I stood there like an idiot near my classroom door not knowing what to do.

"I still didn't get an answer Hina", Yuvan said expectantly.

"Well, uh I barely know you", I said.

God! I'd never felt so foolish in my entire life.

"That's true".

"Yeah? See?"

"So, that's a no?"

Now what?

"See Yuvan, why don't we have this conversation later? The bell is about to ring", I blabbered.

"Yeah", he glanced at his watch and grimaced, "Okay, I'm running late", he said and left.

I quickly made to get into the classroom, but found myself facing..NAIRA!

She had seen me and Yuvan together! I knew what was coming now. And sure enough..

"Is that Yuvan Kapoor?" she almost shouted, "What were you doing with him?"

"Shhhh" I said.

"What the..?" she sounded flabbergasted, "What's going on?"

"I met him in the corridor downstairs and we came up together", I said trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

Naira's eyes lit up. Duh!

"Dude! You're not thinking of taking Rakul's place. Are you?"

"Uh..what?" I asked.

She gave my shoulder a slap, "Oh madam, come on. We might not be best friends, but I've been your roommate for two years now. It's exactly what I think. Isn't it?"

But just then our teacher came in and everyone hurried to their seats.

"Let me go Naira", I said as I escaped from her clutches and ran to take my seat near Kimayra.

"Where were you?" she muttered to me.

"Later", I said trying to sound normal but the truth was, I was flabbergasted. Naira had seen me with Yuvan and I knew what was going to happen next. And it did.

By that evening, the motor mouth had accomplished her job.

"Are you sure about this?" Kimayra asked me in the room later.

"Kim, I haven't even said yes. Alright? Stop hogging me. Let's start our homework now", I said.

"What's with the sudden interest in homework?" Kimayra asked seriously.

"So should we just sit like this and talk about my non existent romance?"

"Oh, of course not", said Kimayra, struck for a second, "Right. I'm game. Let's start our homework. But whatever you do, be careful babe and don't hurt anyone else".

Be careful? Don't hurt anyone?

Why was Kimayra behaving like I had started playing Jumanji?

But things were about to get worse.

The next morning when I went down to the dining room, Ishaan was standing at the foot of the stairs, his face looking like thunder.

I stared at him and stopped abruptly.

"Get your butt down here this instant, Hina! We need to talk!" he said. I hurriedly obeyed him. 

"Ishaan", I walked down and touched his arm, "What happened?"

"You tell me what happened!" he said darkly.

I stared at him blankly. He stared back.

"Are you talking about Yuvan?" I asked finally.

"So you admit it?" he asked looking more shocked, "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Uh..what?" I stammered.

"You think this is good? You'll get caught in a mess, Hina".

Great. First Kimayra. Now Ishaan.

"What are you talking about?" I asked though I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Hina, when did this happen?" he asked again.

"Stop it Ishaan!" I finally said, "You're acting like I got married to Yuvan and ran away. Just calm down, okay? I didn't even say yes to him. So please chill. He was so friendly and so nice to me. I know you're concerned about me but I'm fine. I hate to see you shouting like this".

"He was friendly and nice with you?" he asked calmly, "I've been friendly and nice with you for five years Hina".

"Ishaan where do you come into all this man?" I asked totally confused.

"Oh yeah. I didn't come into this at all right? I forgot about it", he said. I didn't know whether he was being sarcastic or serious.

I looked at him expectantly.

"Listen Hina", he said finally, "Do you really wanna do this?"

"Umm..I don't know. I think so", I muttered not looking at him.

"Alright. I get it" he said and nodded his head, "Let's go have breakfast".

I was so confused with both Ishaan and Kimayra's behavior. But I was glad that they were not pestering me. I was just hoping that things would be back to normal but the worst dose was yet to come and how.

That night we were having dinner and I was sitting with Ishaan, Kimayra and six or seven others at one of the larger tables since all the smaller ones were occupied.

And all of a sudden, Rakul Chakraborty came to our table and started to talk to Naira and Neeti.

Then to my surprise she came right up to me. She was so close to me that her over expensive perfume was making me slightly dizzy.

