A loud banging and Brute's growl woke me up in the middle of the night. Groggily I opened the door to find one of those senior girls who was throwing Mandy seductive looks in the cafeteria, standing infront of me.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, stifling a yawn.

"Ready for the welcome newbie?" She asked snidely, examining her nails.

"I don't un....." I began.

"Get dressed and come down to the courtyard." The senior girl snubbed "And make sure I don't have to come again, otherwise the consequences will be grim."

"Damn they are going to rag us." Mia groaned once the girl left.

Recollecting the girl's warning, I decided not to offend her and instead accompanied Mia to the courtyard, still in my blue sleeping pajamas and magenta hoodie.

"How can a government-agency-run college allow ragging?" I asked Mia horrified. Brute padded alongside me.

The lush green courtyard was already occupied with a handful of seniors huddled in small groups, with all of my batchmates lined up in the middle. Mia and I went to stand beside a pale Mandy and a terrified Junaid. All of us had at some point of our lives, come across those gruesome ragging stories.

"Hey don't worry, they won't make us do anything brutal." Mandy spoke more to himself.

"Is that yours?" One of the senior boys asked, pointing at Brute. I immediately recognized him. He was one of the boys, I had seen with the Greek demigod outside the cafeteria. The senior boy broke away from the group he was speaking to and walked towards me.

He too was good looking, though not as attractive as the demigod. This new guy was probably as tall as Mandy, with a square jaw and broad shoulders. Heavy lidded grey eyes and a sharp nose adorned his creamy skinned face.

"Ummm yeah..!" I replied timidly, stroking Brute's head.

"What is his name?" The boy asked.

"Brutus, but I call him Brute."

"Hi big guy!" The boy squatted infront of Brutus and my silly lab immediately lapped up his face.

"Brute don't!" I tried to pull him back by his collar.

"Its okay!" The boy chuckled as he stood up and extended his hand "Danish Patel, second year."

"Meenakshi Banerjee, first year." I shyly shook his hand.

"Hey, I am giving this one the free pass." Danish Patel called out to someone standing behind us. For the second time my heart did a somersault when I realized it was the demigod.

"Damn Danny, you and your mutt obsession." The demigod groaned in a deep heavy voice.

"Well," Danny smiled at me, "The free pass entitles you to either save yourself or one of your batchmate from being ragged tonight." I felt a sense of relief knowing that I didn't have to endure the embarrassment like the rest of my batchmates. But then I looked at Junaid. I could see he was on the verge of breaking down from nervousness.

"I will save him." I told Danny.

Junaid was surprised by my gesture. "What..Naxi you don't have to....." he started but I cut him off.

"Pay me back later." I winked.

"That was quite thoughtful Meenakshi." Danish commented.

"Please call me Naxi." I smiled "Besides, I am habituated with being bullied, so I am more capable of bearing this than him."

Danish nodded and offered to hold Brute, while his friends and seniors conducted the ragging. I gladly obliged and saw my furry boy being steered to stand with the seniors.

"So newbies." A hulky boy from the demigod's gang stood up on a wooden chair on the side of the courtyard facing us, "As is the tradition, you shall entertain us tonight."

"I am Rizwan," the hulky boy continued, "you can start with your introduction and then sing a song or perform a dance step, or do something that will not put us off to sleep." He laughed at his own joke. "And if you fail to entertain us, then you will chug."

I finally noticed the red beer cups lined on a table beside him.

"Isn't drinking below twenty one, illegal in Uttarakhand?" I whispered to Mandy.

"Do they look like they give a damn." Mandy whispered back.

I could feel the familiar feeling of anxiety kicking in. I needed Brute with me now. But he had cunningly switched sides, now hanging out with the seniors. I could see Danish and two of his friends stroking Brute.

My batchmates made a complete fool of themselves as they tried to sing and dance. Each of them were mercilessly made to empty the beer in the red cups, down their throat.

More than eight of the freshers had endured the humiliation, when a girl in tight jean shorts and loose round neck tshirt stepped in. Her tshirt was tied in a knot near her waist, giving everyone a peek of her belly-button. One of her shapely shoulders peeped out from the wide neckline of her tshirt.

"Damini Shrinivasan from Mysore." She said in a sweet tone.

"Well Damini what do you have in store for us."

"Entertainment as you wanted, but for that I will need a volunteer of my choice." She said in an innocently confident voice.

Seniors who were gathered in the floors above, peering from their balconies, enjoying our humiliation, cheered her.

Rizwan motioned everyone to silence.

"Go ahead pick anyone." He told her. She swayed her hips as she moved towards where Danish and the group of senior boys stood, stopping right infront of the demigod.

"Him," she said coolly to Rizwan, pointing at the demigod.

And a united "OOOOOOOOOH" swept through the courtyard.

"Avinash Chauhan," Rizwan said appreciatively, "You have got good taste Damini."

Avinash rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "And what do I have to do?" He asked her with a lopsided grin.

"Nothing. Just sit and enjoy."

She borrowed a chair and sat him down. I could feel a tinge of jealousy, which soon became full blown as Damini gave Avinash a lap dance. What irritated me more was how the crowd cheered her, while she brushed her arse against Avinash's thighs and torso.

I wish I was as confident as her. She was the only one who wasn't made to chug unlike the ones before her. After her performance I noticed Avinash stealing glances at her numerous times, which infuriated me even more. I decided that Damini Sreenivasan was my least favorite person in this college.

Mia too managed to skip the beers after her splendid belly dance. Mandy was also excused when he agreed to strip, honoring the demands of the senior ladies, looking down from the balconies above.

"Ummm..can I just chug directly." I asked in a small voice when finally my turn came to 'Entertain'.

"Oh come on fat ass," Rizwan rolled his eyes "I guess you can atleast sing a song " I shook my head vigorously. The only time I sang was when I was sure that there was no one in the house, and with my earphones plugged in, to prevent even myself from listening to my horrendous singing.

"Sorry, but unless you do something entertaining we are not letting you go Chubby." Rizwan sneered.

I should have taken the free pass. I knew I had no grace. The only dance I knew, involved imitating Amitabh Bachhan's signature step of extending one arm after another, while bouncing the shoulders. I was not going to sing or dance and let that be Avinash Chauhan's first impression of me.

Instinctively my eyes fluttered to where Avinash Chauhan stood, and caught him and Damini stealing glances once again. The image of Damini moving on Avinash's lap came back to my mind infuriating me, simultaneously filling my heart with jealousy.

Well! Well! Well! They wanted entertainment, but I was not going to allow them to corner me either. I smiled slyly before walking up to where Rizwan stood.

"Get down." I ordered him.

"Am I going to get a lap dance too!" He snickered.

"You wish." I muttered, my hand rolling into a fist. Before Rizwan could realize what was about to happen, my knuckles slammed against his cheek.

"Woooooooohooooo" The cheer and applaud of my batchmates and seniors, vibrated through the courtyard. It was louder than the one Damini had received.

"Well that is for being a bully." I coldly told Rizwan, before pulling back my arm and punching him again.

"And that is for breaking the very laws of the country you are being trained to serve." My third punch hit him right on the nose before he could recover.

"And that is for keeping the beer away from me for so long." I pretended to sound bemused."You wanted entertainment right? Nothing is more entertaining than an underdog standing up to a bully."

Rizwan stumbled away from me, absolutely baffled by what had happened.

The rest of my college mates however seemed to be thrilled with my performance. Their deafening cheers breaking through the quiet night were proof that I had managed to 'Entertain' them. I bowed to them in acknowledgement before marching to the table and having my first taste of alcohol.

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