The preparations for the dance event organised by Sarthak Pawar were on full swing, and our friends were helping me and Akshay to clear the auditions.

Our crewmates expressed their disappointment as they couldn't participate because some of them were dropouts while others' colleges were not shortlisted for the auditions. Akshay and I felt bad as they didn't get the same opportunity as us, but instead of sulking, our friends were happy for us.

Therefore, the moment we got back from college, we went to our dance station and announced the big news. Arushi accompanied me and was busy giving us inputs as audience, while Jiya was remixing some latest songs for the dancers.

Our dance mentor, Ritvik Bhaiyaa, was also there and was glad to see our enthusiasm. I was already done showing him the latest choreographies I had learnt, so I practiced some classical dancing. Meanwhile, my best buddy Akshay was getting scolded by Pratik for not doing the contemporary dance seriously.

"Akki, show some emotions, man! Are you a robot or what?" Pratik complained.

"He will learn. Chill," Vibhan told Pratik.

"When? We haven't even been through the first half of the song. And look at this fucker's face. How can you not feel any emotions when you hear Arijit Singh's voice?" Pratik exploded.

Yasir switched off the speakers and exchanged a glance with Shlok and Rehman. All of them shook their heads when Pratik got in an argument with Vibhan and Akshay.

"I am trying, no? You know I am not good at contemporary. Cut me some slack, bro," Akki said.

Pratik narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me? You aren't good? Quit whining, Akki. We all know how much you hate romantic songs and movies. Why can't you keep that hate aside and understand that theses types of emotional songs are the top choices for contemporary and lyricals?"

"I don't hate romantic songs. I just... I don't like that kind of stuff..." Akki said in a low voice.

"But you can't say that to the judges, right?" Vibhan asked.

Akshay pursed his lips and told Yasir to play the song again. A slow version of 'Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage Hum' played from the speakers, and Akshay gulped nervously.

Pratik kept a close eye on Akshay as Akshay danced, making mistakes and stumbling on his feet frequently.

"Not that bad, but please focus on the expressions, yeah?" Pratik pleaded. "You look like a mannequin."

Akshay pouted, and Vibhan patted Akshay's back in assurance. I shook my head when Akshay looked at me. That guy really hated anything related to the romantic stuff between human beings and always drifted away from the topic of love.

"Ritvik Bhaiyaa, what will he do when he is made to do contemporary?" I voiced my worry.

Ritvik Bhaiyaa thought for a moment. "I will talk to him later. Right now, focus on your routine."

I nodded, and under my mentor's guidance, I polished some moves. Ritvik Bhaiyaa was happy with my progress, and Arushi also gave me a thumbs up. We took a small break, and while our mentor was out for some personal work, Jiya gathered us together and told everyone the story about Boomer she had narrated to Tejas and his friends.

"Okay, I have already told Bhoomi and Akshay, but you guys better fit this in your heads too. No slip-ups, okay?" Jiya asked.

When everyone nodded, Jiya continued. "Boomer is a childhood friend of ours, whose parents moved back to their hometown Manipur four years ago to take care of Boomer's ailing grandparents and to handle the farming and other family business.

"Boomer is a shy guy and contacts us randomly. If anyone asks what he was doing here in Mumbai, tell them he was here to meet his relatives, and just like us, he hadn't forgotten us and was into hip-hop too. Boomer left for Manipur the next day the underground dance-off happened and is not active on social networking sites at all.

"Boomer has no plans of returning here any soon, and we don't know much about his current family situation because he likes to keep his personal life to himself. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less."

I was sure if anyone, I needed to be careful the most. And oh yeah, Akshay too. All of us went back to doing gossiping as soon as Ritvik Bhaiyaa returned.

We practiced for two more hours before we left for our respective homes. Akshay dropped me at my home and went for his night shift. Unlike me, who had to assist my mother whenever necessary, Akshay had to work part-time every day.

His father was not in the picture, and Akshay and his mother had to take of their family of five by themselves. Seeing Akshay rush off for his job on his old rusty scooter, while his mother stared at his back sullenly made me want to beat the shit out of his father.

That asshole was alive, but he left his family because he no longer wanted to take responsibility of his wife and kids. Maybe his father's betrayal towards his mother was one of the reasons Akshay had developed a hatred towards love.

I smiled at Akshay's mother and went inside my home. Dhara Didi and Srishti were helping Mom in cooking, while Dad was catching up on the news. I freshened up, and after dinner, I told my family about participating in the dance auditions.

Just like I had expected, everyone was exhilarated; Mom even said that she would try her best not to ask for my help in her work. I appreciated her gesture and set an alarm to wake up early.

