The thought of discussing the morning incident with Mom went down the drain as I fell like a corpse once I reached home. I didn't even have strength to eat dinner and change clothes.

My family didn't bother me, and Mom prepared breakfast earlier than usual so I could eat as soon as I woke up. My mind felt foggy, and it took me approximately two hours to get all of my senses back.

My whole body was hurting, and my heart kept picking up pace as the time of my final performance kept inching closer.

Dhara Di kept scolding me to not zone out and only focus on my dance performance, but I knew she wanted to appear well when actually she wasn't. Even though I didn't interrogate her and Mom since Dad was present, I noticed how both women were trying to act normal and show that nothing was wrong.

I played along as I also didn't want to unnecessarily worry my father who already had a lot of burdens.

After finishing my morning routine, Akshay arrived on time, and we left to catch our train.

"I am really scared, Akki," I said.

"Why? You have TJ as your team leader. I know your routine is going to be fire," Akki said proudly.

"I think Tejas will set me on fire if anything goes wrong."

"What?"

"Nothing." I distracted him. "By the way, you look really confident."

Akshay's face glowed like a star. "My team is fucking awesome, Boom Boom Boomer. Even though we don't have TJ, we will still give everyone else a tough competition."

I nodded as I agreed with his point. His team not only had him, but Suhana and Kshitij also who were pro in their fields. After hearing my best friend boast about his team members, I felt my anxiety rising. My situation was completely opposite of his.

While Akshay was living the best moments of his life alongside his teammates, I felt like a burden on my team. Tejas's frustrated face kept flashing in front of my eyes till we reached the dance studio, and finally, Tejas's real face came into my view.

I wasn't late this time, but I was prepared to receive a scolding anyway. Tejas was busy giving some tips and correcting postures of other teammates, so I approached him slowly.

Once I properly saw him, I breathed a sigh of relief as he looked relaxed. I took my time to observe him: like his usual style, he was clad in a yellow t-shirt and black three-fourths, accompanied by white sneakers and a smart watch on his left wrist.

Ever since I got to know him, I had seen him in only these types of clothes in all of his dance videos, except a few where he was wearing traditional clothes or cargos or jeans. Not just at this moment, but I had always ended up observing his little details and noticed instantly if there was any change.

Thus, when I spotted a multi-colored hand-woven bracelet on his right wrist, I kept staring at it. There was nothing wrong with that accessory, but a small pendant with letter 'A' dangling from it made my mind build up various imaginary scenarios.

I guess it is the first time I am seeing him wearing a bracelet.

So? Why don't you focus on what 'you' are wearing? Both of your toes are sticking out of your shoes; you still haven't stitched up the hole in your t-shirt; the left sleeve will surely fall off if Akki pulls it one more time; your hair looks like a nest; that pimple on your nose is really distracting, and when will you start doing-

"Don't you think you are standing too close?"

I furrowed my eyebrows as my inner voice slowly faded, getting replaced by my team leader's low-toned voice.

He raised his left eyebrow, and I checked the distance between us. I was standing at a three-hand distance from him - I was sure I hadn't violated any personal boundaries.

When I looked back at Tejas, I saw his eyes shifting all over me, but his face was stuck in a questioning expression.

Does he also think of me the same way my inner voice does when he looks at me? I know I am not always well-dressed, but I have already tried getting his attention by dressing up nicely earlier. He is totally not bothered by how I look. Now that I think of it, what kind of girls does he like?

Why are you wasting your brain cells? Just see the bracelet on his hand to know your stupid answer.

As soon as I finished my inner conversation, my vision was blinded by the same pendant with letter 'A' dangling from Tejas's bracelet. I felt his index finger on my forehead, and in a split-second, he pushed my head backwards.

"Live in this world, Bhoomi," he said plainly.

My teammates laughed as Tejas poked my forehead a few more times before he confirmed that I was mentally present in the room and then announced to prepare for practice sessions.

Didn't Tejas just say that I was standing too close? Did he poke me to move me away from him as I hadn't moved myself? I don't understand him sometimes.

Sometimes? Bhoomi, do you even know him personally? Honestly, he is very confusing, so it will be better to find a new crush- I mean idol.

