I spent yesterday's whole night binge-watching some interesting web series and couldn't complete my assignments. Arushi was also busy in her phone, so she was not at all strict with me like her usual self.

Therefore as a result, since morning, I was completing my projects in the library, while Arushi was doing timepass on her phone. Akshay was lost somewhere and hadn't joined us yet.

Arushi couldn't help me as her wrists were aching due to making notes for me while managing her own studies. It had been two hours, and I was still not done.

"I need a break..." I whined.

I couldn't go to Urmila Aunty's house because of my college lectures, so I had informed her that I would come in the evening. She didn't mind as long as I did my work diligently.

"Aru, I am hungry," I said.

Arushi gave me her bag, and I stormed on her tiffin. I was saving my own for lunch. After burping, I continued doing my assignments.

After a few minutes, I heard a chair screech beside me, and a very familiar dinosaur scream landed in my ears.

"Ewww, Bhoomi, what the heck is this?" Kshitij made a disgusted face.

He had made himself comfortable beside me and was checking the project papers I had just written. I shot a quick glance at Arushi, and she was acting like she was busy on her phone, but her gaze kept shifting towards Kshitij.

KD shook his head at me, and I smirked in silence as he continued with his act of not noticing Arushi at all. Suddenly, he looked at her and kept a poker face.

"Hi, Arushi," he said in a plain tone.

Arushi squinted her eyes a bit. "Hello to you too, Kshitij."

KD nodded and started checking my notebooks. With every page he flipped, his face contorted more and more, and as if he saw something scandalous, he shut my notebook close.

"My eyes are hurting," he complained. "How are you able to pass with this handwriting, Bhoomi?"

I couldn't control myself and pinched his arm. "Don't judge me, okay? Not everyone is a smartass like you and Arushi."

Just as I said that, KD and Arushi looked at each other; it was very funny to see how my shy friend maintained eye contact while the social butterfly removed his gaze within a second.

"Why are you here?" I asked KD.

He elbowed me under the table. "I can't come to meet my friend?"

I slapped his knee. "Sure you can."

KD and I kept hitting each other under the table because he was totally sucking at acting unaffected by Arushi's presence. I signalled him that Arushi was staring at him non-stop, but the idiot thought that I was making faces at him.

I don't know what's going on inside Kshitij's head. Now that Arushi is right here, why won't he just talk to her? Is he afraid of scaring her away?

"Just talk to her, moron," I spoke through my teeth. "She is in a good mood today."

Kshitij mimicked me. "You sure?"

I nodded discreetly. After getting the confirmation, Kshitij stretched his act for some minutes before he addressed Arushi as if he was in some business meeting.

"I saw your recent book review, Arushi. It was amazing like you-" KD coughed. "I mean amazing like your daily posts."

He shot me a nervous glance, and I bit my lips as I witnessed Kshitij completely doing opposite of what he had planned.

Arushi didn't react, and I feared she was going to retreat in her shell, but surprisingly, she didn't question anything about what KD had blurted and completely ignored his blunder.

"Thank you," Arushi replied politely. "Like always."

I noticed Kshitij's pupils dilate as he kept staring at Arushi like an owl. I snapped my head in my friend's direction, and she also had her dark eyes locked on him.

I kept glancing between them and started imagining myself evaporating because the air around me suddenly got very hot.

Umm, should I leave? Both of them seem to be transported into some other world.

To avoid any awkward situation, I lightly touched Kshitij's elbow, and he blinked rapidly.

"Oh, wow..." he mumbled under his breath.

Arushi also blinked and adjusted her specs. She moved her hair behind the ear as her eyes darted everywhere.

"Everything okay?" I whispered to Kshitij.

KD puffed his chest as his eyes glinted. He rummaged my notebooks and told me to improve my handwriting.

"Bhoomi, I am going to find a book," Arushi told me.

She got up from her seat, but before leaving, she threw a very quick and short glance in Kshitij's direction. As she left, Kshitij didn't look at her, but as soon as she was out of sight, he let out a deep breath.

"That was so..." he closed his eyes, "God, why are you torturing me?"

Before I could ask him what was going on, he snapped up from his chair. "Bhoomi, I will get you some books to help with your writing."

