Divya was annoyed. No. She was absolutely pissed! Mr. Jha was literally glued to her side, checking a thousand times if she was still there and not disappearing into thin air.

What conspired a night ago has shaken the staff more than the victim. So they were stuck to her like a leech for the whole trip. And all her journey ended up on a sour note when the teachers finally informed her parents what happened and they? It is obvious what happened. She was grounded, well 'safeguarded' for the whole summer.

She didn't even get to talk to Vijay about anything much. Why? Because she was too hesistant *cough* shy *cough* to text him. And calling was another thing. The random 'hi's' and 'good nights', 'good mornings' were common. Sometimes the conversation would extend to an hour or so, but neither of them did anything out of ordinary.

One day, Vijay did ask her something out of the ordinary.

'Where was your college again? '

'Delhi'

'Yeah but where? '

'It is near the new market. You will know it when you google it. '

'Okay... '

But she let that slide thinking it was something random.

***

"Try this! " Jhanvi passed the chocolate milkshake which she was enjoying. Divya sipped enthusiastically as its creamy taste relished her taste buds.

"Mmm.. " She hummed.

"Hey! Don't drink it all! " Jhanvi pushed Divya away, who giggled with a mouthful of the yummy delight.

"Ah! What can I do? It was heaven~" She squealed.

"Wasn't it? It would have been tastier because that was MINE! "

" What? You offered. "

"And I want something in return. Like-" Jhanvi snatched the spoon from Divya's hand and took a spoonful of her ice cream. "This." And ate it.

Divya was flabbergasted. She took her spoon back, looking at the large portion of her ice cream missing.

"Now we are even. " Jhanvi wiggled her brows at Divya, who was looking at her bowl with pitiful eyes. But she chuckled nevertheless.

"This is amazing. " Jhanvi sighed. " I was afraid that I would go crazy before I could meet you! Dr. Naik is a pain to deal with."

"Yeah... we also have a teacher like that. Fortunately, she isn't teaching us this year. It's like every university has this one teacher every student hates! "

"I agree. But what about your mom? I thought after that Paris incident she wouldn't allow you to go outside? "

" I thought so too! I was even reluctant while planning this but she said that as long as I am with you, I can go. " Divya remembered how worried her mother was when she learnt about the whole event. She was scolded and grounded at first. Yes, a 22 year old grounded. But slowly she was able to convince her mother that she would be fine. Of course that event gave her mother another thing to worry and taunt her about.

"I wish others could join us. " Jhanvi was missing everyone from their old crew, especially the ones from her school. And so was Divya.

After finishing their desserts, they rode Jhanvi's scooty and ventured here and there, clicked photos and enjoyed until it was starting to get dark. Jhanvi dropped the sad pouty girl off to her home, her long brown hair in a bun.

"See you! "

"Bye! And don't forget to send the photos to me!"

"YUP! " Jhanvi shouted as she rode away.

Divya took a shower, got changed and laid down on her bed. She was contemplating whether to tell Jhanvi about Vijay or not. They basically knew each other's secrets but she never told anyone about the boys she ever liked. Not even Jhanvi, who got heebie-jeebies by the name of dating.

But then again, how would Divya know if Vijay was actually interested in her? And if he was, would she date him? Something about dating a person instantly embarrassed her. She never imagined herself dating someone before. It was always admiring from afar. This was the introverted part of her that would deem her a weird stalker if she wasn't careful. She was too shy to be a stalker. And shy? Only in this aspect. Otherwise, her confidence knew no end. Even her mother was surprised how fearless of a daughter she had who always spoke her mind. And that also without hurting anybody. Well, intentionally. Even if someone got hurt, she wouldn't know about that.

She groaned and picked up her phone. She sent all the good photos to Jhanvi who exchanged some from her own. They chatted about a few things randomly when one text from Jhanvi caught her off guard.

'Did you know?'

'What?'

'I heard that Ranveer has an Instagram account.'

