The Nerd and The Brat ✔️

27. Manik's Girlfriend

Soha scrunched her nose in disgust. "Who the hell spends their time in the library?"

"Your so-called boyfriend. Manik, would you willingly spend your day in the library", asked Nandini, without taking her eyes off the girl.

Before he could reply, Cabir stood beside her and replied while glaring at the girl who tried to trap his precious twin. "My brother would happily spend 48 hours in the library", he told.

"Did you hear him?", asked Nandini and took a threatening step in front of her. "If I notice you asking for credit cards of any other boy in this college, I will see to it, the lesson is stuck inside your head. Understood? Don't you dare come near Manik again", she warned quietly. She waited for a minute for her to escape the canteen before rounding over Manik. "And you?", she started but trailed off on seeing the eyes of every other student on them. Yeah, free drama and free entertainment.

Rolling her eyes, Nandini dragged Manik out of the canteen and to an empty classroom, all the while ignoring his protests. She bolted the door and pushed him lightly on a bench, making him sit down. "How the hell did she become your girlfriend in a day?", asked Nandini.

"She proposed she wanted to be my girlfriend", he told.

"And you accepted it?", asked Nandini, in disbelief. This boy can't be real. "Dude, what do you even understand by 'girlfriend'."

Manik shrugged. "She said she was a girl and she wanted to be my friend. It's simple", he explained.

Nandini crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back on the table in front of him. "So, according to your definition, I am a girl and we are friends. That makes me your girlfriend, right?"

He grinned proudly. "I know you would ask me this. I have thought about it. You are my half girlfriend."

"How?", she asked.

"Remember, you didn't ask me to be my friend. You just suddenly declared one day that we are friends. It's not mutual", he told.

"Yeah, right", she muttered to herself. She was one sentence short of facepalming herself. "Manik, will you be my friend, please?"

"Yes, Nandini", he replied.

She rolled her eyes and slapped his head. "Dude, are you serious? What do you understand by love?"

"Love is.."

"Manik, if you are uttering your stupid Wikipedia nonsense, I will dig your grave right here", she warned.

He gulped before thinking hard. "Do you want me to say the age-old line about the thunder striking and rain and flowers falling down? Let me warn you, it's not very realistic", he said, looking at her skeptically.

"I asked for love. Not a weather report", she said. "Don't you read your romance novels?"

"Those are mushy and make me feel uncomfortable. Also, most of them lack logic", he pointed out.

Nandini shook her head in disbelief. "Malhotra, listen carefully. Love isn't about holding hands, or handing over your credit cards and passwords or buying expensive gifts. It's about protecting each other. Even if you buy the smallest of the gifts, the only thing you expect is to see them happy. It's about staying with each other and standing for each other. Love is never about money, Manik. It's about making them comfortable around you instead of making their life even more difficult", she told.

Love is something that she would never get inside her house and she was not brave enough to find it outside. It is everything she had ever craved for and everything her parents denied.

"Nandini, do you love me?", asked Manik, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What rubbish? Where did you get that from?", she asked.

"You protect me always. You stand for me. Even if I am not entirely comfortable with you, you don't make me uncomfortable. And the chocolates that I give you, I swear, I only wanted to see you happy. They aren't expensive even", he told.

If she would listen to one extra word from his mouth, Nandini was damn sure she would have punched him. To avoid the impending bloodshed, she stormed out of the room.

She was surprised to find Abhimanyu and Cabir pacing outside the room. Nandini grabbed Cabir's collar. "I don't love your brother. Explain it to him." When he nodded scaredly, she stalked off.

XXX

Cabir was still gaping at the direction the head girl went. "When there is an explanation without a question, there's something fishy."

'What if everything is fishy? You know like a bigger fish", asked Abhimanyu.

Cabir stared at him until his words registered in his brain. "Bhai", he screamed.

"Bhai Bhai", said Abhimanyu in the same tone.

They both hugged each other dramatically, excitement written all over their faces. Cabir was the first one to break the hug. "You go behind her and make sure she doesn't kill anyone. I will handle my brother."

Manik was sitting, bouncing his knees and his face hidden behind his hands when Cabir entered the classroom. He put a tentative hand on his brother, startling him. "Bhai, I am sorry about ignoring you."

"Kid, I apologize for Soha. She isn't my.."

"Bhai, I know. I understand", assured Cabir. "But what's up with Nandini?", he asked, taking a seat on the table beside his brother and started swinging his legs as Manik explained his conversation with Nandini.

"Bhai, I have to be frank, I saw you acting differently around Nandini than you are with any of your friends. You are comfortable around her, she protects you and you get sad when she is sad or hurt. I can't say what that is but follow your heart. Follow only if that makes you comfortable, yeah?", he told. He knew he was confusing the boy further but he could rewrite everything and hold Manik's hand forever but he could never interfere in his brother's love life. It was something Manik had to realize himself. That's how he found Navya. Prior to it, when he dated girls to flaunt in front of his friends or because he thought it was cool, every such relationship was a failure.

"Manik, I know you have imagined your ideal life to graduate and help mom in business and hide in your fictional world but love just happens. The person you love becomes one of the most important ones in your life. You can't control it. It doesn't mean you have to replace mom or me. You don't have to come to a conclusion now. Just be free and your heart would tell you when you are in love. Come, let's go to the class."

XXX

Nandini managed to avoid Manik for the rest of the day. When she reached her house, she took a long shower but Manik's question kept on popping in her head. She blamed his perfect logic to explain every argument of his. Suddenly, an idea struck her. She understood what she had to do and went to sleep, feeling satisfied. 

Guess what the idea is. :P