The Great Indian College Romance

3. Little Love Lost

I clicked a couple of pictures for my Instagram story as I made my way to the canteen. With clusters of trees contrasted against a majorly red structure, the campus was fairly beautiful. I strolled into the canteen that seemed unusually busy. The seating area inside was large but it was too dark and noisy. 

I looked up at the displayed menu impressed. They had a wide variety of dishes which was surprising for a student canteen. Our school canteen had barely six items available at any given time. 

I wasn't really hungry so I stood at the chaotic counter to order a cup of coffee, pretty staple. After multiple attempts to grab the attention of the poor guy who manned the counter I managed to ask for coffee and handed him the money. I could only hope the canteen would not be this chaotic at all times. The man on the next counter quickly handed me my coffee in a small paper cup and I decided against sitting in the canteen itself. 

Holding on to the hot cup I sauntered out looking for a quiet place to sit. I saw a couple of plastic chairs under a huge tree at a little distance and decided it would do. 

It was only when I set my bag down on one of the chairs that I noticed someone sitting under the tree. He was obscured from view but I saw the guitar case next to him and recognized the bassist from Red Wagon. I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and initiate a little chat with the only interesting member of the famed band.

As I approached him I noticed he was pretty occupied with scribbling something in his journal. I cleared my throat so as not to catch him off guard and said,

"Hi, you're the bassist from Red Wagon, right? I just saw your performance at orientation. You guys sounded really good up there." 

He stopped writing for a second but didn't look up or make any move to reply. 

"I didn't quite catch your name but I just wanted to say that the parkour you performed, jumping from the stage, back there was pretty cool." I chuckled. 

He finally looked up at me, but instead of smiling or thanking me for my compliment, he scowled. I was taken aback, to say the least. I guess he really did not like interacting with people. 

"Alrighty then, I suppose this conversation is not welcome at all," I said awkwardly. 

"I guess you can take a hint then," he said snarkily and started gathering his things to leave. 

"Wow, you really are an asshole. I thought the whole thing was an act to keep up with the rockstar image. Please don't bother leaving, you were here first. I apologize for encroaching." I said and turned on my heels. 

I walked away as fast as I could, not before grabbing my bag from the chair though. I was so annoyed at the Red Wagon asshole that I didn't even notice half my coffee had splashed out of the cup onto my hand. I groaned in annoyance and quickly sipped the rest of it and threw the cup in a nearby dustbin. 

I was still fuming when I walked into a nearby washroom to wash my sticky hand. The amount of self-importance some people seemed to possess. Does he actually think he is some kind of a celebrity people are dying to talk to? The only reason I had even gone up to him was to accomplish the 'New Meera' plans I had made and he seemed the least full of himself. It's not like I had said something untoward. It was a simple compliment. He could have said 'Thank You' and then politely indicated he was not interested in any company. 

But if the reactions their performance had elicited from the audience were anything to go by then they were all probably spoilt rotten and were used to treating others this way.

"Meera?" 

I was preoccupied enough not to have noticed that Vahni had walked into the washroom. I looked up and smiled at her.