I got late again!

"Run, Boomer, run!" Akshay yelled.

I increased my pace to kick him, but he was far ahead of me. Since my secret identity was out, my best friend now casually called me Boomer whenever he felt like it.

Thanks to yesterday's late night party, I completely forgot about the early lecture and slept like a sloth. I didn't even take a bath!

Akshay zoomed like a bullet and climbed inside the local train. My lungs had started hurting, but I pushed myself and grabbed Akki's outstretched hand. He patted my back after I made it inside the boggie just before the train started.

"You need to wake up on time, Boomer," Akshay said.

I glared at him. "Will you stop calling me that?"

Akshay ignored my complaint and reminded that I no longer needed to be careful about my nickname.

"I still can't believe that TJ and Hriaan didn't make a big issue out of it," Akki said. "My respect has grown for The Emperors - especially TJ."

I grinned. "Of course, it is TJ we are talking about. He is the kindest soul alive."

"I forgot who I was talking to."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, Miss TJ's biggest fangirl."

Instead of getting annoyed, I felt my grin getting wider. Thanks to my lovely idol, the biggest worry of my crew was out of the window.

Akshay and I chatted about random stuff till we reached our college. As expected, Arushi was already in the classroom, her head buried inside a book. We advanced towards her, and she snapped her head at us, her chocolate orbs narrowing.

"You idiots make me wait every time," Arushi complained.

I hugged her. "What's new in that?"

Akshay plopped beside Arushi and stretched his empty hands towards her. "Have mercy on us poor souls, O' goddess of knowledge."

Arushi pursed her lips and bestowed her notebook on Akshay's hands. I hugged her more, her curly hair getting into my eyes.

Before I joined Akshay in copying Arushi's assignment, I observed what she was reading before we disturbed her.

A book titled 'Gone, but not forgotten' lay on her desk. I decided to get a look as the cover looked really pretty, but Arushi stopped me. She looked at me as if I was going to snatch her liver.

"Don't touch it!" Arushi yelled.

"Why?" I asked.

She carefully lifted the book and turned to the first page. While she was flipping through the pages, I noticed in how much of a bad condition the book was. I understood why Arushi reacted like that earlier - she was really sensitive about her books.

She told me to read what was written on the first page of the book.

"Precious things, especially people, should be treated with utmost care. This book demands the same treatment 💙," I read.

I asked if Arushi had drawn that blue heart, and she shook her head vigorously. She reminded that she always used yellow heart as her symbol.

"Where did you get this antique piece?" I asked.

"You won't believe, girl, how much of time, strength and connections I invested in getting this book. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy it and have to return it after three days," Arushi grumbled.

"Knowing you, I am sure you want to keep this book, right?"

Arushi nodded. "The owner was really skeptical about lending it out, but I guess he was impressed with numerous letters I wrote about how much I appreciated the author and would truly care for the book like it was my baby."

After hearing about the book owner's demands about lending the book, I wondered about it's price.

"How much does it cost?" I asked. "₹2000?"

"It has no price," Arushi replied.

"Then... how... I mean how could it not have a price?"

"The author of the book didn't plan on selling it, but just before her death, she published just one copy. The owner has warned that if the novel got damaged, I would have to pay a lot of money in compensation."

Hearing about getting money - a lot of it - always made me happy, but giving money - even if it was one rupee - made my guts tangle.

I left Arushi to her work and joined my best friend. As expected, he was almost done with the assignment. I wondered how his writing was still readable with the speed he wrote.

I completed my assignment as the lecture progressed and the bell rang. We were on our way to the next lecture, when my stomach growled like a lion. Soon, Akshay's stomach also made a loud sound, and we burst out laughing after glancing at each other.

"You guys should focus on your health. Stop skipping breakfast already," Arushi reprimanded and gave us two Kit-Kats.

We happily munched on the free snack as we entered our classroom. Ten minutes later, Akshay and I felt like dying.

"I can't tolerate it anymore!" Akshay huffed.

"I will eat anything - even if it's karela (bitter gaurd)," I said.

"Sorry, guys, I also didn't bring tiffin today," Arushi said.

Akshay volunteered to get something from the cafeteria as soon as possible, but I stopped him. Sending him would have been a mistake; he was really bad at making decisions and would have wasted time choosing out food items.

I grabbed my phone and ran out of the classroom. The only thing on my mind was food. After reaching the cafeteria, I bought four Vada Pav, three samosas, and five eclairs.

I held the parcel like a trophy and continued my journey back to my hungry friend. I was almost near my destination when I got pulled by someone.

"Excuse me?" I yelled and was going to curse but stopped when I noticed that it was Hriaan who had stopped me.

"Hey, shortie." Hriaan smiled and moved his hand above my head.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my hunger making me irritated.

"Just checking if you grew or not."

I wish I could kill him.

Before I could form a proper reply, Hriaan grabbed the parcel from my hands and started eating a Vada Pav.

