"If one more person asked me if I shaved my face or gotten a facial, I'm going to fucking kill them" I ranted to Neha during lunch.

"Jeez! Calm your pants. They only wonder why you look different" .

"You should've warned me"

"So you can give yet another excuse? No, thank you"

"What's with the sudden interest about beauty" Vamsi said from behind us.

Throwing a glare at Neha, I grumbled uneasily "She made me do it"

"Give it a day. Everyone will get used to it" she said soothingly.

I swore under my breath.

"You should actually thank me" Neha began, a hint of edginess in her voice "Your eyes are popping now; without your thick eyebrows obstructing their beauty"

I made a face and added sarcastically "Thank you so much. I'm forever indebted to you now"

"Mad girl" she mumbled under her breath.

But the questioning didn't stop even in the afternoon project sessions and I grew restless as time passed.

"Hey Anjali, did you-----"

"No, I did not shave my face, trim my side burns or contour my face. I don't even know what the hell contour means" I yelled before Sarath can begin his interrogation.

He looked stunned and mumbled weakly "I only wanted to ask if I can lend your networks note book"

Everyone started laughing.

Including Vamsi and Neha. Traitors!

Opening my bag, I gave him what he asked.

Before leaving, he said "Contour makes your face look sharp"

What the hell!

I gaped at him in horror while Neha doubled over with laughter.

This is getting ridiculous.

Packing my bag, I walked over to the last system located at the farthest corner in the lab which nobody uses because it doesn't work half of the time.

I took the seat right next to Pranathi.

Seeing me, she quickly swapped her facebook window to Eclipse.

I smirked "So, the good girl does some bad things too"

With a look of embarrassment, she turned away mumbling a 'sorry'.

"Don't mind me" I said, switching on the CPU. When it didn't start, I hit it a couple of times and eventually, the machine whirred to life.

For half an hour, I tried everything to get my Java tool to function but every attempt had to be ultimately thwarted with Ctrl+Alt+Dlt

"I give up, you dumb piece of shit" I grumbled, hitting the junk one last time before it shut down.

With nothing to do, I opened my bag to retrieve my laptop when I noticed the screen beside me.

"You are chatting with a boy?" I asked Pranathi in surprise.

Great! Now, she has a boy friend too and I am the only girl no body's interested in.

"Sshhh!!" She whispered, gesturing me to keep my voice low.

I nodded but said curiously "Who is he?"

"Someone I met on the internet but please don't tell anyone"

Why would I tell anyone? Also, internet?

"Do you like him?"

"He's just a friend" she replied, panicked.

Ouch! That's a lie.

"What's going on? Any problem?" I asked curiously when I observed the words on her monitor.

From what little I can see, some sort of argument is going on. It's none of my business but I've always had a soft spot for her which made me worry. A bit.

It took her fifteen seconds to make a decision "We are in a relationship. Sort of"

Sort of?

To her silence, I said "Whatever it is, you can trust me to not repeat a word to another person and not be judgemental"

That gave her the push she needed and words tumbled out of her mouth "He was talking about his brother's profession which I remember differently from our chat, months ago. I made a mistake of pointing it out and he's blasting me for not trusting him, disappointing him and all that"

Why doesn't that surprise me? Typical case of lying and then crying foul to make the girl feel guilty.

"Can I take the cursor?" I asked and she nodded, looking worried.

Taking control of her system, I checked his facebook page, friends, events, birthday wishes, anything I can find, which is almost nothing in his case.

"Err-- Pranathi, I think someone's trying to take advantage of your innocence"

Her face fell "What?"

"Look at his page. It's created a couple of months ago. He doesn't have a display picture, he didn't wish any of his friends for their birthdays. His page says he's from Bangalore but all his friends, which are not that many, are either from North India or from outside the country"

"But he said----"

"Whatever it is, he is lying"

"That can't be true. He even said he loves me" Her lips shivered as she mumbled nervously.

"Do you know how he looks like?" I asked, though I already know the answer. He either didn't show his face or shared some random pic from the internet.

She nodded looking embarrassed "He shared one pic" 

Mustering up my patience, I began slowly "There are three things you need to know, hun"

She nodded in acknowledgment making me add "One. Never trust a person you meet on the internet"

Again, she nodded.

"Two. Never trust a person on the internet especially if it's a boy"

"Three. I'm pretty sure the name on his profile is not even his real name"

"Why would he do that to me?" she muttered sadly.

"Fun. Timepass. Probably both" I said honestly.

