“One more word about Arnav Malhotra and I will kill the first person in sight!” Tanya said, plopping down on the chair next to me.

“Huh?!” I said, looking up from my custard at her.

“The entire day I have been hearing that idiot’s name!”

“You mean the entire 'first quarter' of the day,” I said.

“And you are already having custard,” she said, snatching the spoon from my hand and digging into my custard.

“I was hungry!” I whined, trying to take my spoon back. I hated skipping breakfast and all thanks to the idiot I called my brother.

I loved my college and the best part of the entire building was the canteen. Our school was founded by the British when they had invaded India long ago. Our school followed the western pattern of education for junior college while it followed the Indian pattern of education for the high school. It was really thrilling to go to one class after the other instead of watching the teachers enter one by one while we sat in the same boring class all day. My first hour was English and luckily, I had Tanya and Shreya in it too.

I had my second hour of the day free and so I went to the library to clear up my thoughts but all I could think as I sat there was that I shouldn’t have taken that topic up. It was stupid of me. I knew that Soham had only good intentions in mind while warning me against Arnav, but he can’t just walk around telling me not to talk to this one and that one. I mean that had to stop and he had to know that we were past that zone where he had to warn me all the time. Rohit had grown out of it and he was actually my elder brother who had rights to be over-protective. Though he still goes protective at times, Soham was crossing the limits in that field.

But again, Soham was my best friend.

He had some rights, too, right?!

So, overall, I just left the library feeling more confused than ever. I didn’t know who was right and wrong in this argument and my friends didn’t help much either. They just avoided the topic like the plague when I brought it up. I had ended up coming to the canteen to grab something to eat during the first short break.

“I am so sick of hearing that guy’s name too! Another ‘Arnav’ I hear or anything just starting from ‘A’, I am going to personally hunt him down and beat him to death in the darkest corners of the world,” Shreya hissed.

It was really rare of Shreya to go all karate mode because like I have mentioned it before, she was always calm and composed and had a good hold of her temper.

“What's wrong?” I asked finally interested in the topic when I snatched the plate away from Tanya.

“S.A.P girls have gone crazy over the ‘new guy from Delhi’,” Shreya said, snatching the custard from my hand and having a huge bite.

I glared at her and tried to snatch it away from another invader.

“Like literally. Everywhere I went today; they were all like, “Oh my god! Did you see him?” Tanya said in a high-pitched tone.

“He is so cute, and he is so funny, and he is so smart!” Shreya exaggerated in another highly pitched voice.

“His Delhi accent! Oh my god!”

“In such a short while, all the girls have noticed him and fallen head over heels for him.”

I was watching the duo talk like I was watching a tennis match as my head kept dodging from left to right.

“I know right? Maybe it’s because he is from a different city. What is with Mumbai girls and their love for guys from another city?”

“I don’t know…” Shreya said in a tiny voice trailing off.

We looked at her, confused. And then it struck us. Siddhant was from a different city too. He was from Bangalore and he had a high sophisticated tone when he came here but the more the time, he had spent with us, the more he was turning into a Mumbaikar!

Tanya and I burst out laughing.

I snatched my custard away from Shreya and realized that there was only a bite left. I made a face at both.

“Aww!” they both cried out as Shreya ruffled my hair and Tanya pinched my cheeks.

“If any girl can get him, it would be Trisha Shetty!” Tanya exclaimed, nudging my side as I tried my best not to blush or to make a face at her.

“Get whom?” Jeremy asked, pulling up a chair between Tanya and me and sitting down. He took my custard and ate the remaining part of it.

“Thank you, Jeremy, I was so having trouble finishing my custard!” I exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

“You are welcome, Trisha!” he said, ruffling my hair. I slapped his hand away and patted down my messy hair.

“The new boy from Delhi, Arnav Malhotra!” Shreya exclaimed.

“Don’t tell Soham this but I guess Arnav is now the ‘heart throb’ of S.A.P,” Tanya whispered.

“Soham was the ‘heart throb’ before?” I asked.

They all looked at me with funny faces as if I had just asked what the first English alphabet was.

“Wow. You really are ignorant about him, aren’t you?” Tanya asked, exasperated.

I winced at her remark. I didn’t know why but that really hurt. Thinking about it, Soham was actually pretty good-looking but he was always my best friend and I had never ever looked at him in any other way. Maybe that’s why I have never noticed that he was really striking. He was even kind, sweet and funny and now as I am thinking more about it, I realized that he was an ideal guy with all his amazing sport skills. Sure that I have heard a lot of girls talk about him and having a ‘crush’ on him and sure, he has dated a few but he always seemed so ‘not interested’ in any girl that even I had started ignoring the impact he had on the girls around.

I suddenly, remembered the fight we had in the morning and I made up my mind to apologize later.

He can be as possessive as he wants but I can’t afford to lose him.

He was my best friend and he was one of a kind.

But he hadn’t come anywhere near the canteen till now.

“I don’t know why we fought in the morning. It was stupid of me—" I started to say but Jeremy interrupted me, suddenly standing up.

“So, anyone wants custard?”

See, that’s what I meant when I said that they were ignoring me whenever I started the topic of our fight.

Where they hiding something from me? A tiny voice inside my head asked and I couldn’t help but think about it as I walked to my next class.

***

“I am so, so sorry!” I said looking up at him.

“Whatever Trisha!” he said, trying to walk away. I ran after him, clutched his arm and tried whatever I could to make him look my way again, but he kept walking. I ran again to catch up with him, stopped right in front of me and forced him to face me.

