Alpha's search for his Luna

Chapter : Blind Spots

Priyal POV:

I entered my classroom and quickly sat in my usual seat, with Vyom sitting beside me. The class was buzzing with chatter, and a sheet was being passed around the room for all of us to sign up for the upcoming cultural fest.

"Wasn't there a fest just a few weeks ago?" Vyom asked, surprised, as the sheet landed on our desk.

Prashant, sitting in the row ahead of us, turned around and replied, "This is the cultural fest. A little different from the others."

I noticed the way he smiled at me, the same smile he'd been giving me since our first day here. His crush on me was no secret, but I'd been ignoring him for obvious reasons. I wasn’t interested.

Vyom glanced at the sheet, scanning the long list of events. "You fill it first," he said, passing it to me before turning to Tanmay. "Show me the notes."

"You both missed classes for almost a week straight," Tanmay said, handing over his notebook.

"We were back home in Ladakh," Vyom replied, not missing a beat, and immediately began taking pictures of the notes.

I skimmed the list of events, noticing that there were more than fifty different categories. "It’s compulsory to participate," Prashant added, glancing back at me.

"Alright," I murmured, trying to focus on the sheet. There were options like Mehndi Drawing, Diya Decoration, Pottery, Sculpting Statues—and something called Don da Paperico. I pointed it out to Prashant.

"That’s where you make a dress out of paper," he explained. "It’s a group event."

I could already see why Vyom had dumped this on me. I filled in Diya Decoration and Pottery for him, and for myself, I chose Pottery and Mehndi. I added Anika’s name as my partner before passing the sheet along.

Participating in just two events was compulsory, but I planned to join more once Anika arrived. Group events were always more fun. I smiled at the thought.

"There’s also a couple’s dance," Prashant said, trying to catch my attention again.

"She can’t dance," Vyom responded, not even looking up from his phone, still busy with the notes.

I spotted Anika and Riya walking into the classroom. "You idiot!" Anika yelled across the room. "Where the hell were you?"

Her loud voice made heads turn, and I cringed. It was one of the few things I didn’t like about her—she was just too loud.

"We were in Ladakh," I said, trying to keep my voice low.

"Ladakh, huh?" Riya asked, her eyes fixed on Vyom.

"Yeah," I replied, not really wanting to continue the conversation. Anika snatched the sheet from another classmate and added me to a few group events without even asking.

"Oh, you put me in Mehndi?" she asked, looking confused. "But I’m terrible at drawing Mehndi."

"I’ll do it for you," I assured her. "You’ve got beautiful hands for it."

She smiled at that, looking a bit too proud of my compliment.

"The prizes this year are supposed to be amazing," Prashant chimed in again, turning toward us.