The chewing sounds from the other side of my bed woke me up in the middle of the night. It's not unusual for me to sleep alone and wake up to find Vamsi lying opposite to me. It has been that way for a long time now.

"What are you eating?" I said groggily, without opening my eyes.

"Why do you only have apples on the dining table?" He said instead.

"There's chocolate ice cream in the freezer"

"Done with that already"

Opening my eyes, I took a hard look at him, under the light of my bed lamp "How long have you been here?"

"Half an hour"

"And you are still hungry?"

He nodded.

"Did you check the cabinet above the kitchen cupboards?"

He raised his eyebrows "Your mom changed the hiding place again?"

"It's not her fault she keeps snacks away for guests and you eat way before they come home"

He laughed "Hey! I'm not blaming her"

"Check the cabinets"

"What about the guests?"

"I'll buy something first thing tomorrow"

He returned a minute later with a box under his arm "Want some gulab jamun?"

"I'm fine" I replied, closing my eyes to reclaim sleep but the shuffling noises didn't let me be.

"Here it is!"

"Whaaat?" I complained having reached my limit to the breach of my deep slumber..

"My MU shirt"

"Okay. Come to sleep now"

More shuffling noises suggested he's changing clothes and I almost thought of shouting again when he dropped on bed making me sigh in relief.

Something should be done for his insomnia and midnight snack habits. It's gotten way out of our hands.

The last doctor he went to see smiled at him like people this young cannot have insomnia. His medication is to stop using mobiles and computers.

What a thing to say to a computer engineer!

Having used to Vamsi's midnight disruptions, sleep claimed me almost immediately.

The bright rays of sunlight peeking through the window roused me from a deep sleep the next morning and I opened my eyes to find my bed empty.

Remembering the errand I have to do, I scrambled out of bed and into my parents room to take some money out of my dad's pockets.

Thankful that the bakery two streets down will be open early, I raced out of my house after a quick bye to dad.

The sight of Kaju Barfi reminded me of Vamsi's love for the dessert and I swiftly added it to my list of snacks.

With everything in hand, I backtracked the path home, enjoying the hot sun against the cold wind. If not for college, I would have enjoyed my morning stroll in leisure.

"Chinna! Where were you off to; so early" Venkat uncle, the man who owns the pan shop at the end of our street commented watching me in suspicion.

"Just getting this" I replied, pointing at my bag "So, is my dad still coming for a smoke?"

"No" He replied a little too quickly. Lie.

"Kay. Have a nice day" I announced, giving a back hand wave as I walked away.

Time for another intervention with dad; AKA blackmail.

****

We fell into a routine of classes, records and project work in the next couple of weeks. My initial apprehension about Nisha cleared when she proved to be smart enough to give strong inputs and ready to bend her will if necessary.

Vineet turned out to be exceptional in the front-end and made me feel thankful for his presence when I saw how functional his mini projects are.

It could have been the best team I could ask for, if only Nisha and Vamsi didn't look so enamored with each other all the time.

Amidst our own college drama, Prashanth, final year ECE student and member of our Cricket team visited us one afternoon and informed us of our upcoming match scheduled to happen three weeks later with our rival college BITM.

As if our lives aren't complicated enough, we have a cricket match with BITM! Which we take very seriously.

The feud between Saraswathi and BITM is two decades old. Both colleges were founded around the same time and touted to be one of the best Engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

While Saraswathi stayed true to its roots being affiliated to JNU and accepting students through common entrance test, BITM turned autonomous accepting anyone irrespective of the test result as long as they attended and paid 5 times the amount of fee we did.

The rivalry isn't paraded with banners in corridors or attended by student board any more but it's a matter of pride to our respective cricket teams.

Vamsi and I played ten matches since we joined college; out of which we won 6 and lost 4.

A match in three weeks means trying to fit cricket practice in our already packed schedules.

But this is important as we love cricket as much as we love our college. All of us will give up sleep gladly if that is what it takes to win a match; which is easier said than done.

It also means squeeze time for practice even if that gets us behind our project deadlines.

The timing is worst with everything but where we are concerned, Cricket comes first; even if it means going to ground after a night out and a hard day at college when all you want to do is go home and doze for 12 hours straight.

"You look tired" Phani commented, pausing his usual technique to bowl over a single stump.

"I thought final semester will be easy" I grumbled, unable to hide the impatience out of my voice.

He laughed, throwing an arm around my shoulders "Welcome to the club"

"I just can't wait for this torture to end"

He laughed again "You think life will be easier after this? Hell no!"

"So you still going with your CAT preparation?"

"Yes!"

"No pressure from family to accept job offer yet?"

