Moonchild And The Prince

2. Americano and essays

"What was that?" Mandy giggled as they both exited the doors of the store. Lisa was still not fully recovered from her little run in. All through the way back to the hostel Mandy talked about all the possibilities of Joon secretly being in love with Lisa. And Lisa simply dismissed all of it knowing all too well she dint even exist in his life.
After dinner Lisa completely forgot about her day and got absorbed in her book again. Thats when her phone rang. It was her dad. She loved talking to him. They spent almost half an hour talking to each other at the end of the day. It was their own ritual. The call ended and she got back to her book.
Slowly as the night aged she drifted of to sleep.
Next day was nothing extraordinary. She spent a little bit time at the library as Mandy went out with her other friends and dint have anything much to do. While she was walking out of the building she saw Joon and Pihu sneak in. She was uncomfortable instantly and walked away as fast as she could.
She went to the cafe and found herself sitting alone sipping on an Americano and wondering what was the point of feeling these awful things in her gut.
"Obviously they would sneak in and out of places. They are a couple. Thats what normal people do. " Lisa reminded her of her reality that she had nothing to say in that matter. Brushing off these thoughts she headed back to her hostel.
Somehow that empty yet hurtful feeling lingered on up until the point where she fell asleep.
Couple of days went by and the fest at their college started. Extroverts thrived in such optimal conditions and as for Lisa she would rather sit in a room and watch anime and  movies or read books and manga. Mandy would insist her to hang out and  she would but that would  exhaust her.
On one such evening when her entire class was hanging around they all were asking random questions to each other and then proceeded on with it. Lisa dreaded this game but so far she managed to wear the invisibility cloak and was pretty satisfied.
"Hey, Lisa what do you think about Viraj here?" Someone asked her.
Startled she had no clue what to answer. It was a trap. Answering positive would ignite rumors and dismissing someone so publicly may be insulting to that person.
"Classmates", she replied.
"Thats so generic," Pihu commented.
Lisa faked a smile and just let it pass.
"Do you like someone from our batch?"
Nisha asked Lisa again.
"No, I don't." Lisa was getting a bit anxious. She was not used to such awkward situation. Social interaction was not her strong suit.
By this point Viraj stepped in, "Pihu what are your plans for this weekend?"
Everyone suddenly seemed very enthusiastic about the question.  Pihu and Joon were to complete three years that weekend and they would be making a big deal out of it. Atleast Pihu seems to be overly excited for it.
"Joon and I would go for a trip, its a little resort in the mountains. " as everyone concentrated on her detailed plan of action Lisa felt relieved to have had the escape she desired.
Viraj smiled at her. She reciprocated.
Among all this Joon was noticing Lisa.
He noticed her for the first time at the departmental store and something about her caught his attention. He felt as if he knew her.
"Babe it will be amazing, " Pihu said looking at Joon. And Joon smiled.
Lisa saw a chance and simply escaped her group and started walking towards the cafeteria.
She ordered an iced Americano and put on her headphone and started listening to some songs. As she was sitting down Joon came in and started walking towards her. She dint even notice.
"Hey, Lisa..., " He tried to talk to her.
She looked up and quickly removed her headphones.
"Yes, sorry I was listening to something, " she said as her heart paced fast.
"Its ok. BTW I am Joon. We are in the same class."
"Yes, I am aware of that." She replied
"Well, I heard that you write good essays. I was wondering if you could help me with my project ".
She looked at him very awkwardly.
" I have my own stuff too you know. "
"I do. But given that you help others with these kind of stuff always you can help me too."
She was silent and then finally agreed.
"Mail me your project".
"OK. Thanks".
He left. She dint know what to make of it. She wrote the essay for him and mailed him after a few days.

Days went by, Lisa and Viraj were getting closer. They spent a good amount of time together.
"Lets go out tomorrow night. There is this party where alot of the people from here are going. It will be fun.,"
She was about to refuse but he made a puppy face and she had a hard time saying no.
Little did she know that this party would turn things in a totally different direction.