Clouded Crossroads

7: Favors and Favors

Jiya

Wind swirled around campus picking up the tiniest pieces of debris on the way. My hair - which I chose to let down today - became a mad havoc.

Yep. Today didn't start off any good.

Moreover, my hands were occupied with notebooks and folders which I - making my second mistake - carried. Almost there! Just around the fountain and up the stairs...NO!

A stronger gust of air flipped open the cover of my folder, making all the untucked papers fly out. My face flushed with embarrassment as I immediately ducked to the ground to pick up everything. Definitely not a good day. All of a sudden, my head jerked up abruptly. The designer sketches were at the very top of the folder! I can't lose them! My hands and eyes worked twice as fast, as I picked up any paper I could see while scanning for the sketches. I could feel passing eyes on me without even looking up. Couldn't they help instead?!

"I think that one's mine." a deep voice spoke from behind. When I turned around, I halted my eyes from widening at the sight of Varun. Quickly sorting through the pages, I handed him what wasn't mine.

"S-sorry." I mentally scolded myself for sounding like such a wimp.

"Hey don't be." His eyebrows scrunched down as if he forgot something. "Oh by the way, I'm--"

"Varun Raichand." As soon as I let out the words, his look turned amused .Third mistake of the day. Quickly shaking my head, I restarted. "I'm--"

"Jiya Agarwal."

Now it was my turn to look up, amused. Before I could reply, a thought sparked my head. MY SKETCHES! Leaving his gaze, I scanned the empty surroundings for the sight of them.

"Ah sorry! Are these possibly yours?" As Varun revealed to me, my sketches, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much! If I lost these--"

"You're into fashion designing?" he questioned, with a hint of disbelief. "Sorry, that sounded a bit...uh, I just, you know..."

His words trailed off seeing me smile. "Was surprised?"

He nodded in agreement. An awkward silence filled the air, as we both ran out of words to say.

"You have any plans to take your designing to the next level? These are darn good!"

"I don't really know..."

Sensing my hesitant tone, he spontaneously responded. "I think you should give it a chance! I'm not saying quit college or anything. Climb small steps. Let the world see these designs first."

His words were encouraging, something I had longed from my mother in this matter.

"I'm no expert at this stuff but...I know someone who can direct you in the right direction."

"Really?"

He took out his phone to show me an image of a beautiful girl, looking really similar to Varun as well. "Laila Raichand. My twin sister."

"What actually?!"

He grinned. "Yep! She's studying arts while working as a freelance model."

"In Delhi?!"

The smile on his face wiped off, before quickly recovering. "Nah. She wanted...to transfer to another university. Anyways, here, I'll give you her contact. If not today, I hope you feel inspired later on."

After exchanging our own numbers as well, I couldn't believe what had just happened. "Varun...thank you. Like really."

"Hey not too fast." He smiled. "Can I ask a favor in return?"

A favor from...me? "Sure!" 

Vihaan

"Chill bhai! He was probably just being a flirt." Jay said, as we made our way to the back.

I sat down in my seat in frustration. "But you know he doesn't do that stuff!"

"That's true." Vicky added in.

"Midterm exams are coming up. What if he's asking her for help?" Rishi suggested.

My eyebrows raised at that assumption. "That's it! He's such a pathetic piece of--"

"Okay class. Settle down. Today we'll pick up from Chapter 13 which is..."

"But we still don't know for sure. They could have talked about anything." Vicky murmured.

There's only one way to find out...

"Excuse me, Sir!" I stood up, making all eyes land on me. "I lost one contact by accident again. Can I move up closer?"

Before even waiting for his mumbled reply of approval, I wandered down the aisle to row 2. Nobody gave any glance of suspicion - they know I never goof off. But this girl is the exception...

"I'm going to get right to the point." I mumbled, stretching back in the seat. Jiya's eyes narrowed in intuition, bringing up her wall of discomfort. Kitni ajeeb hai. Smiling and talking freely with the jerk there, and acting like I'm kidnapping her here. "I need to ask you something."

She remained silent, staring straight ahead. But I caught a glance of her fingers frantically drumming her lap.

How should I ask this? Let's just go for it. "Why were you talking with Varun?"

Emergency alarms blared in my head at the way I blurted out the words. Wrong way of asking! Completely wrong!

In the reflection of her face, all signs of nervousness were replaced with hints of disbelief. Great. Now she probably thinks I'm stalking her. Let's just dig out the answer and get lost from here before she actually thinks I'm going to kidnap her.

"Look. Him and I don't really...get along." I confided truthfully. "I just need to make sure he's not taking advantage of you to get back at me."

The second half is a lie...just a lie. Play along. I tried convincing myself before doubt could creep back up. She finally flipped to the back of her notebook, while clicking her pen.

"Frick the notebook! Just whisper back!" I gritted, impatiently.

She hesitated before muttering. "Why do you care?"

I took a sharp inhale of breath. It's time for Vicky's trick. "Miss. Jiya. Most intelligent, influential, and inspiring girl. Please, will you shower your immense knowledge on me?"

Too sarcastic, she wrote out.

"Please woman, please!"

Too desperate.

How is being desperate a problem?! I rested my head in my arms, accepting defeat. The words of the lecture buzzed throughout the class. "Negotiating the right deals. A popular business tactic."

That's it! "Okay okay! If you tell me what he told you, I'll do anything you want."

That seemed to have done the trick because she finally took a moment to consider. "Anything?"

"Anything."

"He asked me a favor. To help him out in one subject for midterms."

I knew it! "And what did you say...?"

"Yes."

Air knocked out of my lungs, as I started coughing. She looked at me concerned, but humored at the same time. Offering her water bottle, she whispered, "Now it's time to do your part of the deal."

I looked at her, hesitant to face her demand. She opened her mouth to say something, but then decided against it. Her intense concentration was not welcoming as I recalled all of our previous interactions. What's taking her so long?! She finally turned to look at me, a smirk playing at her lips. "You will join Varun and I at our tutoring sessions. First one's tomorrow - 3pm, library. See you there!"

As if on cue, the bell rang, dismissing the class - and I was left there, speechless. Oh sh*t.

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