The Rules Of Pursuit

7. Welcome Freshers !

A loud banging and Brute's growl woke me up in the middle of the night. Groggily I opened the door to find one of those senior girls who was throwing Mandy seductive looks in the cafeteria, standing infront of me.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, stifling a yawn.

"Ready for the welcome newbie?" She asked snidely, examining her nails.

"I don't un....." I began.

"Get dressed and come down to the courtyard." The senior girl snubbed "And make sure I don't have to come again, otherwise the consequences will be grim."

"Damn they are going to rag us." Mia groaned once the girl left.

Recollecting the girl's warning, I decided not to offend her and instead accompanied Mia to the courtyard, still in my blue sleeping pajamas and magenta hoodie.

"How can a government-agency-run college allow ragging?" I asked Mia horrified. Brute padded alongside me.

The lush green courtyard was already occupied with a handful of seniors huddled in small groups, with all of my batchmates lined up in the middle. Mia and I went to stand beside a pale Mandy and a terrified Junaid. All of us had at some point of our lives, come across those gruesome ragging stories.

"Hey don't worry, they won't make us do anything brutal." Mandy spoke more to himself.

"Is that yours?" One of the senior boys asked, pointing at Brute. I immediately recognized him. He was one of the boys, I had seen with the Greek demigod outside the cafeteria. The senior boy broke away from the group he was speaking to and walked towards me.

He too was good looking, though not as attractive as the demigod. This new guy was probably as tall as Mandy, with a square jaw and broad shoulders. Heavy lidded grey eyes and a sharp nose adorned his creamy skinned face.

"Ummm yeah..!" I replied timidly, stroking Brute's head.

"What is his name?" The boy asked.

"Brutus, but I call him Brute."

"Hi big guy!" The boy squatted infront of Brutus and my silly lab immediately lapped up his face.

"Brute don't!" I tried to pull him back by his collar.

"Its okay!" The boy chuckled as he stood up and extended his hand "Danish Patel, second year."

"Meenakshi Banerjee, first year." I shyly shook his hand.

"Hey, I am giving this one the free pass." Danish Patel called out to someone standing behind us. For the second time my heart did a somersault when I realized it was the demigod.

"Damn Danny, you and your mutt obsession." The demigod groaned in a deep heavy voice.

"Well," Danny smiled at me, "The free pass entitles you to either save yourself or one of your batchmate from being ragged tonight." I felt a sense of relief knowing that I didn't have to endure the embarrassment like the rest of my batchmates. But then I looked at Junaid. I could see he was on the verge of breaking down from nervousness.

"I will save him." I told Danny.

Junaid was surprised by my gesture. "What..Naxi you don't have to....." he started but I cut him off.

"Pay me back later." I winked.

"That was quite thoughtful Meenakshi." Danish commented.

"Please call me Naxi." I smiled "Besides, I am habituated with being bullied, so I am more capable of bearing this than him."