Hues of dusk

” Okay class thats it for todays lecture. Have a nice day ” Mehta sir announced the moment the Bell rang. I doubted if anyone was even paying attention to him. He signed off and rushed out of the class. He always seemed to be in a more hurry than us to get out of here.

Next class was Chemistry practical . We were going through the same things We studied in 11th and 12 th grade. Two months will be like this only. I groaned. I was tired of the listening to the same lecture from past two years.

I grabbed my lab coat and made my way towards the chemistry lab . We were going to be assigned lab partner today. Fingers crossed.

I arrived on time and took my spot. Atleast this lab was not so boring and lacking the necessary equipment like my high school.

I took out my book and rough notebook , and began skimming through the pages, to paas my time.

Jyoti didn come today . That girl was head over heels for Aryan. She bunked todays classes because she wasn satisfied with yesterdays shopping.

Is she planning to get married as soon as he will land here ? I shook my head, worried about what to do with her. How did I even became a friend with her? I couldn remember.

” Good morning, everyone ” Mrs.Nair , our chemistry teacher greeted us . We greeted her in unison and she began briefing us about todays experiment. Then she began announcing the name of the students while writing them down in pairs on the black board.

I was the last one because Mrs.Nair did the arrangement randomly instead of doing it in the alphabetical order . Seriously. On the top of that I didn even get a lab partner . We were in odd numbers . Guess, I will have to do it solo. I was never good in working in a group as it is.

”One student is missing. Mr. Shree Raheja . Absent in the first class ? so irresponsible, ” Mrs.Nair mumbled.

” Helloooo ladies! ” a guy announced. He skidded in the lab on the skateboard and stopped in front of us. He flicked his shoulder length hairs behind his neck and took of his aviators.

He put his left foot in one end of his skateboard and pushed it, making it stand vertically. He grabbed it with his left hand and winked at the girls. Then he turned at Mrs. Nair and gave her a 100 Watt smile.

”Who are you? ” our teacher narrowed her eyes at the intruder.

” Shri Raheja , Nice to meet you all. ” He waved his hand at us like a king.

” Mrs.Nair was trying hard to control her anger, she adjusted her specs and marked his attendance.

” you can go to your spot, beside Sandhya , ” She motioned towards me.

Wait a minute! He is my lab partner?

Shri sauntered in my direction while everyone stared at him . He took his spot beside me and began moving back and forth on his feet.

I looked at him taking in his appearance. If anything, he didn look like a student at all. He was wearing a lab coat on top of a Bahamas shirt and Cargo three- fourth.

Did he just came here directly from a vacation? and his hair, Oh, my god. I had never seen so shiny , dense and smooth hair ever. I want to touch them.

”Take a picture , it will last longer ” he snapped his fingers in front of me . Oops I was staring too long. Not a good thing, Sandhya.

He ran his hand through his hair making me jealous. I had long hair too but they were nothing compared to the one he is flaunting right now.

He had a nice Tan too which enhances his facial features. Whereas my Tan made me looked like I was sunburned. Why am I getting jealous of a boy? I tried to ignore him and focus on Mrs. Nair who was rambling about herself.

She told us she was a gold medalist and expected best results from us. We all nodded absentmindedly and began our experiments.

Luckily, I had no problem working with Shri . He was co-operative and I didn end up doing all the work by myself. We finished in time and submitted our reports. The bell rang and We all started leaving for our next lecture.

” See ya all later! ” Shri shouted Mrs Nair scolded him. We all laughed at him and filed out of lab.

My laughter soon ended when I saw my mortal enemy walking in my direction. Ved.

I glared at him but he wasn even looking at me. What are you doing, Sandhya? Stop starring at him like that. what if he recognised you ? Don dig your own grave.

I glanced away quickly and increased my speed. IT was better if I kept off his radar. who knew if he was the same Ved from my childhood or had changed. But one thing was for sure , he will make my life hell , if he got to know that his favourite person was roaming in the same college as him.

____***____****

” Phew ” I relaxed and sat down in my seat . I decided to spend my free classes in the library.

I began reading and relishing in the peaceful environment.

”Ouch ” I heard a girl exclaim .

” I am sorry! Did I hurt you ”?

I turned around and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw Rajiv apologizing frantically to the girl in front of him. The big guy looked so nervous.

”Its okay, it was my fault ” the girl gave him a small smile He smiled back in relief and she blushed.

So the bouncer was capable of smiling too. He always glared at me though. The girl gave him a long look and dashed out of the library.

”That was so sweet ” . I mumbled to myself.

” What are you laughing at? ” I snapped my head up and saw Rajiv staring down at me.

” Aren you a teddy bear? ” I teased