Miranda Rhodes Academy, Dehradun

Year 2039

Arti was as usual, way too responsible for words.

Shehnaz sat by the reception desk, gawking at the suave atmosphere of her new college, the glass doors, the sleek cushioned chairs in the waiting room, the glassy tiles, the expensive chandeliers dangling on the high ceiling. She mentally wondered how expensive it would all be when Arti deliberately stalked past her and blocked her view. She sighed.

Of course.

Arti was the reason she could see this day. And so she was sort of her personal spotboy for eternity. It wasn't that she would blackmail her to assist her in her student council duties but she would put on this stern headmaster expression when she didn't do what she approved of and she utmostly hated that.

Wordlessly, she borrowed the pile of folders from her arms and she dusted her hands.

"This goes into the Princi's office. Mey aur lekar aati hoon."

What? She was leaving her all by myself? Shehnaz turned around, only to be faced by a group of well-dressed associates of the college, waiting in the reception. She took a deep breath and took two steps forward with her heels.

Blast these heels.

She didn't want to trip and fall in front of the presence of such polite society.

She calmly took another step in the direction of the office, making sure to glance at the floor once in a while, in case it betrays her.

Thankfully, Arti was back in time with a--What the heck, did she leave her with this huge pile to fetch a book? One measly book?

She restricted her urge of kicking her backside and she pulled open the glass doors for her

She placed a pile on the table with a huff and Arti instructed her to seal all the folder flaps within she comes. She stared at her broad back while she fidgeted with a pair of keys to open the locker and she'd got it. The principal's precious seal. Shehnaz got to work quickly because she wanted to get home as fast as she could. However, she had no idea if Arti had other work also in store for her.

As she was doing this monotonous task, Arti fished her ringing phone from her pocket and barked into it. And after a few minutes, she was gone.

Shehnaz warily looked around and then peered into the glass cubicle in the further corner and warm hazel eyes pierced into hers.

"Hi, " She said, couldn't help grinning because this was the first person who wasn't Arti that she'd spoked to.

He seemed older, probably in his late 20s. He was sporting a V-neck Chicago Bulls Jersey and had his legs crossed over the glass table.

"Are you the from the student council?" He asked, dropping the folder on the table with a resounding thud.

"Uh, no...My friend is. She just went to get something."

"Go get her for me," he muttered distracted with a sheaf of clean white papers.

Well, okay.

Her friendly hello went unacknowledged.
Weird guy. She thought.

She let it slip. It must be something important then.

She didn't know anything about the college as much as she should. And she let herself roam down the long corridor, on the lookout for her friend.

She peeped into the bursar's office and a small man peered at her, round glasses hanging over his nose.

"Kya chahiye beta?" He enquired and she shook her head, disappearing.

She'd gone to at last ten different places to look and was tired and also lost.

Wah.

She was out of the library on the third floor and she turned to head towards the café when she bumped into something or a somebody. Unluckily for her that somebody happened to be holding a glass of cold coffee in their hands and it splashed all over her precious new cardigan. Her mouth widened and she glared up at the offender.

"So sorry, I swear--"

He was gaping at the stain on her large shirt, the most inappropriate place he could pick.

"Hayee, kya hogaya yeh!" She mumbled, mourning over her $6 cardigan and this fellow had the audacity to suppress his smile.

She glared at him. "Aankhe ghutno mey hai kya tera?"

He turned defensive quickly, "You also weren't looking where you were going so please huh. Chill."

He just spelt chill as 'schill'.

This stupid NRI with a borrowed accent was going to tell her to bloody SCHILL?

" Tere pe ek cup masala chai giraungi na, tab karti hoon, chill!"

"Kya hogaya bro?" Someone casually laced his arms over this accent-wala ladka and she focused on him.

Two against one? Shehnaz was ready.

Just as she was about to snap his head off, she paused.

She'd seen him somewhere.

Long angular nose, full lips and greyish eyes. Even his clothes were just as she'd noticed during the shoots.

Wacky.

He noticed her gawking and he smiled, A full-fledged charming grin, revealing his perfect aligned teeth.

"You're--Prathik Chhabra?"

"Yeah! " He replied pleasantly surprised and she internally cursed. Saw one handsome familiar face and she'd forgotten all about her only expensive cardigan.

"Um, could you show me to the washroom?"

He gave her a once over, no identity card, official academy jacket missing. No brainer that she was a new admission.

"Even better, I can show you to the student laundry."

The what?

"Um, okay."

She glared once at the accent-wala who had his hands lodged into his pockets, satisfied that she was out of his hair.