"Excuse me?" I looked at him in confusion.

He hurriedly scurried off, and I facepalmed when he went in the same direction Arushi had gone.

Why won't he just say that he was going after Arushi? I wasn't going to stop him anyways. Idiot KD. He didn't even ask me if I would be alone or not.

I whined at the large amount of blank papers staring back at me.

"I really need a break!" I cursed.

"Then take one, Shorty."

Hriaan? And Tejas is also here? Wait, who is behind them? Oh no, Mahreen?

After noticing her, I instantly covered my cheeks. Unfortunately, my plan failed. Mahreen attacked me and bribed me with the tasty waffles her mother had baked.

Stuffing my mouth with them, I thanked her, and she grinned. While Hriaan and Mahreen sat down on my either sides, Tejas sat across from me.

I noticed the bandage still wrapped around his left wrist; I wondered if he was too much hurt. I removed my gaze when Tejas shot me a curious look.

"Damn, Shorty, do you have a murderer on your back?" Hriaan asked and eyed my assignments.

"My handwriting wasn't so bad in school," I lied.

"I can't even read this," Hiraan commented. "You really not serious about your studies, are you? I am sure you will tank this semester."

Mahreen slapped Hriaan over me. "Stop jinxing her, duffer."

While Mahreen and Hriaan fought over me, I saw one of my notebooks moving. Embarassment started creeping on me as my notebook landed in Tejas's hands.

Okay, where's the shovel? I should have dug a hole long ago.

Unlike Hriaan and KD, Tejas didn't say anything. His eyes danced over my skeleton resembling blue inked sentences, and he kept flipping pages, going through each one of them thoroughly.

"Boomer, wanna eat chocolates?" Mahreen asked.

My mouth watered when Mahreen pulled out all kinds of sweets from her small bag. How come all of her teeth were intact after eating so much sugar?

To seem polite, I refused as I had already shoved down the waffles she had given me, but as she continued convincing, I gave in. The chocolates transported me to another dimension.

While Tejas was busy in his own world, I, Hriaan, and Mahreen were munching like squirrels. My phone pinged, and I checked the WhatsApp message. It was from my mentor.

Fatima ma'am: I had a few suggestions, so I have shared the pointers here.

Me: Okay, ma'am. Thank you.

I checked the handwritten note Fatima ma'am had sent the pic of.

"Your mentor now finally happy?" Hriaan asked me.

I shot him my Colgate smile. "Yup! She didn't even scold me, and my choreography got approved in one go."

Seeing me boast shamelessly, Hriaan told me to show him my rehearsal video. With pride, I gave my phone to him and started the playback. I was laughing like a villain in my mind because finally, Hriaan would not be able to comment anything to rile me up.

After a few seconds of the video starting, an Instagram notification popped on the top of my mobile screen, and Hriaan smirked at me.

"Nuke has requested to follow you," Hriaan read the notification loudly and glanced at Tejas.

"You remember Nuke, bro?" Hriaan asked his best friend.

Tejas snapped his eyes up and raised an eyebrow. "Nope."

Hriaan chuckled. "Sure, you don't remember."

Did Tejas really forget Nuke so early? I guess he didn't see Nuke as competition to remember him. But I remembered him crystal clear. He gave me a rose after all.

"You blushing, Shorty?" Hriaan nudged me.

I threatened to dig my nails into his arm; I told him to just continue with my video and decided to check my messages later.

I was confident, but as the seconds passed, my happiness started getting sucked away when Hriaan's face kept turning harder. He stopped the video before it even ended.

"What the fuck is this?" he looked at me like a disappointed parent.

I raised my eyebrows. "What's with the rotten reaction? You don't like it?!"

He took a deep breath and pinched my nose. "Don't ever mention my name in case you want to give credits for this pathetic choreography."

How dare he?

I moved my hand to pull his hair after Mahreen whispered in my ear like a devil's advocate. But Hriaan caught my hand in time and smacked me on the forehead.

"These petty tricks don't work on me," he said. "And, Mahreen, stop attacking while hiding behind Shorty."

I fisted my hands. "Fatima ma'am herself approved my routine. I know you are just pulling my leg. I don't believe you at all."

Hriaan shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat. It is a crime being honest these days."

