Sanvi's POV
Veronica and Pavan were already seated on a table, scrolling through the pamphlet. She didn't even come to talk to me that afternoon after Father had called us all in. I felt rather hurt at her behaviour for an aloof best friend.
The sheer betrayal! I strode angrily towards their seats and she looked up at me with a sad stare.
"Uh huh. Uh huh. None of those puppy faces gonna work. Get up. You can't just abandon me like this after all that happened." I flared my nose at her as she stuck herself to Pavan's frame.
"Abandon you? YOU'RE ONE TO SAY THAT. Vee, I am not speaking with you!" I was taken aback at her cold answer so much so that I had to blink for a few times to confirm if I was really speaking with Veronica and not any other stranger.
"I am sorry but we kinda already knew about the arrangement since my father is in the committee." Pavan interjected in the much required stance.
"What are you guys talking about? You knew about the changes in the Championship beforehand?" I was thoroughly bewildered.
"Didn't I tell you that last night? You outright declined my offer saying that you didn't wanna go with me to the Championship! Why did you do that to me, Vee?"
My eyes almost popped out of their sockets at her words.
"I was so hurt, Vee. I am still hurt at the way you said that!" Veronica turned away from me in a hurtful demeanor. What the hell? I turned to Pavan for some answers in my shell shocked state.
"Yes, Sanvi. She called me last night crying that her best friend has declined to be her partner. But I told her that you must've had another strategy for the Championship. Do you?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing then. I kept looking at them with a shocked stare. Strategy? I didn't know squat about all these until that morning.
"Veronica and I took an online test and found out that we're best compatible as a sub-team. We have already chosen our task yesterday." Pavan completed in an increasingly concerned tone and I could swear that I felt like being in a completely different world. Was I even concious when I lived my life? How could they base their partnership on a stupid online test?
"Didn't I already tell you that last night on the phone? I hung up when you didn't answer my question about the reason you declined my offer. Did you even listen to a word I said last night? Of course, you didn't. Why would you even bother with a pathetic friend like me?" Veronica stood up, questioning me about last night's phone call, seemingly agitated at my supposed indolence.
She looked like she'd burst out in tears any moment then. The profession clearly wasn't expressed in her usual bubbly dramatic demeanor. That proposition itself added more to my dumbfounded stance right then. I had never seen her behave like that.
I groaned upon realising that I didn't actually hear a single thing from her side. I had a strong fever and missed school. We were already entering the holidays in one day and I didn't think much about missing a day. How was I supposed to know that the Committee will release such shocking information when we were specifically informed that we'd be contacted by the school about the Championship stuff in the midst of the break?
I stayed at the main house last night with my Mother's persistence and I had to take a sleeping pill after the regular chaos of the evening. My father had returned home drunk yet again and stirred up the house with usual abominable antics. My mother was crying in some corner of the house after I had confronted that man and gotten slapped on the cheek for being 'too outrageous for a girl'.
Veronica had excitedly called me to inform something and I had drowsily heard her blabber on for an hour or so on the speaker phone. I remembered that she had asked me to go somewhere with her but I had declined her offer right away. I didn't wanna get entangled in another Rathore fiasco because of her. Had I known she was talking about the Championship, I would have immediately perked up from the bed despite being medicated.
Upon realising my own blunder, I bit my lower lip in pain and apologetically turned to Veronica. I knew I had messed up and I couldn't even tell her the reason behind it!
"I am extremely sorry Veronica. You did the right thing calling Pavan. I was under medication when you called me last night. I wasn't in the right mind to make proper sense out of your words. Oh I am so sorry. I do want to be your partner! I do!" I closed my eyes and pinched my temple as she turned to look at me, seemingly triggered by my words. She immediately grasped my shoulders in a whiff and shook me a couple of times, taking me by surprise.
"Why were you under medication, Vee? Are you sick? What's wrong? Why didn't you tell me that? I wouldn't have disturbed you like that. Oh no, do you have a fever?" Pavan stood up beside me as Veronica whimsically checked my temperature. She flinched in worry when she touched my burning skin. I grabbed her hand before she could make a scene by grabbing the attention of others.
"I am alright. I had fever and I was just having some trouble sleeping. Don't worry." I attempted to brush the topic off since I didn't have any solid reason to relate my oh-so-interesting life story to her just yet. She was too much of a risk to be burdened with the intimate details yet.
"But you did the right thing pairing up with Pavan. I am glad you guys took the test. If the statistics say that you work best, then you must work together. I insist. We need the best for our Championship." Pavan looked at me apologetically but Veronica almost leaped up to grab her bag from the chair behind me.
"What, what?" I tumbled back in surprise as she maniacally pulled her phone out and smiled a big one.
"Let's take the test, you and me, NOW! I am sure we'll be the best compatible! Perhaps even more than Pavan and I are."
I couldn't fathom the extent of shock Pavan had to endure at the 360 Veronica just pulled. I gazed upon him with an awkward smile and he shook his head in exasperation. Wow, that must've hurt a lot. I could perceive that he definitely wanted to be partners with her, regardless of the stupid online test. It seemed that he had grown to like her since the last time I interacted closely with those two.
Veronica looked excitedly between us with a wide smile, completely oblivious of her idiotic blunder. I sighed and pulled her out of Pavan's earshot after patting his shoulder in reassurance.
"Veronica, don't you think it will be unfair on Pavan if you ditch him for me now after you guys have already chosen your task? After all, he did console you last night and told you the details of the Championship beforehand." She seemed completely befuddled at the idea, making me bang my palm on my forehead. That clueless girl! Honestly, how did that girl manage mingling around with people with that naive demeanor?
I sighed, feeling frustrated with each second.
After a few minutes or so, I successfully managed to convince her to continue with her task as planned with Pavan but she was adamant on making me use the damn online quiz to find my compatible partner among the others who were by then, lazing around the Cafeteria, looking bored as hell.
When I left them on their table with the stupid phone in my hand, all I could hear was a cacophony of sad musings in my head. Online Statistics? What bullshit.
Abandoned. Again. Again. And Again.
No surprise there.
My depressive strain halted when my eyes fell on Rishabh Rathore. He was reading the pamphlet intently while leaning on the counter. He looked rather unbothered about the whole pairing up conundrum.
Of course, why wouldn't he be? His mountain-sized ego would never allow him to approach anyone! I felt my legs falter for a moment when my heart and mind battled over the stupid proposition. Should I approach him? He's perhaps the only person, other than Veronica and Pavan, who has had interacted (albeit negatively) with me in all those prolonged years of school life.
I hurriedly averted my gaze when he looked up and our eyes locked for a minuscule moment. No, I cannot give into the temptation, no matter how dire the situation is. He and I, together, might just cut the chord between St. Louis and the Championship forever.
*******
To be continued.