Today was one of the perfect days with perfect sunshine, perfect clouds, perfect noise level and most importantly, the perfect cup of chai (tea). The only thing that ruined my perfect picture was all so 'perfect' Ved.

Why was he here with us? Why did Tanya had to bring him along for our tea break? I nudged her and she gave me a pitiful look. I glared at Ved when he gave me an arrogant smirk.

No one minded his presence except me. Why was life so unfair? As I sulked about my misery, everyone else showered Ved with all their attention. That bastard must be on cloud nine right now. Surbhi asked him about his upcoming match while Divya and Rashi kept asking him if he was dating someone or not.

He chuckled at their silly questions which encouraged them more. I could literally see stars in their eyes as they talked to him. Yeah, I know he was kind of a celebrity but he was a human being in the end. What was so great about him? Just look at that jerk smiling like he had no care in the world.

Since no one was paying any attention to me, thanks to the mighty Ved's unwanted presence, I began chatting with chaiwale bhaiyya (tea seller). Atleast he wasn't affected by that idiot. Or so I thought.

Tanya and Ved had grown more close after Tanya's confession. She let us all know about it one day when we were having a sleepover at her house. Everyone was shocked to hear it except me. I knew it already and was happy that she finally let the cat out of the bag.

It was one of the most emotional nights of my life. No, Tanya wasn't crying nor was I. It was our other three friends who acted like it was the end of the world. They were crying rivers when they got to know that Ved rejected her.

Oh, no no no. It wasn't just that. They were singing praises of him; of how it was so polite of him to reject her without hurting her feelings and not making a big fuss about it.

When would they stop fangirling?!

"Hello everyone!"

Thank goodness, Parth was here. I quickly grabbed his wrist before he got involved with the mini Ved fanclub. I needed another soul to talk to. The chaiwale bhaiyya had gotten tired of my rambling too.

"Oh, hey Sandhya. Looks like you got sidetracked again," he joked and I slapped his shoulder.

"Why does he get all the attention?" I complained.

"He has worked hard for it."

"Yeah right. Being born good-looking is so much hard work."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Yup."

"I wasn't talking about that. I meant he took a lot of efforts to reach where he is. You know that he is the youngest-"

"No! I don't want to listen to it. Why are we even talking about him? Let's discuss about something else. Tell me about your girlfriend. You said she was planning on coming for your birthday, right?"

"Yeah. I talked to her just now."

"Aw. So cute."

He blushed and I teased him more. Like that, Parth and I conversed about random topics while sipping tea. I was really thankful for his company and glad that he didn't abandon me. We were arguing over something when I noticed Nikhil and Karthik leaving the school gates.

Those two. I had been seeing them together a lot. And I wasn't happy about it. Nikhil was still ignoring me, no matter how hard I tried to break the walls he had built around him.

He had no issue sharing his problems with Ved, so why was I any different? Weren't we close enough to share our secrets?

This morning, I had called him up and asked if he could give me a ride to the college. I was waiting for the bus for nearly one hour and no auto was willing to accept my fare since they didn't get a return ride that easily.

Nikhil tried to turn down my request but when I genuinely told him that I wasn't using that as an excuse to confront him, he agreed.

He did come to pick me up but we didn't exchange a single word during the whole ride. My visits to his house were frequent and his family treated me like their own daughter. If only Nikhil also felt the same, then he would realise that we all wanted his well-being and nothing else.

But I kept my mouth shut. I knew that if I said anything about drugs or complain about his friendship with Karthik, he would snap and I would have to cover the rest of my journey by foot. So, I just thanked him when we reached school and went my way.

During the morning lectures also, I didn't bother him. I was following Surbhi's advice. Give him some space. It was hard but I had to be patient. Right now, he was in a bright mood and laughed at something Karthik said, as they came and joined Ved. Karthik passed a cigarette to Nikhil and lighted it up for him too.

Ved told them to reduce their smoking intake and they both nodded their heads. Nikhil doesn't listen to me when I tell him to do so. I sulked but still didn't say anything. Parth snapped his fingers in front of me and I raised my eyebrows in question.

"What's bothering you?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Really? I thought we were close enough to share our problems. Looks like that's not the case," he said in a sad tone.

I laughed at him when he faked being hurt by my ignorance and began quoting sad dialogues from who knows which movie. I motioned towards Nikhil when he didn't stop exaggerating.

Parth looked at him and then at me. "Couple fight?"

"Seriously Parth?" I gave him a dead look.

He laughed and told me that he also knew what was going on with Nikhil. He was worried about him and Karthik too.

"Don't worry. I am sure they will get out of this mess soon," he assured.

"Do you know why they are acting like that? I might have some idea about Nikhil but what about Karthik?"

"Um... well actually.... um..."

"Don't say it if you don't want to. I understand if you don't want to break the bro-code."

"Phew. Sorry Sandhya. I can't tell you since it is kind of personal. Hope you don't mind."

"Yeah, don't worry."

"Now stop frowning, will ya? It doesn't look good on you."

I smiled and we diverted our conversation to football. I could feel Nikhil's stare on me and whenever I glanced at him, he looked away.

Why wouldn't he just say what was on his mind? My eyes turned to the perfect idiot beside him who had a satisfactory smile on his face. His face glowed ten times more when he saw my annoyed expression.

I knew what he was thinking. I looked at our small group and noticed that he was the centre of attention. Everyone was captivated by him, even Surbhi, my best friend. What kind of black magic did he know?

He hadn't pulled any prank on me in recent days so Surbhi and Tanya had nothing against him too. If I wasn't in the equation, it would look like Surbhi had known Ved since ages. They talked about business, real estate, Bitcoin and stuff. Something, I wouldn't be able to relate to so much.

Tanya also talked about how her family was expanding their business of mineral ores mining. Divya told him her dream of becoming a travel blogger while Rashi informed that her mother had agreed on letting her join a professional hair styling course. I was happy for her.

I sighed and turned back to Parth who was rambling about his girlfriend, Kasturi now. I smiled at how his eyes shined and his cheeks had a tint of red when he talked about his lady love with so much admiration.

I wondered if I hadn't met him on my first day, would we have become friends?

"Parth!" Ved called him.

Parth immediately got up and joined him. Ved glanced at me and grinned. I pulled out my tongue at him and he rolled his eyes. He shook his head at me and got back in conversation with his admirers.

So in the end, I was by myself again. I could have asked Surbhi to join me or complain about how she was paying attention to my enemy, but she looked in a good mood. She was enjoying her time so as a good friend, I decided to not ruin it by my unnecessary sulking.

All of them were stuck to Ved like glue. Like he was some kind of magnet which attracted people without any effort and when done so, the others wouldn't want to leave his side. His social circle was also big, no, it was huge. Even those from other cities also knew him.

On the social ladder, he was at a level where I wouldn't be able to reach ever. He had everything. Good looks? Check. Money? Check. Friends? Check. A lot of friends? Double check. Fame? Check. Success? Check.

And what did I have? Did I even had a list?

Good job on making yourself feel worthless, Sandhya. Wasn't this day supposed to be perfect? Hm? Oh look, who was here now.

The perfect couple of our college, Shree and Mahek.

Mahek Rathi. That witch. She clung to Shree while eyeing other guys. She checked everyone but her eyes seemed to linger on Ved for a longer time.

Oh wait! I forgot to tell Shree about her. How could I be so careless? I walked towards them and stopped in front of Mahek. She gave me a sweet smile but I didn't return the gesture. Instead, I must have looked like a murderer with the death glare I was giving her. I exhaled deeply and asked.

"Where were you last Sunday?"