The bus pulled up at the curb and the doors swished open and they all alighted from the bus and made their way into the school premises.
"Isn't that your Raj?" Kaly jerked her head in the direction of the head cheerleader and her cohorts hanging around Rajveer Chaturvedi who was the second most handsome boy in school.
"He's not my Raj." Sarita countered.
"But you want him to be." Kaly stated.
Sarita sighed and looked at Raj. He looked very handsome in his black suit pants, white shirt and red and gold tie and wished it was her, he had his arm around her waist like that but she knew that wishes weren't horses and beggars couldn't ride.
"Yes, I want him to be, but he's not." Sarita replied to her friend's earlier statement. "He's... Divya's."
"He must be blind or something." Kaly muttered. "I mean, it's like Prince Charming in Cinderella leaving her behind and going for one of her sisters. Absolute madness."
Sarita smiled despite herself. It was a very interesting theory but Cinderella's sisters weren't as beautiful as Divya Malhotra and she could see why Rajveer went for her. They made a beautiful couple.
She gasped as the loud, excited cheer of students jolted her out of her reverie and she turned to see two black Maserati Levante cars drive into the premises through the gates and pull up right in front of the school building.
It didn't take rocket science to know who'd just arrived but everyone watched in fascination as a bodyguard opened the back door of the second car and Vikrant Suryavanshi alighted, looking like a hot model from one of those magazines Kaly's sister Samishka liked to peruse.
He was dressed in their second uniform; gray suit pants, white shirt and wine colored tie, held his wine blazer jacket in one hand, a very expensive apple watch strapped to his left wrist and then put on his signature dark sunglasses to finish the look.
Sarita looked around as all the female students who'd gathered round to watch him, sigh collectively and she could bet that their ovaries had exploded from that singular show.
Sarita had never seen Vikrant up close but she heard that he was the most handsome boy in the whole county and maybe the whole country. He'd unfortunately won a prize for that too, two years ago.
"Oh my goddess, he's so handsome." Kalyani squealed beside her.
"You're drooling, Kaly." Sarita muttered dryly. She wouldn't know if he was so handsome that even her best friend swooned because she only ever had eyes for Rajveer.
"Let me drool, Sarita." Kalyani waved her hand dismissively. "He's worth it."
Sarita sighed and shook her head. "What about Michael?"
"What about him?" Kaly arched a brow.
"How do you think he'll feel if he knows that you're drooling over another boy who also happens to be his friend?"
"Michael will be a good sport about it." Kaly grinned.
"Never mind." Sarita shook her head. "Can we go in now or do you want to gawk some more?"
Kalyani clicked her tongue. "You're a party pooper, Rita." Kaly said without heat. "Let's go."
Sarita rolled her eyes and followed Kalyani into the building.
******
George Granger High school was the best school in the state and anyone who was someone made sure to enroll their kids in GGH. They didn't even mind that the tuition fee was so expensive, that it was absurd, they just wanted the best for their kids and GGH was the best.
Sarita was grateful for the opportunity to attend a school like GGH. Her parents would never have been able to pay for her tuition fee if not for the fact that her father worked for Vikrant's father as the head of marketing and advertising in VS group of companies and she'd been awarded a scholarship to study in George Granger High, so her father only had to pay for her brother's tuition fee.
Sarita's family had moved from India to Cardenia which was a small country, very rich in oil and gold - after her father got a job in VS group as the head of the marketing and advertising department and on her second week as a new student in GGH, she'd met Kalyani under very embarrassing circumstances and they became friends.
"Hey, Kalyani." Gunjan Chaturvedi, Raj's sister greeted her as they neared their lockers.
"Jan! Jan!" Kaly screamed excitedly and hugged her. "You're back! Oh my goddess! How are you?"
"I'm fine." Gunjan smiled. "Thank you so much for everything Kal."
"It's nothing." Kaly said. "It wasn't only me anyway. You know everyone prayed for your recovery."
Everyone in GGH knew of Gunjan's accident which had almost left her paralyzed just months ago but, thank goodness it didn't happen. Kalyani's family and Vikrant's father had pitched in to get her the best medical treatment and it was good to see her walking on her own feet again.
