I was in. Not that I doubted it. But I did have this small, very very small, part of me saying that maybe I wouldn't get through. Emphasis on 'maybe'. We went to bed right after a small celebration involving a few bottles of beer that were snuck in. To honor the trust placed in me by the band, I shall not divulge the name of the perp *cough* Ken *cough*. Apparently they'd already put me in, the only reason they made me audition was to make it official. They had a Facebook page and they wanted to introduce me to the masses. Their words, not mine. I swear they made it sound like I'm a part of some Satanic cult. I was half-expecting them to pass me a pair of robes and spill my blood into a glass of wine so that they could pass it around and drink it.

The next day morning entailed the same old rush to get ready and get our asses to class. My punctuality, or lack thereof, meant that I NEVER made it on time. Indians kind of have their own cultural Indian Standard Time. If we need to arrive at 9, we'd be there by 9:15. I suppose it could be attributed to the fact that our parents go 'reach early', 'don't talk to strangers', 'be careful, today in the news, I heard about this child being kidnapped', every single morning. At least that's what happened with me. Everyday morning, at 7:30am, my parents call up to check whether I'm still alive. I mean, it's appreciated and all, but does the phone call HAVE to last for an hour or two?

Another reason would be me. I couldn't wake up early to save my life. The only day I'd woken up at 6am was last Saturday, the reason being Krishi's incessant and very annoying singing, coupled with a continuous ringing. She prayed every Saturday morning. It was head-splitting. That woman couldn't carry a tune even if she was held at gun-point.

I came out of my room to find a surprised, but previously annoyed Viha tapping her foot. "You're early today!" She said with wonder lacing her tone. I shrugged. It was a rare occurance, but she didn't have to sound like I parted the red sea with my staff. "Let's go. Let's go." I said in a hurried tone, stuffing the ready-made toast into my mouth. God bless Krishi. She never waited around for us, but at least she left some cold, rubbery toast and warm tea to have as breakfast.

I picked up my bad and proceeded to drag Viha out by her collar. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Now I'm seriously hating the fact that you're ready so early!" I paused and looked at her, "That's why I'm dragging you out. I wanna reach class early at least once in my life, I can die happliy after that." Viha just shook her head and walked out. We locked up after we got out and made our way to class. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

This other plan came in the shape of Ken, my new bandmate. "Hey!" He yelled from across a 50 foot green expanse of land. Man, he was loud. Every single person on campus turned his way, making him grin sheepishly (at least I think he did, I couldn't really see him that well) and yell, "Sorry guys! I was talking to those two over there!" That shifted the attention to us. Viha and I looked at each other with identically mortified expressions and simultaneously said "Oh I don't know who that guy is." We began walking away. Fast.

To our great irritation, Ken caught up with us before we could get in.

To MY great irritation, he put his arm on my shoulder like I was his bestie for centuries.

I let it go. I mean, c'mon, the guy was hot. I didn't have the heart to push his hand off. It would be rude, you know.

"Hey Ana." He began, completely ignoring Viha. I could see Viha's eyebrows scrunching together in annoyance. She hated being left out. "I was wondering if you'd wanna come with me after class. You know, coffee." He asked, grinning at me and scratching behind his neck. I suppose Viha felt that it was actually a good idea not to be noticed, and she began sniggering loudly. I didn't reply, the cogs within my brain were turning, thinking real hard about a good reply. I was also staring at him. "We can discuss music, you know. The Jam's almost around the corner." He continued.

Oooh. Right. Music. Phew!

"Sure!" I said brightly and Viha made a choking sound. Ken gave a huge smile, I swear his teeth glinted. "Awesome! I'll see you in the evening." He took his arm off my shoulder, atlast, and ran. Only pausing to grin broadly, teeth glinting in the sun as he waved. I waved back, less enthusiastically compared to him, but whatevs.

"Sure!" Viha imitated my voice mockingly. "Jealous much?" I asked snobbishly, bumping my shoulder against hers. She stood in front of me, blocking my way. My reply to that was a gesture that involved a single finger. "I thought you liked Aryan." She stated conversationally. My eyes widened as I frantically thought of something to say. My brain could come up with 'No', but I knew it wouldn't convince her. She raised a palm up, "Don't try and deny it. One, you stare. Two, we go to the basketball court to 'study' and so that I can stare at guys, but let's face it. It's because he's there. Three, you glare at him every two seconds like he's done some personal wrong to you. Four, you try your best to avoid him but are secretly love it when you come face to face with the guy." She even counted it on her fingers. "I like studying." I replied lamely, and she put her hands on my shoulder, nodding sympathetically. "What are you? My shrink?" I said, this time proud of my comeback, but she merely rolled her eyes and said, "Now we're gonna try dialogues? Dude, just admit it."

I sighed. "I don't want to. There's no way it'll happen." She hugged me, for some reason. "Why are you huggi--" "Shut up. Just bask in my hug." "Isn't it bask in my glow?" She pushed me away at that. "When I hug you, you shut up and hug me back!" She hissed, "Haven't you ever hugged anyone?" I gave her an indignant look, "Of course I have! This was just sudden." She hit her palm to her head, the Indian way of saying 'You will never learn'. Then suddenly she raised her head and gave an unsettling grin. My brain went to DEFCON ONE at that. Maximum wariness, cover nose, move away from Viha, fist the other hand and get ready to land a punch at first provocation. "Chill." She said, rolling her eyes at me. I couldn't 'chill'. "So, date with Ken?" She asked, grinning like a maniac. "Date?" I snorted, "He wants to talk about music. The Jam's right around the corner." I continued, quoting Ken. "Are you really that naive!?" "Naive? Dude, he just wants to talk about the band." "Do you even read? 'Coffee' is a code!" I froze. Wait a second, did I agree to that?"Exactly" Viha said triumphantly.

Shit.

I'm a dumbfuck.

Not that I'd admit it out loud.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serious chapter, I think *grins guiltily*

Enjoy, vote, comment, follow and FANGIRL!

- QuirkyKatana :-P