Karthik's point of view
I couldn't help but ask her. " What was Mr. Gupta speaking about ? " " You remember Abhishek ? " Abhishek. Yeah the guy she beat up. " Yeah I do ". " He has to complete some of his projects and he doesn't do them on time. Remember when I told you I spoke to him at his house ? " I nodded. " He is actually a very intelligent guy. Everyone thinks he got into this college by paying money.But the truth is he is one of the top students and got here because of his grades. He actually had a little sister. But she expired when she was 12.It affected him a lot but he distracted himself with studies. His sister always wanted to get in to Electrical Engineering. He wanted to fulfill it.
So he studied hard for it and got here. He even gets good grades now. He actually writes the exam to such an extent that he can maintain an A grade and doesn't even attempt the whole paper in exams. But whatever little he attempts, he is very good at it. The way he presents the answers and his ideas is excellent. I saw one of his answer sheets and I was really surprised. I asked about the reason he has behind not wanting good grades. Guess what he said ' Bad boys and good grades are not a perfect match'. He is right in a way though ". She laughed a little at the end. " But why does he want to be like that ? You know the 'Bad boy image' ". " He said that he doesn't want anyone to look through his weakness. Even though it is not, he doesn't want to let go of that image. If I try speaking about it he just changes the topic and doesn't listen to me. Since I know that it is all fake, I thought it was fine ".
By the time we were done talking the lunch time was over and the canteen was almost empty. Then 3 guys entered the canteen. It was Abhishek and 2 other guys. They sat on the chairs opposite to ours. " Hi little sister ". " Is there any life threat to you or what ? Why do you have to have your minions with you all the time ? " He just sighed at her comment. " I will call you later ". She had a victorious smirk when they left. " Why did you want to meet me ? " " You don't know the reason ?" He shook his head. " Why didn't you complete your project ? " " I had no interest ". She smacked his head with the book she had in her hands. " Ouch!That hurts. What was that for ? " " Go and try lying to someone else, but not me, got it ? " He was rubbing his head.
" You shouldn't be asking questions for which you already know an answer ". " It is fine if it is only you who will suffer, but why should someone else suffer because they paired with you ? " He didn't answer that question. He was looking everywhere except us. " It is Sruthi right ? She is your partner. Am I right ? " He was still not looking at her. " Call her and ask her to come here ". " Why ? " " Who will complete the project ? " He reluctantly took out his phone and dialed her number. " Put it on speaker" He did as she told. The call was picked up after 3 rings. " Hi. Sruthi. This is Abhishek ". " Oh, hi. What happened ? " " So as you know, we need to complete the project right ? So I wanted to meet up, so that we could complete it " " Yeah sure. When shall we meet up ? " " How about now ? I am at the canteen right now. So if you come we can start on it ". " Yeah I will be there in 5 minutes ". " Bye ". " Bye ". After the call he threw his head back as if he fought a battle just now.
She had that glint of mischief in her eyes.I liked this side of her a lot. It felt as if this was who she truly was and the cold personality is just a facade she puts up. " I will get something to eat ". He got up from the chair and walked towards the counter. " That girl, Sruthi. He has a crush on her. That is one of the reasons he doesn't want to do that project ". She was smiling in his direction. I knew the meaning of that smile. She was sure going to play match maker. As if she read my thoughts she winked at me. " It is sure going to be a lot of fun ". Then she was looking into the book again. He returned with a plate of French fries. " Will she ever come ? " " Why ? So eager to see your girlfriend ? " " I have a lot to do other than wait here " " Oh! " She nodded her head mockingly at him.
I couldn't contain my smile anymore. She joined me in my laughter. " Crazy people ". " You too. But you are crazily in love ". I continued to laugh as she attacked with her counters. Soon Sruthi came and sat in the chair beside him. " Sorry for the delay ". " No it is fine. He is actually free the whole day. He cancelled all his works for you ". " Oh, really ? Thank you so much ". He just gave an awkward smile. And when she turned back he gave Chandu a warning look to stop with the act. But come on. Who are we kidding ? This is Chandu, no one can ever stop her from doing what she wants. " So shall we discuss about the project ? "They both nodded in unison and I zoned out after that. I plugged in my earphones and started listening to songs. Once they were done we walked back to the class.
-MG