As she held her scholarship letter in her hand, she felt an uneasiness .She ran through the events of the last few days. It all started when she had applied for the scholarship exam. If she passed,she would get the opportunity of studying in one of India's most prestigious university. St.Marcus College. It had always been her dream to study there. The only thing stopping her was her love for her Dadi. St. Marcus college was situated in Mumbai. Her Dadi knew about her desire to study in' The city of dreams', but had always put her off. She tried to conceal her of the harshness of the reality. and that's why she was apprehensive about Mitali's dream of going to Mumbai.

'But Dadi , this is once in a lifetime opportunity! God knows if I would ever get this chance.'Mitali had tried one last time.

'Alright, I know that once you make up your mind about something, you wouldn't let it go. Mark my words you'll regret your decision.'

The day she got her scholarship letter , her Dadi had asked,'Why can't you do your post graduation here? There are plenty of good colleges in Dehradun.'

'Are you concealing something from me,dadi?' Mitali had finally come out with it.

'What do you meen by that?'Dadi eyebrows stiffened.Mitali had noticed the sudden change in her expression.

'Why don't you want me to go to Mumbai?I mean you had never been so biased before.What's the matter with Mumbai?'

'There's nothing like that Mitali. I just don't want you to go away from me.'

Mitali wasn't convinced.

But now, as she stood in front of the large black gates of her dream destination, she felt kinda uneasy. The guilt of leaving dadi was irresistible. Taking a deep breath , she let go off her thoughts and with a clear mind,approached the gates . She could feel the goosebumps. She had finally reached her ultimate goal. She smiled lightly. Students and professors crowded the campus. She had never felt so happy in her life.

Suddenly, her eyes spotted the huge commotion that was on the other side of the ground. She ignored it and was about to turn , when suddenly two arms held her by her shoulders and twirled her around. In seconds she found herself gazing into a pair of light brown eyes. Here, Mitali was hella confused and on the other hand the boy, whoever he was, looked terrified as well as in a hurry.He turned to Mitali and said,

Boy: Just keep on gazing into my eyes!

Mitali: What the...? Who are you and why would I do that?

Boy: Please just do what I say! Pretty please!

Mitali somehow found herself agreeing to his demand. The way he said 'pretty please' just couldn't make her say 'no'. And so, she kept looking at him with a confused face. After a while, from the corner of her eye she saw a girl coming towards them.The girl, she assumed must be hella angry, cause she was stomping her foot and huffing loudly. The girl came and saw them standing in that awkward position and yelled,

Girl: What the hell, Adi?

So the boys' name was Adi.Must be short for Aditya or Adarsh!

As soon as she said that, Adi backed off from Mitali, which led to Mitali falling down with a thump.

Mitali: What?! Are you fucking kidding me?

Adi immediately realized his mistake and turned to help Mitali get up. He offered his hand but Mitali shrugged it off and got up herself.Adi looked at her with a strange expression.

Girl: It's bad enough that I found you flirting with my best friend, Tara. And now, you're screwing this girl!

Mitali: Hey, no, we aren't together...

Adi put his arm around Mitali and said, ' Yes, we are'

Mitali was literally taken aback by that . She couldn't speak for a few seconds.

Adi: And now, perhaps you should excuse us. We are getting late for our lectures.

Girl: You are such a....

Fortunately the bell rang at that time.The girl traced her steps back with the same loud thumping noise.

Adi: Phew! That was close!

Mitali : and perhaps now you would care to give an explanation!

Adi quickly removed his hand, earning a glare from Mitali.

Adi: Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into this. But I had no other option.

Mitali raised her brow.

Adi: Let me introduce myself first. I'm Aditya Sinha.

Ha! Guessed it right!

Saying that He extended his hand towards her. Mitali reluctantly shook his hand.

Mitali: Mitali Gupta.

Aditya: Are you new here?

Mitali: Yeah, I just got here this morning.

Adi: That's why!

Mitali: What?

Adi: Oh no, actually, you see, I'm quite popular over here. Like girls. They go crazy just to catch a glimpse of me. Mujhse unki subah aur mujhse hi unki shaam hoti hai.

Mitali(sarcastically) : You're confident about yourself.

Adi without even understanding the sarcasm, kept blabbering.

