Aarav Banerjee is a mystery wrapped in silence. He speaks only when necessary, yet when he does, everyone listens. He's not popular, but everyone knows him. He's just joined junior college, though not very thrilled about it. He's not quiet, just car...
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Our orientation with the board committee starts at 1 pm and it's currently 12:47. We had agreed to meet at 12 so that we could rehearse one hour prior. But Aastha being Aastha, refused and convinced me that it wasn't needed.
But we were still expected to reach 30 minutes prior, at least. And she's late. She's never late. Was she really serious yesterday when she said she wouldn't show up?
I know for sure that she isn't that petty. We've been working on this for months and it's worth half our grade.
12:53 12:54 12:55 12:56 12:57
The minutes pass on quickly.
I've called her a million times, sent her thousands of text but there's no response. She's either mad at me or she overslept.
"This isn't funny, Aastha. We're presenting second, right after Tanmay and Khushi" I sent her another voice message.
Tanmay jogs towards me "We'll try to drag it as long as we can. I'm sure she'll be here to then. The teachers said that if she doesn't come, she won't get marks and you'll have to give the orientation yourself".
"Shit. Thanks man. All the best"
He nods and runs towards Khushi. He kisses her hand and tells her to not be nervous.
We're supposed to present our projects to a committee of 25-30 members from International Ivy league universities and other five from the central board of India.
My only option is to call Poonam aunty, Aastha's mom.
"The number you're trying to reach is currently switched off, please try again la-"
That was the only hope I had left. I rehearsed the introduction Aastha was supposed to give.
Tanmay and Khushi step out, looking grim
"We tried to drag it but they practically pushed us out the second we crossed the time limit" Khushi says
"It's okay. Thank you guys. Wish me luck"
I entered the hall and I could immediately feel the weight of a dozen eyes on me as I stood at the front of the conference room, my fingers gripping the edge of the podium like a lifeline.
