~Rishabh's POV~
I was flabbergasted.
All these years, I could have bet anything that Sanvi Dixit wanted to see me dead in a ditch with more fervour than she'd see herself being successful.
The feeling seemed to have been mutual, or so I thought.
I didn't know anything anymore.
It seemed as if this entire bit of my life was usurped by some repressed memory of me and Sanvi actually being amicable acquaintances somewhere in grade school and that thought itself blew my mind away and also made me feel faint all of a sudden.
I remembered back in Class Five, when Sanvi Dixit was a whole different girl. She was athletic, very much socially active and was basically a school sweetheart.
Even then, her presence irked me.
Her being good at everything I was usually good at made me insecure. I hated how everyone would appreciate her more...and the fact that she'd get more attention from the teachers for perhaps just being a cute chubby girl with pigtails who obviously knew how to be a suck-up from that age.
But with the years, as the noticeable changes in her demeanor settled, I discarded those off as some growing-up issues without having any idea about her background and her life. I hated her before ever becoming her friend or getting to know her.
Did I even know Sanvi Dixit?
"Why are you not answering? Rishabh, I have never been a meddler but I sure would like know the deets here. I need to know what new mess you've created and plan to make fun of you accordingly. What's going on between you and Sanvi?"
It took me a whole minute to digest what Sanvi had done. I almost forgot that Dhruv was very much present on the other line.
"No hold on. What were you saying? Dixit defended me..? Against Aakash..? In front of everyone...?"
I had sat up straight, evidently surcharged by the unexpected news.
"Yeah, she was behaving really strange the whole time. But I gotta say, her outburst really did satisfy me. You had to see the look on Aakash's face when she burst out on him. The doofus didn't have a word to say against you or anyone then! He was opening and closing his mouth like a freaking fish. Haha."
"What did she say about me?" I really needed to tone down my voice but my excitement was through the roof at this new revelation.
"What did she say about you...hmm...well she just defended you and herself and all of us there. She said that Father must've left the partner choosing shenanigan for us to test our judgements of choice."
Definitely something the previous Sanvi would have done. You see, goody goody.
"...She also said that she believes this was all his plan so that we could interact and understand our positions before making the right judgement. That jerk was calling her cutesy names and she just ripped him a new one for that. You had to see his face, Rishabh!"
The satisfaction I attained when I heard those words made me smile ear to ear.
Who knew that the bimbo went behind my backs defending me against people? It was abominable actually—my mirth— when I had done her so wrong just the other evening without knowing what she had done after I left.
"So...? What's up with you and Sanvi?"
I could practically feel his teasing grin against the phone and that brought me out of my sudden happy streak.
I needed to give him something or he wouldn't shut up about it.
"We decided to partner up, me and Dixit."
All I heard after that was a prolonged silence from his side. I was worried I might've put my best friend into a cerebral shock after breaking the unusual news to him.
"Dhruv?"
*no answer*
"...Dhruv?"
"Wait...it hurts. My brain hurts. Why does it hurt?" His voice came out in a strained tone as he proceeded to express his shock towards the matter.
I rolled my eyes at his dramatic demeanor.
"All right. Enough with the drama. Yes we did decide to partner up after coming to logical conclusion. So don't make this a big deal."
"No, my brain just can't process this information. It hurts so bad. Why, Rishabh, why would you do this to me, that too at this point of the night? The ambulance might take hours to come. I am dying."
"Shut it, Dhruv. We're just partnering up for the sake of the school...and also partially because Father has punished us to participate in the school activities together for the entire session." He got silent as I spoke.
"Father has threatened us with our graduation after our stupid fight in the parking lot. He wants us to be in friendly terms for the school's reputation. The old man is retiring this year and he wants the record of discipline to be pristine until the end of his tenure. It's a stupid thing really. "
Silence.
"Wow, that's a lot of information to digest."
Bro, I wished that was true.
He didn't know quarter of what had actually happened. And I intended to keep it that way.
Not that I didn't trust him but it would be better for us as a team to steer clear of rumours as much as possible until the Championship.
"Anyways, will you text me her home address then?"
"Evading the question entirely, now aren't we?" He voiced out in protest.
"There's nothing more to tell. Just send me the text." I felt him gruff from the other side in resignation.
"Right now." I added.
"Then, Good night." I attempted to end the conversation before he could say anything else.
"Oh hello? You said that you wanted to talk since you couldn't sleep? Tell me then. What's bothering you, my child?" He interjected in a feigned saintly voice.
"That's all that I wanted to say. Now send me the address and go sleep."
"YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN THE ADDRESS TOMORROW MORNING YOU JERK! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DESTROY MY SLEEP—"
I cut him off midway and dropped down on the bed, wiping the sweat off of my forehead. He might've been a brilliant guy but he was a handful.
But right then, all I could think about was how Sanvi defended me, ME back in the cafeteria and I didn't even get to hear anything.
On the top of that, after she came down to the Parking Lot, I had to go out of my way to torment her like that!
Hell, I even kissed her again without her permission!
If my guilt was at the peak of the Mount Everest after reading her diary, it was atop Mt Olympus by the time I cut the call. I couldn't just sit there wondering about what she might've been thinking after hearing all that. I had to apologise to her, face to face and I had to do that immediately.
My phone beeped with a text message and I sat up to check if it was Dhruv's message with her address.
It indeed was and he had typed a stupid 'Best of luck' with a wink emoji underneath the address. As irritating as it was, I truly need all the luck to sneak into her house at that point of the night.
Ready for anything.
I ardently hoped she was still awake as I ruffled my hair in frustration before grabbing my bike keys and storming down the staircase.
***********
To Be Continued.