I got ready at the slowest pace possible so that Rudra would leave for college by the time I go down for breakfast.

I knew that he had made some assumptions and would start firing another round of questions, the moment I would reach the dining table.

After wasting so much time, I went down keeping my fingers crossed, praying that he was done with breakfast and had already left the house.

Alas! When has luck ever sided with me. He was there standing near the table, smirking at me like he knew my plan of avoiding him.

I refrained myself from looking at him and had my breakfast silently. Fortunately he took the hint and kept quiet.

He left after few minutes, understanding that I was in no mood to talk with him.

I let out a breathe, I didn't knew I was holding the moment he closed the door behind him.

My great plan of avoiding him only succeeded in making me late for college. I didn't have time for cleaning the mess so I just left my dish in the sink and left for the college, leaving the mess behind.

Speed walking came in handy as I reached few seconds before the class started.

I sat in my usual seat and waited for the class to start.

I was startled when Rudra unexpectedly came and sat beside me. Everyone in the class was looking at him like he had grown two heads, undoubtedly waiting for me to lash out on him but I couldn't do it as I needed his help later for acting as my friend in front of my Mom.

Class started and I sat stiffly beside him clutching my pen so tightly that I won't be surprised if it broke.

Having conversations with him at home was different as there was a huge distance between us but here he sat so close that my fear of men escalated.

"Shit, Are you okay?", he asked whispering as the lecture was going on.

I nodded stiffly and tried to ignore him as much as I could.

"Damn I just thought you would get angry when I came to sit beside you, I never thought that you would be scared. I am so sorry. I promise I would leave this seat as soon as the lecture gets over", he said and shifted as much as he could to give me some space.

The space wasn't much but it was bigger than before and it calmed my mind a little.

I didn't react and tried focusing on the lecture instead of the guy sitting beside me.

As promised he left when the lecture ended. I sighed out in relief when I watched him leaving but there was an unmistakable fear that there was a great chance that now he won't agree to be my fake friend after seeing my aloof behaviour.

The guy had too much self-respect and there was no way he would come around again after I rejected his presence for the third time.

I don't know what will I do now as he was my only option and I couldn't gather courage to ask someone else, it was difficult asking him and it would be ten times worse to ask some stranger.

I am 99.9% sure that Rudra agreed only because of Ganga Tai and no one else would even give it a thought before rejecting the idea of becoming my fake friend.