Akshat chuckled, taking his mobile outside from his pants pocket and placing it beside his laptop on the table. He shrugged at me and questioned,” What's wrong with you? Introduction should be given in the classroom only, right?”. The entire class burst into a great round of laughter.
When I shrugged in return, going mad, he clarified,” Naomi, come up and introduce yourself. Did you forget that you are in a new college and none here know you?”
I was relieved. I smiled, nodded, and walked to the stage. I stood beside him and thanked within my heart that I was overthinking. But, the naughty blushes on his fresh face conveyed that he wanted my kiss too.
“Introduce yourself before someone else mistakes you to be a trespasser”, advised he, switching on his laptop. I kept my self-introduction short and sweet announcing that I was a transfer student and would love to start my beautiful journey at Janki University. My gang cheered my name out and Karan whistled while the rest clapped, smiling.
Ruhi raised her hand. When I nodded at her, she enquired,” What is your CGPA?”Her friend sitting behind her pressed her shoulder but she ignored her.”9.2”, said I.Her face shrank as a cell would when placed in a hypertonic solution. She looked away to conceal her wrath but couldn’t.
“Hey! Come on! Why are you comparing, Ruhi? She is from a different college. The syllabus was different, subjects were different. On what basis can you compare?”, joked Karan, making the entire class laugh again including Akshat chuckle.
I smiled back and walked towards my seat. I was about to sit when Akshat called me out loudly,” Naomi!”
Adrenaline was released a tonne inside my body, as I managed to stand back erect and face him.
” Sir!”, exclaimed I, just like how a constable says it to his inspector.
“Another task is incomplete. How could you avoid it?”, asked he. The entire class turned back and looked at me. I couldn’t believe that he continued demanding it now. I had been relieved that he had forgotten about it. Oh no! I can’t kiss you now, Akshat!
“Sir,I am very sorry but its not possible…”,said I.He chuckled again,showing the small adapter in his hand,”What is its purpose,then?”
I couldn’t understand what he wanted me to do then.I denied him that nothing can help me do it in front of everyone.
Love is so blind that it just happens unexpectedly.
You may fall for anyone!
Would you let go of your policy if you fell for someone you shouldn't? What would you choose-your policy or your beloved?
“Connect my laptop to the projector with this.How come that’s not possible?”,enquired he,blushing naughtily.The students giggled,as I exclaimed,”Sir,I didn’t realize that you were talking about the adapter,the projector and your laptop.”
“What else did you think of,Naomi?”,asked he, displaying his wide grin.I shrugged,blushing that I didn’t know and the class laughed again.
"Urgh! Why are pulling my legs early this morning, Kiku?", wondered I. "Okay I agree with the fact that we are getting a little more closer than a usual interaction two people have. But, now, it looks as if you want to reveal our budding closeness to the entire class! "
I sighed, thinking further, "Kiku, look. What happens on my terrace remains on my terrace. Thats it! We were a little close that rainy night, I agree. You kissed me and I too was about to...." I blushed, continuing my thoughts,"But its okay....I mean its just a kiss.... Leave it, Akshat sir! It happens....Come on! How can a little intimacy be unanticipated when a guy and a girl are very close espscially when home alone?...However, it shouldn't be carried forward too. Leave it, Akshat sir! Leave it, please!"
Karan giggled at me. He whispered,"Hey come on!How come you did not know what you were thinking? Hahaha! Thats why we are all laughing. Didn't you get it, dude?"
I walked to the stage and admitted to Akshat that I didn’t know how to use the adapter.It was only Ruhi who could hear it.She shared with her friends around her and they all roared.I looked at them and looked down,sighing.Akshat frowned at Ruhi and her friends.
He asked Ruhi to stand up and threw a question at her,”Explain the provisions of cr.p.c. regarding summary trials.” She shook her head at which he advised her,defending me,”None know everything.We ought to keep learning until we breathe the last second. The question I asked you-we are yet to learn the topic.” She apologized to me and sat back.