Ranveer. Now that was a name she thought she wouldn't hear again. It accompanied a lot of good and bad memories. His name was actually a taboo among the friend group, the college one to be exact. He literally cut off all his ties with everyone, leaving everything ending at a bitter note. He was nowhere to be found after their BA ended and the group dispersed.

'So? ' Divya was tempted to know, but wouldn't agree to that.

'Even I am not interested in knowing about that prick. But this is something, I guess. '

'Let him be. If he wanted to reach out, he would have done so. And besides, no one is interested in knowing about him. '

'I never liked him. ' Jhanvi was quick to say that.

'I know. ' was Divya's reply, because she once did, and regretted it.
***

Vijay thought this was bizarre. He was not serious about actually liking and dating a girl for a long time. Ever since...

He shook his head, trying to forget about the past, which was sure eventful but not everything was worth remembering. His hands were furiously tapping on the buttons of the controller he had, mercilessly beating whatever opponent he had. The 'YOU WON' made him grin slightly but he sighed and moved on to try another game.

There were many games he wanted to try, but he knew his father couldn't afford a lot. He knew he had to work and earn, for his family and himself but his mother was too adamant for him to focus on his studies and not worry about a job.

He worked hard and got into IIT and worked even harder there, but somehow he was always left out of things that people enjoyed together in a group. School was probably the last time he ever had real friends and fun.

While he was reminiscing about the past, there was a barrage of footsteps outside his gate. He was dragged out if his reverie when he heard the door knob wiggle. He knew what it was. Or who it was.

"Not now. " He said stiffly. But the door opened filling his dark room with light. He groaned and turned his head away from the light source.

"You are playing games in the dark again. " The sillhouette spoke. Then the said person made their way towards him, taking his controller away.

"Hey! " And he was met with similar pair of light brown eyes.

"I wanna play with you too! " The pre-teen in pigtails spoke.

" Don't you have something better to do? I have only one controller. Give it to me! Vani! Hey! " But the girl broke into a sprint and ran across a surprisingly organized room. But Vijay was faster and caught up to her, lifting her off her feet.

"Put me down!"

" Give my console back!"

Vani stuck her tongue out, and slid the device under her shirt.

"No!"

"What do you want now? "

Vani smirked and took the console out.

"Your phone. "

"What? "

" Mummy said I can't have hers. So, your phone. " She stuck her hands out but Vijay threw her in the bed.

"In your dreams. " He grumbled.

Vaani sat upright and flashed the console in front of his face.

"Come on big brother! Pwetty pwease! " She pouted giving him the best puppy dog eyes but he was unwavered. "I promise to not tell mom about you playing games in dark if you give me your phone. "

Vijay sighed but agreed. "Fine... "

Vaani jumped off the bed threw the console towards Vijay who caught it in haste and launched herself to his phone, which was obviously locked. But she typed away the password, leaving a shocked Vijay.

"How did you-"

The girl ignored him now fully immersed in the device. He was worried that she would open something she was not supposed to, so he kept glancing sideways. She played some games and watched some of her favorite YouTube videos. Vijay thought that she would pass time like that and relaxed himself when she pushed the phone uncomfortably close to his face.

"Who is she? " She asked curiously. He took the phone from her hands and came face to face with a smiling Divya with some childish filter. It was her dp from whatsApp.

"Are you checking my messages? " Vijay was quick to say that.

" No? I just wanna know who she is. I never heard you mention her. "

" Why are you so interested?"

"I don't know. You seem to talk a lot with her as compared to other girls, well others that are new. She is pretty though. "

Vijay didn't say anything but he couldn't deny that Divya was indeed a pretty girl. He knew that though.

While he was busy thinking, Vanni took his phone away and checked another chat.

"Whoa... " She said, then she gulped drawing Vijay's attention.

"What? "

"That- That's a lot of swear words. " And Vijay lunged and got his phone back.

"That's it! Time out" And kicked her out of his room, leaving a little shaken and surprised Vaani out of the door.