Reckless Rival : An Indian college romance

Chapter 21

Rana looked at his phone for the umpteenth time that morning. Still no response. He had messaged Nami the night before about attending the Holi event together, but she had not responded.

"What's happening, dude?" Ved asked.

"Nothing much." Rana shrugged, his focus on his phone.

"You've been staring at your phone all morning. Your girl ghosting you?" He chuckled.

Something like it. But why? What changed?

"I was just checking the time, so we make it to the event on time. Where's Abhi?" Rana tried to steer the topic away from Namrata.

"Big brother has been missing in action the past couple of days. He is with his girl. And you?" Ved laughed.

He shrugged. "I need to get in some practice."

"With your girl?" he teased and added, "If only she knew you had deleted the video a long time back."

Rana scoffed but did not say anything. It was never his intention to let the video go viral, but he needed that as he dealt with his pent-up anger. The hatred and anger he had learned to suppress was out of control when he found out who she was, but it didn't last for long.

Something shifted in him when he found out she had trashed the guy's car for her roommate. A girl he had known less than a couple of weeks, and she was willing to put up with every one of his whims. He wasn't proud of his behavior, but the fire he saw in her eyes and the poise with which she dealt with his antics, his anger was defeated by her fighting spirit.

Whatever happened between their fathers, how was any of it her fault? He needed the fire he saw in her eyes to burn his own demons he had fostered for years. And for him, he felt alive when he was with her, distracted by the spark in her eyes from time to time, but he was ultimately enamored by her golden heart and that evil mind of hers.

"Why are you smiling like a fool?" Ved taunted, pulling Rana out of his thoughts.

"Nothing. I got to go." He had to see her. If he had to comb the campus for her, he was ready to do so.

As he made his way out of their housing unit, he texted Nami's cousin. No response from her either. It was not a complete surprise that he didn't hear back from her cousin, considering everyone was at the Holi event. But something about Namrata not replying scraped his insides.

Although it would be like finding a needle in a haystack at the Holi event with everyone covered in color, he decided to take a chance and look for her there. Just as he was about to go to the event, his phone beeped a notification. It was her cousin.

Ramya: Nami is at home. Catching up on some sleep.

Relief swept over him, and he rode his bike toward her housing unit. Was she not feeling well that she was sleeping? Even if he could not talk to her, he wanted to catch a glimpse of her.

When he got to her place, he parked his bike to one side, and instead of walking to the main door, he walked over to the side. He knew her room had a balcony and hoped to climb up to see her.

Rana slowly walked around the unit, his eyes looking for ways to climb up the balcony when he sensed movement at the upper level. No one was supposed to be there except for her.

A moment later, the person he was dying to see stepped into his view, looking out into the open space. She was looking away from him, but he could tell something was bothering her, and that suffocated him. Whatever it was that was, he wanted to make it go away.

"Namrata," he called out, but it came out as a whisper, making him wonder if she heard him.

A moment later, her back stiffened, and she slowly turned in his direction. He looked up into her eye,s and the moment he met her gaze, she let out a sob as if she had no control over her emotion. She looked at him and a moment later, he saw tears rolling down her cheeks.