Imperfect Two

Chapter 10

"Duuuuuuude"

Before Dude could actually look back, Mahua hopped on to his back and Dude easily caught her, laughing. She pulled his beanie cap lower so that he couldn't see and he shouted, "Mahua, I'm gonna crash into something. Pull it up or risk falling!"

She laughingly removed his cap and pulled it onto her head instead. As he carried her piggyback through the parking lot, she saw the parked bikes and suddenly remembered.

"Dude, guess what?"

"What?"

"Do you know who my dream bike belongs to? Do you? Do you?"

Dude gave a half smile and nudged her head with his in response.

She laughed and sighed, "I wish! No it actually..."

Just then, the topic of discussion stopped next to them.

Dude slowly eased Mahua to her feet and ran his gaze over the dream vehicle of Mahua's choice. He then locked eyes with the owner and broke into a classic Dude grin.

"Ah! Ranvijay Malik...so you own this beauty."

Ranvijay flashed a quick grin and extended his hand toward Dude to say, "I blame the large intake of student population at this institute for us not having met properly before."

Dude shook his hand with a very Dude-like easy grace and said, "But I know all about you man. Hard not to considering that if you don't feature on half the topper's lists, the girls don't stop talking about you. I'm Mohan, by the way. Fondly known as Dude.

Ranvijay nodded and replied, "So I've heard. Mahua speaks very highly of you."

"As well she should. Buuuut I hear you're the new man in her life."

Ranvijay smirked at Mahua before responding, "And what else have you heard?"

She rolled her eyes at this exchange and said, "He's always looking for info on me. Dude, be strong."

Dude nodded and said, "Catch ya later?"

"Yup!"

He ambled away as she looked at Ranvijay. Playing with her bag straps on the shoulders, she asked, "So shall we head to the library? Wait, why are you on your bike? Are you ditching today's class, Master of Maths?"

He shook his head simply and said, "The library is closed today. Some renovation work. We're going somewhere else. I know another study hall and I have a pass."

She blinked at him in disbelief. She muttered, "You don't know Student Lounge but you have an extra pass for another study hall. I feel as though we're from different parallel universes. But oooh! Can I ride with you?"

He looked at her closely and asked, "That depends. Do you intend to use me as back support again?"

She giggled and said, "I have nothing to hide today. So I'll just use you as a Maths tutor. I'm good that way."

"Well in that case, hop on."

Author's Note: In order to make up for the 2 day break, the next chapter is coming up right away. Many thanks for reading! – S