"CHECKMATE!", Shreya and I shout as I make the last move making Arnav and Rohan lose the game!
"In you face!", Shreya says to both of them and jumps excitedly from the chair singing, "We won the last game you both are losers, the student has defeated the master", dedicating the second part to me by pointing to us
I smile ear to ear because it's true, I didn't know even a single thing in chess, but this year I learned it through Arnav and Rohan both, but mostly Arnav as we had common free classes the entire year.
"Yes yes 1 game doesn't decide who the champion is dumbos", Rohan does some damage control, well tries to but does not succeed what so ever
"Oh please we all agreed this will be the final game and whoever wins this is the ultimate champion!", I say haughtily.
"Am I right or am I right Arnav!", I say jokingly
"Hm congrats you two now I am sleeping I was up till late last night"
"Okay okay you sleep I will go play carom come you two ", Rohan says and goes towards rest of our classmates
"No I don't want to play you go", I said to Shreya when she says to come
"You don't need to stay go and play", Arnav says as he keeps his head down
"Naah I want some peace, I am staying here"
"okay then I will go to some other table"
"Why"
"You want peace so I don't want to disturb you"
"Who said you are disturbing me?", I ask in confusion
"It seemed like that last night", he says with an emotionless face and a shrug
"Oh god I told you we will see about going to the rooftop, I was doing papers Arnav"
"Yaa you were so busy sorry I disturbed you"
"Don't act like this what wrong am I doing if I was just studying, I didn't ignore you for other reason"
"That's the problem why did you ignore me, you could have simply picked up my call and told you were not coming"
"But I knew you were going to persuade me that I why I switched my phone off"
"So what, it isn't like you have never said no to me earlier, do I look like a fool to you Devi, you think it's okay to ignore someone just because you were 'studying', actually the fault is mine, it is my fault that I was expecting something from you even when you have proved repeatedly that you are just a selfish and self obsessed girl who does not care about anyone but herself"
"I have not done some treason by ignoring you Arnav why are you making a big deal out of this, it is not like I was ignoring you to be with someone else, my reason is genuine, I was studying!", I say incredulously
"Yeah you were studying and I was waiting at the terrace like a fool for an hour thinking Devi will come now she will come now, if she wasn't going to come she would have informed me, but no here her highness was busy studying and so not wanting to be disturbed that she switched off her phone ignoring the absolutely foolish person who was waiting for her, waiting to share one of the biggest milestones of his life"
"What news?", I ask genuinely
"It doesn't matter anymore"
"Of course it does tell me"
"I have been accepted in NYU through early admissions, for this September, I was sad, I will be leaving this country, my parents, you....everyone, but it doesn't matter anymore, I will be more happy staying there alone than be with you here and be ignored for the rest of my life"
Saying so he gets up from his chair and goes and sits beside Parth on the other table acting as if nothing is wrong
I feel wetness on my cheeks I quickly wipe the tears and look around to see if anyone saw, Arnav was watching but turned his head and focus his eyes back on the table, seeing that even more tears seep out of my eyes, so I head out of the room and go for a walk in the corridors