"I am indeed having trouble understanding why someone is meaning a lot to me these days," Tejas said.

My brain started having trouble shifting gears after hearing what Tejas just said.

What did he mean? Who was he referring to? Ayzere? Or maybe...

I stared at him as if he had just told me the lucky numbers to a lottery ticket. The contact point between his palm and my waist started feeling like it was set on fire, and I scolded my body to stop reacting like that to him.

"I can walk by myself. Thank you," I said.

Tejas quirked an eyebrow. "I know you can, but you also fall by yourself."

"I won't fall now."

Even when I said that, Tejas still helped me till we exited the studio. Somehow, the more I walked with him, the more my left leg was acting like it didn't have any strength left.

Why is my body betraying me like this? Traitor.

Before I could lie to Tejas again, he hailed an autorickshaw for me.

"I can't offer dropping you to your workplace today because I have to go receive my dad from the airport right now. Go safely," Tejas said as I sat inside the autorickshaw.

"Are you doing an experiment?" I asked him.

He looked at me innocently. "What do you mean?"

"Are you trying to test my patience? How many times have I told you to not help me? Am I that pitiful?"

"And why do you keep refusing my help?" he questioned back.

"Because I don't need it. I can manage by myself. If you are so much interested in helping, then do it for others. And as for this," I pointed at my bandaged ankle, "you didn't need to do it, but you still did, and I shall again thank you for it. If you haven't forgotten, we are not friends, so can you please understand my point?"

I knew I wasn't imagining when I saw a flick of anger flash on his face. It only lasted for a second before he was back to staring at me as if he would drill holes in me with his gaze.

"Why don't you consider ourselves as friends?" he asked.

"Because we are not," I replied as a matter of fact.

"Then let's be friends."

"No."

He pinched my cheek. "What's your problem?"

"You are," I retorted.

Did I say that out aloud? I guess I did. Whatever. I am not in the mood to have lovely talks with him. The more I look at him, the more I get reminded of Ayzere and how she was mocking me.

"If I am your problem, then why don't you solve it?" Tejas asked.

"I am not that smart," I said angrily.

He patted my head. "I know that."

I glared at him. "Aren't you getting late?"

His eyes widened in realisation. "It's all your fault, Hamster."

He told the autorickshaw driver to drop me at my destination safely and left towards the parking lot to get his car.

The autorickshaw driver started his vehicle, and I looked back. I noticed Tejas driving off in the opposite direction.

Throughout the journey from the studio till my chawl, I kept thinking about Tejas and tried to judge how much seriously I needed to consider his words.

One moment, he was all serious, and the next, he was all playful. Going by how much he protected his private life, it was difficult that he would reveal anything related to his love life.

How am I supposed to solve this problem? If I go around asking his best friends, they won't share such stuff in the first place, especially Hriaan; he is mostly in a carefree mode, but when it comes to his friends, he gets very serious. He had even asked me if I liked Tejas when he had caught me looking at his best friend in the college.

As for Tejas's fansites, they liked shipping him with anyone that Tejas might have collaborated with. Just like me, his other fans were delusional too. But in my case, I needed instant clarification. The doubt in the back of my mind was becoming bigger and bigger, and I didn't want it to turn into a rolling stone that would smash all of my dreams.

I had to study, so I directly went to Arushi's place. Her mother was at a relative's place, so my best friend was preparing dinner. I helped her, and after everything was done, we went to her room and started studying.

Unlike me, Arushi was easily revising the syllabus. It was the tenth time I was rereading the same paragraph.

Tejas Jaiswal, get out of my head!

He didn't. Feeling defeated, I kept my academic book aside and took out drawing books gifted by KD.

"Aru, look," I showed one book to her. "KD has checked it like a teacher and even gave me stars."

Arushi snapped her eyes at the book. "Really?"

I nodded, and she took that book from me. She glanced at the pages and how KD had written corrective notes for me. In Sarthak's studio, whenever he got time, he would come to check how much progress I was making and if I was actually utilising the drawing and handwriting materials he had given me.

