Reckless Rival : An Indian college romance

Chapter 18

The evening of the Simha event arrived before she even realized it. She had absolutely no enthusiasm or interest to go. She had gone through a million ways to get out of going to the masquerade ball with him. An event she had dreamed of going to, she was now trying to get out of because of her rival. She didn't want her memory of the traditional Simha ball to be with him.

She sat on her bed staring at the dress hanging in her closet, the one Ramya hand-picked for her. One that somewhat matched her rival's outfit for the night. If she claimed to be sick, he would have no date to dance with. Not really!

There would be girls lining up to dance with him, and she couldn't let him rub that in, not after the entire campus saw their pictures from the night of the crazy couples' party. There were a gazillion pictures posted live, but the ones that got the most responses were the picture of her holding a pair of men's underwear that she bought for him and another one where he was walking out of the ocean carrying her in his arms.

He was right, she didn't need to act anymore to prove to be his girlfriend, and she was expected to be there to dance with him. Campus social etiquette.

With that thought, she knew she had no way around the situation, and the easiest thing to do was not to fight it. It wasn't too bad being around him. She had gotten used to it and knew how to deal with his mockery and arrogance. She knew the boxing championships were nearing, and he would be focusing on training and traveling for tournaments—one of the reasons why she saw very little of him from the time they attended the party together. The other may have been a result of conveying to him how much she hated him. Either way, she had a lot of time now to focus on her work, so it was almost like she was off the hook with that stupid deal of his.

She would definitely be pushing her luck if she didn't show up at the dance, so she let out a sigh to get dressed and show up as the excited girlfriend—a fake one.

"Nami, let's get you dressed," Ramya pushed open the door with Vasavi on her tail.

"Already? The event doesn't start for another three hours."

The girls gasped in unison. "Are you kidding me?" Ramya chided. "You and Rana are the hottest couple on campus, and all eyes will be on you two."

She cringed at the thought. "This is too much pressure. Why would anyone care?"

Vasavi took a step closer. "All those girls who want to be with Rana will dress up to outshine you. We can't let that happen."

She rolled her eyes. "That's a bit too dramatic. Let them dress up, it's not like they are just for him."

Vasavi and Ramya exchanged looks. "These two are so cool. She will never get jealous." Her cousin laughed.

Why would I ever get jealous? That's just silly even if I were his real girlfriend.

"Can I get to work on her hair and makeup first?" Vasavi asked, and Ramya nodded.

"Yes, take care of that, and then I will style the dress with the mask." Ramya clasped her hands and swooned. "I'm so excited for your special night."

"Girls. Chill." Nami shook her head. "Don't make it sound like I'm the only one going. You guys should get dressed too."

"You don't get it." Vasavi narrowed her eyes. "You are going with a Simha. Do you know how many girls are willing to kill for your place?"

Nami slapped her palm to her forehead. "I'm sure there is a life threat on me."

The girls pushed her onto one of the chairs and started working on her. For how meticulously and methodically they worked on her, she wanted to tell them it was all a waste, but she remained silent. It was water under the bridge at that point.