She followed Prathik down the long hallway.

"Aren't you going to ask me how I know you?" She perked up and he chuckled.

"I saw you with the president this morning she was probably filling you in, I assume."

"No, I've seen you at the studio."

He whipped around, "Which studio?"

"Around Madison Avenue, I used to go there during the summer."

"You're a model?" He asked instantly scanning her from head to foot.

She rolled my eyes internally. She'd done a few stints just during the vacation and she did enjoy herself. But she didn't really work with any big labels for her to brag about. Not yet at least.

"No I used to intern with the team, you know for the marketing."

She bit her lip when he nodded and turned away, hoping he wouldn't catch her lie.

"I've been around for your shoots," She blabbed quickly, " The ads and everything."

"Yeah, those were the times..." He sighed.

They'd reached the spiral staircase leading down to the lawn and she was going to take ger first step determinedly until the fellow turned away from the railings.

All these facilities behind the staircase. Wah.

Students were already cluttering into the room. Quite possibly the nicest place she'd seen.

And a lot of clothes hung on the railings, row by row.

"So many clothes?" She muttered as she was led to the far end of the room towards a few front load washing machines. Mega size. Enough for her to crawl into it.

"Yep, they're for sale, you can wear any of this under the college jacket. They'll add it to your tuition fee at the end of the semester."

The little interest she had in a beige t-shirt in the nearby rack evaporated. She had problems with her current tuition fee by itself, she didn't need any new burden to smother me all the more.

Prathik glanced at his watch.

"They run the machines around five, we're right on time."

"Great, " She nodded until she realised he was looking at her pointedly.

"Oh, right," She shrugged off her precious cardigan and tossed it ritually into the machine and snapped the lid shut.

There were sports jerseys, trousers, ribbons and a lot of other shit which students had already tossed into the cauldron.

And hers was now an additional burden.

She entered it into the system lovingly, "One Jean cardigan-Shehnaz Kaur Dhillon Junior College C1"

"So you're a Commerce student?"

Prathik asked as they slipped out of the cabin, the magnificent view of the freshly cut grass in the lawn sprinkled with white mist awaited them.That summed up the weather at Dehradun most of the time.

"Haa," She sighed, reverting her gaze back to him as he slowly followed her out of the glass doors.

Prathik was a model she'd seen on MTV and when she'd go for shoots. There was a time when she'd used to gawk at his pictures and now he was standing before her IRL. He wasn't as tall as she'd imagined but he looked kinda better onscreen and during sneak peeks in the vanity.

"Toh,I'm your senior," Prathik said, extending his hand from the pockets and she looked down at his large hands already endowed with fancy metal rings and bands.

"Any problem, anything you need, approach me, " He said sounding like a bug exterminator company but anything sounded charming from his mouth. Her cheeks coloured as he shook my hand, "Definitely!" She said, excited.

He noticed and smirked, a very confident smirk that reminded her that this was probably a routine for him, being around girls who blushed and preened around him.

She didn't like it.

She straightened her shoulders, pulling her hand out of his grip and nodded brusquely, "Thank you for this?'

Prathik looked on as she resorted to facing him like a respectable, dignified girl who wouldn't fall for the charms of wily, good looking heartbreakers--

" Thank you?"He raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and leaned on the railing, "that's it?"

She giggled despite herself, he was flirting! Her mind went back to the time when Shehbaaz was trying to flirt at the gurdwar and got nicely from her dadi after they got home.

Prathik's smile became bigger and she didn't understand why. Probably misunderstood her giggle as reciprocation but what the hell. She giggled whenever her mind flashed back to and old comedic memory at the most inappropriate of times.

She suppressed her laugh, "Aur kya karun? App ki aarti lu?"

Arti.

Oh shit, Arti!

Prathik was just about to say something else when she slapped her forehead, " Hayee, mey toh bhuli gayee, shit shit shit!" She hurried past him towards the stairs and whirled around just in time, " Bye Prathik!" And then tore down the stairs.

Prathik didn't even get a chance to wave back. He leaned back on the railing, amused. What a strange girl.

Shehnaaz was meanwhile, panting hard by the time she reached the hostel, hoping to find Arti at least near the warden's cubicle but of course, it was empty.

That was when she noticed a flash of yellow in the car parking and she caught on.

Arti was wearing a yellowish Kurti so it definitely had to be her.

"Arti!"

She called out but she kept walking.

Shehnaz ran towards her in such a speed that she almost toppled Arti over a car.

