It was day 3 of college. I wore my favorite sleeveless kurti and a pair of white leggings, and was way more excited than the previous day to go to college. Aakanksha, after a lot of convincing, agreed to lend me her kajal and eye liner and helped me apply them. She, for the first time ever, let me use her expensive perfume and a branded tote bag. And I was happy that I wouldn't have to carry my crappy knapsack to college for a day.
Breaking my own record in foolishness, I reached college an hour earlier than I was required to. And with nothing else to do in that one hour, I set out to take a tour of the college to acquaint myself with the very tiny college ground, stinky toilets, chipping walls, outdated computers and the frustrated staff.
At 9:15, I walked back to the classroom hoping that Ishaan would be there only to be left disappointed again. The next 15 minutes were spent staring non-stop at the classroom door, watching faces after faces of people that nowhere looked anything like Ishaan. And to add to my already heightened loneliness, Sneha texted that she won't be coming to college that day. 'Must have been the Bangalore guy', I thought to myself.
As the class began at 9:30, the entire room echoed with a loud commotion. Everyone looked back to watch some students shifting their benches away from a particular corner, apparently because of the intolerable smell of a dead rat lying there.
Kriti, the hot Delhiite girl, came dragging her chair and sat right next to me. She greeted me with a smile before sneakily offering a piece of chocolate to eat. As someone who had never eaten her food discreetly before, I was hesitant to accept her small treat. But on being insisted, I took the piece of chocolate from her hand and quickly kept it in my mouth. She winked. I smiled. And that was the beginning of a friendship that I never knew would change my perspective towards how I saw Delhiites.
Half the day had passed and Ishaan was nowhere to be seen. Kriti and I headed towards the canteen to eat something as classes were scheduled for until 4 pm that day and I was in no mood to eat the aloo ki sabzi and roti that Mom had packed for me.
On the way towards the canteen, I happened to notice a guy walking towards me with a smile. In an attempt to catch a proper glimpse of his face through the harsh sun, I squinted my eyes a little and recognised him as the guy who had fallen outside the classroom on the first day of college. Yes, it was Dheeraj. He was smiling widely and just when I thought he would stop by to greet us, he turned around and walked back to the canteen. I was confused.
'Did he forget something at the canteen? Maybe he forgot to pay for the food?', I wondered.
Too hungry to think about anything but food, Kriti and I ran to the table near the food counter, kept our bags on it before hurrying away to place our order.
"A Dosa, please.", I shouted through the chaos, loud enough to hear for the guy at the counter.
"And a plate of noodles.", screamed Kriti.
The guy at the counter nodded before noting down the order. We paid, headed back to our table and waited for the food.
Kriti and I were busy scrolling on our phones when we saw a dog trying to reach a rotten piece of sandwich lying under the table. I got up in fear and stepped away from the table but Kriti, out of her love for dogs, started petting it gently. While waiting for the dog to leave, I happened to notice a familiar face sitting at another table and looking at me with a smile. It was, of course, Dheeraj. Confused, I smiled back at him before heading towards the food counter to pick my order.
By the time I came back to the table, Kriti had made good friends with the dog. Having witnessed their bonding up close, I knew that she was going to make me share my food with him.
The three of us ate together like a family. Meanwhile, Dheeraj was still trying to steal glances at me from a corner of his eye. And with every look that he gave me, I kept wondering more about his intentions.