"OK class, that's it for today's lecture. Have a nice day," Mehta sir announced the moment the bell rang. I doubted if anyone was even paying attention to him. He signed off and rushed out of the class. He always seemed to be in more hurry than us to get out of here.

Next class was chemistry practical. We were going through the same things we studied in 11th and 12th grade. Two months would be like this only. I groaned. I was tired of listening to the same lectures from past two years.

I grabbed my lab coat and made my way towards the chemistry lab. We were going to be assigned lab partners today. Fingers were crossed.

I arrived on time and took my spot. Atleast this lab was not so boring and lacking the necessary equipments like my highschool.

(Images used for representational purpose only.)

I took out my book and rough notebook, and began skimming through the pages to pass time.

Surbhi didn't come today. That girl was head over heels for Aryan. She bunked today's classes because she wasn't satisfied with yesterday's shopping.

Was she planning to get married as soon as he landed here? I shook my head, worrying about what to do with her. How did I even become friends with her? I couldn't remember.

"Good morning everyone," Mrs. Nair, our chemistry teacher greeted us. We greeted her in unison and she began briefing us about today's experiment. Then she began announcing the names of the students while writing them down in pairs on the blackboard.

I was the last one because Mrs. Nair did the arrangement randomly instead of doing it in an alphabetical order. Seriously? On top of that, I didn't even get a lab partner. We were in odd numbers. Guess I will have to do it solo. I was never good with working in a group as it is.

"One student is missing. Mr. Shree Raheja. Absent in the first class? So irresponsible," Mrs. Nair mumbled.

"Hellooooo ladies!" a guy announced. He skidded in the lab on a skateboard and stopped in front of us. He flicked his shoulder length hair behind his neck and took off his aviators.

He put his left foot on one end of his skateboard and pushed it, making it stand vertically. He grabbed it with his left hand and winked at the girls. Then he turned at Mrs. Nair and gave her a 100 watt smile.

"Who are you?" Our teacher narrowed her eyes at the intruder.

"Shree Raheja. Nice to meet you all." He waved his right hand at us like a king.

Mrs. Nair was trying hard to control her anger. She adjusted her specs and marked his attendance.

"You can go to your spot beside Sandhya," she motioned towards me.

Wait a minute! He was my lab partner?!

Shree sauntered in my direction while everyone stared at him. He took his spot beside me and began moving back and forth on his feet.

I looked at him taking in his appearance. If anything, he didn't look like a student at all. He was wearing a lab coat on top of a Bahamas shirt and cargo three-fourths.

Did he just come here directly from a vacation? And his hair. Oh my god. I had never seen so shiny, dense and smooth hair ever. I wanted to touch them.

"Take a picture. It will last longer." He snapped his fingers in front of me. Oops. I was staring for too long. Not a good thing, Sandhya.

He ran his hand through his hair making me jealous. I had long hair too but they were nothing compared to the ones he was flaunting right now.

He had a nice tan too which enhanced his facial features. Whereas my tan made me look like I was sunburned. Why was I getting jealous of a guy? I tried to ignore him and focused on Mrs. Nair who was rambling about herself.

She told us she was a gold medalist and expected best results from us. We all nodded absentmindedly and began our experiments.

Luckily, I had no problem working with Shree. He was co-operative and I didn't end up doing all the work by myself. We finished in time and submitted our reports. The bell rang and we all started leaving for our next lecture.

"See ya all later!" Shree shouted and Mrs. Nair scolded him. We all laughed and filed out of the lab.

My laughter soon faded when I saw my mortal enemy walking in my direction. Ved.

I glared at him but he wasn't even looking at me. What are you doing Sandhya? Stop staring at him like that. What if he recognised you? Don't dig your own grave!

I glanced away quickly and increased my speed. It was better if I kept off his radar. Who knew if he was the same Ved from my childhood or had changed? But one thing was for sure. He will make my life hell if he got to know that his 'favorite' person was roaming in the same college as him.

×~×

"Phew," I relaxed and sat down in my seat. I decided to spend my free class in the library.

I began reading, relishing in the peaceful environment.

"Ouch!" I heard a girl exclaim.

"I am sorry. Did I hurt you?"

I turned around and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw Rajeev frantically apologizing to the girl in front of him. The big guy looked so nervous.

"It's okay. It was my fault." The girl gave him a small smile. He smiled back in relief and she blushed.

So, the bouncer was capable of smiling too. He always glared at me though. The girl gave him a long look and dashed out of the library.

"That was sweet," I mumbled to myself.

"What are you laughing at?" I snapped my eyes up and saw Rajeev staring down at me.

