"Dei costumes fitting ku poniya ?", Vinay who was incharge of costumes questioned Aakash who was busy tuning his guitar for the nth time that morning.

He was definitely distracted and probably disturbed to think clearly at this point. Her face was the only thing that kept flashing and he wished there was a way he could stop his mind from being so preoccupied but there wasn't.

None of his usual ways of relaxing had helped. He tried to go on a long drive with his favourite playlist. He tried talking to his mom but within a few minutes she started getting worried by his facial expressions so he decided to not put her through this misery too. Even his time on the guitar did not help and that was a first.

"Design lam locked and good to go. Fitting ku ponum nu nooru dhadava solten. Inum neeyum Ritesh matum dan pending from guys. Girls la Navya and Shreya. Inum 2 days la final fitting kudukanum. Marakaama Inikaachu po da. Nethu poren nu sona la ?! En Pola ?!", Vinay scrunched his forehead in frustration.

"Illa something else came up. Iniku kandipa", he tried to reason but stopped abruptly when he was reminded of her, yet again.

Ritesh walked in just on time to catch this conversation.

"Machan ippove anga porom", Ritesh finished and put his hand over Aakash to pull him into a much needed hug.

"Thanks da. Apdiye Org committee la tickets panriya. Edho details ketanga. You are incharge of that la?", Vinay suggested and Ritesh nodded before pulling Aakash out of their jam room.

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"Message panlama... venama...", Tara contemplated after her first 2 classes.

They had a break before their next class and almost everyone had left the room while she was there still trying to figure out what to do next.

She hated this phase.

"Why is making new friends so freaking hard", she ranted to herself.

After a couple of minutes, she convinced herself to take the plunge and send the text afterall.

"I have a break now. Would it be ok if I stopped by the Cultural Org Committee office ? Wanted to check it out in person before other clubs", she typed and clicked send to Keerthana.

Thats when she noticed a text message that instantly brightened her whole day up. A shy smile found its way to her delicate lips.

"Good Morning Tara! Are you ok?", the message read from Karthik.

She read the message atleast 10 times before starting to type a response.

"Good Morning Karthik! Na ok. Neenga?", she stared at her text for a whole minute while deciding if she should include a smiley in it.

"Ivaruku message pananum na matum en ipdilam yosika thonudhu",she asked her poor heart that was racing at this point.

"Special la adhan", her mind voice teased which made her face instantly full with blush.

She finally decided to add the smiley with a blush smile and clicked send before walking out of the class room.

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"Fitting perfect ah iruku... ", Aakash said with a straight face to the girl who has been constantly flirting with him for the past thirty minutes despite his conscious effort to cut it down.

"This whole look is so sexy", she commented earning a glare from him.

Ritesh was observing this sequence but did not interrupt or intervene which was completely unlike him.

Once the fitting session was finally over with, Aakash was not just drained but extremely frustrated with his best friend for not trying even a little bit to alleviate the situation.

"Nee lam friend ah da ... Andha ponnu Enna da na ivlo flirt panra... nee summa ninnutu iruka... distract aachu panirkalam la", he argued.

Girls flirting with Aakash wasn't anything new or unexpected. It happened more often than one could keep a count of but he usually handled them very elegantly. He never made anyone feel bad or disrespected.

To be wound up about a girl flirting with him was too atypical of him.

"Unkita flirt panaadha ponnungala vida flirt panra ponnunga dan jasthi. Adhuku na Enna panna mudiyum. Nee en adhuku ivlo kodhikara ?! She did not even say anything too out of place", Ritesh reasoned and he was right.

Aakash was out of whack and this had to stop. He had to get back to his usual self but he did not know how. He just knew that if he could clear the air with Tara, it would make him feel a lot lighter.

"Andha ticket ah collect panitu namma direct ah CS Department porom. Tara va pakrom. Nee pesra. And we put an end to this nonsense", Ritesh instructed without giving a chance or choice for Aakash to make excuses.

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Tara heard a notification and her involuntary excitement to know if that was from Karthik surprised her.

She pulled out her mobile and a little disappointment gleamed in her eyes when it was from Keerthana.

"Great timing. I also have a couple of free hours so I am already headed there. Join me", the text read.

She quickly pulled herself up knowing that this would be a great place to make friends and get her feet wet with all culturals related stuff that she always enjoyed.

Checking the campus map on her phone, she found that it was a quick walk from her department and was straight forward. 

Plugging in her airpods, she resumed the playlist that had been on pause and it was playing "Kaatre en vaasal vandhai", one of her all time favorites.

