One week was over, and now it was time to begin the game. My mood lifted up as soon as I saw Sandhya entering the college gates, my mind working on different ways to test her patience.

Should I trip her or remind her of her embarrassing moments in school? How about I mention about her getting scolded by our Math teacher in fifth grade? Hmm... there were a lot of options. It was hard to choose one out-

"Excuse me?"

I turned my head to the side when I heard a soft voice. A girl, with light brown hair and good fashion sense, was looking at me.

"Yes?" I asked.

She averted her eyes quickly, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as she twiddled her thumbs while mumbling to herself. I waited for her to say whatever she had, but she just looked up at me once and dashed away like Flash.

What the...?

"Wasn't that Tanya just now?" Nikhil asked as he stood beside me.

"She is hot," Shree commented, and Shreyas shook his head at him.

"I don't know her," I said.

"She is our classmate," Nikhil deadpanned. "And one of the popular ones too."

"Whatever."

I ignored the guys and cursed when I couldn't see Sandhya anywhere. Nikhil dragged me along with him to our lecture, and once we reached the classroom, he grinned when he noticed the earlier girl named Tanya sitting with her friends.

I shot a warning glare to Nikhil, but he gave me a mischievous smile and went to talk to the girls. Tanya smiled at him, and that idiot pointed in my direction. Tanya instantly looked away after glancing at me and her reaction was same like before.

I grabbed Nikhil's neck and took him in the back row. He nudged me and told me that he doubted that Tanya was interested in me.

"Shut up." I smacked him behind the head.

"Come on, bro. Just look at her," he said, "I am sure she is totally into you. Go and talk to her."

I rolled my eyes and took out my phone to play some games. After a few minutes, I felt a stare on me and snapped my eyes up. Tanya was stealing glances at me, while her friends poked her and pointed in my direction.

Did she really like me? Damn, I was really popular, wasn't I?

"Are you praising yourself in your mind?" Nikhil teased.

I raised my hand to hit him, but the lecturer arrived, saving my friend's life. Finally, after two more lectures, I was able to relax when I entered my Math class. I took my seat and waited for Sandhya to arrive.

When her best friend, Surbhi, went outside with a cellphone, I got up after grabbing the basketball from one of the guys. I told Nikhil to shoot and he did without any doubt about what I was going to do.

I took my aim and threw the ball in Sandhya's direction. It hit her on the head, and she cursed while glancing around.

"What the hell? Why did you hit her?" Nikhil asked with wide eyes.

"Practicing my aim," I said.

Everyone looked at me in shock, but I didn't give them any explanation. Sandhya looked over her shoulder and accused me of doing it on purpose. Some guys laughed when I told her that the ball slipped from my hand.

Her face contorted with anger as she curled her hands into fists, but she didn't fight back. She ignored me and turned her head back to the front.

Damn it. Did my plan fail? When did Sandy Pandy became so peaceful?

I went ahead and closed her notebook. She huffed and told me not to bully her. I flipped her the bird, and finally, I saw her old self reflecting in her eyes. She swung her right hand at me, but I caught it in time.

I warned her that I would break her arm if she did that again, and she slumped back in her seat. She looked at me as if she wanted to murder me, but she chose to voice out her thoughts instead of turning them into action.

"Grow up, Ved. We aren't kids anymore," she said.

I smirked and gave her a warning to always be alert. She scrunched up her nose, and I so wanted to flick her forehead, but I controlled myself. I went back to my seat and saw what Nikhil had recorded. I pursed my lips when I saw the ball hitting Sandhya's head.

Did I hit her too hard? The sound of imapct was strong. She didn't break her skull, did she?

You are an asshole, Ved. Stop messing, will you?

Whatever. Sandhya's head was far stronger because she was thick skulled.

"Umm... can you please tell me why you hit that girl?" Nikhil asked in accusation.

"Felt like it." I shrugged.

"You know her?"

"Yup."

"Who is she?"

"You don't need to bother."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I will ask her myself then."

"You won't."

"What is wrong with you? You bang a basketball against a random girl's head and tell me to record it but won't tell me what's going on?" he complained.

Random girl?

"Just chill, okay?" I said.

He looked at me weirdly, and when I didn't clear his doubts, he ignored me. After watching the recording multiple times, I gave Nikhil his phone back and glanced at Sandhya. Unlike what I had expected, she was having a nice time with other classmates.