"Sana! Yaar, you gave me a heart attack!"

She turned back to the papers in her hand, chaffing them into a stack robotically.

‌Shehnaz's eyes pierced into hers and she planted her hands on her hips, "Mujhe aise hi akele chod diya office main, waha ek ladka bol rahe k mey tujhe dhundhoon, par tu aise hi chala gaya kahi...Woh tujhe dhund raha hai, woh."

"Kaun?" Arti asked, still focused on her file.

"Ek sirji, principal k office main..."

"Sirji?" A deep voice reverberated behind her, amusement laced over it and Sana whipped back and noticed the same guy from the office, this time, perched on the hood of a car, a cigar resting in between his long fingers.

He was huge, making her crane her neck to look him eye to eye. One look at his rugged visage and the muscles straining under his shirt, Shehnaaz wondered if all the students in this Institute had to look like models. What caught her attention the most was his sculpted face and the lack of double chin.
She had a slight double chin because of her wondrous Punjabi food.But the man's jaw looked like it was carved from granite. Pure unfairness Babaji!

"Aap hi toh kaha ta, Arti ko leke aana--"

"Haan, that was an hour ago, tum he bheja aur tum vaapas nahi aayi. I found your Arti myself, thanks."

"Nahi, woh mein nayi hoon yaha pe, mujhe pata nahi ta, bohot bada hai na?"

"Kya bada hai?" He demanded.

"Matlab, yeh college..." Shehnaz mumbled, leaning away from his grim expression.

"Toh tum ghumne chali gayi?"

"Nahi, nahi saun lag gayi mein sirf--"

"Aur tujhe respect bhi nahi hai, agar Arti nahi mili toh mujhe aakar bata dena chaiye na? But no, you went and looked around the college happily and now you're back. This is ridiculous behaviour."

"Rudukulus matlab?"

"Bethuka," Arti offered silently from behind her.

"Acha."

There was a pause before he spoke again, "Kaise log yaha padne k liye aate h yaar Arti? Yeh teri friend hai?"

Arti and Shehnaz weren't exactly friends but Arti nodded anyway, Shehnaaz noticed.

"Teri jaise hai hi nahi. Koi acchi quality hai isme?"

Shehnaaz's head snapped up at the unfairness of the statement, her glance darting between Arti and him until the duo burst out laughing.

"Stop it Sid," Arti chuckled and Shehnaaz faced him, confused but there was a small smile playing on his lips this time.

Noticing her expression, he chuckled, "I was kidding, what's your name?"

"Shehnaaz."

"Okayy, " Sid diffused his cigarette into an ashtray next to him. "Achi lagi college?"

"Haan, bada hai," Shehnaaz replied with a smile.

He burst into a chuckle, lugging a few documents from Arti.

"Stop saying that Sana, ohmigod, " Arti said, laughing behind him.

"Why are you girls working so much even after college? Bechari ko chod de Arti, it's her first day."

"Haan, haan hogaya bas," Arti said but Shehnaaz knew better.

Arti always gave her papers to enter into the computer system in college so most probably the huge stack of papers in her hand was going to be her task for the night.

"Are you a hostelite or do I need to drop you off somewhere?" He asked Shehnaaz and she looked at Arti, waiting for her to weave an excuse on her behalf.

"Nahi, nahi, nahi, baba araha hai abhi," Arti said dismissively and he shrugged, getting into the car on whose hood he was perched on.

A freaking raven black Mercedes.

That wasn't as surprising as it should be because Shehnaz had noticed the crystal chandeliers in the hallways and the students' mannerisms to understand that this was probably the haven for every millionaire's offspring.

Sid's car roared to life and Shehnaz stepped away to make way.

He waved at Arti and her before his car sped off towards the large gates of the college which opened automatically.

"So Shehnaaz, " Arti dumped the sheaf into Shehnaaz's hands.

"Yeh mere liye kar do na college ki system se, phir hostel jaana."

Shehnaz didn't get a chance to reply when she gestured her driver to roll out into the driveway.

"Bye sweetheart."

"Bye Arti," Shehnaaz mumbled as she was left in a cloud of smoke that her car left behind.

Shehnaz balanced the folder and the sheaf of papers that Arti had deposited into her hands in a rush, observing the silence in the football ground except the chirping of birds and the flush of water from the hosepipe, draining into the blades of trimmed green grass on the lawn.

The sky was turning into a queer hue of saffron as Shehnaz realised she was the only student on the campus, even the sports jocks had left.

She turned around, quietly heading to the digital lab to get her work done.