If there was one thing that could instantly calm her down, lift her spirits up, clear her thoughts, the list went on, it was music. It was her safe haven. To be surrounded by music was bliss in the perspective. 

Within a few minutes she could see the Culturals Organization Committee office which was buzzing with people moving in and out. It had a great vibe. The exterior was filled with vibrant colors that oozed fun and creativity. As she got closer to the entrance she saw a bunch of first years she recognized from the Induction filling out forms. 

"Cant wait to perform on that stage", she heard a guy exclaim with confidence. 

"They have the best theatre group at the college level in all of India. Its going to be huge", the other guy responded with pride. 

She walked in to see a lot more action. Colorful rooms, exciting interiors and most innovative designs that left her in awe. 

"Welcome to the place that will never cease to amaze", she heard a familiar voice. 

Keerthana stood there with a big smile knowing exactly how Tara was feeling that very moment. She had been in the same shoes when she saw this place which now had become her second home quite literally two years ago. 

"Its better than my dreams", Tara's excitement showed on her face. 

"Ulla va. I will introduce you to some of my most favorite people in this world", she took her hand and walked inside one of the rooms. 

There were a bunch of guys and girls busy sorting out tons of papers that looked like applications while a couple of them were busy in their laptops with anxious faces. 

"Guys and Girls... Meet Tara", Keerthana introduced and the whole room stopped whatever they were doing to focus on us. 

"Nitin, Srini, Priya, Vaishu, Mithun, Jeeva, Varsha, Arvind and the infamous leader Vasisht", she introduced everyone around the room. 

"Hey Tara", all of them sounded like a chorus. 

"So Tara... tell us something about you", Vasisht asked. 

"Tara. First year. Computer Science. Music is my passion", she said with a smile. 

"Music?", he probed. 

"She wants to audition for our band", Keerthana answered,"and she is so awesome. Idha kelunga", she played the recording she had shared. 

It was a medley of songs starting with "Konjum Mainakale". 

For the next five minutes the whole room was completely stand still. It was as if they were all under a spell. 

"Ippo sollu", Keerthana could not stop being a show-off for finding this talent. 

"Ayoo Keerthana please", Tara could not handle this level of praise. It left her flustered. 

"Nee summa iru. Na indha recording ah loop la keten da. Immaculate la?", she went on. 

Just when Vasisht could respond his phone started to ring which he quickly answered earning a death stare from Keerthana. 

"Semma da. Nee apdiye ulla va. Unaku oru surprise iruku", Vasisht said with a grin on his face. 

"Yaaru?", Keerthana mouthed with her forehead scrunched. 

"Wait", he mouthed back and got off the call. 

"Enna da?", she asked again and this time it sure sounded more like an entitled girlfriend than a team mate. 

"Di... oru two mins wait pannu", he requested and looked out the huge glass door. 

"Seri nee vandhu ukkaru... ", she pulled Tara into a seat and started to show her some pamphlets for the upcoming fest that they were attending in Varkala. 

"You should come. Semmaya irukum. It is a very prestigious, invite only fest. More like a celebration to kick off this year. It will be fun. Neraya per already plans irukardhunaala only Vasisht, Nitin, Priya and me are going. Neeyum va", she suggested. 

Although it sounded really exciting it was all happening way too fast and she did not feel ready for all of this. 

They were too immersed in the conversation to see that two new faces had entered the room. 

"Hey .. inga va. I want to introduce you to someone", Vasisht called out. 

Tara turned around and was surprised to see Aakash and Ritesh there. She walked towards them while Keerthana followed. 

"This is Tara", he introduced. 

"Ivanuke introduction ah", Ritesh murmured. 

"We know each other", Aakash stated.

"Hi Tara!", Aakash tried to keep his tone extremely casual and wished that Vasisht would not saw anything about the band.

"Hi", she said with a smile that made his heart skip a beat. 

Without any delay Vasisht eyed Keerthana to play the recording and they could all witness Aakash and Ritesh in a state of stupor just like the rest of them had been only a few minutes ago. 

Ritesh was the first to come back to reality. 

"Never heard someone this mesmerizing that too unplugged", he shook his head in disbelief.

"Can you play it again", Aakash requested. 

"Why play when the singer is here? Nee paadu Tara", Keerthana said with such fervor that she could not possibly deny. 

Aakash's eyes were trained on her. It was not something he intended to do but his eyes were not in his control at this point. 

She moved her eyes to look away before starting to sing the whole medley in a low voice which enthralled every single person in the room yet again. 

"Machan nee gaali dan", Ritesh commented.

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A/N:

Next chapter is going to leave you all AWWWWW. Wait for it