Billboard Lovers

Chapter 4: You Annoy Me

It shouldn't hurt to try, right? Just an experience of something new. How else do people decide what they love to do without trying?

Aashna spent two days doing absolutely no schoolwork. Surfing aimlessly through DOE Entertainment's website, doing background checks on each employee, going through rival agencies' portfolios, and then deleting her search history from the family computer so no one gets ahead of her with this information. She would then glue her eyes to her book only for her mind to dodge back and forth the events of the past week.

Just like the shuttlecock before her.

She was in P.E. class. Soon after Ritu finishes her set, it would be her turn to step into the badminton court.

"Stop zoning out," she tells herself.

The game did not seemed to interest the people around Aashna too as they hounded her with questions.

With so many precarious thoughts, she completely overlooked the gossip-yearning eyes following her for two days to get the maximum of the 'slap scandal' drama. There was, apparently, quite a crowd at the ice cream parlor that day.

Snobby Mayank probably would have thought he had a reputation for maintaining so he must have kept his ego aside and, astonishingly, talked normally.

"It was nothing. He did not introduce himself properly and we thought he was a weirdo," Aashna shrugs, trying to dismiss the conversation.

"Someone said they saw him grab your wrist. That slap was so cool."

"No-no. It was just a misunderstanding. He was not a weirdo."

"So you slapped him just like that? What was he trying to tell you though?"

They seemed to have watched a silent film of the incident. She had to be careful with her explanations as they were bound to reach her mother at Savant High.

There was no way she could have told Mom and Dad the whole truth.

"Ummm he-"

"Hey Aashna," Mayank seemed to be out of breath. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"YES! Yes."

Never had she thought there would be a time when she would be so relieved to see him.

"Are you stupid?"

Aashna was taken aback. So much for doing him a favor and not telling everybody the truth.

Mayank was still huffing. He had run all the way to the sports room.

"Why would you call Vikrant? And you want to work with him? Are you insane?"

"What do you mean?"

"He called me and now I am supposed to take you to my home. Despite all that creepy stuff you want to work with him?"

"Creepy was a misunderstanding. You were the one who said that."

"I never said that!"

Aashna was perplexed. Perhaps he never said the exact words but he did intend that. And why was he angry?

"Why are you angry?"

He rolled his eyes at her question, turning around to ensure nobody was listening to them. They were in the sports storeroom with only a ray of sunlight to light up the space. That too, was obscured by the tall shelves looming over them. The sudden absorption of spatial information made Aashna stuffy and Mayank, almost as if reading her mind, began pushing the switches in an attempt to turn the mini fan on. None of them work. He throws his hands.