Beyond the Beats

Chapter 12. Doubts

"Bhoomi Devarkar, Kshitij Dogra, Rita Marwadi, Devendra Jayanthan, Kapil Kumar.... all of you will be under Fatima Ma'am's mentorship, while Akshay Nandite, Suhana Pirthani, Tejas Jaiswal, Usha Patil... you guys will work with Rohit Sir."

After announcing the five teams of ten members each, the staff member left.

I felt sad that I was not in the same team as Akshay, but I felt sadder that my luck again ran out on me.

Tejas wasn't on my team!

"Can I go in another team?" I mumbled.

"You not happy working with me?" Kshitij looked at me with sad eyes.

He instantly smiled when I shook my head.

"It's not like that," I said.

"Then why do you look so grim. If you are worried about Fatima ma'am, then chill. She is a really cool lady," KD said.

I listened to him half-heartedly as I wondered when I would get to be with my idol. I wanted to tell him so many things, show him my dance covers, take his input and advice, learn from him; I doubted if that time would ever come.

Throwing my dull mood out of the window, I joined my teammates. Our mentors also arrived, and as soon as they stepped inside the practice room, the air changed.

Fatima ma'am and Rohit sir both exuded strong competitive auras. Fatima ma'am called for her team and her introduction was short and straight to the point.

"No arguments, no gossiping, and most importantly, no slacking."

KD was made the team leader, while one of our team members, Chaitali, was given the task of keeping a track of our schedules. Since it was the start, Fatima ma'am was going to work on each of us individually. After that, the songs for group choreography were shortlisted.

She took us to another practice room; we had room number 5, while Akshay was in room number 8.

Even though KD was there with his jolly and lively personality, I still wondered how Akshay felt to be with both Tejas and Suhana.

My curiosity took the best of me, so I lied about going to the washroom. After getting excused, I walked like a snail as I went past the room where my 'lucky' friend was mingling with Tejas and others.

I glanced here and there and watched from outside of the glass window. My eyes twitched in jealousy as Tejas and Akshay were having a happy time together. Both of them looked comfortable with each other.

I kept admiring TJ, but whenever my gaze landed on Akki, I wanted to throw him out and take his place.

As expected, Akki noticed me staring at him like a ghost, and he came towards me. He knocked on the window, but I rolled my eyes.

Why was this idiot on TJ's team?

Seeing that I wasn't responding to him, Akshay unlocked the door and stood beside me.

"Oye, Boom Boom Boomer, what's with the attitude?" Akki asked.

I gave him a stinky side-eye. He kept calling me names, but when I didn't respond at all, he grabbed my head in a headlock.

"Don't you have a mouth?" Akki slapped my lips. "Don't know how to speak? Wait, I know very well how to make you talk in seconds."

My eyes widened as Akshay grabbed my waist with one hand and lifted me up. I was going to see the stars but Tejas appeared from behind Akshay.

"What's keeping you busy here?" Tejas asked Akshay as he kept his hand on my friend's shoulder.

Akshay let me down but pushed me as he was annoyed by my lack of response. I instantly looked in the glass window and brushed my hair.