The good looking guy smiles at me. I gasp. He has a dimple for crying out loud!

He smirkes at my reaction. Then smiles again and says, "Do you want anything else? Or will a Coke..er... cold drink do?"

"Nope..um.. Thats it.. Thanks a lot." I manage to say.

The canteen guy is giving us weird looks now. The good-looking guy gives him a curt nod, pays for my cold drink, takes it in his hand and says, "Wanna hang out some place else?"

Yeah sure! I want to say. But the only problem is our campus isnt that big, and if a guy and a girl hang out, people usually talk. Atleast stare. But hell, here I am with a charming guy, and I have a devil-may-care attitude anyway. So screw it.

"Okay." I say and we go and sit under a huge tree.

"So who are you again?" I blurt out without thinking. It came out the wrong way. I should have simply said, "Hey Alia here. So unless you want me to call you I-could-fall-for-you-if-gravity-wasnt-doing-the-job-already-guy, can I know who you are?" Yeeesh. No way. I would have sounded like those cheerleaders I saw in High School Musical. Being rude is better. I am not exactly a nice person anyway.

The guy chuckles. He replies, "Hi, I'm Brad Pitt. And you are..?"

I snort. Yeah right! "Jennifer Aniston", I reply cheesily.

He laughs and says, "How about I call you gorgeous, and you call me charming?"

"Does that line actually work?" I ask skeptically. I'm not one of those easily floored by a guy.

"Did until now, babe."

"Okay, dont call me that. Ever." I say a little firmly than I intend to.

My phone suddenly rings.
"Hey lecture's over, you coming or what?" Tanvi my best-friend yells at me through the phone.

"Yup be there in a sec", I say.

"Where are you anyway?" She screams.

"You've got to stop screaming!" I reply irritated. "In the canteen. Be there in a few."

"Okay get me something to eat."

"How about my head?" I say.

"Shut up." She hangs up the phone.

"Okay gotta go." I tell the good looking guy. He smiles. "Sure, some other time then", he says. "I'm Ayush by the way. Nice meeting you today. If the canteen guy troubles you again, let me know."

How, magically? Atleast he could have given me his surname. I would have sent him a friend request on facebook. Maybe. I ignore that thought. "Sure", I say. "And thank-you for today." Although I could have totally kicked the canteen dude's ass on my own. "And thank you for the Coke. Here take twenty bucks." I give him the money. "For paying my drink. You didnt have to."

He politely refuses and gives me the money back. "Maybe some other time. See you around, gorgeous." He smiles.

"Its Alia", I say.

"Will keep that in mind, Ma'am", he winks at me. I blush like an idiot. Thats the first time since a very long time. He walks away, grinning.

My head feels light. My heart thuds a little faster. Jeez Alia, pull it together, girl. You cant get too attached to anyone, remember? Emotions are bad. Its just a bunch of chemical stuff in your head. Ignore. Ignore.

I grab a sandwich for Tanvi and head to class. She looks at my face, says thanks and suddenly whispers, "Your eyes are twinkling. What did you do?"

I laugh. She's been my best friend since eight years. She knows me inside out. Unlike the other bunch of girls I hang out with. They are more interested in the number of millimeters their nails have grown today than my emotional quotient anyway. But since they are nice to me, I dont mind them. Tanvi doesnt either. But then again almost everybody in class likes her. They dont like me though. I'm the rich, spoilt brat. Although they have known me only for about a year or so. Not that they are wrong. And not that I care. I've got Tanvi by my side.

"Nothing, met Ayush, hung around with him for a couple of minutes, that's it", I say casually.

"Tell me more", she commands. I laugh again.

***
The Maths lecture is over, so is Zoology. So is my patience. I dont like attending college much. The teachers are good, but my concentration is not. Not since..

Anyway, the lectures are over and we head towards chemistry laboratory for our practical. Meanwhile, I've told Tanvi everything, and she thinks its right out of a Shah Rukh Khan movie. I snort.