Before I could recheck my video to know if he was actually being serious, he threw my mobile at Tejas, who caught it swiftly with one hand.

"Let's get the expert opinion," Hriaan teased me.

My breath became slower as my mobile was now in the hands of the guy whose own vice-captain called him devil. I also had personal experience of his leadership, so my anxiety was off the charts.

Unlike Hriaan, Tejas hardly had any expressions on his face as he reviewed my performance. I noticed his eyes bouncing like ping-pongs at lightening speed while his fingers moved on the screen smoothly, but he wasn't saying anything.

"Is he dead?" Mahreen asked when Tejas was stuck in one pose.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Mahreen," Tejas replied without looking at her.

She made faces at him, but he ignored her. She started checking my project, while Hriaan and I waited for Tejas's reaction.

"Bro, our hair will turn white at this rate," Hriaan complained.

Tejas rolled his eyes and gave my phone back. "Hriaan didn't lie about the choreography. You can still improve."

My shoulders dropped. Are they serious?

"Wow, what's with the reaction difference?" Hriaan grumbled, but he had a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "You are biased, Shorty."

Tejas narrowed his eyes at Hriaan, but Hriaan just snickered. He was enjoying my misery.

"You still have time," Tejas said, but my excitement was gone.

"How cruel both of you are," Mahreen said and consoled me.

Both Hriaan and Tejas didn't like my rehearsal demo, but Fatima ma'am had approved it. If only Hriaan had given his opinion, I, by hundred percent, would have taken it as him joking, but Tejas also agreed with his best friend.

There's only one way to clear my doubt. I will consult with Fatima ma'am tomorrow because all of my future plans depend on her answer. I was on cloud nine as I had everything decided for the upcoming week, but I will need to re-evaluate everything.

Ugh, why did I boast in front of Hriaan?

"Are you going to cry?" Hriaan asked me, trying to bite back his laughter.

I didn't argue with him. I checked my phone and noticed Instagram sending me more notifications.

I opened the app, and automatically, a smile tugged on my lips. Nuke had sent me a follow request and some messages too. In case I had forgotten him, he mentioned about the magic trick he had pulled that day, and I reassured him that I remembered him. I chatted with him as it lifted my mood.

Nuke: I am glad to know that I am not forgotten.

Me: 😄

Nuke: I am coming to Mumbai soon. If possible, can we meet?

Me: I can't promise... I am busy currently.

Nuke: No problem. Thank you for accepting my request.

Me: I should be thanking you as you increased my follower count 😂

Nuke: 🤣🤣

"Chatting with Nuke?" Mahreen asked me.

I nodded absentmindedly as I continued messaging Nuke. Suddenly, I felt an intense stare on me, and I wanted to ignore it, but my head moved up on its own.

"Shouldn't you be focusing on something else right now?" Tejas asked me. His voice was in low volume, but his tone set my alarms ringing.

I tilted my head in confusion, my fingers busy in typing out a reply to Nuke. Tejas glanced between my phone and me. He cracked his knuckles and leaned back in the chair.

"If I was as free as you, I would have gotten my important tasks completed first," Tejas replied as his gaze bore into me.

Slowly, he pushed my notebook towards me, which he was reading earlier. On every page, there was now a sticky note highlighting the spelling and grammar mistakes. Not only that, there were notes regarding the potential issues in my project also.

"Academics shouldn't be taken lightly," Tejas mumbled.

I felt I was being lectured as I compared mine and Tejas's handwriting - It was a complete mismatch.

If you continue like this, then you will surely mismatch with a lot of things, Bhoomi. Stop wasting time, and do your work.

I told Nuke that I needed to study, and after getting his reply, I closed the chat. Tejas had begun reading another assignment of mine, and I prayed for him to not find any more mistakes.

How can I be so stupid to make errors even after copying from Arushi?

"Want any help?" Hriaan asked me.

I huffed. "No, thank you."

"As you wish. Don't just come running to me later."

"I won't!"

He smirked. "Fine, Shorty."

I wish I wasn't so overconfident because Hriaan seemed to predict the future. If I had known I was going to swallow my own words, I wouldn't have been so bitchy. But I guess everything that goes around, comes around - like my words to bite me in the ass.