I felt Yukta come beside me. She pulled my cheek. "Why are your reactions so slow today? Are you feeling okay?"

I took a deep breath. I wanted to reply to her, but no words came out. Apart from my family and Akki, I hadn't exchanged any conversation with anyone. It wasn't like I didn't want to, but my mind seemed to have reaction speed in negative. Maybe the lack of energy was the cause.

To avoid affecting my final performance, I drank lots of juices and water. In-between, the thoughts of my family kept creeping up, but I buried them down till tonight.

At 6 p.m., all of the teams and jury were present in the auditorium. We didn't expect Sarthak Pawar to be also present as we were still in the beginning phases of his dream project. His presence made almost everyone's anxiety shoot up.

Akshay and I exchanged glances; both of us were sitting in different rows, far from each other because of our teams. The evaluation hadn't yet started, so I decided to join him. He was the only one I could share my absurd thoughts with.

"You look pale, Boomer," Akki commented as soon as I took a seat beside him.

I sighed. "I feel a bit tired."

Kshitij, who was sitting beside Akshay, chirped in, "You want something to eat? You really look like you haven't eaten in days."

"Don't worry, KD, she always looks like this," Akki joked.

I elbowed my best friend in the stomach. After fighting with him, I calmed down and drank the energy drink given by KD. Suhana soon joined us, and I admired her. Her makeup and costume were perfection.

"So beautiful," I mumbled.

"Right?" Akki commented beside me in a low voice.

I instantly snapped my eyes at him, and as my best friend, he already knew what I was going to comment. Before I could do that, he removed his gaze away from Suhana and flicked my chin.

I wasn't going to back down. I moved closer to Akshay and forced him to look at me.

"What did you just say?" I asked him.

He pushed me away from him. "I didn't say anything, Boom Boom Boomer. Maybe your ears are ringing due to old age."

"My hearing is working fine," I pulled his ear, "and why won't you look at me when speaking?"

Suhana giggled, and my best friend froze when she moved in front of us, between the seat rows, and plopped down beside Kshitij.

To confirm my suspicion, I loudly commented to Suhana that she looked great, but this time, Akshay gave no reaction; he kept his gaze in front of him, his face void of any emotions.

Am I imagining things, or did I actually hear Akshay praise Suhana's beauty? Isn't she a girl? How come my love-hater friend seemed to have stars in his eyes while looking at Suhana?

To check if my brain wasn't malfunctioning, I knocked my knuckles on my right temple. I got confused when I received two unknown knocks on the top of my head. My confusion was soon cleared though.

"TJ, I missed you so much!" KD yelled.

Tejas rolled his eyes as his friend jumped and hugged him with a toothy grin, while Suhana shook her head at KD.

"You are really clingy, KD," Suhana said. "None of you will get a girlfriend if you keep acting like this."

"Jealousy isn't good for your health, Miss Pirthani," KD said.

Suhana squinted her eyes at him. Before both of them could get into a fight, Tejas told Suhana that she looked great.

"Don't I always look great?" She grinned.

Tejas chuckled when Kshitij complained that he didn't receive any compliments. To save KD from a heartbreak, Tejas gave him a cheesy compliment, and KD happily sat back on his spot.

Tejas and Akshay conversed for a few minutes, and all the time, I kept observing Tejas's expressions. A smile was playing on his lips, transforming itself from grin to chuckle to laugh and then again settling itself into a mischievous smile.

And as I had already experienced a countless times, I knew his smile was going to vanish as soon as his gaze would shift on me. I had no expectations - in fact, it was enough that I even got to be on the same team as him and learn a lot of stuff too. I also knew that if Tejas was given a choice in the future, he would never pick me to be his teammate.

Tejas tilted his head as his stare bore into me. "When did you change teams, Bhoomi?"

I wanted to reply, but instead of doing the hardwork of speaking, I shook my head and got up from my seat. I moved towards where my team was sitting, and as I kept walking, I noticed Akshay laughing to himself.

Soon, I was back on my original spot, and there was no time to think about other stuff as the performances finally began. And as Akshay had boasted, his team was literally on fire.

