My Ex - Crush

Episode 47

Deepika's POV:

“The external is straight from hell!” Meera groaned, her frustration mirroring the exhaustion that was gnawing at me.

“I mean, how could he reject my honeycomb design? Even Kiran Sir said it would work!” Joshitha threw her hands up in disbelief, clearly upset.

“The concept is solid, Joshitha,” I said, trying to soothe her. “You just need to tweak the practical aspects a bit. Think about the furniture placement, the blackboard, and the students' line of sight in a hexagonal classroom—”

Before I could finish, Rahul sauntered over with that irritating smirk plastered across his face. Just the sight of him made my headache worse. He had a knack for showing up exactly when I didn't need him.

“Still stuck in your outdated ideas, Deepika?” he sneered, cutting me off. “Blackboards? Really? How ancient can you get?”

I clenched my fists, biting back my frustration as Meera shot me a sympathetic glance. I was already in a rotten mood, and Rahul’s condescending tone was the last thing I needed.

“Future classrooms won’t even have blackboards,” Rahul continued, mocking my suggestion. “Students will have their own screens, interactive digital boards, the works! And here you are, acting like the 90s never ended.”

I couldn’t hold back any longer. My voice was sharp and cold. “Oh, I’m sorry, Rahul. I forgot you’re the self-proclaimed Einstein of our class. But in your grand vision of the future, don’t you think students might not even need classrooms? Maybe they’ll just be holograms, beaming in from their homes. Your precious rhombus-shaped classrooms might be perfect—for invisible, imaginary students!”

I could see Lavanya’s mouth open in shock as Meera stifled a giggle at my comeback. But Rahul’s face turned red with anger, his eyes narrowing at me.

“Wow, Deepika,” he said, stepping closer, his voice dripping with contempt. “You think sarcasm makes you clever? At least I’m not stuck designing uninspired boxes like you.”

I felt something twist in my chest, his words hitting harder than I expected. But I wasn’t going to let him see me flinch. “I’d rather design something practical and thought-out than slap random shapes together just to call it ‘innovative.’ Your rhombus classrooms look more like traps than learning spaces. Let’s put students in your rhombus rooms—sharp corners everywhere, right? We’ll call it ' Squid game: Classroom Edition’!”

Meera tried to stifle her laughter, while Joshitha stood there, torn and helpless, glancing back and forth between Rahul and me, unsure whose side to take.

Rahul’s smirk disappeared, replaced by a sneer as he took another step forward. “You know what your problem is, Deepika? You think you’re smarter than everyone else. Always acting like you’re above us. But all you do is hide behind your so-called intellect because you’re too scared to admit you’re average.”

“Average?” I shot back, my voice shaking with both anger and hurt. “I don’t need to prove anything to you! At least I don’t have to inflate my ego by tearing others down.”

“Oh, please,” Rahul said, his voice louder now, almost a shout. “The only reason anyone listens to you is because you act like the know-it-all.”

“Stop it, Rahul!” Meera said, her voice desperate, as Lavanya tugged at my arm, trying to pull me back. But I was too far gone, my emotions spiraling out of control.

I was about to turn away, my whole body trembling, when Rahul delivered the final blow. “You know what, TRP Sir was right about you,” he said, his words slicing through me like a knife. “Girls like you, from those small towns, always think they can fake their way to the top. Did you plagiarize that essay too, Deepika?”