'You know', said Ethan as we sat beneath the oak in front of our department.

'Hmm?', I hummed in response as I went through my Tumblr feed.

'About that- Wait. Are you using Tumblr? Do people still use Tumblr?', he asked stunned and I grinned without looking up from my screen.

'It's drama free. There's no pressure, no celebrities, no trend whatsoever. It's the only place left where you can be what the internet intended people to be when they created social media', I answered.

'And what's that?'

'A bunch of weirdos'

Ethan shook his head and then continued, 'What I was going to say, well, ask, was why that photo threatened you'.

'You saw it?', I asked stunned.

'Well I did take his phone', he shrugged.

'It was a picture of you lifting my shirt, like some scene before an intense make-out session', I said and watched one of his eyebrows shoot up.

At times like these, I was grateful for my melanin infused skin, otherwise, I'd look like a stop sign.

'Have you ever partaken in an 'intense-make-out-session', Omi?', he asked with a crooked smile which reached his ears while his eyes seemed to dance in amusement.

'NO!', I responded rather abruptly and that sent another eyebrow flying up to his forehead.

'What I meant was if someone from my family saw they would just assume the worst', I said quickly and looked away so I wouldn't die of embarrassment.

'Have you ever been caught in a situation like this for your family to assume so?', he asked confused.

I let out a laugh to conceal my fear as I imagined what could happen if I had ever got caught.

'If I had, you'd know me as a tombstone', I said and shuddered while Ethan looked lost.

'You clearly don't know how Indian families work, huh?', I asked tiredly.

'Educate me', he replied with a smile and folded his hands neatly over his crossed legs.

'It's pretty direct and simple; Stay away from boys'

'So what we're doing now...?'

'Immediate red card'

I remembered a time back in high school when my Dad used to pick me up after class and I'd usually walk to the school gate with my friends which included boys. The boys were so afraid of my dad, that when they'd see him, they'd part like the red sea.

(Bonus: They still do)

Ethan laughed and then sat back in a more relaxed way as if he were thinking about it while my disoriented mind chose to wonder how long his outstretched legs were and whether they'd fit in an economy flight.

'Would you so willingly throw yourself at a man that your family imposes such strict rules?', he asked bringing back to reality.

'I've never really tried or dared to try. I'm quite fond of breathing'

'But it doesn't make any sense!', he exclaimed in such a way that his British accent came out more strongly than usual making me realize how bewildered he was.

'Join the club', I muttered and went back to my phone where my eyes had found a rather handsome picture of Tom Hiddleston but Ethan snatched it away.

'Oi! Give me back my Loki!', I exclaimed trying to pathetically grab it from his sky scrapper like arm.

With a confused expression, Ethan looked at the screen and his face turned wry as he realized who it was.

'How many celebrity crushes do you have?', he asked incredulously.

'It varies from moment to moment', I grinned and pounced at him only to collide with his elbow which sent a jolt of pain through my ribs.

'THAT HURT!', I cried and moved away while he looked rather pleased with himself.

'What is it that you don't understand? Dating isn't normal there! People think it's uncultured and they've brainwashed us into kindergarteners who believe that boys and girls have cooties so arranged marriage is the antidode, now, GIMME BACK MY PHONE!', and snatched my phone out of the hands of a dazed Ethan.

I watched as he took a moment to recollect himself and then ran his hand through his hair as if shaking it would help him understand.

'So, you've never dated anyone? Wait. You said you met your ex. How is that possible?', he asked looking lost.

I was clearly making this man lose his mind.

'I believe you're unfamiliar with the action of lying to one's parents. Also, two months of a 13-year-old crush isn't actually called being in a relationship', I said with a scowl towards the end.

'Two months? Is that how long it takes for you to get bored?', he laughed.

'No. He broke it off'

'You're saying you got dumped?'

Now it was my turn to sit in shock. I had never really thought about that until now. Peter had dumped me; he cut me off first.

Now isn't that a first in the life of a girl who has a pair of scissors ready at hand to cut off anyone without warning.

'I never really thought about that until now', I said dazedly.

'Well you clearly still have feelings for him', he observed.

'No. No, I do not have feelings for him. All the men I've chosen to be with have only ended up being mistakes. Peter was a mistake because our lives were too different from each other and he knew that. He broke it off because it was a failure from the start', I said and sat back with a sigh.

Ethan chose not to comment on it so instead said,

'I really wish you had told me about that photo. It seems frivolous to me but now that know, I just wish things could have been handled better', he said and I sighed.

'He didn't hurt you, did he?', he asked leaning forwards to look at me.

'Well, he did slap me. I've never been slapped in my entire life but it would have gotten worse if you hadn't shown up', I said and cringed as I remembered.

'It makes me feel less guilty now', he said.

'What?'

'Hitting him with my helmet', he replied rather smugly and I couldn't help but chuckle.

'You know Omi, your good heart can make you do stupid things sometimes. The fact that you thought you could talk him out of it still baffles me', he said shaking his head.

'A villain is a fucking villain', I mused and he grinned.

'To be honest though', he said after a while and I looked at him.

'If you're going to blackmail someone, you might as well do it properly and not with some half-assed photo of me barely lifting your shirt. Now, if there were some open buttons on both of us, THAT would have been scandalous', he smirked but it was gone as soon as I smacked him across the head.

'That hurt!', he exclaimed rubbing his head.

'Good to know', I scoffed and went back to my phone but my mind was already in the past with another scandalous incident ...

...I sat with my head on the drawing board, quietly willing myself to stay calm. The past two weeks had been a mess with Donny coming in to disrupt my life with more trouble and my design tutor screaming at me to drop the course while I still had time.

Karthick had been trying all morning to get me back on my feet but I wasn't in a mood for his games.

The loud scrapping of wood across the cement floor caused me to look up and I realized that everyone else looked confused as well. It was undoubtfully the sound of someone dragging their drafting table across the room.

From the corner of my eye, appeared Karthik with his desk tailing behind and he came to a halt in front of me.

With his famous troublesome grin, he pushed the desk right next to min with an air of triumph which quickly turned into a cringe as the desk knocked over a couple of high stools.

'Smooth', I said but he ignored it and sat proudly beside me, adjusting his table until it was aligned perfectly next to mine.

Across the room, I could see the girls in his group fume with confusion including the stares of the rest of our classmates.

'What are you doing?', I hissed.

'Now it's easier for me to check on you', he smiled as if it were the most obvious reason.

'They're all staring at us', I said quietly.

'So? Let them stare. We probably look really good', he grinned as he looked at me clearly ignoring the stares from all around and it gave me the courage to get lost in the warmth of his friendship.

If Scott Fitzgerald were here, he'd say 'He looked at her the way every woman wanted to be looked at'

But it was just us against them so I said to myself, 'He looked at me the way every tired soul wanted to be looked at'

Little did we know back then, that we had just ignited the flame to a scandal that would live to be the front runner of all the lies built to tear us apart.