*Kalyan Pov*
"Did that fight really happen?" Rohan asked, looking at the girls sitting together while teasing each other and laughing.
"They are special in that way I guess. But I loved the way she handled it." Karthik openly praised looking at Rashmi.
"You are totally crushing over her right now." I commented looking at him.
"I guess! But this time I am not going to back out." Saying that he walked off towards our table holding one of the trays.
"What did he mean by that?" I asked looking at Rohan.
"Why am I the only one who knows all these things? Well, I was wrong once, but still I seem to understand everything better than you guys." Saying that he walked off and I followed him frowning.
"Chef? Are you serious? Were you tired of Rashmi and decided to marry a chef?" Chitra asked, chuckling to which Mehrin cleared her throat.
"There is a long story behind that. But stop talking about all that right now." She said, waving everyone off and glanced at Karthik.
"I am hearing so many things about you these days. Are you trying to change yourself or what?" she asked, looking at him and we all frowned.
"I didn't tell her anything." Rashmi commented, but he stayed calm looking at Mehrin.
"I am not trying, but everything is happening naturally." He replied to her question and turned towards Rashmi saying, "I know that you will not share other's matters that easily."
"You have such an understanding about her. I am excited to see how everything proceeds." Mehrin continued and it felt like only these both are talking while we are spectators.
"We all know that about her." Chitra pointed out.
"There is a difference if he points out." Mehrin said, smiling at Karthik and he smiled back at her.
"What is actually going on here?" I finally asked, not able to stop myself.
"Exactly! Is it some code language that we are unable to understand?" Chitra asked looking at them.
"Two oblivious people actually become a couple." Rohan mumbled shaking his head.
"Just leave it, guys." Preetha said,, waving us off and Rashmi sat in silent frowning at Mehrin but all she got was a sweet smile in return.
****
"So, we will meet on the orientation day?" Rohan asked when we finally walked out of the canteen.
"And after college let's meet Karthik on that day." Rashmi commented, looking at us and we all decided but we don't know for sure whether Preetha will leave or stay back.
"Do you have to return today? Can't you stay back?" Mehrin asked, looking at Rashmi.
"Within a few days I will come back and stay here for a long time. I want to spend time with my Dad during these days." She said smiling.
"I heard you didn't book the return ticket. Why don't you travel along with Kalyan?" Chitra asked, looking at her.
"Have I gone deaf? What am I hearing right now?" Rashmi asked, staring at Chitra in shock in a teasing way.
"I don't think you will ever forgive me." She mumbled and I smiled at her irritated expression before holding her hand.
"It's fine! I will manage myself." Rashmi said, waving off the offer.
"What? Are you feeling awkward now?" Karthik asked, looking at her and she finally accepted to come with me.
"I will bring the car around." Saying that I walked off dragging Chitra with me.
"Today will forever be an embarrassing day for me. Why did I act in such a way?" she asked shaking her head.
"It's my fault too for not understanding you." I replied sighing.
"It's my fault to think too much in such a small matter." She mumbled staring at me.
"Sorry!" we both said at the same time and smiled at each other.
"You know what words made me really think how wrong I was?" Chitra asked when we reached the parking lot.
"When she asked whether she should stay away from Karthik just because her future boyfriend will have a problem with her past feelings. If someone really said that I would have asked her to break up with him immediately and I can't believe I was kind of in that way and hated myself. I will never think this rash again." She promised holding my hand tightly and I held it back smiling.
When Rashmi sat in my car, we drove off after waving off to our friends and she sat in silence for the next half an hour just looking outside.
"You are really feeling awkward about all this." I stated and she sighed shifting a little to face me.
"How can I not? All this is a big shock to me." She pointed out.
"Then how did you manage to deal all of that when we were acting like kids?" I asked shaking my head.
"Well, I know our friendship is more important than my shock. So, I pushed it aside and just decided to deal with the problem first." She explained.
"Okay! You can deal with your shock now and I will not disturb you." I said chuckling at her expression.
She sat like that for a few minutes and kept on glancing at me in between. I shook my head, knowing well she will have too many questions for me.
"I had a crush on you when we met on the train itself. As I liked you, I wanted you to be our group member and that's why I made that bet with them. After that I have been always with you, but then that day I found out about your feelings and immediately that incident happened. All I know is that I wouldn't have gone through that long way and decided to end them as I felt you still liked him. I was so happy when you finally talked to me properly after that semester. I felt that was more than enough for me. Before I met Chitra I used to feel a slight pain for having a failed first love, but your friendship always covered it up for me." I took a deep breath finally saying all that.
"Wow! I am actually honored to hear that you liked me back them. I was sad a few times that no one liked me, you know." She said and I laughed hearing her words.
"No! I am really honored." She stressed and this time I nodded.
It is possible only for her to not make me feel guilty or anything for liking her back then. Maybe it's a good thing that he knows the truth and we don't have any secrets between us anymore.