"Parents are alright. I just have to convince other important people like my father's sister's mother-in-law's brother's son and I will be good to go"

Laughing at his implication, I joked "This is why I'm escaping India"

"Not because of Vamsi?"

"Well" I answered with a shrug of my shoulders "There's also that"

He smirked letting me go, seeing Vamsi stroll lazily with his cricket kit and a look of impatience.

"Someone's grumpy" Phani commented as he passed by Vamsi to get back to his practise.

"I hate college" He grumbled looking the way I did a couple of minutes earlier, making us fall in fits of laughter.

We got to our usual technique of batting and fielding, alternating with one another as the bowlers of our team also practised with us.

Half an hour later, Vamsi commented "You still have a lot to improve for spin bowling"

"I came a long way since I joined college"

"Not enough. Also, you are still playing off stumps"

"I'm trying, jeez!"

"Johnny knows your weaknesses now and will try everything in his book to get you stumped"

"And I will try everything in my book to hit his nose. Hard!"

The boys laughed but he didn't look impressed "No violence"

"Non violence is my mantra for life" I commented sweetly.

The boys guffawed at my remark. Even Vamsi allowed himself to smile a little but didn't give a reply to my sarcastic jibe.

Our little argument turned into an interruption when Nisha stepped foot on the ground.

With her tiny backpack on her shoulders, she sauntered awkwardly, weary of being the centre of attention. The boys waited for her to speak as they watched her every step.

She looked beautiful as usual, in her red and white chudidhar and her long straight hair.

"Why are you here?" I asked directly, not concerned about being rude.

In the years we have been here, not once did I see her at our practice and it didn't take me long to figure out why she came. But she is an unwelcome distraction to the testosterone clad team.

The men glared at me like they want to choke me to death but she obviously didn't take offense as she spoke with a smile "I was curious to see how you guys play. The way you postponed importa--- our work for the game"

Before I can answer, Vamsi announced "You can watch us. No problem"

What? No!

I tried to convey my opinion through my glare but he chose to ignore making me follow the rest of the team.

An hour later, we packed our bags and got ready to roll for the day when I found Neha jogging into the ground, looking worried.

"What happened?"

"We need to hurry. I need your help" She replied, dragging me with her.

"Where?"

"I'll tell you on the way"

Without another word, I followed her to the parking lot to her scooty, when she put her helmet on my head "Drive"

"What? Why? Where?"

"You are faster than me. Come on, quick" she replied instead, not answering me.

Getting on the bike, I ignited the engine and asked "Where to?"

"Get us on to the highway first" She answered, sitting behind me.

Though I am impatient and extremely curious, I did as told but upon reaching the highway, I spoke again "Where to now?"

"Take the right and then go straight"

Again , I did as told but not before shouting "Will you tell me where the hell are we going?"

She stayed silent.

Counting numbers in my head to cool my temper I spoke again, in a much better tone "What's going on Neha?"

"You will get angry if I said "

Snorting, I replied "I never get angry for no reason"

"That's not the assurance I was expecting"

"Fine! Tell me. I won't yell at you"

"Promise?"

Biting back a remark, I grumbled "Yes"

"We are following Shaan"

"Are you kidding me?" I shouted before I can stop myself.

She giggled "Knew you'd do that"

"Where the hell is he? I don't see him" I replied, unable to match the back of heads on bikes ahead of me to my best friend's obsession.

"Well, he had a couple of minutes head start before us which is why I asked you to drive"

"Why are we following him?"

"He asked Pankaj to loan his bike"

That doesn't explain anything, dammit.

"Ok. I regret asking this already but still, why are we following him?" I said patiently.

"I want to know where he is going"

"None of your business"

I can picture her rolling her eyes as she said "Why would a hosteler like himself have to go the city on a weekday?"

"The same reason we go. Books or something academics related" I explained, mustering as much patience as I can.

When she didn't reply again, I said "What are you worried of, Neha?"

"What if he is going to meet a girlfriend?"

The sadness in her voice worried me "You have to get over him, babe"

"We both know I can't" she replied sadly.

Shaan is a 4th year EEE student from our college whom Neha met when we shared Electrical lab in our second year second semester.

By the end of semester, she fell in love with the calm and recluse Shaan. Six months later, she proposed and got rejected by him.

But that didn't stop her from chasing him and following him around college in the last one year.

"I know he likes me" She'd say every time I tried to intervene. Nothing I or anyone say gets through her head.

It's not like I can beat her up or threaten to stop going after him. Not after seeing how much she cried the night after he rejected her.

Nothing I said to make her feel better, worked.

"He looked at me differently. I saw him look at other girls and I saw him look at me. I was so sure he liked me" She said over and over again, crying in my lap.

