"Hey Kriss !", Nick chimed in from the phone.

"Hey Nick, What's the matter? ", I said. My voice groggy and muffled. I was still in daze.

"I was reading the book you gave me"

"So, you ruined my sleep and roused me to inform this!"

"Yes. Actually no!
I'm on the verge of completing the book"

That was quick. Although I was not amazed by it. If I like a book, I myself complete it overnight. And if I don't then there it lays on the bookshelf for long without being read.

He continued, " And to my surprise, you actually have a good taste in books which I didn't expect-"

"You know what! Your arrogant remarks and reviews about me could've waited till tomorrow.
YOU DON'T NEED TO RUIN MY SLEEP FOR IT!", I interrupted him.

"Calm down Sleeping beauty!"

Sleeping beauty! Really?

"So, I called up to ask you to bring the sequel to this. I just can't wait for it. So, bring it tomorrow"

"Only if you return the book I gave you"

"I will. Don't worry, your book is safe with me"

"It better be! "

"Good night, sleeping beauty!"

I hung up. Thanks Mr Arrogant! For ruining my sleep. I didn't think I could go back to my dreamland again soon.

*********

Honk! Honk!

"I'm coming ! Just a minute!", I shouted. Natalie was waiting in the car outside for me.

I fixed my straight hair and for the one last time, stared at my reflection in the mirror. My winged eyeliner was perfect today. I wore minimal makeup. Just a little concealer under my eyes to cover up the dark bags that arised due to lack of sleep. Inspite of that, I felt fresh today.

As I sat inside the car, Natalie gave me a beautiful smile. Her face was glowing.

"Natalie, You look pretty good ! Some special reason for it?" , I teased her.

She was blushing uncontrollably now. I have never seen her this way.

"Oh my god Natalie! Are you blushing?", I exclaimed.

She shook her head.

"Liar! You are blushing ! It's visible right on your face. Is your blushing in any way related to Ethan?"

She blushed even more at the name of Ethan.

"I and Ethan went to the movie last night. And..", Natalie hesistated.

"And...."

"And we kissed!" She covered her face.

"Like for the first time?", I asked.

"Yes", she said all nervous.

"I'm so happy for you Nat!"

She told me every little thing and I was no less in sharing mine.I was so grateful for our friendship. In such a short time, I never imagined, I could share such a strong bond with anyone.

Natalie was so lucky . She had her first kiss. Though Ethan and Natalie have been dating for quite a some time, anyone would have thought kissing as normal. But, for Me and Natalie, it was a BIG deal. We, especially I , were fan of the old school love.

Love, which is far beyond just physical affection.

Where eyes convey much more than lips can ever tell.

Where a single glance of the other person causes your heart to beat faster.

Where just other person's presence makes every moment magical and special.

Where you are ready to face any challenge as long as the other person is with you.

Where the person you love is your strength as well as weakness.

Where a handhold is a promise to never let the other person go, to always hold their hand in any circumstances and to stand by their side always.

And,Where kissing was no less than devouring another person's soul.

**********

As we were proceeding towards our class, our eyes lifted to the poster on the wall beside the student centre. The wall looked different today. Everyday, when we entered, we were greeted by the poster of Ethan asking for votes. It was the best place to attract attention of other students. And we fought a lot to grab that position. And today, as usual the wall was not blank. The poster still covered the wall but it no longer had Ethan's picture.

Our poster was replaced by Steve's poster!

We roamed around the college and all our posters were MISSING! All of them replaced by rivals' .

With just two days away from the elections, this was certainly fatal. Ethan would be here soon as Natalie immediately dialled him and told him about the mess.

As we were waiting for him, bits of papers showered upon our heads. We looked closely at them and they were the pieces of our torn posters. What!! I was really vexed.
We turned around and found the two devils standing there. STEVE and EVELYN.

Of course, who else could stoop so down low to tear up rival's posters and banners.

"You guys look clueless. Oh! I know why! Your posters went missing. Right?
I think I found them. There they are. Beside your feet. On the ground. Right where they deserve", Evelyn snickered.

"Shut up your shitty mouth! ", Ethan rebuked. Natalie's face glowed at Ethan's arrival.

"You can't talk like that with my girlfriend !", Steve roared.

"And you can't take down our posters! It's against the guidelines!",Natalie retorted.

"You don't know what else we can do", Evelyn sneered.

"Of course. You can cross all limits to win. Even if that goes against the rules. You know why?
Because, You yourself know that you people don't have the capability to win these elections. And the only way to win it is to resort to these unscrupulous acts. Poor being! I pity you!", Natalie said with confidence.

This caused an uneasy look to creep up on Evelyn's face. She looked irritated. And this was enough to show that Natalie's words had stirred up the hornet's nest.

The annoyed look on the Evelyn's face now vanished and a sly grin appeared on her face. She searched for something in her bag , fished out something small and showed us.

"Recognize this?", She asked.

A sudden dread took over me as I looked over at our Flash drive in her hand. The drive had all of our election strategies, motives and other plannings. Natalie and Ethan were staring without blinking.

"You pity me ? Who are you to pity me when you are pitiful yourself?",Evelyn smirked.

"Where did you get it?", Natalie asked.

"Ask your friend", Evelyn shifted her gaze from Natalie to me.

Natalie looked in the direction of Evelyn's gaze and her eyes landed on me. I stood baffled, unaware of what Evelyn was implying. All pair of eyes were staring at me.

"You're such a great actor, Kriss. Wipe away that confused look from your face. You know what I'm talking about. Should I tell them about how you helped us?", Evelyn alleged.

"Stop your nonsense Evelyn! Do you mean to say that Kriss stole the flash drive and handed to you to help you?", Natalie asked.

"Couldn't have worded it better than you"

"How dare you accuse Kriss of deceiving us! You think I would believe it? Never in my senses !"

"Wait! Wait! Not so soon. Don't make a decision to trust her so soon. You're blind! And dumb as well. You call yourself smart ? How then, haven't you figured it out till yet?"

"There is nothing to figure out!"

"There is. Remember, our speech day?-"

"Yes. When you get yourself insulted in front of the whole college "

"Remember why?"

"Because the speeches switched"

"That's the story Kriss told you? Good job Kriss!"

"Come to the point!"

"That day, Kriss intentionally misplaced your speech and handed Ethan our speech. But, unfortunately, the order of speakers reversed and our plan backfired. Otherwise, Ethan would have been accused of copying our speech and guess what, We would have been a step closer to victory. Stupid luck!
Anyways, Kriss darling, why did you stay late in the college the other day? And who was with you?"

" I was with Nick. We were discussing our project", I replied bluntly.

"Nick? Kriss really? Don't you remember he is one of our foes", Natalie said.

I didn't realize I had aggravated the situation further by mentioning Nick and me.

"Goddamn Kriss! You are good at making excuses. Why don't you tell them that you met Nick to give him this precious thing", she pointed towards the flash drive in her hand.

The confidence which surfaced Natalie's face a few moments ago was now completely gone. I was too dumbstruck to say anything in my favour.

"I don't believe-" Natalie was interrupted by the beep of my phone. I produced my phone from the bag and looked at the message. It was a message from ...Nick.

Have you brought what I told you to bring?- Nick

DAMN!

***********
A/N :

Sorry for the late update. But did you like the chapter?

I hope you do. Wait for some drama... ;)

Love,
Vaishnavi