1 Prologue

21st July, 2014, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Chennai...

I woke up to get ready for the course registration at 6 in the morning, my head foggy with sleep. I wore a navy blue tank top with a pair of jeans and packed my laptop and some other necessities to attend the class, along with a scarf, just in case the weather acts up. I make my way to the staff room my counselor resides in at 8 o'clock sharp.

It was just two months ago that I came here with my parents to get my admission done at the UB. The environment here and the feeling of being in college are indeed as compelling as everyone makes them out to be. I've always been free-spirited, an enthusiast who's curious about everything, including other people's business, to the point that people call me nosy, but I've never caused trouble for others by gossiping. I just like to hear people gossip because it's all just information to me. I just enjoy knowing about people. As long as I have good hearing, I will listen to everything around me.

In the past week that I've been here in the hostel room, I've gotten accustomed to the surroundings. I got my ID card and had orientation classes for a week before finally getting registered for classes. In the first year, the councilors take care of the schedule and the lectures to choose from since we know nothing about the faculty.

After registering for the classes, all the students spread out to find their classrooms. I feel like I've been moving in a daze the entire day. I was so caught up in the feeling of finally having some college experience that I gazed around like a total idiot.

I am not bad at academics; I can also call myself studious, but I am no genius. Now that I have the opportunity to study here, all I have to do is try to keep up with the other students.

I like the liveliness of the campus with all the students piling in, busy with their own stuff. Some are rushing to classes to avoid being late, and some are taking photos of everything they see. Maybe it wouldn't be the same every day, but it's still a vast campus, and I'll take my time exploring it for the next four years.

I walk towards the tech park where the registrations for the first-year CSE students are taking place. The crowd is just as big as before, which makes me wonder if all the students this year chose CSE. Couldn't be, since the university already has a limited number of seats allotted to each branch.

I instantly get giddy seeing the crowd, and as I move forward in line, someone taps my shoulder. I turn around to face Amara, my roommate this year. She is a beautiful girl with long hair—longer than me—and big eyes—not bigger than me—with good skin tone. Let's not compare the skin tone. What's more, she is more girly than me, not that I am girly. It's just that she's someone you will find cute and annoying at the same time with all her feminine acts.

"Waiting to get registered for classes?"

"No, I am here to order some samosa and chai. You want anything to eat too?" I reply. She's always like that, asking questions she knows the answer to. We've been roommates for one week, and it feels like a year. We still have another roommate who we have yet to see.

"Don't tell me you're serious."

I turn my head and say to her, "If I were serious, I would've brought my wallet."

She just smiled and dismissed my explanation. "It could've been that you just forgot to bring the wallet and eventually borrowed money from me. There was about a 0.5% chance of you being serious. And I take every percentage seriously."

Yep. What she's saying is true. She takes every tiny chance seriously. But no matter what, she's an easy-going person. So, I can live with that.

"A more logical way of defending yourself would be that you could not have known if I had my wallet on me." She nods as if she didn't think about it at all. "Anyway, why are you this late? You woke up earlier than me." I asked her out of curiosity. She takes such long baths that I wonder if she falls asleep inside.

"Oh, right. I totally forgot to tell you. I just thought I'd take a walk before coming here, so I left early, and I was just passing by the medical department building when I saw some guys fighting. It's more like one guy against two. You should've been there. He was so handsome, hitting them without hesitation. And it's not just his looks; he was built. I wonder if he has a six-pack."

"Are you still the Amara I know? I didn't know you talked like that."

"What's wrong with talking like this? I am just appreciating nature's work. Also, I don't just talk like this about anyone. I am picky when it comes to boys, you know?"

"Then this person must be truly handsome to get you worked up like this."

"Indeed. Aadhi, how do you prefer men?"

"I will know when I see him," I say with a smile. The truth is, I don't know what I find attractive in a guy. I grew up studying at an all-girls school, and there were fewer and fewer opportunities moving forward. It's just that I didn't get to think or talk about guys. The people I talk to most are my parents, and I definitely can't talk about boys in front of them. If I did, my father would throw a fit.

My father always says that he doesn't have many expectations of me as long as I get married to a decent guy and make a peaceful family. Yep, it sounds boring, but I guess it couldn't be helped. In the end, I myself am a hopeless romantic who would love to have my soulmate and build a family with lots of children. Only, it would be a little adventurous, our life.

"You're being vague again. Come on, just play along." Amara says.

"Fine. I want someone with a six-pack and a face as handsome as Hrithik Roshan's. It wouldn't hurt if he had a body like Salman Khan's, too."

"Now, that's greedy, you know? Salman Khan's body and Hrithik Roshan's face don't really match."

"That's exactly why a man who can pull off such features is appealing," I say, grinning.

"That makes sense," says Amara, nodding seriously as if she just came to a conclusion over a lab experiment. A laugh bursts out from my right, and I turn my head to look at the owner of that chuckle. My breath catches in my throat as I see a handsome guy with a very infectious smile smiling at me.

His eyes crinkle with another one of those addictive smiles. I just experienced butterflies in my belly. Faint imprints of a dimple appear on his right cheek, and I love dimples. He would've been even more handsome if he had dimples on both cheeks.

Before I could speak up, the line moved forward, and it was my turn to register.

"Let's go. I am done here." Amara says as she approaches me.

"Find out his name," I say without hesitation. I have never liked anyone, and now that I think I like him, I won't give up the chance by being shy about it.

"Who?" Amara follows my gaze. "Oh, that one. Pretty easy. That's Keshav Harshvardhan. Known for his charming features, he's already popular around the Department of Computer Science. Why? You like him?" she says with a sheepish smile.

"Yes," I reply again, with no hesitation. Amara's eyes widen, and she looks like her jaws are about to drop.

"Whoa! That's pretty straightforward. Take it slow, girl. He's just a kid." Amara says.

"Why do I need to lie when I know how I feel? At least I think I like him, and I will proudly say so."

"Do you realize that he has a lot of admirers? What makes you different?"

This question is reasonable enough, but all I could say was, "Because they're admirers and I am a chaser."