Candid Romance

I

"Thermodynamics is the study of change of state of substances due to the thermal energy changes.
Area into consideration is known as the system and the universe other than that is surrounding. We consider....", Mrs. Verma , the chemistry lecturer went on and on about thermodynamics. Faith looked at her watch and sighed in disbelief. 5 more minutes she thought, not caring what the lecturer was saying . She lost her a long back,it happened rarely but she was just not in the mood to study today. All she wanted to do was cuddle with her dog Shiro. Shiro was a cute pug she got on her 17th birthday,he still was the best birthday gift ever. Just when she was slowly drifting towards sleep the loud noise of the bell echoed in the room. She thanked her stars, stuffed everything in her bag and ran towards her friend Sonali's class room. She had to wait another 5 minutes before she saw a tall, almost skinny girl exit the classroom and just when her coal black eyes landed on her she smiled.
" Hi! How long did you have to wait? " - her best friend asked.
" Not more than 5minutes" replied Faith.
"Well,that's good. Let's go to the cafeteria am starving."

When they reached their college cafeteria Sonali went to order the food and Faith went and sat at their usual place. Her mood instantly changed to happy when many of their friends high fived her and left. Yeah, Faith and Sonali were pretty well known in the engineering college . Sonali ,because she was filthy rich and Faith because she was the college topper and excelled in almost every field. Almost half of the college was their friend but no one as close as they were with each other . She turned her head to the reception to check what was taking Sonali so long and then she realised that Sonali was walking like a turtle because both of her hand were filled with plates of food.
"Just how long have you been hungry sona?" Faith asked with an amused expression and helped her with a few plates.
"Huh? you find this funny fay? It's not funny , I am a growing woman I need food to survive in a place like this." - She huffed and sat her food on the table and herself on the chair.
Immediately they both dug in their plates,neither of them said any word for another 5 minutes or so .When Faith finished she saw Sonali still eating like a pig. She chuckled at the way Sonali was stuffing her mouth with food as if this was the last day of her life.
"Alright then young lady tell me what's wrong." Faith asked her, suspicion clear in her eyes.
"Twellwuwhat?" Sonali mumbled with her mouth full which made Faith laugh.
"You know I know you since 4th grade.?"
"Yeah?So what?"
"I know when you are nervous or tensed you tend to eat a lot,so stop being such a pig and tell me what's wrong."
"Hmm you're right. My cousin is coming back from Paris." Sonali mumbled roughly swallowing her food.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No not really. Since my grandfather died my brother has been living with my grandma because she wanted him to stay and now he is coming back."
"Uh..so what is wrong with that?" Faith asked scratching her head in confusion.
"You don't know my brother  Faith. He has always been an introvert . I  don't know how is he going to handle Bangalore. Back in Paris he hardly had any friends or went for parties."
"You are over thinking sona he'll be alright." Faith said picking a fry from Sonali's plate.
"Hmm..i guess so..anyways are we still going to your place for that project you promised to help me on?"
"Yeah let's go." Faith smiled and took out the money for food bill.
Sonali swatted her hand.
"What the hell? Why did you even think of that?"
"It's called contribution dumbo." Faith said with a smirk on her face while Sona gave a 'duh-are-you-kidding-me-look.
"You are not paying fay shut the eff up and let it be."
Faith sighed in defeat,arguing with Sona would do no good to her. She is stubborn as hell. Sona was richest in the college but she never rubbed it on anyone's face.
When she was done paying both of them left for the parking place where her black Mercedes Benz was parked.
"OK so I'll stop at my home,  grab a few things and then we'll head towards your place."
"Yeah sure, just hurry up." Faith said.

After about 15 minutes they reached her house which was more like a bungalow. They went inside,  Faith fumbling with her phone behind Sona and suddenly she heard a shrieking sound. When she looked up from the screen she saw Sona hugging a person who was quite tall, around 6 feet,while Sona was 5'4", so he was towering over her.
"Neil you are here!!oh my god I can't believe it , you said your flight was tomorrow." She asked moving aside . Faith could now get a better view of Sona and the tall person who had the brownest eyes she had ever seen. His jet black hair sprawled on his forehead and a bit of stubble on his chin. Sona was grinning ear to ear and so was the tall guy although his smile was a tad bit less than Sona.'weird' thought Faith.
"I missed you too my little piggie" tall guy said chuckling a bit.
"You pig,don't call me that." Sona said smiling.
The tall guy then noticed that he and her little piggie were not alone. When his gaze fell on Faith, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Faith's heartbeat increased and her stomach did a little Summersault. When she saw the tall guy staring at her,she couldn't remove her eyes off him and neither could he.
Just then,Sona realised that she hasn't introduced her best friend to her brother.'how silly of me' she thought.
"Uh..Neil,this is Faith my best friend ,she is of your age and lives just around the corner"-  Sona said still smiling from the sudden encounter with her brother. She sure as hell missed him a lot.
"Hi am Faith "-  She took her hand out for a handshake .Neil looked at her hand and then suddenly went upstairs without a word. Faith felt insulted.
'Such a mannerless guy,just good looks would not make him a good man' she thought.
"Am sorry Faith, this is the way he is, and this is why am scared for him.." - Sona said with sadness in her voice.
"Hey girlie relax it's totally cool. Come on let's go over my place and get this project over with .Its weekend and we have a party to attend." Faith said smiling though she felt insulted on the inside . She didn't want her best friend to feel guilty about it. Although now she understood her bff's worries. After sona grabbed her things they went out towards her car when Faith sensed someone staring at her. She turned towards the house but couldn't see anyone.
'I am probably being delusional,why would anyone stare at a person so ugly like me' she thought to herself and sat inside the car.
'I just hope I never get to see that rude face ever again.' Faith thought scrunching her nose in anger.
"Thinking about him, aren't you?"- Sonali said, noticing the way Faith sat, staring blankly outside the window.
" Its just that... He was rude!"- she replied, tone flat.
"You'll like him when you get to know each other"- Sonali said, smiling.
" Well its better I stay away"- Faith said, munching on a bag of chips.
"What do you think of him?"- she asked, and cut her midsentence - " I know you must find him hot".
And indeed, he was very good looking- when he smiled his eyes crinkled up at the corners, making him look really handsome.
" Good looks don't make a person good"- Faith said, emphasising on 'good'.
"Man, moments like these remind me that you are a year senior to me"- Sonali replied, rolling her eyes on the previously said words.
At that moment Sonali's phone buzzed.
" Take the call"- she told Faith, gesturing towards the phone with her chin as she was driving.

"Hello?"- Faith spoke but the other person gave no response.
" Who is it?- Sonali asked.
"Don't have a clue"- Faith responded but then the person spoke-
" Tell her to come back".
And he disconnected the call. Faith instantly knew who he was, since she'd heard his soft voice only some minutes ago.