CHAPTER 6

Our final exams were around the corner, I had to prepare hard for them. I was an intelligent girl but still, I had to stay up late studying.

I was studying one day on campus when a ball was thrown at me. Sidd came to pick up the ball from where it was.

“Why did you throw the ball at me? Can’t you see that I’m studying?” I asked as calmly as I could pretend.

“Did you see me throw the ball?” He questioned.

“I knew it was you, who else in this whole campus does silly things?”

“Seriously? And who in this whole campus is as bad looking as you?”

“If my look was that irritating, why then do you always disturb me? You can’t live without my beauty,” I commented boldly as I was packing my books to go home.

“You are so delusional, you know that?”

“Just admit it,” I stated as I was about to go. He threw the ball at me once again but I couldn’t do anything about that. I knew that praising myself hurts him and that was satisfactory for me.

I studied late on campus one day, I didn’t come with my scooter ‘cause I couldn’t find the key as early as possible. I abandoned the search for the scooter key and took a cab to campus. After studying for some hours, I decided to go home. It was a little bit dark by then. I went to the road to look for a cab. After minutes of hailing unstoppable cabs, a car that looks like a cab stopped in front of me. I entered and told the cabby my address.

After some minutes, I noticed the cabby was taking the wrong direction.

“Where are you going, Mister? This is not the right way,” I stated.

“I know, ma’am, I’m looking for a short way to your address,” the cabby said in a calm tone.

I didn’t say anything further. Some minutes later, we were still on the short way ride. Even with my scooter, the ride wasn’t as long as these.

“Where are you taking me?” I questioned angrily but with fear, who knows what his plans are?

“Calm down, ma’am, we will be at your destination soon,” he said calmly.

“When will that be?” I queried. “You have been driving for almost two hours already,” I stated pissed off.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he apologized.

“You don’t have to apologize, just take me to my destination, or else I will alert people,” I warned.

Later on, the car stopped.

“Here we are, ma’am,” he announced.

“What?” I exclaimed. “You mean we have been going around all this while?” I questioned angrily as I discovered we were back on the campus road.

“This is a fun ride, right?”

The cabby commented as he took off his cap.

“You?” I uttered as I discovered Sidd has been the cabby all along.

“Yes, it’s me, how was the ride?” He asked smiling.

I looked at him misty and alighted from the car. He came out with me too.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“What have you done, Sidd? It is late already,” I stated as calmly as I could.

“It was a fun ride, come on, let’s do it again.”

“You are so annoying, how do I get home now?” I asked almost crying.

“What are you saying? We have a car here and you are complaining about how to go home. Why is that?”

“How can the car help when the driver is a silly person?”

“Really? Okay then, find yourself a cab and go home, or better still, sleep here,” he stated and turned to enter the car before I grabbed him by the wrist.

“You can’t leave me here,” I declared. “There are no cabs around to take me home,” I said pathetically.

“Oh! What do you want me to do now?” He asked.

“Take me home, of course.”

“Seriously? But I am silly, how then can I take you home?”

“… I’m…sorry!” I apologized reluctantly.

“I didn’t hear that,” he stated annoyingly.

“I said I’m sorry.”

“Good! Hop in, let’s go,” he said and I entered the car.

Some minutes later, we were at my home. I came out of the car.

“Aren’t you going to thank me at least?” He asked.

“Why should I? You made me come home late, my mom is certainly going to scold me because of you,” I stated sadly.

“That is your problem, appreciate me before I leave.”

“You can sleep here if you wish, I’m leaving,” I stated and went inside.

“She is so stubborn,” Sidd remarked and moved off.

I rode to the park the following day. I decided to get myself an ice cream from an ice cream shop. When I came out of the show to where my scooter was, I found out I had a punctured tire.

“Oh, no! What could have happened to it,” I murmured to myself.

“Ride home safely, okay?” I heard a voice from behind. When I turned to look at the person, I saw Sidd in a power bike smiling wickedly at me. He punctured my tire, I had to take my scooter to a technician for repair. Because of that, I had to go home late. My phone was down, so I couldn’t tell Mom what had happened. She was looking anxious when I got home. I explained to her what had happened to my tire and my mobile but I didn’t say someone caused it. I bet she understood. I went to my room and changed my dress.

I studied super hard for my exams. I studied mostly with Manu and some other coursemates.

After the exams, I decided to get back to Sidd for puncturing my tire the other time. Sidd was to deliver a speech on our graduation day but I can’t let that happen. I knew he had been practicing for a while now and it will hurt him to the core not to deliver what he had been practicing. He was allergic to cats and I always got my way. On the day of our graduation, he was called forward to deliver a speech to the audience. Let’s see if he will succeed.

I found my way behind the stage curtain with a cat. Poor Sidd began to sneeze non-stop. Oh God! What could be wrong? I bet that was his thoughts then. I guess the audience where waiting for the sneeze to stop but that never happened. I couldn’t help but snicker. He had to leave the stage for another graduate to take over.

After the speech, we all went out to celebrate and take pictures with friends and families. My mom and Kiara were both present at the graduation party.

“Why was I sneezing so heavily, someone must have brought in a cat,” Sidd soliloquized.

“Ride home safely, okay?” I reminded him and he turned abruptly to look at me with a wave of obvious anger.

“How was the speech delivery?” I mocked.

What happened next was what I never expected. Sidd grabbed my hand and pulled me along to a room and pushed me to the wall. My bangles got cut and my wrist was injured but he still held me tight. I was in pain but he wouldn’t just let me go. I found myself crying in pain and I had to plead for him to let me go.

“How dare you, Rani?” He thundered. I could see the sign of anger and bitterness on his face.

“Let me go, please, I’m sorry!” I apologized amid tears.

He didn’t give a damn if I was in pain or not. What a monster I have created of Sidd today.

“This is the worst you have ever done to me and I will never forgive you,” Those were his last words before finally letting go of my hand and he dashed out.

My wrist hurt. What have I done?

I have never seen Sidd in such a mood before. My tactic has ended up in such a big mess. I wiped away my tears with my palm and left the room. I left the occasion without notifying my mom and Kiara. I had to text them to come home. When they reached home, they scolded me for leaving the way I did. I had to lie to them about what happened. I told Manu what transpired between me and Sidd. She knew I was the one that brought in the cat. She was disappointed in me for what I did but she had no choice but to accept it. She was my friend, I love her so much. She has always been there for me. She took me like a sister she never had.