Here it was, the day of the competition. 

We were sitting in the assigned participant areas waiting for our turn. I had so much nervous energy in me that I was constantly bouncing both my legs up and down. I had barely eaten since morning and had woken up super early. 

Years of performing had dulled my nerves and stage fright but today I was under a fresh onslaught of nervousness and irrational fears. I had carefully done myself up. I was even wearing my nicest LBD with my trusty sneakers, yet I didn't feel as confident as I usually did. 

"Stop," said Angad and placed a hand on my knee to halt my bouncing legs. I quickly drew back my leg so I could escape the tingles that erupted in my skin whenever we made contact. 

Angad had done his best to calm me down. He had sat me down multiple times and had reassured me that I was the best singer he had seen in our college and that we would win. 

I wanted to believe him, I really did. 

It was sort of intimidating seeing the whole setup here in Bhaskara college. I mean they had tents, a huge stage with the lighting and backdrop and everything. It almost looked like a concert. 

Delhi University was not kidding around when it came to fests.

Nobody seemed fazed except the first years. They were all used to the grandiose nature of these competitions. 

"You hungry?" Angad asked me. 

Since the order of the competition was -- Solo, Duet, Group and then Bands, Angad and I were the only ones from Rhapsody in this room. Everyone else was outside somewhere in the audience. 

I shook my head and continued going over the lyrics of the songs in my head. 

Had I bitten off more than I could chew? Two separate categories seemed excessive now. How is Angad so calm? He had to perform thrice. Wouldn't he mix up his sets? What if I mixed up my sets? How embarrassing would that be?

"Meera, Meera? Hey, are you okay?" Angad touched my shoulder gently to get my attention. 

"Yes!" I said, a little high pitched.

"No, you are clearly not," he observed and then turned me around to face him. 

"Are you that nervous about the performance?" he asked and I nodded. 

"You may think this is all some big deal but trust me, fests like this happen fifty times a year. Since this is the first one you might think the stakes are high but they really aren't. Worst case scenario you stumble and fall on the stage mid-song. Nobody is even going to remember that at the next fest. Actually, the audience isn't even here to see us. They are here for Jasleen Kaur, the celebrity performer."

I giggled. I guess he was right in a way, We were all just minor opening acts for the queen of Punjabi pop who was the showstopping performance of this fest. 

 "And you are a phenomenal singer, I don't understand what you are so afraid of. Just go out there and give your best. That is all everybody expects of you. Nothing more, nothing less."

He finished his big speech with utmost sincerity. 

"Now take a few calming breaths and relax."

Which I did. I wasn't the picture of serenity but it was a definite improvement. 

So when they called out my name for the Solo performance I felt calmer and determined as the volunteer led me away. 

I stepped onto the stage and was met with a huge crowd. I saw Siddharth, Yug and Shreyas towards the sides and they were cheering for me the loudest. I inhaled and imagined I was singing for them. They had so much faith in me and I had to give my best. 

Everything was a blur after that because I went into autopilot mode. My song flowed out of me like a gushing river and before long I could hear applause. 

I had done it. 

I walked off the stage and back into the green room. Angad stood there smiling. I squealed and jumped straight into his arms. He laughed and hugged me back.

"What did I tell you? You were phenomenal," he said. 

Someone cleared their throat behind us and we pulled apart. A girl with a volunteer badge stood there smiling awkwardly. 

"Angad Mehra from Maurya College?" she asked him, Angad confirmed and she handed him a numbered badge. "You are up next."

"Wish me luck." he winked at me. 

"All the very best you are going to kill it." 

As Angad walked off with the volunteer I looked at her. She seemed vaguely familiar but I couldn't quite place her. I strained to remember where I had seen her before but no such memory of her popped into my head. 

Then Angad started to sing and I shifted my attention back to him. 

Obviously, he was swoon-worthy. Every female in the vicinity was enamoured by his smooth voice and good looks. Even the participants in the room crowded to watch him. I smiled and shook my head. This was the Angad effect, nobody was immune. 

As the Solo-Male category wrapped up I discovered that even though I was very nervous about the duet category I was actually looking forward to it. Having Angad next to me was strangely very reassuring. 

"We are going to ace it," he said as we walked onto the stage when the volunteer girl came to fetch us. 

Ace it we did because if the applause after Angad's performance was loud, this was deafening. I was lost in the music and felt myself improvising some harmonies. Angad did not falter for a second our voices melted together to create a beautiful melody. 

I was smiling ear to ear when we walked off the stage. 

It was such a high. I turned to Angad abruptly and said,

"That was such a rush. Oh my God! This was amazing, Angad. Thank you for believing in me. I could have never done it without you guys. Who would have thought our original song would be such a hit. Man, that was so much fun. I see why you guys like to perform here. The energy is something else," I went on ranting giddily and he just listened patiently with an indulgent smile. 

"Excuse me, you have to empty the green room for the next category," the volunteer said coming up to us. I looked around to see people vacating the room. The next category was Group so either Yug or Siddharth would be escorting our society. 

"We just need to wish our friends good luck. We will leave right after. If that is okay?" I asked her.

But before she could reply a very familiar voice spoke,

"Sonali," the voice called out and I froze. Sonali smiled and walked past us to meet him.

I could not look up to confirm my suspicion but if I was being honest, I did not need to look up. Over the past few years, my ears had grown so accustomed to his voice that hearing it after so long almost made me tear up. 

Angad noticed the sudden change in my demeanour and furrowed his brows.

"Meera?" Angad asked, concerned. 

My fists clenched and I turned around to face him. The man who had broken my heart. 

Parth. 

"Meera?" this time it was Parth who had said my name. He seemed surprised to see me. 