She still looked pale and there were some bruises on her face that were not healed completely but it didn't matter.
"Hello Sarita." Gunjan smiled at her.
"Hello." Sarita said. "It's good to see you again Gunjan."
Everyone had fasted and prayed for her to recover without any medical issue because they all loved her so much. She was a happy go lucky person and very nice to everyone.
"Gunjan!" Her friends screamed excitedly when they saw her.
Gunjan turned around and waved excitedly to her friends then excused herself and rushed to meet them. Their excited squeals made Sarita and Kaly laugh before they turned back to their lockers to take out their books for the day.
Kalyani saw Vikrant giving her the stink eye and sent him a death glare. It was common knowledge that, apart from Kalyani admitting that Vikrant was handsome, they didn't like each other... at all.
Not like two arch enemies who hated the sight of the other but theirs was a frenemy sort of thing.
"Hey, Vikrant the loser!" Kaly lifted her thumb and pointer finger in the air causing the students to gasp in horror. "Good morning, loser."
The students' eyes darted between the two of them, not wanting to miss anything but they weren't too surprised as Vikrant just took out his phone and began messing with it.
They should have known only Kalyani Singh could get away with calling Vikrant Suryavanshi a loser and hell wouldn't let loose.
"Kalyani!" Sarita chided, looking horrified as well. "His ego is bigger than the earth itself, so someone's gotta put him in his place." Kaly huffed looking nonchalant. "I don't understand you sometimes, Kaly. Just a while ago, you were drooling all over his expensive shoes and now this?" Sarita looked confused. "We're just like that." Kaly shrugged carelessly. "Now wait for it." She moved close to Sarita as Vikrant stalked towards them. All Sarita could see was a drop dead gorgeous boy with blue eyes sauntering towards them. His hair was as black as night and reached his shirt collar which meant that it was long enough and needed to be cut, but Sarita thought that it made him look like an ancient warrior coming back from war... victorious. Although, the look in his eyes right now bordered on irritation and mild amusement. "I'm going to spank your ass one of these days, Yaya." His low voice watched over Sarita like rain after a long time of drought. "You're becoming very naught
Sarita woke up later that morning and realized that despite her scream, her parents didn't wake up to find out what was going on and then she remembered that they were heavy sleepers. Even if the earth was shaking, they'd never wake up. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She rotated her arms and felt the pain which made her frown. "Very funny." She muttered under her breath. She'd probably overworked her arms during gym class yesterday and the pain wasn't due to the yanking her arms had been subjected to in her dream. After her shower, she put on her uniform sans jacket since it seemed as if it was going to be a hot day and sat at her reading table to read for the history pop quiz she knew they'd have that day because the history teacher Mr Bradley was predictable like that. She tried hard to read but she couldn't concentrate as her mind decided to take a trip down memory lane which was early this morning about the dream. She found it absurd that Vikran
Sarita gasped. "That is very very bad." She reprimanded him. "I was looking for her password." He said. "It's nice to finally meet you, Anushka." He held out his hand to her. Sarita stared at his hand in awe then she looked at his face before she shook his hand shyly. She gasped when she felt a tingling sensation run up her arm and she quickly withdrew her hand from his. "Um... It's nice finally meeting you too, Vikrant Suryavanshi." She smiled. "I'll call you Anu from now on, okay? It's Anu for me and only me." He informed her. "Um... Okay." Sarita blushed harder, if it were possible. "You can call me Mayank. Only my dad calls me Mayank, seeing as he's also Vikrant. I don't want you to call me what others call me." He told her. "If you call me Vikrant, I won't answer you." "Why not? It's your name, is it not?" She angled her head to study his face. "Yes, but I don't want you to call me Vikrant." He reiterated. "Like we're friends?" She wondered. "Yes." He nodded. "Okay."