*Rashmi Pov*
"I still can't believe that Preetha left so suddenly. I couldn't even meet her before she left." I said arranging my clothes in the hostel room with the help of Mehrin.
"Exactly! One day they announced she will not go and last week she just packed her bags and left. By chance I was able to meet her and it was a weird situation. Chitra and I didn't know whether to show happiness for her or sadness for Rohan that day." Mehrin said, shaking her head and she repeated that sentence like so many times already.
"Let's hope she will come at least once in between, otherwise two years is a long time." I said finally finishing the arrangement and we both sat on my bed.
"I don't know how will you react when Karthik goes like this for two years." Mehrin commented bumping my shoulder.
"How will I react? We are just talking on the phone which we can do sometimes after he leaves. And I really want him to achieve whatever he wishes for." I said pushing her away.
"Let's see about that." She mumbled and we finally left the hostel to have some lunch after all the tired work.
We both are really excited tomorrow and we will be meeting all our friends and even Karthik in the afternoon. I hope I can contact Preetha soon after she changes her sim even though we already chatted on Facebook.
****
"New faces! New faces!" I mumbled, sitting along with my friends in the classroom after the orientation.
"We are also new for this college." Chitra mumbled from my side and I just shrugged before looking around at the classmates we will be studying for the next two years.
"Let's not be too rigid and talk to other students normally." Mehrin commented who is sitting on my other side.
"You actually can't say that when we five are sitting in the same row." I pointed out and they all nodded.
"And I really feel bad for that guy to get stuck beside Rohan." I added looking at the other end where one guy is sitting beside Rohan and I don't know how he is feeling by looking at Rohan's continuous irritated face.
"Will he be like that for these two years?" I asked looking at Kalyan.
"We can't say." He replied, shrugging and we stopped talking when the lecturer finally ended, the names introduction and started talking about our syllabus.
"Did you call him?" I asked Rohan and Kalyan when they walked towards our table after giving our order.
"His phone was switched off and so we called his home number. But the maid answered, saying he went to college." Rohan replied frowning.
"He what?" I asked, taking out my phone to see any messages from him but there were none.
"He is supposed to prepare for entrance exams and not actually join somewhere, right. Which college was she talking about?" Mehrin asked, looking at Rohan.
"She said she doesn't know and also said he left two days back with all his luggage." He explained.
I glanced at our chatting history and realized we were not chatting during these two days and I was just busy with packing and shifting that I didn't think much about it.
"This is too much." Chitra mumbled and I really want to say tell me about it.
How can he leave like this without telling us and which college did he go to? Did he apply for other universities that time and got accepted into one? He could have just told us.
"Rohan! He is our popular senior and if you want to be one, then he is your competition." Kalyan suddenly said when we finished our lunch and decided to leave the place.
"I don't want to be popular at all." Rohan commented, looking at his phone and we girls turned to see the guy Kalyan was talking about.
"I sat away from you guys during orientation at the end, right. I saw him then and the girls were talking about him and I found out about him. He is very good at studies." Kalyan continued.
"I don't think..." Mehrin started.
"I really don't think..." Chitra trailed off.
"That he is just good at studies." I finished both of them and they nodded while we three continued to stare at him and turned away immediately when he turned his glance towards us.
"Wow!" we three mumbled and I waved my hand near my face to calm myself.
"What is his name?" I asked, looking at Kalyan.
"Manoj!" he replied, frowning at Chitra.
"I am so looking forward to this year." I mumbled and we three gushed together while stealing glances at him.
When we were leaving, I checked my phone again, but there was still no message from him. I will kill him if I ever meet him again when he returns.
****
"Idiot!" I mumbled slamming my phone on the table shaking my head for not receiving one message from him after more than one week.
When I asked Rohan or Kalyan, they are saying that even they can't contact him and no one is there at his house. Still, everyone is fine with it and are not even talking about him.
Mehrin and Chitra chuckled when I picked my phone again before slamming it back. Why can't he just message if he really joined some college abroad? I can understand he can't call us, but he can send a message through his messenger.
I know I finally forgave him for leaving without informing us, but this I can't forgive no matter what. Wait! Does he even care whether I forgive or not when he is not going to return anytime soon?
"This is affecting you really bad than I expected." Mehrin commented from my side and I frowned at her.
"What is unexpected is that you guys are chilling like there is nothing wrong." I said, frowning at her while she sighed shaking her head.
"He was always like that remember. He never gives us a heads up and I even got used to it after four years of friendship with him. Why couldn't you?" she asked, frowning when I was about to turn and ask others why is everyone making such noise.
"Is it because of the recent things that's happened?" she continued and this time I again tried to turn but she held my hand tightly.
"Are you running away from my questions?" she asked and this time I chuckled at her expression.
"Geez! What happened to you today? Is everything okay? You are acting really weird." I asked, looking at her.
"Too weird?" she asked, relaxing her expression.