The moment I closed my eyes and opened them again before the dawn broke, I didn't feel like I slept at all. I thought I got only a minute of sleep. Nonetheless, I got ready to leave for my dance practice, making my way to Vibhan's garage.

I had borrowed a spare key yesterday, so when I found the garage shutter already open, I was terrified. I thought someone had broken in. I cautiously entered but saw no sign of damage or burglary. I heard a faint noise coming from the dance studio, so I slowly walked in its direction.

I opened the door and peeked inside. Akshay was performing flawlessly, his eyes focused on his reflection in the full length mirror. Near him, a half-asleep Pratik had a faint smile on his face.

"Traitor!" I yelled.

Akshay stopped abruptly, and Pratik jerked his body up as if he had been possessed by a ghost. He cursed when he noticed me and lied down on the floor. Akshay grinned when I accused of him betraying me.

"How dare you practice alone?" I complained.

"Relax, Boom Boom Boomer, I just arrived fifteen minutes ago myself," Akshay defended.

I glared at him. "Really? If you lie to me, I will kick you directly into the space."

"Fine. I came one hour ago."

I shook my head at him. If he came one hour ago, it meant he didn't get any sleep. He rushed directly to the dance studio after completing his night shift at 3 a.m.

"Go home and rest, idiot. You wanna die early?" I scolded Akshay.

"She is right. Go home and let me sleep too," Pratik said.

Akshay was reluctant, but Pratik and I forced him out of the garage before he dropped dead due to exhaustion. Pratik slept, while I practiced with my newly bought earphones. I relaxed inbetween and went home for breakfast; I returned around noon with my lunchbox and some snacks.

Akshay was already there again before me, and his performance had improved compared to yesterday. As Ritvik Bhaiyaa had promised, he had a discussion with Akshay about being able to understand the emotions of the songs and relay it through his body language.

I knew if I had been the one to make Akki understand, we would have gotten into a fight within seconds. Just like the previous day, we had a break after a strenuous session. As usual, Ritvik Bhaiyaa was leaving for lunch, but I stopped him.

I forwarded my lunchbox to him.

"I am not that hungry, so you can have it," I said.

"No way. Eat your lunch yourself. You need it more than me," Ritvik Bhaiyaa refused.

"We can share."

"Nope."

"Okay then. Don't complain later. Dhara Didi made the lunch herself and asked me to share with you too. But I guess I will have to tell her that you refused."

As expected, Ritvik Bhaiyaa's eyes shone with a glint, a ghost of smile forming on his lips. I smirked mischievously as I moved my lunchbox slowly away from Ritvik Bhaiyaa. Within a few seconds, he grabbed the lunchbox from me and opened the lid.

"Nice," he said.

"Enjoy your meal," I said and plopped down beside Jiya.

She winked at me, and we watched Ritvik Bhaiyaa enjoy my sister's cooking as if he had gotten food for the first time.

"I wish Dhara Didi had married Ritvik Bhaiyaa instead," I grumbled.

"Yup." Jiya nodded.

I stared at my mentor and wondered what my sister's life would have been like if she hadn't agreed to marry our father's friend's son. Ritvik Bhaiyaa would have treated her like a queen for sure. Alas, fate had something else in store for her.

Shaking the bad memories out of my head, I shared snacks with my friends, and Vibhan announced that the final dates for the dance auditions had been made live.

He showed us the official video published by Sarthak Pawar, and I smiled like a goof when I spotted Tejas and his crew in that video too.

"Close your mouth, Bhoomi," Akki teased.

"Shut up." I huffed.

"I guess The Emperors are already on board," Vibhan doubted.

"Looks like it." Shlok and Rehman nodded.

"But there are other dancers too, and all of them are quite well known. I don't think they already have a fixed spot," Yasir contradicted Vibhan's point.

"Guys, shut up. I am trying to focus here," I said.

Vibhan smacked me behind the head, but I didn't take my eyes off from the mobile screen. Jiya pulled my cheek, and I ignored my friends' teasing; they never understood why I liked Tejas so much.

When the video ended, Akshay and I stretched our limbs and went back in front of the mirror.

"Akki, I will kill you if you don't clear the auditions," I said.

"Same to you, Boomer," Akki replied.

"Don't call me that!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You went to Manipur, no? That means this is your ghost in front of me right now."

I gave him a flat look. "Akki, you are bad at emotions, but at least crack proper jokes, no?"

Akshay rolled his eyes and started dancing. "Boomer. Boomer. Boomer!"

"Akki!"

This jerk! I think I will kill my best friend before the auditions even begin.