"You know snorting is un-lady like", she says as if she's trying to tell me Newton's third law of motion. Or that two plus two equals four, which is something I can understand better than Newton's third law of motion anyway. I dont like Newton. He made my life miserable. Him and Einstein.

"So?" I say.

"So, since you've caught this guy's attention, you might wanna start acting like a lady."

"Is he Prince William?" I ask.

"No, but- hey!" She says as someone suddenly collides with her.

A guy with nerdy glasses and wavy hair looks at Tanvi and says, "Whoops sorry. I'm a little late for my chemistry practical. Do you know where the lab is?"

"Nope but I sure know where the german shepherd is", says Tanvi's over-protective boyfriend, Mayank from behind us. He's tall and brooding. And works out in the gym regularly. He totally over-shadows the nerdy guy although he's as tall as Mayank and says, "Run along then, little boy."

Geeky McNerdy looks at him quizically, probably wondering internally what his problem was. I intercede on his behalf. I didnt wanna watch Mayank beat up another guy. Again. I seriously dont know why Tanvi is dating him. He's such a bully.

"Go straight, third door to your left", I tell the nerdy guy. He looks at me intently for a second, shrugs, then says thank-you, and leaves.

"Thanks Mayank", mutters Tanvi, a little scared and grudgingly.

"He didnt get you, did he, Jaanu?"

"Nope."

"Okay shona. See you." Mayank hugs Tanvi and leaves.

As soon as he's gone, I ask Tanvi," So when are you planning to give him the big surprise?"

"What?" She asks me, puzzled.

"You know, that your name is Tanvi, and that he should stop calling you icky-sweet-gross nicknames like jaanu and shona, and that he should leave you alone?"

"I'm not going to discuss this again." She glares at me.

We enter chemistry laboratory to find that our lab partners have been changed for the semester. All because of the new nerdy guy's brand new admission into our college. I groan when I find out that I have to work with him this semester and not Tanvi. Well his bad luck. I internally decide that I will make him go to the teacher and beg to change his lab partner so that I could work with Tanvi again.

"Hi, I'm Siddharth. You can call me Sid," he says as soon as we get settled. He pulls out his lab coat, puts it on, and rolls the sleeves of his shirt. Damn, those strong arms..

I shake my head and say, "But you'll always be Geeky McNerdy to me." Better than Strong-arms McMuscly.

He pops one eyebrow and laughs. "We'll see. And you are?"

"None of your business", I say, not really paying attention to him anymore.

"I bet thats true." He chuckles. "Can I call you Honey McBunny?"

"Look", I say, finally exasperated. What is it with guys and sick nicknames?! They make me nauseous. "Just call me Alia, or dont call me anything, but I swear if you utter one more nickname, I will give you a wedgie!"

He snorts and laughs out aloud. "How about Judgy McWedgie?"

"Are you naming me after a burger?" I ask stupidly, thinking about McVeggie. "Just shut the hell up and let me work in silence."

He grins but doesnt say anything anymore. I take practicals pretty seriously. Because theory I can read up at home and appear for exams, and pass. I need to pay special attention during practicals. Nobody teaches them again. They certainly wont to me.

After working for more than an hour in silence, I finally look up to McNerdy and say, "So how long are you going to be here? Did you like move just now?"

He says, "Yup, around 10-15 days ago. I'm living here with my grandmother. I think I will complete my education and then leave the college, since, pretty much like everybody else, I would like to give the board exams too", he says mocking me a little.

I get irritated a little. Before I can say anything, he cuts me off saying, "Look, the first thing I'll do tomorrow is ask the teacher to change my lab partner since you clearly dont want to work with me, and you would rather be with your friend. Its fine, I understand. No issues." He smiles.

I feel a little guilty. "As long as we are clear on that McNerdy", I grin at him.

"How about I call you Girl and you call me Guy? No weird stuff", he says.

"Deal." I actually smile at him. He smiles too and I notice that his smile reaches up to his eyes and it makes them twinkle.

This day is finally turning out to be much better than I expected. Or did I just say that a little too soon?