Since the lecturer was absent, I played games on my phone and read some news articles. The bell rang, and everyone left the classroom. I also got up and followed my team members and groaned when Coach announced that we had a practice match with the senior team and made us run extra laps.

While running, I sensed Nikhil's stare on the back of my head. For the first few seconds, I ignored it, but when the uneasy feeling got stronger, I looked back. Nothing happened; my friend was just busy burning holes in me.

I waved him off, and the moment I thought that everything was fine, my head rung with pain as a basketball hit me from behind.

Nikhil!

I turned around, and he sprinted away. I chased him as he kept yelling 'You deserved it' and reminded me of how I hit Sandhya. I caught him before he went out of the court, but we both fell down as we couldn't keep our balance.

"How dare you hit your Captain?" I pressed my knuckles on his temples.

"Ow! Leave me!" he yelled.

I punched him in the stomach, and he pushed me off him. I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw him trying to make me realize my mistake.

"What if she told Coach or complained to the Dean?" Nikhil asked.

"She won't."

"How are you so sure? Looks like you are hiding something from me."

"Why are you so bothered?" I accused.

He shot me a flat look and narrowed his eyes, but before we got in another duel, Coach scolded us for fooling around and made us do sit-ups as punishment. After we were grilled out, we freshened up in the boys' locker room and left to fill our stomachs.

On our way, I spotted Sandy Pandy near the clerk's office and grinned as I spun my basketball on my index finger. I told Nikhil to record, but he shot me a scowl. I assured him that I wasn't going to hit Sandhya, and he took out his phone grudgingly.

"If you hit her again, I will beat you up," he threatened.

"Fine."

Just as Sandhya moved past me with a disinterested look, I faked throwing the basketball at her. She flinched, and I laughed at her reaction. When I asked Nikhil if he recorded the incident, he gave me his phone, and I noticed Sandhya glaring at him. I moved the phone screen in her direction, and she frowned.

She left while mumbling under breath, and I stared at her back before I continued on my way. Nikhil took his phone from me and put it back in his jeans.

"Come on, I didn't hurt her, so why are you still sulking?" I complained.

"What's going on between you two?" he asked.

"Nothing," I lied.

"Really?" He crossed his arms across his chest. "Your face is saying something else."

I sighed. "She was with me in school."

"And?"

I told him everything except some personal details, and he shook his head at me.

"Are you a kid? Don't do something that you will regret later," he advised.

"Aw. Are you already on her side now?" I taunted.

"I am just against bullying, that's it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but she is the one who bullied me in our childhood."

Nikhil looked at me sarcastically. "Really?"

I kicked him on the calves, and he also tried to land a few hits, but I had to keep up to my National Martial Arts Champion title. When we were fighting, Mayank and Rajeev bhaiyya saw us and scolded us for messing in the hallway.

I suddenly remembered Parth's party, where I had seen Rajeev bhaiyya conversing with Sandhya. When I asked him about her, he told me about how he met her. Mayank bhaiyya added the incident where she got in the middle of their fight without thinking.

Oh, so you have already made a name for yourself, Sandy Pandy?

"You seem to be close with her," I told Rajeev bhaiyya.

He smiled, and Mayank bhaiyya laughed while repeating the same incident. When we reached our classroom, Mayank and Rajeev bhaiyya left, and we trudged towards the back row and sat beside Parth.

She is friends with Parth, well acquainted with Mayank and Rajeev bhaiyya, and now Nikhil was also taking her side.

But what the hell was up with her though? Did she drink some magic potion of wisdom? How could she be so calm? Was I really being unrealistic about her being still the same?

Whatever the case maybe, Ved, you should not bully her. It is not right.

Just thinking about her made me riled up. Even though she wasn't doing anything, it felt like she was winning.

"Ved?"

"Yeah?"

An unfamiliar girl approached me and gave me small lavender colored card with a red ribbon tied on it.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Please read it," she said and rushed off.

I opened the card and blinked rapidly when I read the first line.

"Oooooo, a love letter~" Nikhil sang.

"Read it aloud," Parth said.

I refused and read it by myself. It was indeed a love letter, and I was really grateful for everything that was written in it, but I didn't even know the girl who gave it to me. Unfortunately, I had no option than to say no.

I wrote down a lengthy paragraph thanking the girl and apologizing for not being able to accept her feelings, while my friends looked at me disappointingly.

"Die single," Parth commented.

I ignored thier taunts and tied the ribbon on the card. It was red. Red...

Sandhya's favorite color is also Red. Oh great! Is there anything that isn't related to her?!