Beyond the Beats

Chapter 23. Jealousy?

Akshay dragged me behind him with full force, but my legs had become jelly. As a result of pulling an all-nighter at Arushi's place, we got late for college and in-turn missed our regular train to reach Sarthak Pawar's studio.

It was unfair that Akshay had long legs, while I was struggling due to my short ones. Akshay entered the studio, and I was on the verge of collapsing, but instead of kissing the floor, I ended up colliding with a guy. I couldn't see who it was as my vision was blurred due to exhaustion.

"You okay, Bhoomi?"

It took me a few minutes to adjust my focus; Akshay helped me to stand properly, and once I was stable, I noticed Kshitij looking at me worriedly while picking up his books.

"Sorry, KD," I said.

"I am not the one you should be worried about." Kshitij laughed.

He picked up all of his books, and my eyes zeroed on a familiar novel in his hands. I asked him to show it to me, and he reacted the same way Arushi had reacted.

"Don't touch with your bare hands, dude. You just came from outside. Get washed first," KD said.

"Why do you have that book, KD? Do you also do book reviews?" I asked.

KD looked at me in confusion. "No, Bhoomi, I don't do reviews, but I love reading them. Why do you ask though?"

The book in his hands was the same book that Arushi was reviewing a few days ago. She had said that the owner was really stingy, so I wondered how KD was able to get the book.

"Actually, my best friend is a book reviewer," I told KD.

His eyes sparked up. "Really? That's great. What's her/his Instagram account? I will check it out."

"Sure."

I showed him Arushi's book review page, and his eyes kept getting bigger.

"I already follow this account, man," KD announced. "I am a huge fan. I didn't know your friend managed this."

I and Akshay glanced at each other, feeling proud for our friend. KD read the latest review by Arushi about the book 'Gone, but not forgotten', and he was highly impressed.

"See, isn't my friend so professional?" I boasted. "But the owner of this book is really stingy."

KD raised an eyebrow at my comment. "Stingy? Why would you say that?"

"Why are you getting angry?" I complained. "Anyways, Arushi said that she had requested several times to borrow that novel for atleast two weeks because she really admired the author, but the owner only gave her three days. How was she supposed to read it and drop a review in such a short time? But still she did. My friend suffered unnecessarily. I haven't met the book's owner, but I think I don't like him/her."

KD didn't say anything as he kept staring at me blankly. Akshay waved his hand in front of Kshitij's face, and he came back to life.

"I wasn't aware you judge people you don't know," KD said to me.

"Excuse me?" I looked at him in confusion.

Kshitij placed the novel in front of him and looked at me plainly. "I am the owner of this novel."

Akshay and I burst out laughing. Seeing KD's face, I realised that he was serious. While Akshay was still laughing, I stopped and asked KD if he was telling the truth.

He nodded, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Why did you take back the book so early?" I accused.

KD sighed. "This novel is my grandmother's. She left this to me to look after it, and I was worried about it's safety. I didn't know that one of my favourite book reviewers had asked for it."