Beautiful Infatuation

Chapter 9

The next day:

"Bhai, I had a request." Ananya asked her brother as they sat at the dining table having breakfast before she left for the college.

"What is it?" He asked as he had the toast.

"There is this new EVS project where we have to make a working model. It has to be done in pairs. And, I don't have any partner." She started.

"Ask someone then. What can I do about it?" He said with a frown.

"I want to do the project with Sneha." Ananya completed.

His hand froze as he heard the name that has been adamant to not leave his mind throughout the night. His attention piqued and he met his sister's eyes finally.

"Sneha?" He asked to confirm if he heard correctly.

"Yes. This way, I can get to know her and maybe become friends." She explained.

Viraj thought over this for a while. He liked the idea. It would give him another excuse to spend time with her... to see her more often. Because, he knew that after the Sunday lunch, she wouldn't come anywhere close to him voluntarily. And, he wondered why it affected him so much.

"Okay. I will talk to the professor. Tell me his name and I will get his contact number from the dean." He said.

"Thank you, bhai. You are the best!" Ananya chirruped with a smile.

"But, there is a condition." He added immediately.

"What?"

"The project will be done at our house." He said leaving no place for any argument.

.

.

Sneha was almost sleeping by the time the EVS lecture, also the last lecture of the day started. She had her head on the desk with her eyes closed. Jyoti was absent today and she was getting terribly bored. To add to it, a boy whose name she didn't know was sitting next to her. So, she preferred to rest a little while hiding herself from the professor.

"That's it for today, class. Now, I have an important announcement to make. About the project, I will choose the partners and the topics as well. I am putting the list on the notice board. Make sure you see the list before you leave for home. Also, you need to submit the project after 15 days. No late submissions will be entertained." The professor announced.

"But sir, we already started working on the project!" A girl sitting at the front desk complained.

The professor hesitated before replying.

"It was the HOD's (head of the department) decision to make pairs instead of allowing students to choose their partners. In this way, you will interact with new classmates, especially when it is an optional subject." He explained.

Sneha nodded in understanding. It made sense to her. After all, everyone partnered with their friends, and the ones who had no friends were always left behind. It was unfair for them.

She picked up her bag to leave the class when the teacher had left. She saw a boy take a photo of the list from the notice board and share it on the college group chat. In this way, everyone can see their partner's name without any hassle. Since she didn't have a phone, especially a smartphone, she had to go to the notice board herself.

Putting her finger on the list, she tried to find her enrollment number to quickly locate her name.

(36) G45: Sneha Bohra - H25: Ananya Khatri; Topic: Global warming