Beyond the Beats

Chapter 34. On fire

Robotics wasn't alien to me, but I was a noob in it. Before getting into Sarthak's training program, I mainly focused on b-boying, and other styles like Krumping and finger-tutting; Robotics didn't interest me much, so I hardly made efforts to learn it when Ritvik Bhaiyya was teaching us.

Due to this, I was finding it really difficult to come up with a choreography. I had spent the whole yesterday's evening in finding reference videos so that I could just copy and mix-match them to come up with a routine. Unfortunately, the physical application of my plan had turned into a really big challenge.

I was jealous of Akshay, who was already done choreographing his Disco routine and was happily doing his assignments, while I was struggling to complete my own homework while coming up with choreographies in my mind.

My other best friend, Arushi was busy typing like a speed racer on her laptop. The intensity with which she was pushing the keys told me that I shouldn't disturb her. She was in a very bad mood since the morning, and I doubted if KD had anything to do with it.

I had messaged KD about it, but he confessed that he was unaware of why Arushi was mad. He even got worried and told me that he would come to our classroom, but I told him to hold his horses. Fortunately, he agreed to my advice - we had to proceed slowly.

Seeing that I was not going to be of much help to Arushi, I turned my attention back to my notebooks. Mini images of all the Robotics professionals and coaches, whose videos I had watched, kept dancing in front of my eyes, so I closed my books and decided to take a break.

I shut my eyes close and began imagining myself doing a smooth Robotics routine. I ran diffrent simulations in my mind, and after approximately half an hour, I came up with a choreo. I instantly began practicing in my seat and doodled the key poses in the back of my notebook.

Finally, I had a demo to show my mentor. Feeling proud, I announced a break for myself. Since Akshay was busy completing his assignments, and Arushi was exuding a dangerous aura, I left the classroom to see if I could get something to eat. Somehow, I was feeling very hungry since morning.

I had even finished off Arushi's tiffin as I didn't get the time to prepare mine, but I was still getting hunger pangs. I was walking down the hallway, when I noticed the face of the girl whom I liked but preferred to ignore.

I pushed myself further into the wall as I walked, hoping my short height would be of some benefit, but as if she had radars inside her, Mahreen snapped her head in my direction.

"Boomer!"

She waved at me, so I just returned the gesture. I kept walking, but she moved at lightening speed and caught me. I was surprised at the speed she moved, but my doubt was cleared when I saw familiar roller skates on her feet. Soon, Jiya arrived beside her, rolling on her skates like usual.

"Why you keep ignoring me, Boomer?" Mahreen complained.

"She is very sensitive, so be careful with your answers," Jiya adviced me.

"I was just in a rush," I told Mahreen.

She asked me where I was going, and when I told her my destination, she bobbled her head.

"I have got really tasty donuts and waffles straight from my mom's bakery," Mahreen said. "You have to taste them."

Without waiting for my reply, Mahreen pulled me towards the bench where she was sitting with her friends. Jiya followed behind, and Mahreen told me to sit. I obediently sat down when my eyes got the view of really beautiful mouth-watering donuts.

Mahreen pushed a box towards me and told me to eat all I wanted. I felt like a kid enjoying sweets while Mahreen fed me like a mother. I still didn't get why she liked me so much.