A Bond Of Intellect

Chapter - 10

Riti's holidays were soon coming to an end, and she was sitting with Ruhi and Shivani in the living room on the couch. "Are Adhya and Arun asleep?" Riti asked. Ruhi replied, "Yes, I had to make them sleep forcibly, as they have school tomorrow." Ruhi then asked Riti, "And when do your holidays end?"

Riti replied, "Soon, from next Monday," with a slightly sad expression. Shivani took Riti's hand and said, "It's okay, beta! You can come anytime you want; don't make a sad face." Ruhi nodded in agreement, and Riti tried to control her emotions, knowing she would miss them.

"Ruhi beta, will you make a cup of tea for me?" Shivani asked. Ruhi understood that Shivani wanted to talk to Riti about her relationship with Evan, so she stood up and headed to the kitchen.

Shivani caressed Riti's hand and said, "Beta, you're okay with Evan, right?" Riti looked slightly confused and replied, "O-of course, I am okay," forcing a small smile. Shivani continued, "I know about him; he's a little different from us. You know he's been like this since childhood; he never expresses himself that much. Even when he was small, if he got hurt, he never cried. But I hope he will express himself with you."

Riti nodded, and then Shivani said with a laugh, "And don't be scared of him that much, he's not going to eat you." Riti's face turned bright red as she said embarrassingly, "N-no, I am not."

Shivani teased her, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I know very well; if Evan were sitting here, you wouldn't have even spoken a word from your mouth." Riti became even more embarrassed.

Then shivani's expression turned worried as she said, "I know you won't do anything intentionally, but still, please be careful not to do anything that might make him angry. He doesn't get angry easily, but when he does, it's beyond his control. I don't want you to see him  in that state. I hope that will never happen ."

Riti's mind flashed back to the day he got angry with her for the first time. The memory sent a shiver down her spine, and she felt a surge of fear. She simply nodded her head, acknowledging Shivani's warning.
Shivani patted Riti's shoulder and said, "It's okay, beta. You try to open up with him too, okay?" Just then, Ruhi arrived with the tea.

The day finally arrived when Riti had to return to her usual college life with Evan. Shivani handed her a box of homemade sweets, saying, "Here, take this too. I made it for you. I know you like sweets very much." Riti packed the sweets into her bag, feeling grateful for Shivani's thoughtful gesture.

After finishing their packing, they had breakfast together and left early, beginning their journey back to their routine life.

As Riti walked into college, she sat down next to Kavya. Before their first lecture began, the announcement of their first-semester exams came over the loudspeaker. Riti and Kavya exchanged shocked glances.

"Shit! The exams came too soon!" Kavya exclaimed, covering her forehead with her hand.

Riti whispered to Kavya, "I'm getting really scared. He's already been teaching me at home twice, and now with the exams coming up, he'll make me study all day."

Kavya burst out laughing and teased, "Good for you!"

Riti rolled her eyes and whispered back, "You won't understand."

Just then, their first lecture began, and they both turned their attention to the professor.

As the college day came to a close, Riti returned to their apartment with Evan. Later, as Evan was teaching Riti, he said, "Let me ask you some questions before we move on to the next chapter." He posed five questions, but Riti was only able to answer two correctly.

Evan's expression turned stern. "You know your exams are approaching, and you can't even recall what I taught you previously. How do you expect to remember it during the exam?" Riti looked down, her nervousness palpable.