Spoiled • 18+ • Arranged Marriage Story

Six

THEN:

   Siddarth was 17 and in a party he didn't want to be. Siddharth actually couldn't stop looking at her. She was the prettiest girl in the room. It almost made him glad that he had come to this party with Priya. He felt her smooth gaze at him and she saw the guy beside her whisper something into her ears.

   He looked away. His ears were already warm. Like Priya had said, he had heard about her. Even though his boarding school was in Ooty, her fame had travelled far and wide. She was the jewel of high society. He knew the boys constantly gushed about her MySpace. She was a national tennis player, she was in model UN, and she always winning in everything she took part in.

   He didn't even glance at her MySpace because he knew she was way out her league. She was a Rane and he was just him. She was practically royalty. And there had been bets going around all over his school and other schools. The first boy to publicly claim Sakshi Rane would be very rich and as far as he knew the money was running around 50 lakhs now.

  He had found that whoe idea disgusting but it didn't matter. His voice in high society in didn't matter because he was an orphan. He had to thank his stars if he didn't get bullied a day. He hated the rich snobby boys. They bullied him because he wasn't rich like them.

   After dinner, the crowd dispersed, and he  had lost sights of her in the crush. He looked for her everywhere and had almost given up when the screen had started the count down. But he found someone shift closer to her. It was her.

   His palms sweated and his chest hammered in his chest.  She held her hand. The room, the crowd, the countdown, everything had faded. All that existed was him and her. He wanted to run away in that moment but she turned towards him and he turned towards her.

  And when she kissed him, there were fireworks, literally and figuratively. And when she pulled back, he was dazed. He wondered if he was hallucinating? Had Sakshi Rane realky kissed him? Him? Orphan Siddarth. Loser Siddharth. Penniless Siddharth. He was even contemplating whether he was dead and in heaven.

    And as he looked at her, her eyes were focused past his head. And then his cheek exploded as she slapped him.

    He looked at her and her eyes flashed fear.
"You pervert. How dare you do that?!" She screamed.

   Siddharth felt a thousand eyes on him. All glaring at him and accusing him. He stood stunned as his cheek smarted. He was confused as to why she did this? Was this some sort of a game?

      "Why would you kiss me? You loser!" She spat and she shoved his shoulder and walked past him. He turned to see her and saw an older man grip her arm and pull her away.

    The whispers were defeaning. He wanted to scream. And he found he couldn't say anything. His throat was parched. He wanted to disappear so badly.

     His uncle had thrashed him with his belt within an inch of his life but that was nothing compared to the agony he felt. She had made him feel that he wasn't even worth the dust beneath her shoes and that too after kissing him. Was this a game? A game that rich bored kids played? He was sure it was some sort of other bet that girls like her did just like the boys in his school. He swore revenge on her that night.

And all his thirst of revenge was diluted when he started school. The boys that bullied him patted his back. They had invited him to sit with them. And then when he found a paper bag full of money on the front door of his dorm, he realised what had happened. He had just won the bet.