Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 13. April and Exams

'These demand supply theories are going to eat my head!', Shrishti growled as she pushed the books in front of her away.

'They are not that tough. I explained to you twice. You still cannot understand. Shall I explain again?', Divya asked patiently.

Shrishti was sitting in the library, studying with Divya, Daljeet and Arpit. Now that holi was over, it was time to buckle down and study. Because by the end of April, they would be sitting for their first year exams. At first, when she started preparing for exams in the library, only Divya came with her. Both of them were diligent and worked hard. Few days later, Daljeet joined them citing that if she did not get good marks, her parents would make her drop all her sports activities. And one day, out of nowhere, Arpit popped up, saying he wanted to do group study but had no friends and the girls wouldn't mind some more company, right? Since then, people were used to seeing the quartet sitting in the library, either solving accounts sums or explaining economics or marketing concepts to each other.

Shrishti shook her head, 'I understood it. But learning it by heart is so tough. How are we supposed to cram so much information in our head?', she whined.

'Don't worry. Just persevere. Second year work load would be lighter.', Divya told her gently, 'And during third year, no one would expect answers verbatim. As long as you explain the concepts in the final year, we will pass.'

'Oh good. I don't think I can handle by hearting things during the final year too. I heard we have project work too that year. It is going to be tough!', Daljeet huffed.

'Stop moaning, ladies! Work hard. March is ending. And then only twenty days will be left before exams. We cannot afford to waste time!', Arpit hissed at them.

Shrishti and Daljeet sighed dramatically before getting back to their books. Arpit looked amused while Divya shook her head at their antics.

'Ayya! Look who is here.', came a comment from a familiar voice and Shrishti grimaced. She shared a look of misery with Divya. Since, all four of them had started to study together, they also started to sit together in the class. For past few days, Sharad's friend Prateek would always come and interrupt them whenever the four of them were together and his favourite target was always Arpit for sitting with girls. As if on cue, Prateek spoke up.

'Arpit! I feel bad for you, man! Your situation is so bad. You are so bad at making friends that you ended up hanging around girls! I pity you, man!'

Shrishti looked up and saw that Sharad and Kabir were missing. Only Ronnie and Prateek were there. She sighed. If Sharad and Kabir had been there, they would have stopped Ronnie and Prateek from harassing them. Kabir may be a calculative guy, but he was better than Ronnie and Prateek. Since the day she gave up on Sharad, Kabir stopped teasing her and left her alone. Infact, normally Kabir never bothered with anyone or bullied them. Even Shrishti was a target in the past because he did not like her chasing after an uncomfortable Sharad. Meanwhile, Prateek had stopped targeting her since Arpit mocked him a while ago and since then, his target had become Arpit. Kabir and Sharad never approved of it and always stopped Prateek but Ronnie was a lackey thorough and thorough and right now, he was smirking at them in a mocking manner and most probably the person who egged Prateek in his bullying.

Shrishti shook her head. Her cousin was an idiot! Arpit meanwhile ignored the idiots. He seemed to have patience of a saint when it came to people taunting him. Come after his friends though and all bets were off! Shrishti was happy to have him as a friend.

'What? No comments? Scared or what?', Prateek hissed. Shrishti wondered where the librarian was. Prateek was speaking at a volume that should have brought the Librarian here to shush them. She noticed Daljeet doing the same. Their eyes met and Shrishti shook her head. The Librarian must have gone somewhere; that is why Prateek had the guts to speak so much and for so long. She looked around. There were few people around them and most of those people were ignoring them while rest were eagerly watching as if hoping for some drama to gossip about later.