"He also drew this blue heart?" Aru asked me.

"Yup," I replied. "You know, just like you use yellow heart with your signature, KD uses blue heart when he doesn't want to use his full signature. Isn't that cool?"

Arushi told me to show her all of my books, and I gave them to her. She checked each one of them, and I proudly showed her all the spots where KD had drawn those blue hearts and written encouraging compliments.

Somehow, while checking my handwriting book, Arushi didn't look much pleased. I knew she knew that I hadn't improved much.

"It is still bad, right?" I said in embarrassment.

"No," she said and returned all of my books.

After watching my own drawings and reading KD's comments, I felt encouraged. I decided to concentrate on my studies and not let any other thoughts distract me.

"Aru, I have some doubts. Can you explain Chapter 13, 16, and 17 to me?" I asked.

My best friend got up from the floor and pointed at the wall clock.

"Why don't you study by yourself tonight?" she suggested and started lying down on her bed.

"But you told me you would help me," I whined.

She sighed. "Bhoomi, it is very late, and since Mom's not here, I have to get up early and prepare breakfast also. Can't you manage by yourself tonight? I am really tired."

I was finally fired up to study, but after seeing Arushi fatigued, I didn't disturb her; I very well knew how it felt like to not get enough sleep. I told her to sleep, and even if I acted like I didn't need his help, I used Tejas's notes. Not surprisingly, a lot of my doubts were cleared easily.

Because of that, my plan of not thinking about him went down the drain. No matter how much I tried to keep my focus on just my family, my mind would automatically remind me of Tejas, and my heart was already a traitor, so it didn't help me at all.

What am I supposed to do? I am an adult. I should be able to control my emotions, but when it comes to Tejas, I travel into some another dimension. How should I know what he exactly thinks about me? His answer matters as it will solve all of my doubts.

"If I am your problem, then why don't you solve it?"

Tejas's words rang in my ears like an alarm.

He is right! Why am I waiting for him to say or do something that will confirm what I am thinking? I know I never imagined that I will do something like this, but I have no choice. This is my heart's matter; I can't continue being confused like this. Even if I get embarrassed, tomorrow, I will myself confront Tejas and make him clear my doubts.

With determination, I slept. In the morning, I left Arushi's house, and as she was still sleeping, I couldn't disturb her to make tiffin for me. On my way to the fishing dockyard, I bought two Vada Pavs. I had taken a two days leave from my fast-food restaurant because I had mandatory dance classes.

Suhana had already told me to not miss these compulsory classes, so I couldn't break my promise.

When I reached Sarthak's studio, I was impressed by my fellow trainees. Almost everyone had arrived and was rushing off to start their team practices and resolve their concerns with the mentors.

After watching them, I realised that if everyone was here so early, then Mr. Perfectionist Tejas Jaiswal would have been the first one to arrive. I slowly walked towards his practice room, but suddenly, the very familiar dinosaur like scream made my eardrums rupture.

"Ew, Bhoomi, you stink worse than a skunk," KD yelled.

I looked at him flatly and clapped. "And the award of overreaction goes to Mr. Kshitij Dogra. Congratulations!"

"Girl, go and take a bath first."

"No."

He snatched my bag from me. He checked all of my clothes and scrunched his face.

"Oh, Bhoomi, it smells like you are carrying the whole fish market with you," he said. "Please go and take a shower, will you?"

I got annoyed. When I refused him, he gave me a challenging smile.

"If you won't go, I will tell everyone to stay away from you. As you are already aware, I am the most hygienic person in the whole studio, so no one is gonna doubt what I am saying. If I say you stink, then you stink, got it?"

"Fine. Give me my bag. I will take a shower," I retorted.

He made a disgusting face. "Absolutely not. All of your clothes have a foul odour, so I won't allow you to wear anything from your bag or locker."

He took out a fresh t-shirt from his own bag and gave it to me. "Wear this," he said.

