Stubborn Love

Seeds of Bitterness

Sia studied the tree branch hanging above her head. She was sitting on the round concrete table in the canteen lawn with her legs resting on one of the vacant chairs. She leaned back on her palms behind and sighed. It was a beautiful imagery. Hues of diffusing red, yellow, and orange adorned the evening sky.

The usually bustling Tri-junction in front was practically empty. Many students were already at the big ground arranging for the first cultural night of the fest. Some had retired to their hostels after the many challenging technical competitions held during the day. All the girls were at the hostel, busy with pre-makeup rituals before getting ready for the night.

After the excruciatingly demanding series of events, she was done for the day. She had no more energy to slog through any more social engagements that the "fun" night offered. So she sat outside the canteen, all by herself, recharging her batteries.

Because if she returned to the hostel, her friends will fix her up and drag her along by will or force.

Silvi had already called five times. No excuse could convince her best friend on these occasions. Silvi looked forward to dressing up and applying make and hair-dos. The very things that made Sia groan in frustration. She didn't hate all these things. She just felt intensely self-conscious. And no matter what creative arguments Sia laid in her favor, Silvi would dismiss her as weird.

So Sia kept her phone on silent and intended to hang around the institute for a while and finally retire to the hostel after making sure all the girls had left for the event.

Eating a plate of Hakka noodles by herself, Sia recalled the audition and her selection to perform in the third cultural night event. The thought itself unsettled her. Maybe she would make an excuse on that night as well and not show up. The cowardly solution put her at some ease. At least for now.

But nothing could trade-off with the elation she felt at this moment. She had seen a sentiment of respect in her fellow batch mates after so long.

Frequently, for the past month, she was being unapologetically bullied by her immediate seniors. For so many weeks, she had struggled with the image of an attention seeker. An opportunist. A gold digger. Many laughed behind her back. Her class topper remarked that she didn't have to worry about her average grades anymore, as she has secured a promising future of being a trophy wife.

One senior had taken a sudden liking towards her some time ago, for reasons unfathomable to her. And she turned him down for reasons beyond her will...

But the snob didn't take the rejection too well. He and his friends made their top agenda to torment her. The news about the 'Hero' of the college being interested in an ordinary girl like her, spread like fire. And within no time, she earned the title of a gold-digger and a tramp.

Everywhere she went, she felt piercing judgmental eyes boring holes into her skin. Maybe the situation wasn't as bad as she perceived. Maybe it were her own insecurities surfacing. But the taunts in the hostel mess weren't born out of her imagination. Every day, there would a girl, batchmate, or a senior, loosely taunting her about her character!

Moreover, the animosity she saw in his eyes since that day ate her from inside.

And his friends, who probably knew the truth, ragged her at every chance. They wrote her name anonymously on the bulletin boards. 'Sia wants Raghav!' 'Sia craves Suryavanshi' 'Sia is crazy about the Robotics President' 'Third-year wannabe' 'Nympho Sia'. Some of these writings and comments were so disgusting she couldn't even recall without losing her sanity.

Whenever spotted around the commonplaces, they jeered in unison. She would have died of mortification if not for the support of her friends.

'They are all jealous of you, you know!' Silvi often commented. In fact, she fought most of the fights on her behalf against the taunts from other girls.

But the degrading comments took her to the extremes of self-loathing. She had preserved her values and dignity all her life. So much so, she never had never dated anyone. Ever. Forget dating, she shooed off any guy who even casually flirted with her. Only if she hadn't weakened in front of his charming presence...

She was good at sensing their intentions within minutes. But she could not see through him. Or maybe her reverence for him blinded her. She felt weak in the knees every time he passed in a 100-meter radius. She had smiled and even engaged in small talk with him once in the Robotics workshop. She wasn't even from the Electronics Engineering branch, but she accompanied Silvi. She had thoroughly admired the extraordinarily talented senior. But so did everyone else college. It was no big deal. He was unanimously hailed by all sections of students alike.

Every girl out there, single or committed, had a crush on him. Sometimes their boyfriends were a bigger fan. Silvi often gave a detailed and imaginary description of the naked Raghav! 

To Sia, he was an idea. An exceptionally brilliant idea.

But never in her wildest dreams she could imagine he would be remotely interested in her. After all, he was Raghav Suryavanshi. The President of the most reputed technical club and most cherished sports club in the college.

In every year, students and faculties highly respected presidents of the Robotics club. Academic excellence and extraordinary skills in the field were the basis of the selection process. The process was multifold and dreadfully difficult. Even becoming this club's member was challenging for the toppers. But the current President had surpassed all bounds of appreciation from the intellectuals. Even the professors claimed they had never come across a student so proficient in the subject before.

She had heard narratives about him ever since her first day in college. The list of his skills didn't end at academics. He was an excellent football player and virtually worshipped by the sports fraternity. Half the population pressed him to pursue a career in sports. He was the only exception of being President of two clubs of entirely different categories at the same time.

These superhuman capabilities, which once appeared commendable, now only intensified her bitterness by manifolds.

And his blessings didn't seem to end. He apparently belonged to some ultra-wealthy family in Ajmer. Few knew about his exact wealth, but the girls in her hostel narrated crazy gossips about how rich he was. Sia didn't believe most of these Richie rich fantasies. They painted him as some kind of prince. These were probably rumors started by that attention-lover himself. If Bollywood has any grain of truth in its story-telling, aren't all Richie-rich people supposed to study in foreign universities? Yes, it couldn't be true. But the tragic part was, even then, he didn't need that inheritance. He had the highest paying campus placement in hand. From the most sort after company at present.

And to top it all, he looked like an absolute God!

Life is unfair. But it is fair in a way that it's unfair to all. Sia lived by this philosophy. The Gods, however, made an illegal exception for her adversary.

She hated being associated with him. Why? He was too smart, too rich, too handsome, and too charming. His association with her made a mockery of her and her non-existent achievements...