𝐓𝐔𝐌 𝐊𝐘𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩

chapter three

the girl who didn't care

𐙚˙⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩

5 years ago

It wasn't unknown that Dhruv Khanna was a genius child. Neither was it a secret that Anjali Maane was a smart girl. Yet, reputation had a chance to differentiate between the two of them. 

Dhruv Khanna was an unknown name, until the session of 7th grade, when he suddenly rose to fame like an overnight internet sensation. Charm, sociability, articulacy- these things came to Dhruv like thunder during rain. That's what everyone thought. That it was effortless for him.

In the matter of a year, he became well known for his skills in basketball, he grew taller than most of his peers at the time, he joined the school band as a drummer, and was an ace in academics. Nobody questioned how he did it so quickly, so he continued with it. It was easy for Dhruv to grab attention away from the whys and whens, and towards him.

He'd become popular, and he loved every second of it. He was friends with everyone, except for one girl. A girl that seemed so aloof, that even he didn't have the nerve to talk to her. She would sit on her own, in the corner of the class, reading some book while having lunch alone. The shuffling of classes had never lead him to be in the same class as hers, but he knew her. Falling second to her was what he'd seen a plenty of times for him to not recognise her.

He was warned not to talk to her. There were rumours of her being a psychopath because of her quick pace, her inhuman ability to answer questions, and her utmost disability to see anything but studying as fun. Of course most of the things had been exaggerated, seventh graders were good and quick at making stories. But it was ultimately concluded that Anjali Maane was a genius buzzkill who couldn't give two shits about competition. 

She herself was her only competition. 

The newfound popularity didn't take long to get to Dhruv's heart. His mind told him it wasn't wise to be troubling a girl who visibly wanted to be left alone. Yet his heart was stubborn. He somewhat thought that if he spoke to her, she might open up. And he couldn't bare even one person not reacting to his jokes when the whole class was laughing. 

He joked, he ran around like a monkey, he even stayed silent a whole day. Everybody but her noticed. He realised that nothing but academics mattered to her.

So he decided to use that as a way to catch her eyes.

As he watched her reading her book in lunch break as usual, he left the huge group surrounding him, and sat silently on his seat, pulling out a book as he ate every bite in anticipation. He glanced at her once, and she looked at him as if he was from a different planet. 

But it only lasted a few minutes. She didn't bother garnering any more attention away from her precious book. So he went another mile. As he watched her submit her name for the Head Monitor, he ran right behind her, submitting his name on a small untidy chit of paper. 

He'd watched her turn to look at him and scowl, but that too was only momentary. However, a week later, at the Investiture's ceremony, when she sat in the audience, watching him get the Junior Council badge, she did not let her gaze waver from him. 

She had hated him since then. She'd never been antagonised this way, nobody had even dared to come in her way. She found it weird how a boy who showed up out of nowhere had decided to become better than her.