A Desire to Win Her | Ongoing

Chapter 29

As mid-semester approached, the students of the Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) branch eagerly awaited the announcement of their results. However, this time, the process faced an unexpected delay. Unbeknownst to the students, the professors had been attending an intensive training session aimed at enhancing their teaching methodologies and intellectual knowledge which delayed the process of answer sheet checking. Due to the rigorous training schedule, the compilation and posting of the mid-semester results were pushed back.

Finally, after the prolonged wait, the much-anticipated day arrived. The notice board outside the ECE department was adorned with neatly printed sheets containing the mid-semester results. Students hurried to the notice board, their hearts pounding with anticipation.

"Shit.....how will I face my parents? I got my first backlog already," Susmit, a classmate of Arvika murmured to himself and started checking the result of his best friend, Aditya, who was currently snoring like a pig inside the premises of his hostel dorm. A selfish desire stirred within Susmit's heart. He found himself wishing, almost spitefully, that his best friend would also face a setback, just to share a sense of solidarity in their shared struggle.

"Marenge to saath marenge, backlog lagenge to saath lagenge" : This was the most momentous rule of the best friends inside the four-walls of every boys hostel incubated in the realm of an engineering institute unlike the girls hostel.

("If you die, even I will die; if there is a backlog, we will have a backlog together")

"Yayyy, even he had a backlog. Chalo ab dil ko tasalli mili," Susmit whispered to himself and turned away towards his hostel room, ready to share the ecstatic news of having a 'Hum-saath-saatb-hain-backlog' to his best friend.

(Well now my heart is at peace)

(We-are-together-in-this-shit-Backlog)

Arvika chuckled at her classmate's behavior and moved forward to check her marks when she noticed how Vinay was almost fastened to the notice board as if he was a part of the board.

Was he trying to kiss the notice board too? A funny thought clouded her mind and she chuckled again at the stupidity of it. Unlike the rest of the students who were unnerving for the results of their Toofani-stunt-of-studying-one-night-before-the-exam, she was pretty composed and unwound meanwhile her best friend Kavya was inside her dorm, praying to Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of Knowledge, for above average marks and no backlogs.

A lot of students were crowded near the notice board until the CR arrived. CR: The Class Representative, who handles everything inside a classroom, from organizing Mass-bunk to coaxing the professors for a short lecture, they manage everything.

Chandrika was the CR of ECE, First year and she was another admirer of Dev. His charm and charisma captured her attention so much that she couldn't help but develop a significant crush on him. And that was why she contested the elections for being the CR because being a CR brought a lot of fame and attention and she knew this could be a stepping-stone towards developing a friendship with the student President, that is, Mr. Dev.

"Excuse me guys. Let me take a picture of our marks. I will post it in our group chat. It is wasteful to jam-pack here and I can....uff my foot...." Chandrika almost shrieked when Vinay clumsily put his foot on her foot. She pushed him away using her elbow and gritted menacingly, "Look where your feet are placed, you dimwitted scoundrel".

"Sorry, sorry....I didn't mean to," Vinay whispered beseechingly and moved back when he again bumped into Arvika. "Easy Vinay," Arvika held his shoulders and steadied him. She suspected that he was in a plight so didn't say anything harsher. His body language was quite petrified and delicate today. After mumbling a small thanks, he stood far behind from the class CR as well as Arvika.