Clouded Crossroads

6: Something Big Indeed

Jiya

College is making me feel...disoriented. Weeks have been flying by, but I still don't feel like I belong. Of course, Ria and her friends have been great company, making me seem at least normal for a change. But on the other hand, there's Vihaan. Academic competition has sizzled between us, seeming like I have this new spotlight in class. When scores for quizzes or tests are announced, we practically tie or miss by a nick of a mark. Speaking of the self-obsessed brat, here he comes.

I looked at him and his group, as they joked and shoved at each other, while coming up the stairs. I quickly reverted in the opposite direction.

~~

"Watch it!" he grouched. I failed to avoid him today, as we ran into each other at the intersection of the hallways.

"For your kind information, you're the one who shoved into me."

"Aww did I hurt your feelings?"

"Just s-shut up."

"Woah, feisty are we today?"

I stormed off.

~~

"Party at Vicky's today! Be there at 8!" he announced to the whole canteen, while standing on a bench. As everyone around me squealed in excitement and dispersed, he briefly stopped in front of me.

"Of course, make sure to ask your mother for permission, Ms. Jiya Agarwal."

Usually, I would just grumble weak words to back off, but this time I couldn't. "What's wrong with asking parents for permission? Wouldn't your own mother and father be concerned for you? Besides, I'm not interested in your stupid parties one bit," I brushed past him, but not before seeing a bitter look on his face.

~~

"Khatri, Khatri! Khatri, Khatri!"

"Varun, Varun! Varun, Varun!"

After being forced by Ria to attend some football captaincy nomination show, I watched from the bleachers as the two boys came face to face.

"Captaincy for the boy's varsity football season has come down to two boys!!" the voice of a commentator rang in the atmosphere. "On one side we have VARUN RAICHAND! Ranked 2nd on the overall performance roster for varsity boys!! Ladies and gentleman, let's give him a round of applause!!!"

Echoes of cheers and encouragement rose in the air, as the so-called Varun waved at the audience. He flashed such a smile that the atmosphere seemed to grow brighter. Although his face reflected a competitive spirit, it was at a peaceful ease. His eyes had a warm aura as they scanned all the people standing up. I watched as his gaze grew nearer and nearer -- until they landed on me. Something inside of me skipped a beat at this unusual attention. For a moment, his look turned thoughtful before finally moving on. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath, until he looked away and took a step back.

"And on the other hand...we have...VIHAAN KHATRI!" The voice took a pause to let the sudden uproar calm back down. My eyes roamed back to Varun who had a neutral expression, perhaps not taking the popularity too seriously. "Ranked a whopping 1ST on the overall performance roster for varsity boys - ladies and gentlemen, let's give him a hand!!!"

The loud outburst once again filled the air. I forced myself to look somewhere else, anywhere except: directly at him. But I guess my eyes had a mind of their own. Somehow, when I looked at him, that was the exact moment destiny chose to make his own eyes land on me. He raised an eyebrow and I slightly shook my head in disapproval. He chuckled and winked in response, causing me to choke on...nothing? Even though he had moved on, he had left a chaos behind him. The girls around me broke into scrambled debates, each claiming that she was the lucky girl he had winked at. Is a motion with one eye really that big of a deal?! But even with this thought, I had to calm my unsteady breaths.

I watched the rest of the assembly come to a conclusion. But before I could exit the stadium, my eyes deceived me once more by glancing down at the field. The sight of what I saw immediately pulled me in - I was strangely intrigued. Vihaan and Varun were locked in a deadly eye stare. But this didn't seem like friendly sports competition, rather some enmity way beyond that.

Vihaan

The next few days passed painfully slowly. The captaincy selection was still a long way to go, meaning I had to be on my best behavior AND be better than Varun academically. He's never competition anyway.

"I feel time is going by uselessly, yaar. Like nothing seems interesting or lively." Rishi groaned, as we strided through campus.

"Just two more years, bhai! Then we can wear some business suits and make classy entrances to work EVERYDAY!" Vicky fantasized.

"For that, you'll need to get decent marks NOW!"

"Arey what are you talking about. My grades are as high as -- OH CRAP!" We paused as Vicky scrambled to search through his bag. He had a sheepish look as he turned to me. "My most influential, intelligent, and intellectual friend Vihaan--"

"What do you want?" I cut the nonsense.

"Um, w-well you see here, uh, I um--"

"No." My reply was short and clear.

"Please I forgot just this one assignment!" He fell on the ground. "Please Vihaan. Please. Please."

"Nope."

"You can sleep on the better bed in my room for the rest of the year! Please please please, just this one assignment. I'll never ask again. I swear on Jay."

"DON'T SWEAR ON ME." Jay hollered. After getting more beneficial bribes, I finally agreed to give him the answers to the assignment he forgot. As I recited words to the rapidly-writing Vicky, my mind went back to the words Rishi said earlier. Believe it or not, these past few weeks have felt useless. Days just seemed to fly. If only something big could happen...

And that's when I saw them.

Varun and Miss. Smarty Pants were engaged in a conversation near the fountain. Smiling, talking, exchanging some crap papers. And my eyes still couldn't leave the scene when he inched closer to her, showing off something on his phone... 

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