~Sanvi's POV~
I felt myself getting restless with the passing minutes. I looked around to stare at the remaining three and my eyes fell on Aakash as he was already looking my way with a smile.
I smiled back to reciprocate his warm gesture.
He was not as bad as I had perceived him to be from the very first day of his arrival. I kept myself aloof from any sort of issues in my class.
Aakash joining my class a year ago was more or less a celebration. He was a charming fellow with lots of friends in my class. Although we never had a prolonged conversation, he had always greeted me politely whenever we had to sit together for the Biology class.
I was aware of the rivalry between Rathore and Aakash but I never really gave any heed to the gossips that flew about the campus to know more into the matter.
I always had a tendency to blame Rishabh for every mishap. The rivalry between him and Aakash was no less. Though I had barely interacted with Aakash, he still seemed so much more mature and humble than the egotistic Rathore.
Every other person in the world was better than him. And I could pair up with any of the remaining three despite my social awkwardness.
I confidently pledged the oath and engrossed myself in reading the pamphlet.
I'd surely make a partnership....in some time.
Any time then.
While I was still immersed in my self loathing session, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to see Aakash standing right next to me with the same smile.
"Heyo, Sanvi Dixit, right? I've been meaning to speak to you since god knows when. You don't look so good. How have you been doing with all these?"
I was rather caught off guard with his cheery tone. Perhaps mingling did require you to be a pleasant person rather than a blubbery pile of awkwardness like me.
"Hey, Aakash. I am alright." I exhaled out and his smile broadened.
"Good to know, love. All these Championship stuff is getting into everyone's head now. You should take care of yourself. So whatchu have in your hand?" I positively cringed at his overly sweet-laced words.
We practically had just talked for the very first time.
"Oh...hah, this is an online quiz. It is supposed to calculate the compatibility between professional partners. Probably just a hoax." I looked back at Pavan and Veronica and sighed.
I was attempting to put the phone back in my pocket but Aakash pulled it right out of my hand. He scrolled through the screen despite my eager protests. The previous politeness seemed to have been washed off of his demeanor.
"Let's try it out!" He exclaimed, a bit too giddily, much to my annoyance.
"No, I don't think so." I voiced out sternly.
"Oh come on! Don't be like that. It's a rather efficient way to become friends before the Championship. Besides, what if we're the most compatible partners but you lose the chance because you were too nervous to approach me?"
Wow. That definitely was one of the most narcissistic comment I'd ever heard. I didn't believe that I'd ever be that helpless to beg for being partner with him as he was insinuating right then.
"No, that's not the point. I simply don't think you can figure out one's compatibility with a mere analytical computation." I pulled my phone out of his hold and sat down on the chair.
"You're the topper of St. Louis! You don't believe in rigid statistical analysis? Tch. But what's the harm in trying? We don't have anything to lose. We barely have time to make acquaintances in the regular manner. Besides, I believe you wouldn't want to be stuck with the jerk standing there, right? Well, me too!"
Wow, rude much?
I craned my head to look at the person he was indicating to and wasn't particularly surprised when it turned out to be Rathore.
He was just standing there, looking perfectly well to be cast as a regular jock in any teen movie.
Angry, buff and irritated.
What was the guy irritated about?
I rolled my eyes at him when he sneered back at me.
Aakash's words did have some truth in them, despite his condescending tone towards my enemy. I groaned inwardly and believed it better to jump on the bandwagon with him.
"Alright, alright." He evidently beamed at my acceptance and hurled the phone towards me.
"You go first.." His excitement seemed rather suspicious to me for some reason.
Brushing the unwanted thoughts away, I concentrated on getting done with the shit as soon as possible.
I scrunched my nose up at the very first level that supposedly calculated the 'psychometric' compatibility between two individuals. It included a lot of personal questions which I found rather inappropriate at certain stages.
However, what irritated me most during the whole process was how my supposed trial partner kept looking over my shoulder to view my answers to the questions.
Once done with the test, Aakash almost snatched the phone away from me and began with his work. All the while he worked on the test, I couldn't help but suspiciously stare at his over-the-top smiling face.
Something was wrong. Definitely wrong.
"LOOK! IT'S A 91% MATCH! What did I tell you Sanvi?! We're absolutely compatible!" I almost jumped out of my skin when Aakash hurled himself on my frame and hugged me all of a sudden.
All I could do was stare straight on with a shocked face as he unclasped his hold and forced my limp hand into an unwelcomed handshake.
What the hell?
"Ah, um.."
"When should we begin? Can I come to your house tonight? Let's figure out a game plan before anyone else submits theirs to Father. I know we're going to rock the Championship together. We might not even need these sons of bitches anymore!"
He kept on blabbering nonsense for a minute or so before catching his breath and flipping my phone off to the side. I grabbed it in the nick of time, all the while attempting to process what just went on.
I was absolutely sure that the guy put the exact answers as me since he was practically oogling at my answers when I was working on it.
How on earth was I in that situation then?
"Haha, Rishabh arrogant Rathore? Are you still waiting for your divine partner to magically erupt out of the ground? Look around yourself, we've all paired up. Whatchu gonna do now, Mr. Genius? Oh how will you cry in front of us when Father kicks you out for not being able to garner a partner? I can't say I wouldn't enjoy seeing you a crying mess of apologies while begging to Father! Haha!"
I whipped my head back at Aakash's fanatic boasting lectures and groaned expressively when I saw him snide a visibly agitated Rishabh in that manner.
The bluish vein on Rishabh's forehead showed just how close he was from hitting the daylights out of Aakash. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of anger bubble up within myself as well at Aakash's blatant indolence.
I couldn't believe how wrong I had been in judging the guy's real nature!
Fortunately nobody was around us to hear Aakash's vindictive monologue. I shifted my gaze to the door.
Pavan and Veronica got along discussing about the tasks and Sanaya found it much better to cling onto Dhruv for the time being. Dhruv,- being cast aside by his best friend like me-, seemed unbothered at the prospect.
Perhaps they already had a strategy about their tasks?
"Sanvi, babe! I know we'll get along very easily..." Aakash posed a finger heart at me with a creepy buttery smile, before skipping outside the Cafeteria to the others who were seated around the large pool table.
I deadpanned at the sudden shocking turn of events before turning around to face Rishabh. He was standing a few feet away from me but I could almost feel the heat of the rage, radiating from his frame.
He was angry as he should have been. And I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pity for him just then.
Who'd have known that the all-rounder brat of St. Louis would have to bear such humiliation, that too in front of his own academic enemy?
Who'd have thought Aakash would turn out to be such a creepy guy?
Rishabh was staring at me with dark eyes, making me almost feel like I'd been the one to humiliate him a few moments ago. A sudden numbing chill ran down my spine as I saw him advancing towards me in slow steps, as if in a prowl.
Oh no.
I harboured pity for him and he was going to reprimand me for what Aakash said to him?
Hell no.
I jolted up from my seat when I saw him lunge towards me, only to be deprived of his presence a second later.
He was just grabbing his bag on the table but my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest. I clasped my chest in reflex and felt Rishabh freeze beside me.
"Congratulations on making the team, Dixit." He remarked bitterly with a condescending sneer before raging out of the room.
I jumped with the loud thud of the door closing behind him.
I should've probably figured out how wrong I had been in not approaching Rishabh in the first place but to me Aakash's indolence seemed nothing compared to Rishabh's torments.
I felt so frustrated and torn.
*********
To Be Continued.