She touched my shoulder and said very sweetly, "Hey Hina. Having a good time with Yuvan?"

OMG! I was so embarrassed and flushed like anything.

And everyone at the table was starring at me and Rakul like both of us were the final two contenders at a Bigg Boss finale.

I was saved when Naira's big mouth came to my rescue, "OMG! Hina and Rakul. You guys are on talking terms now. How wonderful!"

"Oh yes" said Rakul and gave me a big smile which was pure lipstick coated nastiness.

I smiled back reluctantly and thankfully she walked away after that.

Just then I felt my belt loosen. God!

I was wondering how to get up and run upstairs without my skirt coming off, when Kimayra saw me shift uncomfortably.

"Loose skirt?" she asked.

"Come, we'll go together" she said.

"Okay", I said gratefully.

I got up and made my way out of the table and had walked a few feet when I felt a huge weight behind me. I pulled further and there was an enormous crashing noise.

I turned around and to my dismay I saw the table cloth tucked into my belt. Rakul! The bitch!

I had upset the whole table. The crockery had toppled down and the floor was now decked in a mix of daal, sabzi, curd and hot chocolate.

"OH MY GOD!" Naira shrieked.

I turned back. The dining room was completely silent. Everyone was looking at me. I tried to make out Rakul in the crowd but I couldn't spot her. I turned back and stared at Kimayra and Ishaan.

Kimayra covered her mouth to hide her laughter and Ishaan was engaged in a valiant attempt to make a straight face. Fortunately, Yuvan was not there in the dining room.

I looked away and quickly removed the table cloth from my skirt. I blinked back my tears. Trying to avoid everyone's eyes, I quietly got up and managed to walk out of the dining room.

Once I was outside, I ran. I ran up the stairs and instead of going to my room, I hurried further upstairs and ran straight to the terrace.

I couldn't believe Rakul had embarrassed me in front of the entire student body. Okay, it was not the entire student body. But still!

I should've known she'd want to do something to me for hanging out with Yuvan!

I stood there, my hands on the parapet wall of the terrace, heaving and panting as I had come running a long way. I was too embarrassed to even cry.

I stood there for what felt like eternity. Everybody would have finished their dinner and gone to their rooms. I could quietly slip down. But instead, I continued to stand there obstinately.

Finally, I heard footsteps approaching. I turned around and sure enough it was Ishaan.

"Hina yar! Come down! It was just a joke. Everybody's going to forget it".

I felt like slapping him.

"The joke happened with me Ishaan. So cut the crap", I snapped at him. And then immediately felt guilty. He had after all, come in search of me.

I sighed, "Listen.."

"Listen to what?" he asked in exasperation, "You think nobody has anything else to do?"

That's when I suddenly got overly dramatic and pounced on top of the parapet wall and climbed over it.

"HINA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Ishaan burst out. I could sense the panic in his voice.

"Go away", I said.

"Get down this instant", he shouted at me.

"No", I said and my voice broke, "You don't understand this Ishaan. I'm so fed up. Everything I do seems like a desperate attempt for others to notice me."

"And it is, isn't it?" Ishaan asked me a simple question.

That's when I completely lost it with him.

"Excuse me mister! What are you thinking? You think you're any better than me? You think you're a big popular dude?"

"No but at least I'm not desperate, like you. Isn't that why you're running after Yuvan? Hoping he'll boost your bloody popularity!" he said roughly.

"And what about you? You pretend as if you're some saint and you've given up all earthly desires but the truth is you're hanging around me because you have nowhere else to go!"

He stared at me for a moment.

"How dare you?" he said in not more than a whisper.

"It's the truth!" I said, still wobbling on the wall, struggling to find a balance. "And you know what? You need to get a job!", I berated him.

"And you need to get a damn life!" he said.

I showed him the finger.

"Are you coming down or what?" he asked coldly.

"No", I said shortly.

"Fine, then stand on that wall and find someone else to handle your melodrama. I'm so done with your hysterics!"

"Go then!" I shouted, "Get lost!"

Now it was his turn to show the finger and then he turned to walk away.

I turned too.

Without thinking.

My heel slipped and gravity did it's job.