Reckless Rival : An Indian college romance

Chapter 19

Nami was in the library when she saw Vasavi rush toward her trying hard not to disturb the students in the quiet zone. "Did you see the newsletter?"

Now what?

There was a time when every update included something about her and the rival but not in recent times. "I haven't. Why?"

"Rana nailed it at the boxing championships. National Champion." Vasavi held her phone up to her to show a picture of him in the ring, holding the championship belt.

Her heart jumped with joy at the mere sight of his image. She had barely seen him after the masquerade ball. Even when she went to the boxing arena, he was always in a practice match or in a meeting with the coaches. She had fallen out of the habit of taking him his protein shake, and he didn't demand she show up either. It was for the best, however something felt off, but she ignored it completely.

She smiled at the picture of him. "He's worked super hard the past few weeks."

"Why didn't you go to the championship? You are on the team, right?" Vasavi nudged.

Taken aback by the question and the possibility of being with him did something strange to her chest. She managed to push away the raging emotions. "No... I have ongoing project work, and he needs to focus on the match."

Vasavi giggled. "This is true. He does get distracted around you."

"Very funny." She still could not stop thinking about him. Attempting to shift her mind from her rival, she asked, "What are you doing for lunch?"

"No plans." Vasavi raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind? Pretty sure you have plans for tonight since Rana is back on campus."

Nami shut her computer down and winked. "Let's go check out this new shack by the beach just outside the campus."

"Yes, I heard about that new place too." Vasavi was excited.

"Let's check with Ramya too." Nami was already calling her, but there was no response. "Where is she?"

Vasavi shrugged. "I didn't see her all day yesterday and the day before. She said she had a workshop to attend."

It was rare that Ramya didn't respond to her call. Even if she couldn't talk, she would text back. She pulled up the location app, checked for her cousin's location, and saw that she was at the housing unit.

She felt a strange nag as she called Ramya back and got no response. "Let's go to the housing unit and take her with us. She has been spending way too much time in her room in the name of that online workshop."

"Yes, let's go. It feels like ages since the three of us hung out." Nami gathered her things and followed Vasavi out of the large building.

Ramya had started an all-day online workshop a few weeks ago, and since she was waking up earlier in the day, she was already in bed by the time Nami returned to the housing unit.

A short while later, she went up to Ramya's room with Vasavi right behind her. "What if she is sleeping?" Nami asked after knocking on the door a few times.

"I think we should use the master key and open it." Vasavi giggled.

Nami shook her head. "What if the guy she is dating is in there? Don't want to scare him."

"It's fine." Vasavi winked and knocked a bit louder on the door before reaching for the master key from one of the shelves. Her roomie was laughing, but Nami heard something, and a chill passed through her spine. It was a sob, and she swore it came from inside Ramya's room.

Nami was shaken as Vasavi fumbled with the key to open the door. She pushed it open and stepped into her cousin's room. "Ramya, what's wrong?" Her stomach dropped when she saw the condition her cousin was in.