He had a beard now. That was the first thing that registered.

His face hadn't altered very much other than that. I was familiar with every crevice of that face but now that he had a beard, it concealed much of those hollow cheeks. He had also grown out of his quirky short-sleeved shirts because now he stood before me in a plain white one. 

He had called her 'Sonali'.

This was why the girl had seemed familiar. She was the new girlfriend. The one I had been dumped for. I looked at her. She was beautiful obviously. She looked gorgeous in her graphic tank top and ripped jeans. I guess that was what was wrong with me, I wasn't 'cool' enough. 

"Parth," I said coldly. 

The former feelings of sadness and inadequacy were pushed aside and now all I felt was anger. Not the wet, overwhelming anger I'd felt in abundance at the beginning of the breakup that made me want to cry and cling on to him. 

This anger that I felt was different. It filled me with cold, hard bitterness. 

"You two know each other?" Sonali looked from Parth to me and then back at him. 

I had the strangest urge to punch him for putting me through all this because truthfully he seemed as collected and unfazed as any other day. In fact, I could see his eyes appreciatively raking over my body. 

The audacity of this man was truly appalling. 

I could tell he was also surprised by the way I was dressed. Even on our dates I never wore dresses. Was that why he had broken up with me? I wasn't feminine enough back then?

"This a friend of mine from school," Parth informed Sonali who seemed to not know anything of our history. 

My jaw dropped as the word 'friend' came out of his mouth. 

"Friend?" I laughed incredulously. 

That was all he had reduced whatever we had between us to. He had used the word 'friend' to describe the times we had spent together in school, through ups and downs. I had stood by him like a rock, I had devoted so much of my time and emotions to him and now I was in the same category as the people you nodded a greeting to in the corridor when you bumped into them. 

Somebody called out Sonali's name as the new participants started to file into the corridor. She murmured a quick apology and dashed off to check them in. 

"You have some nerve, Parth. 'Friend'?" I spit out. 

"What are you doing here? Participating?" he went on cheerily as if we actually were old friends catching up. 

Angad cleared his throat to get my attention. I had almost forgotten he was standing there. I looked up at him and then turned to Parth.

"Alright friend, let's catch up. Yes, I am here to participate with my boyfriend. Meet my boyfriend, Angad." I said gesturing to him and then added "Angad this is an asshole I knew back in school." 

I smiled at him sweetly and Parth now looked taken aback which satisfied me a little. He sized Angad up and Angad stared at me in confusion. Before Angad could say something that would foil my ruse I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him. 

I pecked his lips first and then turned back to a slack-jawed Parth. 

"Are you gonna stand here and watch?" I asked curtly and then turned back and kissed Angad some more. 

I had kissed Angad before this moment but this time around it was different. 

His arms circled around my waist and he pulled me in closer to kiss me back with a fervour I had never seen before. My own hands slipped up to the nape of his neck and my fingers found themselves tangled in his hair. I could feel my legs turning to jelly and Angad had to support more and more of my weight. The warmth of his chest ignited something within me that I didn't know existed. It felt like we were the only two people in the world and I could go on kissing him forever.

It felt like my chest would burst with giddiness and I realized that none of my kisses with Parth even compared to what this was doing to me. 

Parth? Oh crap! 

The sudden realization, that we were still standing in a corridor out in public and that I had kissed Angad only because Parth had made a sudden reappearance, came down on me like a shower of bricks. 

I disentangled my fingers from his hair and placed them on his forearms and pushed with all the force I could muster after the earth-shattering kiss. 

Angad seemed to be in a sort of trance too which made me feel a little bit better. This kiss had been as mind-blowing for him as it had been for me. 

"What?" he asked a little groggily.

I looked around and found no trace of either Parth or Sonali. A few people were gawking at us because PDA still wasn't as socially acceptable in India. I felt relieved because nobody from Rhapsody had seen us. 

"Let's get out of here," I said grabbing his arm and leading him away. 

I am sure he wanted answers and explanations but I didn't think I could do that now. I hadn't eaten all day and the nerves from the performance along with the stress of bumping into my asshole ex were settling in and I felt a little lightheaded (Perhaps, it had something to do with the kiss too). 

"Meera, wait," Angad said but I kept trying to tow him away as soon as I could. 

"I need something to eat. I will explain everything there," 

But Angad stood his ground. He stared at me in a way that he had never done before. He seemed... angry. His lips were pursed and his brows were furrowed together. 

"I want an explanation and it has to be now," he said firmly. 

I sighed. 

"That was my ex-boyfriend but I suppose you were able to piece that much from our interaction. Things did not end on great terms. That girl, the volunteer, is his current girlfriend. I am sorry you got dragged into this mess. I just couldn't stand his smug face." 

He stared at me for a beat, his expression unwavering.

"It's not okay, Meera," he said finally and my heart sank.

"I know you expect me to be okay with whatever bullshit you throw my way but this has to stop now. One minute you are kissing me like there is no tomorrow and then you are telling me that you don't 'date'. All of these mixed signals." he said furiously.

"I--" I tried but he held up his hand and continued.

"And today you thought it was okay to use me to make your ex-boyfriend jealous? Isn't that equally shitty on your part?"

"You didn't seem to mind it as much a few seconds ago," I mumbled sheepishly and then regretted it immediately. 

His expression grew even darker at that if it was possible and he said,

"Have you ever stopped to consider that you are taking this hedonistic approach of yours a little too far?" he asked.

"Angad I am sorry," I implored desperately.

"No, Meera. I am done, whatever this is, between you and me, I am done with that," he said finally and walked away. 

A/N

Oof that was intense. 

PS 

Meera's outfit is on top.