"Definitely!" Chitra commented from behind me.
"By the way, did you notice the lone guy today?" Chitra suddenly asked making me frown.
"Why? Did Rohan suddenly start smiling and caused him some shock?" I asked, turning to stare at her.
"You can look for yourself." Saying that she leaned back and made Kalyan to do the same.
I gestured Rohan who is already looking at me by covering that guy to move back and he slowly did as if he is opening a theatre curtain. When he finally moved, I can totally understand why he did that.
"What is going on?" I asked no one in particular when I saw Karthik sitting on the other end of this row.
"He joined our college." Chitra replied and I can see everyone kind of knew about it but from when did they.
"You remember we met Preetha before she left, he informed us, but asked us to hide it from you." Mehrin explained when she realized what I am curious about.
"You hid it from me?" I asked, looking at her.
"He practically requested me." She replied, frowning at my expression.
"You did a good job making sure she doesn't turn around when he is entering the class, Mehrin. Seems like he is already popular among a few." Chitra continued to talk, but I ignored everyone and stared straight at the board.
"Are you angry at all of us?" she asked when I stayed silent.
"Rashmi!" I ignored whoever called me.
I turned my phone when it vibrated to see a message from him and I just placed it in my bag before opening my book. After a few minutes, finally the lecture started and none of them tried to say anything.
Until lunch I just ignored everyone and stared only at my books, even between the lectures. And the moment the class ended before lunch, I stood up and walked away from them before reaching the canteen but Mehrin and Chitra followed me immediately.
"Come on! Be angry at him, but not at us." Mehrin said, holding my hand and Chitra held my other.
"Is something wrong?" we three turned to look at the person asking that question and we just ended up smiling brightly at him.
*Karthik Pov*
"What is going on? She was just ready to kill whoever stops her, but she is smiling like that right now." I asked stopping behind them along with Rohan and Kalyan.
"We didn't tell you about this because we didn't want you to get stressed before coming here. That is the reason for their reactions." Rohan said, pointing the guy standing before them.
"They are acting in a way embarrassing us and somehow within a week they managed to get him to talk specially with them." Kalyan explained with an irritated expression.
"For the first time I am glad Preetha is not here to follow him like them." Rohan commented.
"You are not that lucky. Rashmi managed to take his picture secretly and Chitra already shared it with Preetha." Kalyan said smirking and Rohan immediately frowned.
"Sure! Thanks for the advise." Rashmi said sweetly before he walked away and they three continued to walk while we followed them.
"You did a good thing by talking about the project and that's why we were worried. Now, we can talk to him more when he helps us." Chitra said, moving Rashmi's hand up and down in excitement.
"He is going to help us because I asked." Rashmi said, shrugging and the other two laughed at her.
"It's because of me, Rashmi. I am quite beautiful which made him accept." Chitra said, sitting down at the empty table along with others while Kalyan slapped his forehead.
"Right! In that sense, I am the one because of whom he accepted." Mehrin really surprised me with her comment.
"No matter what is the reason, you both don't stand a chance." Rashmi said waving them off.
"And why are you so confident?" Rohan asked, sitting with them and glanced at me smirking.
"Well, if he asks Chitra if she is single, she either has to say the truth or get Kalyan to reveal it." She started explaining and Kalyan immediately sat beside Rohan nodding.
"And Mehrin should just inform him that she is engaged otherwise I will call Rahim and tell everything." She added making her glare at her.
"But if he asks me then I will say..." she started, but I cut her off saying, "That you have a boyfriend."
With those words, is at along with them and her expression again turned stormy. She continued to ignore me during the whole lunch and left before all of us.
"She is way mad at you." Rohan commented the obvious.
"She was really worried about you all these days and was sad too that you left without telling her, but again got worried thinking why are you not contacting any of us." Mehrin explained.
"Guys, is it possible to make some changes in the seating arrangement?" I asked, looking at them and they all nodded to my idea.
"By the way, why have many of our classmates stared at him like that when I am better looking than him?" Rohan asked looking at me.
"Did you smiled once after coming to this college?" Mehrin asked, shaking her head and we chuckled at his reaction to that.
When we all walked into the classroom, Mehrin moved first and asked Rashmi to shift to her seat and we all moved with everyone's seat shifting once while Mehrin sat at Chitra's place and I calmly sat in Rashmi's old place.
"Don't even think about getting up." I commented when she shifted and after that she sat down without moving.
"Did you miss me that much?" I asked, looking at her, but she just scoffed looking at the book.
"I missed you very much." Hearing those words she finally turned to look at me and I continued to smile at her. After staring at me for a few more moments, she smiled back and I sighed in relief that she is no longer angry.
"You are saying wonderful lies these days." She said, shaking her head and glanced at the lecturer when he entered the class.
"I didn't lie and I really missed you." I said following her action and she didn't have a chance to say anything else with the lecture being started and I smiled to myself looking forward for any small thing that will occur from now on.