The day started out perfectly well for me. 

I walked into college, one of my classes got cancelled, Smriti and I hung out in the garden with food from the canteen. Then it was announced that we would have the voting process for the departmental elections in the extra-curricular hour and that bummed me out because going for that would mean that I would have to miss practise with Rhapsody. I could not skip it either since I was one of the candidates. Smriti made me do some last-minute appeals to the students to vote for me. 

Honestly, it all felt a little insincere since I wasn't particularly invested in the whole election now. At first, it seemed like a perfect addition to my college life but then the novelty wore off and I was pretty neutral about the result. 

Also, there was a chance Nirav would be elected for the General Secretary post and if I won then he would be my counterpart. I had managed to evade him since the party. He wasn't approaching me very enthusiastically for whatever reason and that was good for me. 

I was walking back from the photocopy shop with Smriti when I ran into Siddharth. 

"Hey, Siddharth," I called out.

"Hey, Meera." He smiled at me.

"Listen, I was just about to call you, I won't be able to make it to practice today, department elections and everything," I told him.

"You're contesting, right?" he asked.

I was surprised he had remembered, I had mentioned it in passing one time. 

"Yes, I am."

"That sounds great, all the best, you'll probably win," he said.

"Well, I won't be too heartbroken if I don't," I shrugged.

"Don't say that." Smriti chastised, "She's winning alright."

Siddharth laughed and I apologized to the new assertive Smriti.

"In case you finish early you know where to find us," he said and left.

"Sometimes I'm almost jealous you get to hang out with all these cute guys," Smriti said once we walked a little ahead.

My mind went straight to the last time I had seen Angad, it was the same day we had decided on starting over and agreeing to a truce. I had gone to see Yug and Siddharth after class and they were wrapping up with their rehearsal.

This was the first time Angad had been here present with them all when I had come to meet them. We said awkward 'hi's' after the abrupt ending to our conversation earlier in the day and Yug took it upon himself to make me more familiar with his best friend. 

Apparently, Yug and Angad had known each other since they were in pre-school, a fact that either had failed to mention before that day. Their parents were friends as well. 

The air was weird and it wasn't for the lack of familiarity between Angad and me. Nobody seemed to pick up on it. Siddharth tried to reassure me by saying I should be glad that for once Angad wasn't trying to flirt me up. I gave him a polite smile and thought of how they would all react if they knew the real reason for our awkwardness. 

So no, hanging out with boys however cute they might have been, wasn't without the drama. It got better though as the hour ended and I could confidently declare that Rhapsody practises were back to being fun. 

***

So I ended up winning. 

Everyone came up and congratulated me for my win and as the high wore off I realized that standing next to me was none other than Nirav, who had won the General Secretary post. So this was the worst-case scenario. 

I would have to deal with his insufferable self.

Smriti was obviously ecstatic at the results and didn't really care about my concerns. 

At least the rest of the postholders seemed nice. They discussed our responsibilities and the plans for the upcoming events we would be organizing. I had one eye on my watch waiting for the discussion to come to an end. I could possibly catch the last half hour of practice.

"So, partners huh?" Nirav smirked at me when the seniors moved away for a bit.

"Neat," I said barely keeping my sarcasm concealed.

"I am glad you were elected. This will be a great year. Are you waiting for someone?" he asked as he caught me glancing at my watch again.

"I kinda need to go, cover for me, please. I don't think anything of importance will be discussed now." I said hurriedly grabbing my bag.

Nirav placed his hand on my shoulder in his overfamiliar manner. 

"Is this how it's going to be? You running away and me chasing you?" he grinned, evidently proud by his one liner.

I looked from his slimy hand on me to his smirk, I took one calming breath and said very slowly,

"Nirav, since we will be forced to interact all year I need to make one thing very clear," I said and brushed his hand off sharply, "never. grab. me." 

I must have looked sufficiently scary because he nodded silently, which, as it has been established, is really rare.

I approached Smriti and told her to meet me in the canteen in half an hour and ran to the stage area. 

They were still there. As they wrapped up with the last verse of their set Siddharth spotted me.

"So?" he yelled out taking off his guitar and stepping forward.

"I won," I informed him.

"That's amazing! I told you you'd win," he said smiling widely.

I smiled back at him equally wide before Yug interrupted from behind the drums,

"Hello, can someone give us some context?"

"Sorry, I thought Siddharth would tell you, I was contesting for the post of Cultural Secretary in my department and I won." I clarified.

Everyone congratulated me.

"Well, Elvis, you're gonna have double duty you know that right? Working as the cultural secretary and being our star performer," Yug said and I scoffed.

"I am hardly your star performer, you guys are Red Wagon," I said and the banter went on for a few seconds.

"Speaking of performers, the union people needed to see us after practice. I'll give them a call." Angad said and whipped his phone out.

A few minutes later Virat and Heena emerged from the building nearby. 

"Do these guys always come in a pair?" Angad murmured and I giggled. 

Siddharth gave him an annoyed look but Yug and Shreyas seemed amused. 

"Hey guys, you sounded really great," Virat greeted us. 

"Yeah, I guess practice is going well," Angad said.

"That is perfect because we are here regarding the fest season. The first one is around the corner and we know that you are all familiar with the drill but since we have so much fresh talent it would be a good idea to enter new formats and categories." Heena said glancing at me.

"So these are the various categories and details regarding the fest at Bhaskara college. Let us know," Virat said handing Angad a flyer. 

They left and Yug snatched the flyer out of Angad's hands.

"That's great news! We can try our new set there before the bigger fests start," he said.

"We can finally enter the duet section this time, we have Meera," Siddharth said. 

"Yes, I'd love that," I said enthusiastically. I was genuinely pumped about the prospect of competing again. 

"Alright, Meera get ready for more one on one practise sessions then," Angad said with a gleaming smile.

That hadn't occurred to me. 

Of course, I would be singing with the lead singer. 

"Why do you assume you're the one entering with her?" Siddharth spoke up.

"Because we need to put our best foot forward?" Angad countered matter of factly. 

Siddharth scowled at him but didn't say a word. I felt like an intruder. I don't think I was supposed to be privy to this civil war. I pretended to be immersed in the flyer reading over Yug's shoulder. 

Angad sighed and turned to Yug and Shreyas who hadn't said a word in the past minute. 

"Guys, can you back me up here?" 

"I mean, Angad is the best singer amongst us," Yug said slightly reluctantly. 

Shreyas just shrugged. He clearly wasn't a man of many words. 

Siddharth looked at Yug in disbelief and unplugged his guitar and left.

"Angad could you maybe not be that obvious?" Yug sighed.

"We've been over this, man," he said and turned away. 

I still stood there silently debating whether or not I should slip away when Angad addressed me. 

"I'll see you here on Monday then Meera?" 

"Yes," I said quickly and left soon after.

I guess this was happening after all.