Why do couples call each other 'Baby'? Does it really sound cute or are they just following trend? Who started this thing of calling your partner by the noun used for a tiny human being?

"Baby, listen to me. I am not trying to judge you. I am just asking you why you blocked me yesterday," Shree repeated the same thing third time while rubbing his temples.

From the other end of his call, I could hear Mahek yelling at him. From the last four days, I had been witnessing the same scene countless times. Shree would be either arguing with his girlfriend or apologizing.

Finally, he hung up the call in frustration and slumped down on his bed. He ran his hand through his hair, which he shortened again because Mahek didn't like long haired guys. I didn't disturb him till the time he spoke himself.

"I am fucking tired, man. Why won't she understand that I wasn't trying to sound suspicious?!" he grumbled.

"Is everything okay?" I asked cautiously.

Shree sighed and shook his head. "Mahek threatened on breaking up with me. I don't know what to do."

"Hasn't she done that quite a lot before too?"

"But she sounded serious this time. What should I do? How about I gift her something? Maybe that will resolve the issue? Or I can take her to dinner when we return back?"

Wow. As if he wasn't doing that already on a daily basis.

"If you think that's right, then go ahead. I don't have any experience in this, so I can't be that much of help," I said.

Shree narrowed his eyes at me. "Who's stopping you then? You can have a girlfriend any time you want. It is you who keeps running away from girls."

"No, I don't. I am just not interested in anyone."

Really, Ved? Doesn't Sandhya count as a girl? Or do you consider her as a monkey only? Wow, Ved is in love with a monkey. How about we publish it as a headline?

Shut up, you useless grey matter.

Shree stared at me and was about to bring up if I liked guys, but I stopped him and told him that I just didn't want to think about that stuff for the time being. My main priorities were basketball, studies, and my business.

What about Sandy Pandy then? You gonna leave her out just like that? If that's what you are planning on, then okay. Don't forget she is already interested in Priyaank - a guy you don't know much about - and how can we forget Karthik? What do you think he must be doing now?

It is our free day today; you forgot about it? The girl you like might be with either a guy she likes or your friend who blatantly confessed that he kind of likes her.

But oh well, our Ved doesn't even have Sandhya in his priorities list. It is all okay if she finds a nice guy for herself and never sees Ved again. Right, Ved? You will be completely okay if she-

No! Of course not! This is an emergency.

I instantly snapped up from my bed and dived into the washroom. Within five minutes, I was dressed up and tying my shoelaces. Shree observed me weirdly as I kept mumbling 'No' to myself and tried calling Karthik; that bastard didn't pick up my call.

Fuck, what if he is with Sandhya? Considering him, it is highly possible that he might have told Sandhya what he thought about her.

I checked my appearance in the mirror as I rushed out of my room and overlooked from the lobby windows, glancing around for my targets. I increased my pace, but Shreyas and Parth stopped me on the way.

"We were just coming to your room only," Shreyas said. "Is Shree there?"

"Shree is in the room. And bye, I got some important stuff to take care of," I replied hurriedly.

I moved my feet, but Parth placed a palm on my shoulder. "Do you need our help? Did you get in any fight?"

"No, Parth." I smiled and started moving.

Parth and Shreyas exchanged curious glances, and I thought of telling them a lie later. I had just reached the stairs when I heard footsteps behind me, my friends' voices growing louder.

"Shree must be fighting with his idiot girlfriend only. I will talk to him later," Shreyas announced as he came to my right side.

"Yeah. Let's roam around the garden and see what the girls are up to. Surbhi said she had new gossip to share," Parth said as he walked on my left.

I glanced between them. "You both are coming with me?"

They nodded in synchronisation. I pursed my lips and let them come with me. There was no way they were going to leave me alone after seeing my reaction earlier.

Damn it. Parth will not say anything, but he will surely grill me tonight.

After taking the stairs, we reached the lobby. I could hear my fellow students' voices increasing as we moved in the garden's direction. The moment I stepped out, I surveyed my surroundings and felt a nerve snap as I saw Karthik playing with Sandhya.

Chill, Ved. He is your friend.

I huffed and went ahead. I thought Karthik would notice my presence, but he was busy staring at Sandy Pandy with a huge grin on his face. When I reached them, I placed my left palm on his forehead and pushed him back.

"No trespassing," I warned.

Karthik swatted my hand away and opened his mouth to curse, but when he saw me clearly, a smirk spread on his lips as he wiggled his eyebrows. I took a minute to replay what I just did.

Fuck... Me being jealous was going to take me to hell.

I slowly turned my head and looked at Sandhya, trying to gauge her reaction. She stared at me weirdly, her brown orbs fixed on me. She didn't say anything though. I waited for a minute for her to say something, but when she didn't, I sat down beside her.