"Aren't you a teddy bear?" I teased.

"What did you say?"

"Teddy bear. You know the stuff toy which girls love." I motioned with my hands.

"What's that got to do with me?" He narrowed his eyes.

"What I meant to say was you are a soft-hearted person though you act all big and scary."

He blinked. Rapidly.

"But I scared her off," he said in a low voice.

"No you didn't!" I yelled.

"Silence!" The librarian yelled back.

Oh, so she can yell but we can't? Great.

"Didn't you see her blushing?" I whisper yelled.

He looked at me confusedly. He sat down beside me and scrunched his eyebrows.

"You are making fun of me, aren't you?" he accused. I face-palmed myself.

"Why would I do that?" I asked.

He mumbled something under his breath and I couldn't hear it. He looked at me like a drowning man and that I was his last hope. I was not liking this feeling. I hurriedly got up but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back on my seat.

"You invited yourself into this and I am not letting you go so easily." He smiled with a glimmer in his eyes. What did I get myself into?

That's how I spent my free class and was made to bunk the other one; trying to explain the laws of attraction to Rajeev and clear out his misunderstandings.

I had to repeat myself several times to get things through his thick skull. How was he one of the toppers? After that session, I felt qualified to become a love guru.

He believed that he scared off everyone because of his build and brooding persona. That was true but it didn't hide the fact that he was a handsome guy. A scary handsome guy.

He had a strong jawline and broad forehead with a little crooked nose. Small wisps of hair covered his jaw and upper lip, and his black eyes were big and round like marbles. He had a rough appearance but he was attractive which he didn't know himself.

I laughed at him. It was ridiculous to see that a strong guy like him also had insecurities.

"You aren't afraid of me?" he asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"Nah. You never scared me."

He did but I could lie. His lips curled into a smile and he grabbed my head in a headlock.

"Someone is full of herself." He ruffled my hair.

"Ahem!" Mayank coughed.

"Hey bro!" Rajeev finally let go and I sighed in relief.

"I didn't disturb anything right?" He glanced between me and Rajeev.

"Let's go man! I am hungry." Rajeev patted Mayank's shoulder.

"Bye, kid." He waved at me and turned towards the exit whistling the tunes of an old song. Mayank stared at his retreating form and when he could no longer see him, turned towards me.

"What's up with him?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and got up to leave for lunch. Mayank eyed me curiously but soon followed me out and went his way.

Lunch was boring without Surbhi. I missed her continuous chattering and silly jokes. It had been just one day without her and I was already missing her. What would happen when she got married? No! I won't let her ditch me.

"Excuse me. Can I sit here?" a girl asked me.

She was dressed in a V neck kimono sleeved black top and white bowtie paperbag waist pants. She was carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag and an I phone.

She had shoulder length dark brown hair which she had parted to the side. Her heart shaped face, button nose and doe eyes were perfection. She was fair and had good height minus the heels she was wearing.

She looked so posh that I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

(Her outfit👆)

She was really cute. I nodded and she sat down giving me a small smile.

"I hope I am not disturbing you," she said in a honey voice.

"No, it's okay. There is a lot of space here."

We began munching on our food and she asked me which year I was in. I told her I was a fresher and she informed that she was too. She introduced herself and even her name was cool.

Tanya Hirachandani.

It was her first day at college. She couldn't join on the actual date because of some administration issue. We chatted like that on random topics till the bell rang.

"Bye, Sandhya. It was nice talking to you," she said and went towards her class.

"Bye, Tanya," I replied.

"New friend?" Parth asked as he came beside me.

"Yup." I smiled.

"I miss Surbhi," he said.

"Me too," I agreed.

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. Surbhi was so gonna kill us.

Rest of the day went by smoothly and I messaged Surbhi that I had found her replacement. Soon my phone was bombarded with messages calling me a traitor and how she was going to kill me in 100 ways. I wouldn't replace her with anyone else but I enjoyed annoying her.

×~×

After the last lecture got over, I made my way towards the bus stop to leave for home. Today was quite peaceful. I was replaying today's events through my mind.

Honk!

I jumped in fright and looked back. A black Ford Mustang GT was making its way through the crowd which had gathered to admire it.

I was awed too. I stared at the black beauty and calculated how many times I would have to be reborn to afford it. As it moved past me, I ran my hand on its hood. So smooth. I doubted if Shree's hair were smoother than this. And now I was jealous of a car. Wow. I laughed at myself.

The car sped off and everyone got back on their way. I got to the bus stop and imagined how it would feel to drive one of those cars. I would sure love it.