After them, it was our turn. I steeled myself as I was acting really lethargic since morning. All of our efforts would have been wasted because of me. Thanks to the fight with Akshay and an energy drink from KD, my spirits were boosted.

"Just do your best," Tejas told us.

"Hell yeah!" everyone shouted, and I mumbled a low 'Yup'.

As we took our positions on the stage, Tejas shot a quick glance at me.

"I will focus. Don't worry," I told him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the host's announcement disturbed him. After introducing our team, the host left, and I prayed to Ganpati Bappa.

The music started, and we moved with the rhythm. Those three minutes and ten seconds felt like a dream. When our performance ended, Falguni hugged me and Yukta, and soon everyone jumped on Tejas. Yukta pulled me to join the group hug, but I told her to not mind me - at any moment, I could have been pushed towards Tejas, and he wouldn't have liked it.

I kept my distance and just smiled at him to show my gratitude for leading our team. Yukta had already pointed out that I was being really obvious about my feelings, so I didn't want to embarrass myself and get my hopes up.

Since the start of this dance project, Tejas had clearly shown that I wasn't in his good books. He was still my dance inspiration, and my respect for him grew even more after being under his leadership, but I realised that my journey towards him wasn't that easy. I was just a fan, and I had to keep myself within that boundary only.

After the jury's comments, Sarthak Pawar took the mike. He complimented Tejas a lot, and even praised a few of the members. Just when I thought that he was done, he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Bhoomi, I was expecting something from you," Sarthak commented.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Sorry, sir, I don't understand."

Sarthak twisted his lips. "Why were you dancing like a puppet?"

"I am sorry, sir," I quickly apologized.

"Don't disappoint me next time," he warned. "I am always watching you."

Damn, isn't his presence already intimidating that he even has to make me his target? I know I somehow caught his attention during the auditions, but was he really that impressed that he set unrealistic expectations about me? I am even getting a warning in front of everyone.

I felt my hands getting sweaty as every eye in the auditorium was on me. Sarthak soon dismissed us, but I could feel him tracking me till I vanished from the stage.

"Looks like someone is really popular," Omkar teased me as we moved towards our changing rooms.

"Do you remember how Sarthak had expressed his expectations regarding Bhoomi even on our first day?" Michael added.

"Do you have personal connections, Bhoomi?" Falguni joked.

Yukta scolded them to stop troubling me as my face had started losing color. Tejas told us to get changed and come back to the auditorium soon to check out remaining teams' performances.

Falguni, Yukta, and I went to the girls' room and started getting changed. I noticed Yukta scrunching her face as she removed her top and bent down to remove her shoes.

"You okay, Yukta?" I asked.

She nodded, but her movements kept getting slower. Falguni also asked her if she was fine, and Yukta assured us. We changed our clothes and began packing our stuff when Falguni and I heard a loud thud behind us.

"Yukta!" Falguni yelled.

My teammate had fallen down on the floor, and even after Falguni shook her, Yukta didn't respond. She had lost her consciousness, and her face was contorted in agony.

My body reacted on its own, and I instantly ran towards the boys' changing room. I knocked forcefully, and as soon as the door opened, Manoj started fake scolding me for being impatient but stopped on seeing my expression.

"Yukta has fainted," I announced.

Before anyone else could react, Tejas zoomed past me like Flash and was out of the room, dashing towards girls' green room.

We followed him, and as soon as we entered the room, Tejas picked up Yukta in bridal-carry and rushed outside; by his reaction, I knew he was really worried but didn't show it on his face. Behind him, he told Falguni to come along with him. I wanted to join too, but he told the rest of us to stay back.

On his way, he glanced at Kshitij, and he joined him. I was behind them, but Tejas and Kshitij left for the hospital before I could even reach the parking lot.

Soon, Akshay and Suhana joined me and asked me about the matter. They consoled me after knowing about Yukta's condition.

"Don't worry, Bhoomi, Yukta will be alright," Suhana said.

"Chill. TJ is there, so why worry?" Akki said.

I nodded lightly. My other teammates also told me to relax and think positively.

They are right. Yukta will be okay. Since Tejas is there, why should I worry?