“I am really, extremely sorry!” I pleaded, giving the best puppy dog face ever.

His eyes softened and he ran his fingers through his hair. I gave him the cutest smile I have ever given anybody and that was all it needed to get my friend back.

He smiled back at me and that’s when I thought that Tanya was right, maybe. He was perfect in every possible way to make him the heartthrob of S.A.P.

***

Soham had his arm around my shoulder as we walked towards the oak tree at the end of the college day. There were many other students still walking around in the campus.

“Guys, what about a football match? Boys against girls?” Siddhant asked, dribbling a ball between his legs.

“That would be perfect!” I exclaimed. Football was my favourite game ever and I really enjoyed playing it.

“Yes, and now the teams would also be even,” Soham said.

Four girls in one team and four boys, including Arnav in the other.

As I noticed him, sprawled across the grass, I realized that it was the first time I was seeing him since the morning. Maybe I was so caught up in just finding Soham and apologizing to him that I had not noticed him anywhere in the school.

Or maybe, he was just so caught up with all the girl attention.

A pang of jealousy hit me instantly.

What the hell was that?!

Soham had agreed like a reluctant dad that I could speak to Arnav as much as I wanted but if he made any bad move in my direction, I would have to immediately report to him. Sounded like I was some police officer and Arnav was some murderer who was just allowed to leave prison as innocent.

***

“Pass the ball,” I shouted to Tanya and she kicked the ball towards me. I sent it flying through the two trees that were acting like the goal post. Jeremy was the goalkeeper and he jumped in front of the ball but instead of saving it, he just fell face-first on the ground and the ball went right past him.

“Yes!” I shouted, high fiving my teammates. The boys pounced upon Jeremy, annoyed that he was unable to save yet another goal.

The score was now equal, three on three.

Tanya, Nimmy and I have been on the school’s girls’ football team for five years while Siddhant and Soham have been in the boys’ football team since time immemorial.

Turns out that Arnav was an amazing player too. His dribbling skills were remarkable, and he never missed one goal. Two out of the three goals were scored by him alone. I must say that I was pretty impressed.

On asking him later, he confessed that he had played for his school ever since he learned to kick a ball.

Talk about exaggeration and bragging.

I dribbled the ball towards their goal post and Arnav tried to take it away from me. Maybe he just went too into the game because the next thing I knew I received a hard shove and went rolling across the grass.

“Ouch!” I yelped in agony as I tried to sit back up, but my knee hurt like hell.

Arnav ran to my side followed by the others.

“You are bleeding!” Jeremy screamed, pointing to my knee. My jeans had been ripped and a stream of red-hot blood was flowing through the open wound.

Arnav took my hand with one of his while he gently nudged my knee to see if it would be alright to move it. I screamed in pain.

He then looked at me with sorrow and guilt in his eyes.

“I am so, so, so sorry. We need to get you to the sick bay, immediately. Can you get up?” I gazed up at him. His eyes were gazing down at mine and I got so lost in his deep brown eyes that the pain suddenly turned numb and it was almost like my body froze over. His face was so close to mine that I was able to count all the black freckles of his eyes and if he hadn’t just shoved me to get a football and if I hadn’t just fell and rolled like a pussy, then this would have been the perfect moment when they kiss in movies and books but of course someone had to ruin it.

“You both can stare at each other all day after we get Trisha into the sick bay,” Soham said, putting an arm around my waist and helping me get up. I knew that he didn’t mean a word of what he said except getting me into a sick bay part.

I slung my arms around Soham’s and Arnav’s shoulders and limped to the sick bay.

***

The sick bay was a huge room which had half a dozen beds and an old nurse. She has been working in our school cum college, way before I even joined it. It was amazing how she still remembered us though she must be having more patients than any other clinic.

After inspecting my knee, she put on some medicine which made the wound sting like shit and wrapped a bandage around it. Soham called Rohit and informed him so I could get a drive back home instead of risking the rickshaws that jumped with every pothole in the road.

Great, I thought. My mother would literally freak out when she hears that I had injured myself. May it be a small cut or a great injury, it was her official duty to freak out and go all protective-mummy-mode on me.

Since Rohit was home, it wouldn’t be a surprise if my mother already knew it.

“Chill, I already told Seema aunty that it isn’t such a deep cut,” Soham said soothingly as if he had just read my mind.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. My mother loved and trusted Soham more than she trusted any of my other friends.

“Jeremy, keep that glucose packet down!” we heard the nurse scream from behind her desk. We all looked at Jeremy. He grinned sheepishly at us, putting his hands up to indicate that he was innocent, but a green packet slipped from underneath his shirt and fell down.

We all couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Finally, I convinced them all to leave and promised each one of them that I would call them as soon as I reached home.

Sometimes, I wonder why I have so many best friends.

I watched them leave reluctantly, looking back and waving ten thousand times. Arnav was the last one to leave after saying sorry like googolplex times and after me saying ‘its fine’ googolplex times. He punched in his number in my phone and made me promise that I would call or at least text once I reach home.

My heart reached out to him as I watched him leave, his head hung low as if he had just committed a murder without realizing it and was waiting for his sentence of death.

If I wouldn’t have gazed at him as he left, I wouldn’t have seen Jeremy sneak out the glucose package and thus I wouldn’t have realized that I have got some amazing, kick-ass friends who I wouldn’t trade for all the worldly possessions.