already did, so I came to cheer you guys on," Rajat said.

"Thank you," Richa said, smiling at him despite her obvious feelings for him. Rajat didn't even notice; he was a little dense and never seemed that interested in girls.

After a few minutes, they were finally inside the theater. Priya loved the college theater; it was old-fashioned and reminded her of an opera house. Everything was red and gold. She turned to the stage to watch girl after girl go up to audition. There were a few boys, but it was mostly girls.

"So what play are they doing?" Rajat asked.

"DDLJ. Oh, I loved that movie," Richa said.

"Me too," Priya added.

"It was so romantic," Richa said.

"So it's a romantic play? Hmm," Rajat said, looking concerned.


"What? You don't like all that mushy stuff, Rajat?" Priya teased.

"Well, you know how guys are. We're all about action," he replied. Richa accepted his answer, but Priya could tell he was hiding something.

"Oh, we're so close!" Richa squealed. They had almost reached the front of the line. She looked over to the first row of seats where the drama professor, Mr. Choudhary, was sitting. Next to him was the acting coach, Mrs. Agarwal. In the next seat over sat a person Richa had been looking for.

"Oh, I see him!" Richa said. She must have been looking as well. "You were right; he is here."

She felt her heart pounding in her chest and wished it would stop. She was already nervous about the audition. Before she knew it, they were at the front of the line. "I'm going to sit down. Good luck, guys," Rajat said, leaving the line.

"Richa, I don't know if I can do this," she said, feeling her palms sweat.


"Come on, you'll be fine. Just take a deep breath. After all, it's just a reading. Oh, we're on." She clenched her script nervously. "Okay, relax," she told herself. "It's going to be okay."


She followed Richa onto the stage and to its center.


"Talk about a scene," Richa said to them. Priya looked over at the three and found herself caught in Ram's gaze. He seemed surprised to see her. She took a deep breath and looked away.


"You may begin," Mr. Choudhary said. They each read their lines. When it was over, they turned back to the three. This time, Priya avoided Ram's gaze and focused on Mr. Choudhary.


"Thank you, ladies. Don't forget to check the recall list later on."


Richa smiled at her and they left the stage. "You did great," she said.


"I don't know. I think everyone could hear my knees knocking together," she replied.


"Your knees were fine. You were completely composed," Richa told her.


"Thanks. You did well too," she said. Rajat joined them as they exited the theater. "Good job, guys. Not that I know much about acting, but from my perspective, you did well."


"Thanks," they both said.


Richa then looked down at her watch. "I almost forgot I have a major project to finish that's due tomorrow. I gotta go. See you guys later," she hurried off and out the doors.


"Hey, do you want to get something to eat?" Rajat asked her.


"I can't. I promised my art professor I would come in and help him with a project," she said.


"Oh," Rajat said, sounding disappointed.


"Richa's too busy, so you two couldn't go out," she said.


"What does that mean?" Rajat asked, looking confused.


She sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "You're so dense. Isn't it obvious? Richa likes you."


"She does?" Rajat ran a hand through his hair. "I guess she's really happy when I'm around."


"Yeah," she confirmed.


"Well, she'll have to find someone else, because I like someone else," he told her.


"Oh, who?" she asked.


"I'm not going to tell. I don't want her to know yet. I'm waiting for the right moment," Rajat said.


"Come on, I'm your best friend," she pleaded.


"Nope, can't trust you. Besides, I know how you girls like to gossip," he said, walking away.


"Fine, whatever. See you later," she said. He waved goodbye to her and left too.


She sighed and turned back towards the theater. She wanted to go back in and see him, but she had to help her art professor. Something inside her said she'd see him again.


Ram couldn't believe it was her. He watched her walk onto the stage, stunned with surprise. Despite his surprise, he managed to listen to her perform. She was good, with amazing acting qualities—quiet yet thoughtful, straightforward. She would surely get the role, and he would be able to meet her.


(to be continued...)