The Wrong Number

34

"Holy crap, " Anu said, as her eyes, much like Alankrita's and the rest of the students', followed Ruhan to his seat, "What do you think happened to him?"

Although Alankrita shrugged and said, "I don't know, he didn't come in the bus today," she knew exactly that that was where a dictionary had struck him. She also knew, that under those long sleeves of his maroon hoodie he masked dark veins where his father's belt had found its mark.

She kept staring at his back as slowly the students filed in to the class room, and wondering what was going through his head.

What she didn't know was Ruhan was thinking of her. Well, not her her- the Crazy Stalker alter ego. He couldn't get her out of his head. It seemed like that conversation of theirs had sealed the deal, that he trusted her more than a friend. Was he actually falling for a person over the phone? No, he was above that.... Right?

His neck pricked, as if he could feel someone staring at him. He turned around to meet the big brown almond shaped eyes of Alankrita, her gaze fixed on him from the back of the class.

'What the hell?'

She was starting at him like he was some kind of bomb, observing him as if she expected him to explode any minute. He hardened his gaze, hoping she would look away. It had worked all those times they'd accidentally made eye contact in the corridors. He didn't know why, but he found her eyes too intense, too full of intelligence, too knowledgeable, and frankly they made shivers run down his back.

Still, her eyes never dropped from his.

'What does she want?'

He furrowed his eyebrows. He felt a little peeved. Surprisingly, she raised both of hers in question.

He narrowed his eyes.
'What?'

She pointed to where he was sitting, and then bobbed her head questioningly. He could ask almost hear what she was thinking.

'So you're sitting in the front today?'

He just nodded sombrely. He didn't want people to turn around and look at him. He guessed it wouldn't matter where he sat-people would still stare, but at least he wouldn't have to see them this way.

She began to bite her lower lip, which was when he realized she did that quite often. This was also when he realized he found it kind of cute, because she seemed to be doing it unknowingly. He felt happy that he'd noticed this little idiosyncrasy, this little detail of her life, now that he was actually paying attention to her. Actually, now that he thought about it, she seemed to be wary of the attention she got, which was a lot with her being the school captain. He mentally added "oddly self-effacing" to the list of things he found surprisingly cute about Alankrita.

"Ruhan, if you wish to talk to Alankrita I prefer you do it after class. Or would you like me to put her right next to you so you two can have an undisturbed conversation?"

Alankrita blushed a brilliant red as a few giggles were heard and buried her face in her biology textbook, which would have seemed sensible except for the fact that they had Chemistry then. Ruhan just sighed and turned around slowly.

"Smitha ma'am, I deeply apologize for interrupting your extremely interesting lecture," he said, his tone borderline theatrical. Smitha ma'am was a tall, lean woman with dark curly hair who had frighteningly short temper. She brought her very sharp eyebrows together at the sight of Ruhan's face.

"How did that happen, Ruhan?"

Ruhan's answer breezed out, like he'd said it a million times. "Ma'am, yesterday I learned not to hit on a girl unless her father is far, far away. Because the consequences," he rubbed his cheek for good measure,"can be quite painful.

Smitha ma'am rolled her eyes as a few chuckles came from around the class. She went back to writing the atomic structures of various elements on the board, and Ruhan turned back around. Alankrita's eyes were back on him, and something about them said that she hadn't believed a word he'd said.

*****