Seeing the grief on her face and the tears forming in her eyes made me add "Wanna have ice cream? My treat"

She nodded as a lone tear fell on her cheek.

"Get rid of that sniveling asshole" I said, throwing an arm around her as we walked out of the lab with our bags in tow.

The next half an hour I spent listening to her wail about the guy and how he treated her 'special'.

Frankly, it's nothing I didn't expect. He took advantage of her insecurities, buttering her up and pretended to care about her.

All of it can be for something as silly as a bet or as dreadful as money or asking her to meet him alone.

After advising her about probable ramifications, I told her to go back to lab which she did, leaving me alone.

That's too much drama for me; for one day.

But I knew it isn't over when I saw Phani staring at me from my opposite table.

"How are you?" he said, taking the seat opposite to me.

"Awesome" I said, faking cheerfulness.

"You don't have to be sarcastic" he commented dully "Guess you're still holding a grudge"

"Well, I have a right to"

He raised his hands in surrender "You did swear on all of us"

"What do you want?" I said in a bored tone.

"I'm sorry. Just wanted to tell you that"

"Done. Can I go now?"

"Wait" he said, looking panicked "Does that mean you forgave us?"

"Only you!" I said simply. The rest haven't apologized yet.

"Damn, that was easy! I was worrying for no reason"

"Why?"

"I wondered how many times I have to apologize before you forgive"

"Did you wish you took my side inside of staying silent?" I asked directly.

"Of course" he replied immediately.

"Then you are forgiven"

This was my team and a team sticks together. That was what hurt me the most because I would have taken their side no matter what.

I may be stubborn and may hold a grudge for a long time but we are leaving college in a couple of months and that's all that matters now.

"Does that mean I can now ask about your face?"

"Don't!" I said in a threatening tone and he chuckled in amusement.

The rest of my team did come to me, the next day and we hugged it out. With everything happening between Vamsi & Nisha, I didn't want the additional worry.

The day before Valentine's day Vamsi came up to me to ask suggestions about gifts.

"You are asking the wrong person" I managed to say, in spite of feeling something twist deep inside my heart.

The couple left college after morning classes to celebrate their first Valentine's day.

Neha sent an 'anonymous' gift to Shaan which I'm pretty sure will be returned to her like last year.

As to me, I spent the whole day brooding about Vamsi and wondering which universities might accept us.

My days have been going the usual way; working on project and pretending to not see the lovey- dovey looks between my best friend and his girlfriend until Prof. Srinivas decided to be a jerk again.

He asked an out of syllabus question to Neha when her mobile rang in the middle of the class and called her 'stupid girl' for not knowing the answer.

Seeing her teary eyed reminded me of the promise I made to myself couple of months ago.

Torn between asking Vamsi's suggestion and doing something on my own, the next day I flattened his tyres during lunch break.

It was petty but I had to do something.

Two days later, I sneaked into his lab and installed malware making him cancel his lab session and work a full day to restore the systems.

I gave myself three days before I stayed late until the class room's empty and cut the chair's legs knowing he comes first period.

He fell flat on his ass, the next morning.

The whole class erupted in laughter and I did everything I could to keep a straight face. But unsurprisingly, got caught by my best friend.

"You did it, didn't you?" Neha asked, looking at me in wonder during lunch hour.

"I don't know what you are talking about"

When I thought she'd call me a liar, she hugged me fiercely "You are my hero"

"I know"

"Next time, we do it together" she mumbled into my neck.

"Who says there will be next time?"

But it was Anila's voice that I heard "Aww... Look at the new couple in our college"

Neha pulled back, glaring at her "Go away"

Ignoring her, she continued "Looks like you found the perfect rebound for Shaan. Is it true he threw your Valentine's day gift down the toilet?"

"He didn't" Neha replied brusquely.

"As to rebounds" I began firmly, throwing a smirk at her "No body knows it better than you do. Don't you think?"

"Look who's talking" Anila mumbled sweetly "The girl who's dated nobody. Oops. I mean, the girl nobody wants to date"

"Awww...don't you worry about me" I said, imitating her tone "At least I don't have to fret about STDs and contraceptive pills"

With her eyes turned into slits, she walked out of the class room.

"Burn, bitch!" Neha muttered, a little late.

"That was harsh" Vamsi sounded disappointed but said nothing else.

Two days after the announcement of Annual day, Vamsi visited my house after dinner to discuss something important.

"What is it?" I said, pacing uneasily on the terrace.

It sounded bad when he called me up saying he's coming home which in itself is rare because he always comes unannounced.