"Is that possible?" Sarita was stunned. "There is not one soul on this earth that does not lie.""Not Vikrant." Kaly's grin widened."I don't believe you." Her eyes narrowed. "Don't ask him.""You know I will." Kaly winked.Sarita knew she couldn't talk her friend out of it so she gave up. "Just don't tell me what he says."Kaly stared at her friend. "You're so..." She paused. "Grrr!" She bared her teeth.Sarita laughed. "You love me anyway." She smiled cheekily at her."Unfortunately." Kaly mumbled.*******Kalyani's smile widened as Vikrant grudgingly sat down in front of his laptop with a death glare directed at her but she wasn't intimidated. He refused to pick her calls so she'd decided to do a video call."If you'd only picked my calls then I wouldn't have to see your ugly face." She told him. "So deal with it.""This better be important." He growled. He'd had to pause his video game to answer her summons. If he didn't, she'd never let him hear the last of it. Her sister was now
Sarita stood by her locker, deep in thought, staring at the picture of Rajveer that she'd pasted on the door of her locker and didn't notice Vikrant standing behind her. "Boo!" He yelled in her ear. "Goddess!" She jumped and slammed her locker door shut in fright, only for it to catch her pinky finger and she yelped. "I'm so sorry." He apologized. "Let me see." He took her hand in his to examine it. Her finger was red and it was bleeding from the cut she'd sustained. "It's... It's fine." She muttered and withdrew her hand. "Don't be silly." He chided and took her hand again, firmly this time in his. "I know it hurts like a bitch so it's not fine." Then he surprised her by putting her finger in his mouth. Sarita gasped and with wide eyes, looked around and saw students staring at her then at Vikrant in horror. "What... What are you doing, Mayank?" She whispered, tugging at her hand. "Stop." Vikrant didn't release her hand until he wanted to and even then, he still held on a lit
He shouldn't want to be with her every time but he couldn't help himself. He knew she probably had a crush on his best friend but he didn't want to care. Girls only wanted two things from him; money and sex and he was tired of being seen as a walking dollar sign. He wanted something different and Sarita was different. Sarita was a fast learner as she immediately played the tune he'd taught her not even a minute ago and got it right. She smiled big at him after she was done and he fought the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her. "You're so fucked, Suryavanshi." He thought grimly. "About the concert thing... you're not lying to me, are you, Mayank?" She asked. "I mean..." "I don't lie." He cut her off. "I'd show it to you but the pictures are on my laptop. I lost my phone at that same concert but I was able to get everything back." "And the only way to see these pictures is... how exactly?" "Will you be at my party this Saturday? I could show you." He said. "I don't like
A knock on Vikrant's bedroom door brought him out of his reverie and he got out of bed, padded barefoot to the door and opened it."Hey son." It was his father."Hey dad." He left the door open and walked back into the room. "When did you get back?""A little while ago." Rohan Suryavanshi had named his son after him and not to confuse anyone else about the names, decided to use his middle name which was Rohan after his son was born. "How are you?"Vikrant plopped down on the sofa in front of his bed with a sigh. "I'm fine dad.""Are you really?" Rohan arched a brow as he settled down on the wingback chair facing the floor to ceiling window."To be honest, I don't know." Vikrant replied. "I'm bored out of my mind and I have a thousand and one things on my mind.""Like what? It helps to talk about whatever is on your mind." His father offered."I'm sure you have something more important to do than listen to me talk.""Son...""I am not accusing you of anything dad." Vikrant was quick to
"It's Mayank's birthday today?" Sarita asked Kalyani as they passed by Vikrant's locker and saw the gifts piled up in front of the door."Tomorrow." Kaly replied. She stopped in front of the pile, took out a brown envelope from her backpack, opened it and pulled out a blown up picture. "Hey guys!" She called the attention of the students."What are you doing?" Sarita questioned."This is me saying a happy happy birthday to my dear cousin Vikrant Suryavanshi!" She turned then proceeded to paste the blown up picture on his locker door."Oh my gosh!" Girls screamed when they saw what it was. It was a baby picture of Vikrant being bathed by Kalyani's mother and he was making funny faces at her. He couldn't have been more than two or three years old.Sarita was pushed around as the students tried to get closer to the picture but Kalyani warded them off. She wanted Vikrant to see this and know that, although her revenge was childish but she got it anyway."He's going to be raving mad once h