The Rules Of Pursuit

12. M4

"How was home?" I gave Mia a tight hug once she stepped inside our hostel room dragging a large suitcase behind her.

"Good!" she smiled a little gloomily. Maybe she was missing her family just like me. The toughest part of living in hostel was waving goodbye to your family, while they wiped their tears, at airport departures or railway stations.

I decided to give her some time to gather herself. Afterall it was our first day back to college. Unlike last time, none of my friends were there in the pick-up that drove me from Dehradun to Auli.

Few seniors, who kept ranting about studies and sports throughout the journey, accompanied me instead. To prevent myself from getting bored to death, I had decided to plug in my headphones and enjoy the afternoon view that fleeted past our car.

Auli looked like a postcard with thick layers of snow covering the ground. The branches of the cone trees too were decorated with the natures white crystals. I wasn't really fond of cold places, but the scenic marvel that Auli turned into, made it worth bearing the chilling weather.

I allowed Mia to freshen up while I resumed my chore of hanging the full-lenghth mirror on the wall, next to the cupboard. The bird chirping ringtone announced that I had received a WhatsApp message. I checked it to find out, I had been added to a group named 'M4' by Mandy.

The group only had four participants. Quite Innovative of Mandy I must admit. The group name was designed taking the initial letters of mine, Mia's and Mandeep's name along with the initial letter of Junaid's surname Muhammed, that was really smart of Mandy!

"Hola Amigos," think of the devil and the devil was here already. Mandy barged into our room, followed by Junaid.

"When did you become a latino?" I grinned. It felt good meeting them after nearly a fortnight.

"How did you like the name?" Mandy winked.

"Not bad." I smiled.

"So ummm Naxi, I was wondering if I should give you my pendrive or will you be emailing it?" Mandy asked solemnly.

"What?" I asked bewildered.

"My assignments!" He replied, "Well the second trimester is going to be pretty rough, and with you overflowing in the cafeteria, I don't think you have the faintest chance of winning the bet. So why don't you be a doll and start doing my assignments from this trimester only."

"Not happening," I gave him a fake smile, "besides who said I am not going to win the bet." I raised an eyebrow.

"Optimism is good, but you my friend, are living in a fool's paradise." He chirped.

"Cut it you two," Mia snapped. "It hadn't been even an hour since we returned and you two are bickering already."

"Who is hungry?" Junaid asked, trying to change the topic.

"Me!" Mia raised her hand and rolled her eyes before storming out of our room.

"What's up with her?" Mandy asked reflecting the same concern I felt.

"Don't know, I thought she was probably missing her family."

Mia was the most sorted in our group. She never really had such a snappy mood.

"I will try speaking to her, don't know whether she will open up though." I assured him.

Once again my stomach did the usual somersault when I spotted Avinash in the cafeteria. Olivia and Danish both came down to ask me how my vacation was, though it was just their excuse to cuddle Brute.