"Damn, our college's Vada Pav is the best." Hriaan munched like a squirrel.

I was already annoyed, and most importantly, hungry. Not to forget, Akshay was also waiting for me.

"Hriaan, that's my food. Don't you think you should ask before taking something?" I mumbled.

"I know that," Hriaan said and put a whole samosa in his mouth.

Is he for real? He not only ate a Vada Pav without asking but also finished a samosa. I already don't have that much money on me since I already spent it like water yesterday.

"Any problem, Bhoomi?" Hriaan asked.

"Can I get my parcel back?" I asked.

As I moved my hand to grab the food, Hriaan moved it back.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

Hriaan tilted his head and ducked his head near my face. "You are getting angry? I think I can at least take this much in return for you taking something that was ours. You never wondered if we felt anger or not?"

I moved back and stared at Hriaan. His eyes didn't blink as he kept looking at me with an expression that could only be described as something that a predator looks like while looking at it's prey.

Wait... Prey? Why am I thinking such weird stuff? I should stop watching too much National Geographic.

Suddenly, Hriaan's eyelids moved, and a huge smile spread across his face. He took one more samosa from the parcel and gave the remaining snacks back to me.

I was still wondering about his earlier actions when he surprised me again by patting my head.

"I see you are still short to understand such stuff. I was kidding by the way. Thank you for the food," he said.

He bit a half of the samosa and took his leave. I was taken out my thoughts only when my stomach rumbled like a thunder.

I rushed back to my classroom, receiving taunts from Akshay. I gave him the food, and he scolded me why I had brought so less. I ignored him and let him eat more as Hriaan had already finished a lot.

Should I tell Akki about what Hriaan had said? Was it that much serious? After interacting with Hriaan, I at least knew that he liked teasing and passing snarky comments.

"I was kidding by the way." That's what he had said. I think I should stop overthinking about little details.

After filling our stomachs, I and my best friend survived the day. The exams were soon approaching, so Arushi helped us in preparing a flexible time table.

"You can come to my house any time for studies. I will talk to my parents," she said.

"Even in the night?" I joked.

"Yup. Even in the night."

"What?"

I couldn't believe that Arushi was serious about it. She assured us that she was going to support us the best she could, and since she couldn't help us in the dance area, she would take care of our studies.

On hearing that, Akshay and I squeezed the hell out of her. Since she was healthier than us, she didn't care but complained about our bones poking her.

After the lectures got over, we made our way towards the exit gate. Just before getting out of the college, a girl approached us.

For a minute, I didn't recognise her. Like my friends, I kept gawking at her. She looked stunning in a golden short dress.

After getting blinded by her beauty, we realised that it was no one else but Mahreen Zaid, a friend of Tejas.

"So finally the mystery of Boomer is solved," Mahreen said.

Again Boomer? I am tired of it.

I didn't want to discuss the matter, so I just smiled at her in return. I thought she would go away, but she didn't. She told us how she was waiting to meet me and wanted to click a picture with me.

I shifted closer to Akshay. "Am I already famous?"

Akshay shook his head and kept a poker face. We knew about Mahreen; though she was popular, she was rarely seen in the campus as she was busy traveling the world.

"Can I get a picture?" Mahreen asked excitedly.

I didn't know what to do. She didn't even know my proper name. As I was pondering and judging Mahreen's weird interest in me, Hriaan arrived from behind her and smiled at me.

"Come on, Bhoomi, it is a just a picture. It isn't like she is asking for a kidney." Hriaan laughed.

I scrunched my nose - I didn't want to have a confusing conversation with him again, so I obliged to Mahreen's request. She clicked a selfie and thanked me.

"What was that all about?" Arushi asked after Hriaan and Mahreen left.

"Dunno," I said.

"By the way, when did your secret got revealed? How come you guys aren't telling me anything nowadays?"

Akshay and I widened our eyes. Arushi wasn't at the party yesterday so she was unaware. She scolded us for forgetting about telling her as we had made the Boomer issue a really big deal.

Though she had her doubts, she was happy to know that our crew was out of the trouble. While Arushi was done for the day, Akshay and I still had a lot of hard work waiting for us.

Before we began with our dance sessions the next day, Akshay still had to finish his night shift of delivery job, and I had to go to a few houses to wash dishes.

My sister, Dhara's health was getting worse and even after visiting multiple hospitals, there was almost no improvement in her. She had turned into a stick.

Dad was doing his best to cover the expenses, but the medical bills were taking a toll on us. I reminded myself to not do any more parties and focus on my training. As Arushi had advised, I needed to eat more to maintain my weight.

Thinking about eating, Hriaan really is shameless, isn't he? More than stealing my food, how did he manage to shove a whole samosa in his mouth? Should I try doing it? Ugh... I think he has transferred his stupid brain cells to me.

As if you weren't already stupid, Boomer.

Stop calling me that. I will perform so well that Boomer will completely vanish from everyone's mind - I will leave no trace of him.