Not having a girlfriend before her, it was the first time I witnessed that kind of drama in my life.

"He's not that good looking"

"He doesn't deserve you"

"He should be the one crying for losing you"

"You are way over his league"

I tried the usual soothing tactics Google suggested but nothing stopped the Ganges flowing out of her eyes.

"Give me the order and I will chop his dick off" It wasn't until I yelled that, did she stop her outburst and started giggling between her tears.

"I love you" she replied, throwing her arms around me.

The next day she woke up a different person.

"I can't believe I was so dramatic last night. I was so stupid. How can I think he does not like me? Pfft" She announced arrogantly.

"He said so" had been my constant reply since then.

"I see him" Neha shouted, pointing her fingers at someone up ahead "Go at this rate. He cannot see us if we continue to maintain distance"

Twenty five minutes later, he stopped at Vagdevi bookstore, RTC complex road, one of the busiest places in Vizag. Stopping around the corner at Khazana Jewellery store to avoid being seen by him, I turned around to glare at my best friend.

"You made me drive all the way from Madhurawada to Dwarakanagar for this!"

She had the gall to look guilty "We still don't know if he's not meeting anyone there. Maybe we should go insid-------"

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Like you said, we traveled all this distance. Why waste it when we can be sure?"

Trying to hold back my temper, I said through clenched teeth "You are aware of the fact that what we did just now is called stalking?"

"I wouldn't use such a big word" She said carelessly.

"Trust me, that's what it is. Stalking! And if he knows it, whatever little chance you have, to winning his heart, you can now say bye bye"

The last part is meant to scare her but the bitch looked unwavered "Don't be dramatic. Come on"

Ignoring the parking guy at the jewellery shop, we left the vehicle, crossed the roads and carefully walked into the bookstore.

"We will be identified if we are together. Go to the opposite corner and pretend to look at books. By any means, don't turn to look at him" I whisper-yelled to the crazy girl once we noticed where he is. Alone.

Thankful for wearing a hoodie, I walked up to stand behind him, my back to his, so I can retaliate everything I hear up close to her.

As I pretended to check books, my eyes met one with the cover 'The beginner's guide to sex in the afterlife' with the tag line 'An exploration of the extraordinary potential of sexual energy'

Uggh! What the hell's that!

"Nice choice" The voice behind me made me freeze.

I decided to walk away before embarrassing myself when he spoke "I need to talk to you"

Still not meeting his eyes, I said "About?"

"Neha"

I groaned "Since when did you know we are following you?"

"Since Neha saw me talking to Pankaj. Your friend lacks the art of subtlety"

Surprised, I looked at him "So you know she's stalking you?"

He shrugged like it's obvious. Stupid girl.

"What do you want to talk?" I said gloomily.

"Tell her to quit and focus her interest on doing something else; something important"

"Been there. Done that"

He shuffled uneasily, as if thinking about something deep "May be I should break her heart again"

"Do that and I will break your leg this time" I snapped, trying to hold my fists by my side and not throw a punch at him.

He looked surprised but quickly recovering, he spoke in a hard voice "Your friend crosses----"

"I know what she does! But if you knew she's following you around like a lost puppy, you should have told her to fuck off, long ago. You can't break her heart, now when-----" I stopped myself, wondering if Neha would appreciate me discussing Anila with him.

"Now when what?" He questioned, looking serious.

Debating with myself, I decided it's not anything personal and so finally relented "Now when her project partner is making her life living hell"

"Who? Queen B?"

Nodding, I laughed realizing her nick name is popular all around the college when something struck me odd "How do you know she is Neha's partner?"

Shaan didn't have any friends that I know of and there's no way he can know who is partnered with who in the computer science department.

He looked uneasy as he said "I heard somewhere"

Trying not to look too much into his slip, I nodded.

"Ok. I gotta go. Bye" He said, almost running away from me.

Not five seconds after he left, Neha appeared by my side "Did he talk to you or were my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"What do you think?"

Her eyes sparkled "Tell the whole story"

And so I did. Word to word. But no matter how much I tried to convince her of his intentions, the only thing she's stuck at is "He knows who is my partner. How do you think?"

Damn! I give up.

-------

Thank you for reading. Please vote, comment and share.

I went to visit my niece today and returned just an hour ago. Hence the late update but hey, I still did it on Saturday.

It was a sudden trip in the morning. I haven't seen her in months and I wanted to go because I didn't want her to forget my face.

Thankfully she didn't. She sat on my lap as I had lunch, made me run after her, picked apart my handbag, fell asleep in my arms after 2 hours of constant trials and finally peed on me when my brother took us out.

After 2 weeks of nonstop work, I took a day off and it was worth it even if it was tiring.

- JANAKI