"First, give me your promise that you won't get mad" he said nervously.

I narrowed my eyes at him "What's wrong?"

"Promise me first"

"I can't because I'm already mad" I said hoarsely. I hate guessing game and if he evades another time, I am going to be downright pissed.

He sighed heavily "Damn! Let's talk tomorrow then"

"Are you kidding me? I will be more mad tomorrow. Just get it done with"

"Nisha wants to participate in the dance competition" he announced, directly.

"O--kay. Let her participate. What's there to be mad about ?" I wondered aloud, not understanding.

"She wants to participate in duet. With me!"

Damn!

"I didn't know she's good at dancing. She only participated in singing before"

And always won, I reminded myself.

"She says she always wanted to participate. Now that we are together and I'm good at dancing, she wants us to do it together"

"What did you tell her?" Seeing his hard look, I continued "You said no. Didn't you?"

He shook his head "I didn't"

"WHAT?"

"Anju! Listen---"

"No, you listen to me. We participated together, won and performed on annual day for three years now. That's our thing"

"Anju, please!"

"No, I'm not budging about this"

"Anju.. Please try to listen"

"No"

"Well, it's not up to you" he said angrily.

"Ohh. So, now that you have a girlfriend, you want to throw me away?"

"If you really are my friend, you'd try to understand"

"Oh, I understand" I spat bitterly "You made it very clear where I stand"

He looked torn "She's my girlfriend. What do you expect me to do? Turn down the first thing she's ever asked me?"

A minute of silence did nothing to calm my nerves but I spoke as calmly as I could "Looks like you've already made your decision. Why bother coming here?"

"Because you're my best friend"

I scoffed "Yeah, right"

"Anju, I don't like doing this to you" he said patiently.

"You know how much I look forward to annual day every year"

"You can still participate in singles"

"Singles don't perform on stage. Don't you know that? Or are you going to pretend that you care by offering more suggestions?"

Ok, that's terrible. I shouldn't have said that. But, I am beyond pissed and have no control over my mouth any longer.

"Stop it Anju! That's enough"

"You said what you came to say. Now go back to your perfect little girlfriend" I said snidely.

He clenched his teeth but left without another word.

That only made me more bitter.

What I said was totally wrong. I should have handled it differently but I can't undo anything and go back to how it felt when he said it's not up to me.

He came here with a decision in his mind. Not to ask or convince but to inform.

That made me realize something.

No longer does he need me to be by his side.

No longer does he need to share and discuss with me before arriving to a conclusion.

And no longer am I the first priority in his life.

Thirteen years of friendship and I am discarded like I'm yesterday's newspaper.

The depth of sadness I felt also hardened my heart.

If he thought I'll watch him and his girlfriend from sidelines and wail in self pity, then he's very wrong.

If he can alter his partner with no remorse, so can I.

We may have so little time but I'll find someone if that's the last thing I ever did. And boy, will I work harder than I ever did in my life.

-------

Thank you for reading. Vote, comment and share if you like this chap.

I know that a lot of people don't like Vamsi giving more importance to Nisha, so I want to explain.

I had two girl friends in college and when they had boyfriends, things did change. 

The girl who travelled with me every day suddenly preferred to go with her boyfriend because that's the only time they got to spend with each other.

At times, the four of them went out together and I felt abandoned. I felt like an outsider and I was bitter.

Later, I understood why. When a special person enters your life, be it a girlfriend or a wife, you accommodate them which also means cutting off some time with your friends.

Anjali feels the same way and Vamsi understands it. You feel that he's hurting her but he doesn't know about her feelings and he's doing the same thing all of us do when we get into a relationship.

We divide our time to the new person; but that doesn't mean we don't care about our old friends. 

Unlike friendship, companionship needs constant validation and is comparatively a lot more vulnerable.

I was very wary while writing this book that readers may not like Anjali because she's not this perfect heroine that we read in books all the time. But you guys surprised me by accepting her with open arms. 

I'm so glad you can relate with her and understand her pain which is why you don't like Vamsi. But you should also remember that you are only seeing things from her point of view.

Also, they are just twenty years old. I was totally clueless when I was 20 and did some stupid things that I regret. I bet everybody does out of naivete.

You read the prologue and you already have an idea what's going to happen in the near future. If for one second, you thought I'd let Vamsi get away with all of this easily, you are wrong.

Also, just because you love somebody and if he/she doesn't love you back it will not make that person the bad guy.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.  

- JANAKI