"Settle down class," Professor Nithin directed as he walked to the middle of the classroom. "No need to open your textbooks and notebooks just yet," he added as the class started to bustle.
"We are almost to the end of this unit, so I would like to assign a project to the class."
The class groaned and I along with it. Hate projects...
"Project?!" one student complained.
"How many points, sir?" another asked.
"Hold on, let me finish. And don't worry, this is a group project. Everyone will get into groups of-," he stopped mid sentence to silently do the math in his head. "Groups of 3, except for one group of 2," he finished.
Everyone immediately started looking around, trying to make eye contact with others to find partners. I felt some stares land on me but I kept my gaze straight ahead.
"Hey no no!" I heard Rishi beside me. "You, me, and Vihaan."
"What?! I don't want to be left out!!" Vicky exclaimed. "Jay, me, and Vihaan."
"Works with me." Jay stated as a matter of fact. "As long as I'm with Vihaan."
"Vicky! Go join some ladies group, Vihaan's staying with me." Rishi remarked.
"Guys guys STOP!" I whispered. "Am I some item girl to fight over?" I stared at them until they shut up. "You three - meaning Jay, Vicky, Rishi - can be one group. As for myself, I can just find some other people to work with."
Their groans were blocked out by the sound of the teacher clearing his throat, bringing our attention back to the front. "Ok class, this is the last of the directions. This project is due in 2 weeks, on Friday the 20th of this month. Make sure to pace yourselves and follow all the guidelines on the rubric. This project is worth 50 points. Once you're all sorted out, make sure to tell me your groups before you leave class."
"50 points?!" Vicky hissed. "Looks like a fail for us. Vihaan please! I want to be with you!"
I got up with reluctance and scanned the class, who for the most part were already sorted out. 50 points is a lot. Might as well make it worthy--
My head automatically shot down to the second row, where Jiya and two girls had already started discussing. I know exactly how. I moved down the aisle to get closer to her row, until I ended up standing behind her. Her friends caught sight of me, their eyes wide. I quickly put a finger to my lips, silencing their words, and gave a swift signal. They quickly followed my request, grabbing their stuff and moving away.
"Wait-where are you-wait what-Ria?" Jiya blabbered as her friends gave her a wink and bolted off.
Taking my chances over her disorientation, I slid into the seat beside her. "Hey."
"What are you doing here-Wait! You're fled them away right?!"
"Yes ma'am."
"Are you mad!? If you don't have your own group, at least don't ruin mine!"
"Listen here. Sharp mind plus sharp mind equals 50 out of 50 points. You in?"
"N-"
"We're supposed to be friends, remember?"
Jiya
I looked at him, enraged, but he had a valid reason. If we want people to actually believe in our story, we're going to have to act like friends. Doing this project together...he has a point. Plus, he'll actually come in handy to get full credit anyways.
"Fine," I muttered under my breath.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked, obliviously. Such an idiot.
"Fine!" I replied louder.
"Okay sorted. Now I was thinking...," he started, pulling out his notebook.
~~
20 minutes into our collaboration and he - yes I'm admitting - actually had good ideas. By the time our brainstorming was finished, we had a solid plan and good feelings about acing this project.
"Look at them." I heard a murmur from a row down. "Topper and topper decided to take advantage and steal first place again. What a smart move."
I couldn't help but smile at this; not at their jealousy of course, rather at the fact how everyone sees this as a simple alliance between two smart classmates.
Bringing my attention back to the project in front of us, my eyes caught something on the plan. I reached for the pen in front, but so did another hand. Our hands brushed against one another in reach of the pen, feeling like a shock. As my hand jerked back, I hesitantly met his eyes, who were just as surprised as mine.
I quickly retracted my hand away, looking away. "S-sorry, I j-just realized we left out a small d-detail, so I was going to add t-that in."
"Yeah, same, I realized that as well." His unbothered tone made me flush in embarrassment at my own stuttering.
I nodded at him as he nodded back, prolonging the awkward silence between us.
"May I come in, Sir." a familiar voice broke the murmurs in the class. I looked up abruptly, but not before hearing Vihaan mutter, "Prince's entrance activates the girl". Ignoring him, I watched Varun hand in a late-absence slip.
"Varun! We started a project today, everybody got into groups. I'm sure your group will explain the directions. Speaking of your group, let's put you with..."
Professor's eyes scanned the classroom, taking in the number of groups. But then the thought dawned on me - possibly on Vihaan too, who tensed up next to me - that we were the only group of two. Which meant...
"Aha! Why don't you join Vihaan and Jiya? Then all the groups will be evened out, perfect!"
Vihaan glared in frustration, Varun hid his bitter look, and I...gulped in fright.
~~
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