Adi: Yeah. And you see, every girl in here has been with me at some point or other. So, Sanya wouldn't have believed if I said that I was dating some other girl here. But since you're new and she doesn't know you , that's why, she immediately believed me.

Mitali( sarcastically): Well tricked! Bravo!

Adi: Thanks.

Mitali: Was she your girlfriend?

Adi: Yeah. But now she's clearly not!

Mitali: Why are you so happy about that?

Adi: No. I'm relieved she's gone. Oh, she was a pain in the ass!

Mitali: Hmm.(After a moment of thought) So,you're a lothario!

Adi: You can say so.

Mitali: And you are proud of that?

Adi: Yeah, what's your point?

Mitali: Nothing.Absolutely nothing(sarcastically).It was nice meeting you!

Saying that, Mitali turned and picking up her things, was about to go, when,

Adi: Hey! What was your name again?

Mitali: Never mind . My name is not that interesting. And you know, I'm not quite your type.So....

Adi: No, I was just asking. Geez, nowadays people make weird conclusions about someone!

Mitali: Do you really blame me after all that just happened(sarcastically)?

Adi: Point.

Mitali: anyways, I'll be off now. It wouldn't do me good if I miss my first lecture on the very first day. Can you tell me where the Principal office is?

Adi:First Floor. Towards the left.

Mitali: Alright, thanks.

Adi: Yeah(in some deep thought) Yeah, see you around.

Mitali(to herself): Yeah, I doubt that.

Well, little did she know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shayantani was passing by the corridor when she saw something that caught her attention.She noticed a bunch of girls peeping through a classroom's window. She went up to them and asked one of the girls,

Shanu(short for shayantani):What's going on?

Girl:(whispered) Shush, Shanu. We aren't supposed to talk!

Shanu: Class isn't going on. Why should I keep my mouth shut? You know how much I love to talk!

Girl: Not now, Shanu.

Shanu: Ok, fine. Just tell me what are you guys peeping at?

Girl: Princi(yeah that's a nickname for their principal) is giving an earful to his loser son.

Shanu:Again?

Girl: Yeah! I don't know why but this never gets old!

Shanu: Stop laughing, Tina.We must feel bad for him.

Girl: Why do you always defend that loser?

Shanu kept quiet. That was a secret only she knew. A secret which she bore in her heart for the past 11 years.

Girl: What made you shut up now?

Shanu: Nothing. I should be heading to class.It's almost time.

Girl:Wait. Don't you wanna see this?

Shanu:(sigh) No.I have better things to do.

Saying that, she walked past the classroom without sparing a glance at him.

Him!

Lost in her thoughts, she did not realize that Ananya was waving at her from a distance.When she got no response out of her, Ananya came in front of her and shook her by her shoulder.

Anu(short for Ananya): Shanu, what's wrong?

Shanu came back to reality.

Shanu: What's wrong?

Anu: You. Something's off with you.

Shanu: What are you saying, Anu? There is nothing wrong with me.

Anu:Mujhse jhoot bolegi?

Shanu:Tujhse jhoot kaise jhoot bol sakti hu jaan?Mai thik hu. I promise.

Anu: I'm not convinced, but chal tu keh rahi hai isliye maan liya. Aur ha, isliye bhi kyunki class ka waqt ho raha hai.

Shanu giggled slightly.

Anu: Acha sun, voh sab chor, mujhe abhi abhi pata chala ki mere sat koi nayi student rehne wali hai. Uska naam nahi pata. Tu please mere liye check kar legi. Mujhe Ganguly sir se kuch kaam hai warna mai kar deti.

Shanu: Ha thik hai. Mai register dekhke aati hu.

Anu: Thanks, Shanu.

Shanu: Chal chal ab jyadi butter mat laga!

They both laughed. Waving each other goodbye, they left for their specific work.

Shanu entered the Principal's office and looked around for the register. Luckily, it was kept on the cupboard. She picked it up and began searching for room no.223. There,she found it.Beside Anu's name another name was scribbled. She leaned in to take a close look......

Who is this new tenant?

And what secret do you think Shanu is concealing?

Hit me up on the comments below, and tell me what else you want included in the story?

I'm in desperate need of suggestions, guys!

And also, don't forget to vote guys!