Is she going to object? Did she get suspicious? Act cool, Ved. Act cool. You are good at masking emotions.

When I felt Sandhya's stare on me, I counted till ten and then looked back at her after punching Karthik across the head. She had her detective expression on: one eyebrow raised, one eye squinted, and her lips twisted a bit as her mind changed gears.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she replied coldly.

Hmmm... She must have been angry after what happened yesterday. Meaning, she must not have paid much attention when I pushed Karthik off.

Shouldn't I be happy? I didn't want her to get any hints, but I also didn't like her thinking that I wasn't concerned about her and only acted rude.

"You both having fun without us? Not fair," Parth said after he sat down on Sandhya's right side, while Shreyas sat across from us.

Parth shot me a mischievous smile as he shuffled through Sandhya's bag and took out Ludo. Meanwhile, I heard Karthik cry when Shreyas unapologetically pushed the Jenga building and put the pieces back in its container.

"Let's play Ludo," Parth announced and told us to choose our colors.

As if on clue, Sandhya instantly grabbed the red ones, but I already had my eyes on them. My hand covered hers, and a small heart attack was on its way as I let the feeling of her smaller hand register in my brain. While I was trying not to fuse out, Sandhya was staring daggers at me.

"Mine," she said.

"Not so fast, Sandy Pandy. Red is mine," I argued.

"There are five of us. One of us have to leave," Sandhya said and looked at me.

I observed closely how she darted her eyes around and shifted in her seat. She was definitely lying.

"You have another one, don't you?" I complained.

Her eyes widened. "I don't!"

She was one hundred percent lying. And to prove my point, Parth took out the advanced version of the game from her bag and laid it out in front of us.

I looked at the culprit. "Are you going to let go or not?"

Sandhya shook her head vigorously. It wasn't her fault too - Red was our favourite colour. I understood how much she wanted to play with that particular hue.

Should I let her have it? I have never done that before. We would always fight each other on that topic, and if I suddenly acted different, she would really chew my head out.

I stared at our hands. I controlled myself from drifting off into the fairyland and forced my mind to come up with a decision fast. My friends were waiting for us, and by the looks of it, Shreyas and Parth were definitely having a telepathic conversation.

Looks like I will have to accept my defeat this time.

"You can have it," I said and told Parth to give me some other colour.

I smiled as I rotated the black chips between my fingers; I gave up my favourite color, but I wasn't going to lose in the game.

After Karthik groaning continuously, we started the game. For the first five minutes, I could feel Sandhya staring at me suspiciously. She could do it later; she was losing in the game.

"Focus on the game, Sandhya," I said.

She kept her face stoic. "So what? Why do you care?"

Why do I care? Was she really asking this question?

I glanced at her.

Why shouldn't I care? I like you, stupid buffoon. I let you have the red chip even though I also wanted it. I am competitive, but I don't want you to lag behind in the game. Can't you understand such a simple thing, idiot? Why are you so thick-skulled? Can't you even get a hint?

It is all because of you that I am in this situation. Do you know how much hard it is to not get jealous while you are busy in your own world, unaware of how I feel? Do you think it is easy for me, liking the person I thought I hated? Why did I fall for you? Do you have any answer for that? Of course, you won't. You are only good at solving Physics equations. And now you are interested in some other-

Wait, what the hell am I doing?

I quickly averted my eyes, played my chance, turned back at her, and flicked her on the chin.

"Stop saying useless things," I scolded.

So mature, Ved. Blaming her for everything.

As if she heard what my inner voice said, she hit me on the arm. Her hit felt like a feather. I teased her about it, and she got enraged. I sighed when she punched me and got her hand hurt instead. I grabbed her wrist and checked if she actually bruised it; she made such a face as if I had murdered her.

"Drama queen. Stop overreacting." I rubbed my fingers on her knuckles. Everything was fine.

For the rest of the game, I kept her hand hostage because I knew she would have lashed out again as she was losing pretty badly. I again reminded her to focus on the game when I noticed her continuously staring at me curiously.

I didn't fail to notice a light blush on her cheeks when she argued with me; I wondered if I was imagining it. I wished it wasn't an illusion. Sandhya concentrated on the game, but her eyes kept fleeting back to me. I was grateful for all the attention I was getting - at least, she hadn't mentioned about Priyaank at all.

"Yes. Just one more to go in the victory room." I smiled.

"Only one of mine is in," Sandhya mumbled and pouted.

"I told you to focus, didn't I?" I accused.

She stared at me, not breaking the stare. "I will win next time. Enjoy your victory for now."

I lightly squeezed her hand in mine as my left hand advanced towards her face.

"It will still be a victory for me if you won instead," I mumbled under my breath.

"You said something?" she asked. "You cursed me, didn't you?"

I flicked her forehead. "Maybe you are right."

"Jerk."