Akshat called me closer.He touched my right palm and escorted me to connect the adapter’s one end to the laptop and plug the VGA cable having a hole-like surface on it and was coming out from the projector to the other end of the adapter.We turned at the board to our right to see the ppt presentation with “Joiner Of Charges” written in bold blue and “By Akshat Malhotra” written in black bold font,on the first slide.
“Sexy!”,whispered he,as we blushed at each other.”Its that simple!”,whispered I,for which he nodded,chuckling.We were lost in our own worlds again,only for the next couple of seconds until Karan shouted a deep and loud cough;it sounded like he was infected with whooping cough,all of a sudden.
Akshat released my hand.As I walked towards my seat,my new friends were smiling at me.As I sat,Karan turned back and winked at me,whispering,”Whats the matter,Naomi?”Vyomi revealed in a soft tone,”Akshat sir likes her.See,I knew it!”She turned at me and recollected,”I had told you on the very first day itself.See!”I pinched her,blushing and opening my new notebook.
“Guys,anything incomplete from last class?”,enquired Akshat,before starting.I held my breath for a second as soon as I heard the very word again but released once he completed his sentence.From the stage,he smiled at my anxiety and I blushed,looking away.
As most shook their heads,he continued playing from the tenth slide.He made the topic of arrest, bail and joiner of charges more interesting with simple hints in the presentation which he elaborated with references to recent memes,news,movies and more. He ensured to highlight the points pertaining to arrest and bail from a lawyer's perspective to draw students' attention for who doesn't know what's an arrest or bail?
I understood very well but couldn’t follow at a few places when he correlated to the basic topics which I had missed.I whispered to Vyomi,asking her to share her notes till date for all the subjects once we returned to our PG.I had my house in Pune yet stayed in a PG which was a 10-minute walk from the university.My house was twenty five kilometers and involved atleast two hours of travel to and fro every single day.
I sneezed and turned back at the board.I heard someone sneezing along with me,hand-in-hand.I looked up to see Akshat sir closing his eyes,inhaling and exhaling.He caught me staring at him.We looked at each other and blushed,recollecting our last night’s intimacy in the heavy downpour. My bestie pinched me,teasing about the coincidence.I looked at the slide displayed and he resumed the class.
My gang sat on the benches,in a circular fashion,opening our lunch boxes.As we waited for Vyomi,I socialized with my new friends chatting about Hindi serials to Diya and Tanvi,as Karan roasted every story we claimed to be superb.We laughed,as I defended,”Karan,why don’t you admire even a single serial?”He denied, "Whats so great? Most of the times, heroine keeps getting admitted to the ICU otherwise hero meets with an accident and remembers everything else but his wife...." I laughed my heart out at his lines.
My bestie barged inside,crying out, with her fast accent,”Guys!I am back…Oh god!Shreyas sir gave me so many extra works.”She sat beside me and opened her Tupperware boxes.We began hogging,as she grumbled,”I was waiting to get my Administrative Law assignment signed.He caught me to check two bundles of seniors’ assignments if they were corrected or not!”I patted Vyomi,advising her that she must feel happy for helping her professor instead of grumbling.
Tanvi opened her snack box and offered little gulab jamoons whose bottom portions were soaked in the pond of syup. Karan grabbed two while the rest of us tasted one.My mouth was filled with the sweet syrup,freezing my teeth as well, as I chewed every bit of it slowly.”Yummy!”,exclaimed I.
She told that her mother had cooked it.I finished eating the piece inside my mouth and sighed,looking at the parathas and channa masala and a bowl of fried rice I had brought for my lunch.As always,Selvi auntie had cooked everything that day as well.I concealed a drop of tear ,recollecting that my mom rarely cooked anything special for me.
However,I also recollected how my mom had prepared puran poli for the dessert,the night I informed my parents about my successful transfer.I smiled,convincing myself that I had tasted my mother’s recipie quite recently and that there wasn’t anything to miss. After we closed our boxes,Diya ran to the stage.Tanvi followed her with her guitar.The class was empty during lunch breaks except for our gang hogging there.
Vyomi announced,”Naomi, I need to tell you something.”
“Go ahead!”, permitted I, leaning back on the bench and extending my legs forward.
What do Naomi's friends have in store for her?
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