"...and finally, The Student of The Year Award goes to..."
"Anjali! Wake up! Anjali! Anju! Seriously, this girl! She can't do anything on her own. She needs me to wake her up, make her bed, make her breakfast, even do her hair! Is there anything she can do on her own? And she says she's a grown up now, she wants to live in a hostel! Who knows what will happen to her then?"
"Oh God, Aai! Stop nagging at me, will you? If it weren't for you waking me up, I would already have had The Student of The Year Award..." 'At least in my dreams...' "Besides, it's not like I'm late, my alarm hasn't... Shit! Why didn't my alarm ring?" I say, looking at the clock. I quickly change my clothes and look at the time again. "Oh God! I need to rush. Bye Aai, I'll have something on the way for now."
"At least take a shower before leaving!"
"I will take one after coming home, besides I already took one before sleeping."
"Oh God, this girl!"
"Come on Aai, I will be late otherwise."
Saying that, I leave the house, hoping to get an auto as soon as I possibly can. Today is the first day of college, and I am so excited that I could touch the sky simply by jumping. My college, St. Xavier's College, is quite far away from my house. It has been my dream ever since I could remember, to go to this college. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Naik, are ordinary office workers who receive a monthly pay and fund my education with their measly pay. I have worked very hard to receive a scholarship at this prestigious college, and I will do everything it takes to keep it. I will graduate with honours, find a stable job, and give my parents a life they deserve. This is my driving force in life.
———
I stare up at the big gates, almost fifteen feet tall, looking down at me. I will have you know, that this place can be afforded only by the cream of the crop of the society. Here, study the sons and daughters of billionaires, first-rate celebrities, politicians, even some royalties. Going to such a place, with my social standing, is more intimidating to me than facing Godzilla. I only hope against hope that the people here would be nice, and would not bully me. I, for my part, have done quite some research on the students who will be attending the year with me.
Most of them belong to very rich families and have a lot of things, but unfortunately, have no brains. There are some, who are rich and also have brains.
The number of people like me here, who have come on scholarship, can be counted on one hand. Just to be clear, I count 16 on one hand. Wondering how? I'll tell you. In your fingers (leave out your thumb) you have three phalanges in each finger. Three phalanges have four edges, thus four fingers multiplied by four edges gives you sixteen.
Now enough of my blabbering, let's continue with the people who will be my probable source of torture. I could maybe even make some extra cash by doing their assignments and stuff. Other than those mentioned before, we also have the four richest and most popular, Royal four, or the R4. Honestly speaking, I did not get much about their personalities, or their academic reach from my research, just that they are rich and not to be messed with.
Fighting my fear, I go towards the administration office to get my schedule. Looking at it, I walk to the science building. I was walking without looking ahead, so I got what I deserved for it. I ran straight into a wall. I look up and see, oh wait! This isn't a wall, rather my doom. (How cliche!).
The 'wall' I had run into, was the famous Bad boy of the college. He looked quite burly for our age, and was very tall. His presence screamed dangerous all over. He just glared at me and walked away. I shivered from the mere look in his eyes. From behind him, came another Royal. Siddhant Oberoi, Mr. Mc Dreamy. *sigh*. He really is dreamy. Lean, tall, with eyes that look like stars and his smile was just... contagiously charming. While me? My eyes look like mud. I snap back to reality. I'm not here for this! He looks at me, with a flirty look in his eyes, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't go flat for that smile. He just smiled and moved on. From behind him, came miss popular, Eleanor Brown. Wow! Do these people have something with coming from behind one another? Or perhaps a 'Grand Entry'?
"Don't mind those idiots. They don't know how to properly talk to a girl," Eleanor said and walked on ahead. She seemed nice, but I know better than to judge a book by its cover. Wow! What is it with my luck today? It's not even the first period, and I have already met three of the four Royals. I am so not looking forward to meeting the fourth one after these three, especially from the rumours I have heard of her.
God, save me! Please don't let my big day ruin!
———
Aai- Marathi word for mother.
Auto- Precisely, an auto-rickshaw, a publicly transport means in India.