ᴀ ᴛᴡɪsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴀʟᴇ

4. || Re-form and Restart ||

St Louis was full of students in different moods. Some were quite enthusiastic and some were seriously bored. Everyone was running towards the classes. During the hustle bustle, Radhika got pushed towards someone. They collided and both fell down. Radhika stood up and started collecting her books when someone passed her one of the books. It was the same boy she collided with.
"Here, sorry for pushing you"
She took the book and smiled at him.
"Oh no worries, I'm sorry too"
He smiled back.
"Hi, I'm Krish Singhania. We're in the English Literature together."
"Oh, hi, I'm Radhika. Radhika Mehra"
"Nice to meet you Radhika. We should go to the class, we're already late!"
"Yeah. Definitely! "
They both ran towards the class.

For the third year students, the day started with a fight, as usual. Ankit punched Rikki, one of the Ordinaries and kept punching him until he fell unconscious. Now he's in the Dean's office and Rikki is in the medical room.
"Mr Taneja, we've told you so many times before, this is a prestigious college. These types of actions might result in your rustication."
"I'm sorry Sir but Rikki came in my way. He knew I always sat in the front, how did he dare to sit there?"
"You don't own this college. Anyone can sit anywhere. This is my final warning, if you are called once more in this office, it will be to get your Discharge Certificate. Now go!"
Ankit got up and left the office. His "friends" we're waiting outside.
"What happened Ankit? Did the Dean scold you?"
"Hah! As if he could! He just told me to be subtle next time."
They cheered for him and went to the class.

Raghav was sitting with Shravan and Aadhya. He had finally managed to make friends other than Karthik. Karthik had been his friend since the First year but he never connected to him as much as he did to Shravan in a mere day. Shravan was open minded and calm. He didn't only talk about himself, he listened to others as well. Raghav appreciated that quality in him. Not that this sudden friendship had anything to do with her but Aadhya was a nice girl too. Raghav found her very interesting. She was fearless and strong.
"Oi! Earth to Raghav!"
Shravan snapped his fingers in front of him.
"Where were you? Fairyland?"
Raghav laughed a bit.
"No, I wasn't. Actually I was in Hogwarts, deciding how to make Bhat Sir thin so that I could actually learn in his class"
They laughed together. Aadhya pinched them both. They looked at her and she pointed towards the door. They could see the round belly of Bhat Sir entering the class. Shravan laughed while Raghav sighed. Great! The first class was going to be torture!!

Aditya ran as fast as he could. He was late, again! It was because he was up late, reading novels. And now he was gonna pay for it. He knew, if it was Mr Shastri, he was done for. Mr Shastri had developed a certain dislike for Adi on the very first day. It was because Aditya had proved his answer wrong.
He finally reached the class and was relieved to see that the teacher was yet to come. He entered the class and went to sit with Radhika but she was already sitting with Krish. He was disappointed at first but then smiled because she was having fun. Yeah yeah but what about him? Where was he gonna sit know? The only seat left was in the very front. It was the same seat which had caused the tussle the previous day. He went slyly and sat down.
Niyati looked up and saw a boy sitting with her. He smiled at her weakly and kind of scared. However she smiled back warmly.
"Hi, I'm Niyati. Nice to meet thou"
"Wow, you like Shakespeare too?!"
She gave him a weird look.
He cleared his throat.
"Ahemm.. I mean, hi, I'm Aditya, nice to meet you as well"
She nodded. There was awkward silence for a while.
"Yes, I like Shakespeare as well"
He looked at her and smiled again, this time, a warm smile.
Maybe he could deal with Mr Shastri if he would shut up and not answer in his class.

Priyanka was sitting behind Krish and was listening to his mindless conversation with Radhika. She had never seen her brother like that. Being normal and having fun. He had always behaved like a young businessman. It was the first time he was being a college kid. Talking about college life and so on. She smiled at them and opened her phone. She quickly searched 'Shravan Raichand'. So what if Karthik won't let her meet him, she'll find him on social media. She searched the username on Instagram. A ton of accounts with that username came on. She sighed. It was going to be a tough job but she was gonna see who this Shravan was.

Navya and Karthik were sitting on the bench behind Raghav. They were drawing on each others hands. She drew a rose on his hand and he drew a dagger on hers. Their relationship had been smooth. They've been dating since their First year. They respected each other and were hella loyal. Navya screamed when something hit her head. She looked up and saw Bhat Sir glaring at her.
"Ms Navya, kindly stand up."
She stood up and looked down, feeling embarrassed already.
"Kindly say what was I explaining just now?"
She gulped and looked towards the board. He had written something about sonnets.
"Uh.. You were explaining sonnets"
"What are sonnets?"
"Uh.. They're a form of poetry. Two verse poetry"
"Who is famous for his sonnets?"
"Umm, Shakespeare?"
"Sit down. Next time I find you un-attentive, I'll throw you out! "
She sat down, cheeks red with embarrassment. Karthik held her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back. He was the key to her smile.

During lunch, everyone was in the cafe. Suddenly VP sir entered followed by a strict looking lady. She looked quite royal in her floor length dress and exquisite jewelry.
"Students, for the benefit of the college, we have decided to reopen the dance studio and reform the dance team!"
There was an eruption of cheers.
"Calm down! We're not done yet! There's a condition for that to happen. The final dance team that will represent St Louis would be composed of members from both Ordinaries as well as Royals. The auditions will be held by Miss Annalisa Chopra, our new Dance Studio Supervisor"
The lady smiled and stepped forward.
"Now now, all the details will be up on the notice board. Students who have a talent of dancing will meet me in the Dance rehearsal hall after all the classes. Rest will go home."
Shravan had a smile that was so bright that it could light up the whole world.
Raghav sighed of relief and Aditya cheered loudly.

What was this going to mean for the college? Will the rivalry end or will this fuel it even further? These questions were rising in Karthik's mind. And indeed these questions were to be answered soon.