"Where were you?" shrieked Neeti the moment I entered our room. "It's past 5 o clock! You didn't attend any class, you didn't turn up for lunch, you wouldn't pick up your phone!"

"I told you I'm going to Acropolis..." I said, suddenly feeling nervous about how I'm going to tell her what really happened.

"For 6 hours!?" she said. "You confess to me right now, Alisha, or else..."

"Fine, fine," I said. "First wait, I've got a gift for you."

I produced a sheet of paper. Neeti snatched it.

"Neeti
How about you shift to KKR from RCB? ;)
Shubman Gill "

His autograph was the main thing in the page, but I'd begged him to add the mocking message.

"What IS this?" she asked suspiciously.

"Can't you see? It's Shubman's message for you!"

"Oh? And he told you to deliver it to me, I guess?" she asked skeptically.

I shrugged. "Kind of."

"Allie, I want to know what you're playing at." Neeti sounded serious now.

Suddenly I couldn't hold back my feverish excitement any more.

"I MET SHUBMAN GILL IN THE LIFT OFF ACROPOLIS! WE HAD COFFEE TOGETHER! THEN WE WALKED AROUND KOLKATA FOR A LONG TIME! WE EXCHANGED NUMBERS! HE TOLD ME TO MEET HIM ON THE 28TH, BEFORE THEY LEAVE FOR DELHI!"

Neeti was dumbfounded for more than a minute.

"You're not joking?" she said at last.

"No, I swear on Chem I'm not. I swear on you I'm not joking."

"I can't...I can't believe it..." Neeti sounded totally awed.

"Neither can I," I admitted. "He's even cuter up close." I giggled. "And he's so nice too."

"Tell me everything!" shrieked Neeti, as she got over her shock.

So I did.

Neeti was so jealous that she said she would murder me in my sleep.

"On second thoughts, I wouldn't," she said. "When you go to meet him on Thursday, I'll go with you. Just to watch him from far away, since that's the best I can do."

"You can talk to him too," I laughed.

"No, he's yours," she said regretfully. "Now, have you forgotten to tell me anything? Like..." she grinned. "Like a kiss or something?"

I felt blood rush to my cheeks. "Neeti, we met today!"

"All right, all right," she said.

I had told her everything...nearly.

The only thing I couldn't tell her is how perfect the entire day had felt. And how I had thought, for a moment, when Shubman waved goodbye to me, that it had been as perfect to him as it had been to me.