The Great Indian College Romance

13. Poignant Prepping

As the competition approached nearer I was slowly losing my mind. 

We were still working on our original at a maddeningly slow rate and I had internals to study for. Now I had previously thought I hadn't bunked very many classes but turns out skipping a couple of lectures every week really adds up and I was left behind with a lot to catch up on. 

We were singing the cover portion of our set in front of Yug, Virat, Hina and a few spectating bystanders. 

Our final set was one pop song that everybody would like - 'I don't wanna live forever' by Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift, one classic - 'Endless Love' by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, and the final song was the original. 

We ran through twice and Virat and Hina seemed plenty pleased with our performance. Angad was frowning by the end. When we were done talking to the others he pulled me aside. and said,

"What was up with that performance, Meera? I didn't want to point it out in front of everyone else but this wasn't your best."

I sighed. He was absolutely right. I had been really worried about an upcoming test and the others that followed that. On top of which we hadn't finished our original. What if we didn't finish writing it in time? What if I fucked up? I really did not want to let them all down the first time I represented them outside the college. 

I voiced some of my concerns to him and he smiled.

"You are worrying too much." He said and placed his hand on my shoulder reassuringly, "You'll do great on your tests and as far as the original goes I will make sure we have it done by the end of today. Hey, when does your internal wrap-up?" 

I had to make an effort to drag my attention from the tingles his palm seemed to elicit in my shoulder to answer his question.

"Around 3." 

"Great, meet me here."

"Oh okay, we can squeeze in some more practice," I said.

"Sure," he nodded. "I'll see you then."

***

"Let's go out today guys!" Vahni suggested enthusiastically as we walked to a nearby bin to throw our paper plates, which were previously filled with samosas from the canteen, away.

"I am serious, as soon as you guys are done with your test we can go to the mall. We haven't done that in so long." 

Smriti was too busy flipping through her notes to answer so I did,

"I can't, Vahni. More rehearsals." 

"Meera you have fallen deep into this hole," she said.

"I'm sure you can understand. You must spend countless hours rehearsing your fashion show routine too?" 

"Yeah, we do! Not as much as you have been lately with this little competition coming up. Although I'm sure the company helps." she smirked suggestively.

"Oh, God! Vahni there is nothing less than innocent about our rehearsals. I don't even like Angad," I insisted yet again.

"So you keep saying. I don't understand how someone doesn't fall for him. His chocolate hair and eyes. His voice is equally chocolatey. Ah, I am so jealous of you! How I would love to sit with hunk for hours on end and gaze into his eyes as we sing love duets." she sighed wistfully.

I just shook my head at her ridiculousness. The rehearsals were more technical than romantic and with the added stress of lyric writing, we frequently got into debates. Not that Vahni would ever believe that.