ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴇɴ [ᴇɴ- ᴘᴏʟʏ]

Chapter 31

"So these are the limits to Tax Audit eligibility. We just need to remember these. There's no way around" I said while sighing. I loved tax until we came to limits.

Tanmai yawned and tried to keep her eyes open. Tax made her sleepy. These vast amount of rules and number sand procedures and dates were really exhausting.

"Bro wake me up in at lunch break please." She said and almost banged her head on the table, immediately falling asleep. I did not blame her. I was yawning myself.

I was back in my place in college. The first bench near the window. We had been studying for the past 3 hours and solving problems of Business Taxation. As much as I liked Tax, I hated business Taxation with all my heart. And TDS is more than that. There were still 15 minutes left till lunch break. I looked outside my window and my eyes wandered across the small trail in the forest. I wish I could go in there and not come out for a long time. I leaned on the window and closed my eyes to rest. But I was woken up by Zeenat's voice.

"Leah?"

I turned back to see her, Vani, Aditya, and his friend Sourabh sitting together.
"Can you come back for a second?" She asked me.

"Okay." I came out from under the desk to not wake up Tanmai. Sitting in the first bench has its weird perks. I went back to the last bench and sat beside Zeenat facing the last bench. Towards Aditya and his friend.

"What's up?" I asked Zeenat.

"So we were thinking of going to Golconda the day after tomorrow. Will you come with us?" She asked me.

"Us, as in? Who's going?" I asked her.

"Me, Vani, Aditya, Sourabh and Vikrant." She said.

I was quite shocked. Even though Zeenat and Vani were also in our friends' circle, they both had another circle with the boys. Why would she want me to come with them? The boys and I didn't even know each other.

"Broo if it's just you people going, why me in between?" I asked her with curiosity. And I saw Sourabh smile a bit.

"I mean, we wanted to call other girls too but they are not available at the moment. And before you start scolding us for going out right before exams, it's just to refresh our brains. And Adi suggested you could use some of it too." She explained.

Well, I certainly wasn't going to scold them. I no longer held the right to do so. But Aditya asking me to come with them? Why? Definitely not for refreshment. And the fact that Tanmai was I'm the class right at the moment when Zeenat was saying they weren't available.

"I'm not sure Bro. I don't think my parents will allow me. Thanks for calling me though." I said.

"Aww please be can you ask once? You study all the time so they might send you with us." Vani looked at me with puppy eyes. What was with people giving me puppy eyes nowadays?

"Vani I really can't come. Even asking for permission will get me in trouble." I said. Which was true. I had already gotten permission for a science museum on Sunday but I didn't tell them that. And also, I didn't want to go with them. The whole thing seemed weird to me. And even if I went, I'd be tagging along and nothing else. You should never go with someone else's group unless you're prepared for being left out. I learned it the hard way.

"But you guys enjoy yes? Thanks for the invitation again." I said and looked at the four of them.

That topic was dropped and we chatted about how much syllabus is still left and which topics are hard for each of us. The lunch bell rang and I trickled back into my seat after denying their invitation to sit there. On any other day, I might have gone back but Tanmai was with me. And she wasn't as acquainted with the boys as I was.