He pushed me towards the changing rooms and even gave me his fruity body wash. I was annoyed when I found him still waiting for me after I actually took a bath and came out of the changing room.

When he spotted me, he sighed in relief. But he wasn't satisfied with just that. He took out a perfume bottle and sprayed it all over me.

"Now, you are good to go," he said satisfactorily.

"You know how much of my time you wasted?" I complained.

Kshitij had no sign of guilt, so I thanked him and went to locate my target. Again, I failed because Suhana caught me sneaking towards the boys' practice room. She took me with her; I got distracted when I saw the trial costumes she had brought for our performance.

There were three options, and after rehearsing in all of them, we could pick out the best one. Along with that, we had to do our trial make-up too. So, for the first round of practice, we selected a yellow-pink combo dress.

Everyone got their make-up done, and as my hair was shorter than others, Suhana decided to give me a different hairstyle. She said that as I had a special section in the first half of the choreography, it would help me stand out.

(Bhoomi's costume👆🏽)

(Bhoomi's hairstyle👆🏽)

When she was done, my teammates started pinching my cheeks. They kept saying that I looked cute, and when Falguni commented that I reminded her of a hamster, I narrowed my eyes as I remembered my main mission.

Suhana told us to get ready for the practice, and my patience started running thin. As soon as we took a small break, I excused myself and dashed towards the practice room where Tejas's team was practicing.

Like yesterday, the guys started teasing me when they spotted me in their room and started commenting about my get-up. They told me that I was here to distract them by showing off my team's preparation, but my eyes were set on Tejas.

He was checking some videos on the laptop. I ignored other guys and went to talk to him.

"Tejas," I called.

He looked at me and blinked rapidly. He opened his mouth but closed it again. I dug my nails into my palms when his gaze started making my heart race. I reminded myself to not lose the fight.

I noticed Tejas's ears slowly turning pink, and that reminded me of the day when his junior, Ronit, had called me at The Emperors' dance studio. This time, his cheeks accompanied his ears, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

Is he blushing right now or am I imagining it? If he is, I will surely confirm the reason behind it today.

"I want to talk with you," I told him sternly.

He glanced around us and shook his head. "I don't want to. When I had come to have a conversation with you, you had accused me of disturbing your classes. And now you are doing the same."

"Don't pull that trick on me. I am not leaving."

Tejas pointed in Danny's direction. "Take Danny's permission then. He is the team leader."

I huffed as I realised that Tejas was taking revenge for the day when Suhana had scolded him for disturbing our dance classes. I was serious, so I went to Danny for his permission.

"Danny, I want you to allow Tejas to have a talk with me," I told him.

He was discussing something with Akshay, so when he noticed me, he grinned.

"If you want me to give you permission, you need to ask cutely, Bhoomi. What's with the serial killer attitude?" Danny teased.

"That's a lot of powder," Akshay commented after he wiped his index finger on my cheek.

"It is not," I retorted.

"No permission for you," Danny told me. "You are just here for TJ, aren't you? What about us?"

My irritation rose as Danny kept teasing me. He wasn't giving in, so I told him that I would accept his condition.

I will kill Danny later for embarrassing me, and as for Akki, I will slowly kill him for making fun of my make-up.

I took a deep breath and was about to ask Danny in a cute voice, but my vision got dark. A jacket covered my whole face from top, and I sensed Tejas beside me.

"Don't scare others," he told me.

What the heck?!

I removed his jacket from my head, and he grabbed my wrist.

"I will talk to you," he told me.

Danny punched Tejas on the shoulder. "You spoiled my whole plan, bro," he complained and laughed.

Tejas rolled his eyes at his team leader and took me back to his previous spot. I fisted my hands when he offered me an energy drink.

"I want to ask you something important," I said.

Tejas pursed his lips, and after a few seconds, he nodded.

I felt awkward, but I knew I had to do it.

"What do you see me as?" I asked him.

