Beneath the Golden Chain (BtGC)

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

'Babe, come here,' I heard Reyansh playing a dirty trick on me, standing on the centre of attention, which was the basketball court. 'Did you hear that?' Ashna asked me. 'Don't mind him. He is just trying to create haters for me,' I said. Though I walked fast, I couldn't escape him. He grabbed my collar and I was on air. 'What the heck? Are you trying to kill me?' I asked. I heard some guys laughing. 'See, they are all making fun of me,' I said. 'Who'd dare to make fun of the girl in my hands?' he asked loudly. 'Reyansh, let go of me. Don't act like an idiot,' I said as I was not able to feel the joke any longer. 'Sorry. I was just kidding,' he said. 'It's okay. But don't do this again. I don't feel comfortable. They'll assume something bad,' I said. 'Do you care about what others say?' he asked. 'To be honest, I do. Because I am not like you. I have to face the reality,' I said. 'Rad, don't get too much into it,' he said. 'Mm,' I replied. 'Where's the third musketeer?' he asked. 'Oh, Lakshmi? She is our new rep. She's busy with so many things,' I replied. 'I am a class rep too. It's just rep of a classroom, not a parliament or something. What's making her so busy that she cannot even enjoy her recess?' he asked. 'Absolutely!' Ashna joined him. 'Huh!?' I was shocked. 'No, I was just having the same thought as him,' she said. 'Why? Are you worried about her?' I asked him. 'It's more like I am worried about her friend,' he replied.

Reshma joined the conversation on seeing us. 'Aren't you guys afraid that you'll become a hot potato again? Why are you standing here and enjoying it, as if you don't care? Are you both official now?' she asked. 'What official? Stop nonsense,' I replied. 'You stay out of this,' he said to her. 'Don't come to me asking doubts,' she said. 'Shhh...' he asked her to stop talking. 'What doubts?' I was curious. 'Every night he comes to me asking relationship doubts,' she said. 'What!?' I was shocked. 'What the hell are you saying? She'll misunderstand,' he said. 'Are you both hiding something?' I asked. 'Absolutely no,' he said. I said I was going back to class. I was still stuck in that moment. 'Was she joking? Or does it mean nothing?' I thought.

I saw a message request on my instagram. It was from him. 'Rad, accept my follow request,' that was the text. He followed no one. So I had a bad feeling that he'll un-follow me later. Plus, I was mad at him. On scrolling through my requests, I realised that I got requests from many seniors. I accepted everyone including Karthik and the other guys in his gang. I just wanted to make Reyansh realise that I accepted many requests, except one. 'What? 80 following and followers increased. Why aren't you considering me!?' he texted. I pretended that I didn't see.

On the way back, I saw him playing the basketball. Our eyes met. But I didn't smile. He ran towards me. 'Are you leaving?' he asked. I kept silent. 'What now? Still mad at me? I saw that you followed so many boys. But you didn't follow me. How cruel,' he said. 'Does that even matter? I can see through your tricks. You are that kind of guy who'll unfollow people once they follow you, right?' I asked. 'Hahaha,' he smiled. 'I am leaving. Move,' I said. 'Hey, don't go. Let's clear this,' he said. I stopped. 'You don't know how many girls are waiting for this privilege. This is a rare chance,' he added. 'Go, follow your Reshma. I don't want this chance,' I replied. 'I think someone is jealous,' he said. 'I am not,' I said. 'You are. Just accept it. And it's okay to feel so. You have the rights,' he said. 'What nonsense is that? What do you mean?' I asked. 'Use this head of yours and think slowly. You'll understand,' he said. 'I don't want to. Let go of my head. You are squeezing my face. You are making my hair messy,' I complained. 'Good. So that no one will mess with you,' he said. 'Then I'll make girls stay away from you,' I said on messing with his hair. 'Still handsome. I am helpless,' I whispered to myself. 'Did you just praise me now?' he asked. 'No. I was saying you look so ugly. I wonder why girls are after you,' I said. 'Really? You think so?' he asked. I nodded my head. 'Back then, someone said she likes me. I wonder what made her fall for me,' he said. 'Don't bring that up now. I had no brain then,' I said. 'So, do you have one now?' he asked. 'Hey, stop joking,' I said. 'Okay. I quit. Let me ask you one thing honestly. You really liked me, back then?' he asked. 'I don't know. May be. May be not. I couldn't distinguish between crush, like, love and all. Anyways, I liked your character. Since I liked your character, I liked your face, I liked your habits and I liked everything about you. Since I liked your character, I didn't care about how you looked or what family you came from or what your drawbacks were. If I like someone I just like that person. I'd like that person no matter how he looks or what he does for a living. Appearance doesn't matter to me at all. Since I like him, he'll always look beautiful to me,' I said.