"A hamster," Tejas replied quickly.

"Anything else? Maybe someone that makes you feel pitiful?" I provoked.

Tejas raised an eyebrow in question. "That's not how I feel."

"Then how do you feel? I don't want any tricky answer. Please be honest and careful about what you say. I am not in the mood of joking."

Yes, I need to stay strict. Tejas is intimidating, but I can also be the same. He is my idol after all; I gotta learn something from him.

"When have I joked with you?" Tejas asked seriously.

"That's not the concern right now. Please answer my earlier question," I said.

He gave me a once-over and smirked. "Fine, Hamster, I will answer you, but before I do that, you need to clear my doubt first."

"What is it?" I asked impatiently.

He stepped closer. "That day, what did you mean by Hriaan would have misunderstood if you hadn't clarified yourself? You had earlier told me the context was different, so can you tell me why would have Hriaan misunderstood you?"

"I have already told you about that, but if you don't remember, I was talking about me liking you as a fan," I lied.

Tejas roamed his eyes over my face. "You are asking for honesty while lying yourself?"

I felt my facade getting blown up, but I didn't step back.

"Why are you interrogating me?" I complained. "I asked you first, so answer me. You can't divert the topic again like you always do."

"I am sure we are talking about the same thing," he said confidently, his lips curling up in his unforgettable smile.

"Just... tell me... why do you..." I stuttered as his presence started making my senses go numb.

Fuck, I can't lose like this.

"What, Hamster?" he asked, his smile increasing more and more.

"I just want to... know if you... are actually... I mean, if you-"

"Boomer!"

Suddenly, I felt my bones getting crushed, and just like me, Tejas was attacked too.

"TJ, save me!" Hriaan hugged his best friend.

I looked at my assailant, and it was none other than Mahreen. She squeezed me in her arms, and I would have myself asked Tejas for help if he wasn't in trouble himself.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tejas asked his friends.

While Mahreen started checking out my hairstyle, Hriaan looked at Tejas and then he noticed me.

"Oh my god, Shorty, you almost scared me," he commented. "By the way, is this room's AC not working? Why is it so hot here?"

Tejas and I glanced at each other, and as none of us said anything, Hriaan waited for us for a few minutes and then got impatient.

"Bro, can you please save me and the guys from the torture already? I beg you," Hriaan whined.

As if Tejas knew what Hriaan was talking about, he sighed as his smile vanished.

"Ayzere comes to the studio daily," Hriaan said. "She keeps asking about you and doesn't leave, TJ. I am running out of patience now. Sort out this matter asap, or I will really tell her that you are staying at my house. I won't help you anymore!"

I felt rage when I heard Hriaan inform Tejas how Ayzere was continuously asking Hriaan to tell Tejas to come back home. It meant that she hadn't left yet and was staying at his house.

"I am not surprised she is still here," I taunted while looking at Tejas.

He told Hriaan to shut up, but Hriaan kept telling him to handle Ayzere, or he would stop coming to the dance studio. Like him, other teammates were also getting annoyed by her.

Ayzere is still here, so it means that the situation between her and Tejas is not sorted out yet. And when I came to clear my doubts with him, he started questioning me instead?

"Listen carefully. If I see Ayzere again, I will punch her, and I don't care if someone again tries to apologize on her behalf," I threatened. "And, Tejas, you should think about your actions properly because you are just confusing other people."

"Which people are getting confused?" Hriaan asked me.

"Ask your dear captain," I grunted.

I was pissed off. Mahreen tried to stop me as she was also confused, but I stormed out of that room. Behind me, I heard her ask Tejas what I was talking about, and Hriaan commented if Tejas and I were fighting before they arrived.

Fighting? Yes, sure. Hriaan's wish can come true because I will definitely have a WWE match with Tejas if he tries to talk to me next time. He has himself told me that I can hit him, right? My life will be sacrificed, but I am ready for it.

Tejas Jaiswal, this hamster may be small, but it knows how to land a flying kick.