My last episode just showed how the four main characters feel about each other, conflicting emotions, ripped apart inside out.

Starring: Reyaansh, Kriya, Swayam, Sharon…

(Reyaansh's point-of-view)

I pushed open the wooden double-doors to the rehearsal hall of the college at six-thirty the same morning and stepped in. I looked around the familiar room that now seemed so strange – the high, stylishly-moulded ceilings, the smoothly-polished light-wood, slippery flooring, the funky lights suspended from the ceilings, the built-in glass-fronted cabinet in the wall that held the Dazzlers' perfumes, deodorants, scents and room-fresheners, the tall floor lamps in one corner, different dance props set against the smooth white walls in another and the enormous, incredibly clean mirror in fixed to the back wall. Sharon went beserk even if she found a fingerprint on that mirror, and began bashing us all for not taking proper care of the property given to us. Though I was the leader of the Dazzler group, I sometimes felt overshadowed by Sharon's bossiness and rudeness if we got steps wrong or reported late to rehearsal time. Opposite the mirror, behind the workout section, was a ceiling-to-floor showcase with glass shelves set with all the awards, plaques, certificates, prices and qualifications the Dazzlers had won.

I walked over to the small, oaken desk in the corner and switched on the huge, stylish black music player, sliding in a random CD. I always danced to fight off feelings, and now that, I was feeling so connected to Kriya – I knew I needed to dance to feel at least a little more like myself. The black-and-silver speakers began to boom a loud, funky hip-hop beat – but I felt my focus deviate from the music and go back to the night before. I squeezed my eyes shut, and then, the doors to the hall opened and I heard footsteps outside in the hall. Wondering who it could be so early in the morning, I pushed open the doors and walked out, right into a very tall, lanky figure. "Whoops!" It was Swayam.

"Swayam?" I said with a smile of warmth and friendliness. "So early in the morning? What are you doing here?" Swayam smiled back warmly. "Nothing," he said. "I was actually searching for you, Rey. We need to talk." A sudden note of seriousness crossed his face and he injected sternness in his voice. "Okay," I said warily, crossing my arms over my chest. "Let's talk." Suddenly, the humour came back into his face and he laughed loudly and warmly. "Okay, that sounded really serious for a second," he said. "I've seen you since the party yesterday; there seems to be some trouble in Rey Paradise." "Rey Paradise?" I snickered – my paradise was so perfect it cut me down to size, and so far away from me I couldn't even see it coming. "Yes," Swayam said with equal good humour, his dark eyes sparkling. "What is it?" "Nothing," I said with a smile. "I barely escaped a mob scene with the girls at the party last night." Little did he know, I had almost kissed the girl I loved and was probably being cursed by her right now. "Yeah, right," Swayam said, rolling his eyes, his tone changing again. "You're a better lair than I thought. This obviously isn't going to work out the way I thought, so I might as well come straight out with it. Rey, we all know there's just one girl in the entire school who loves cutting you down to size." He smiled condescendingly, and I felt all my muscles tighten. "Who?" I demanded softly, clenching my fists, supplicating like mad that he'd say it was Sharon. "Kriya," he said. I felt a rush of blood at her name; my heart thrilled with joy and hope; I felt her burning closeness again – then it all drained out and my eyes nearly fell out of my sockets. Swayam knew. "How?" I demanded, feeling my breath come out just a little too quick. Swayam smiled again, this time a warm smile. "Well, you're just giving away too many hints," he said. "You know, your love for her is almost as obvious as my love for Sharon." I felt my heart skip a beat as Swayam said the word and I sighed, walking back into the rehearsal room. Delighted that he had broken my shell, Swayam followed – but I could also feel the sympathy coming from him. "How is it so obvious?" I asked, dropping down onto the polished, wooden floor and stretching out my legs, resting back on my hands. "Well, usually when the hero of the college changes for someone, helps her against the ragging in the college, always seems lost in her, keeps giving her sweetly sensual glances, catches her when she falls, stares at her come heaven or high water, etc. you usually can see it's love – you know." I felt a thrill run down me again as he said the word, but the aftereffect of the thrill was again cold bitterness, which I answered Swayam with. "Yes, and when that girl hates you, doesn't think a second of you, would gladly watch you burn to death, it usually means your love isn't going to go far." When I said the word, a much more oppressive spark seemed to circle me, but it wasn't one of hope; the bitterness in my voice somewhat ruined the effect. Swayam sighed and dropped down beside me. "Well, maybe we can make a deal," he said lightly with a wink, holding out one hand. "Secret best friends. If I help you get to Kriya's heart, you should help me get to Sharon's heart." He said Sharon's name with much more self-security, love and confidence than I'd ever heard him say before. I sighed and slumped back, feeling that rush again at Kriya's name. "Fine," I said, kind of happy with the idea. "But Swayam, what exactly happened with you and Sharon?" And then, colour swept over Swayam's face, appearing high on his cheekbones – and he bit uncomfortably at his lower lip. I felt a wave of horror sweep over me, bolt me in place; I stared at him with wide, shocked eyes filled with terror and disbelief. "You did NOT!" I said. "No! No! No!" Swayam cried, the blush staying on his face; in fact, he blushed even more. "Well, what you and Kriya were almost about to do, it happened with us." I smiled as I saw the sudden happiness in his eyes, the glow it had taken on as he thought of Sharon and his night at the party. "It must have been perfect," I said. "Let's say you had a much better time than I did." "Yes, until about five this morning," he said, his voice now low, the happiness gone, sorrow colouring his tone. "When she abruptly got up, crying loudly, and ran away – I won't be surprised if she misses school today. Rey, she had had liquor last night after dinner. We slow-danced and it was all so perfect – but I should have known the magic moment wouldn't last. It was too good to be true." "Well, we made a deal," I reminded him with a smile. "And I always keep my deals."

(Kriya's point-of-view)

I walked into school on a rainy, dreary Monday, shaking the wet out of my hair and trying to work my fingers through the tangles. I sighed in frustration; I'd probably have to brush it all over again. It would be the fourth time brushing my hair since morning. For one thing, I'd woken up late and had no breakfast; I couldn't find a cab to drop me to school; by the time I reached, the late bell had rung and everyone was going in for the assembly. I entered the girls' locker room and shifted through mine, just deciding it was okay for today if I didn't get my name written in the register. I brushed out the tangles thoughtfully, staring back at myself in the mirror, taking in my wide eyes, dark curls and tanned skin again. Once again, Rey's startlingly handsome face flashed into my hand – the smooth span of his high, clear forehead, the straight line of his perfect nose, his manly mouth, his high cheekbones and those hypnotizing, gorgeous hazel eyes bordered with long, thick, dark lashes (that I heard someone saying were completely wasted on a guy). I shook out the thoughts and was about to exit, when I caught a flash of someone in the mirror.

"Oh, hi, Neha," I said dully. She gave me a bright smile. "Hi," she said. "You know you missed assembly and registry." She was speaking in a casual, cheerful tone; she had no idea how I felt, even though I smiled back at her. "I know," I said, running a hand through my hair to make sure I hadn't left any tangles – where the rest of me was tangled in thoughts of Rey. "What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be in class by now?" Neha nodded and took me by the arm. "You should, too," she said, and tugged on it, leading me out. I packed back my comb in my black-and-white backpack and followed in her wake meekly, not caring where I was going. But, soon I bumped into a slim, expensively-dressed figure who turned around and I saw a familiar, expertly made-up face. I was looking into wide eyes, slathered in a ton of makeup, that I knew too well. "Sharon," I muttered under my breath.

Simmie and Rene stood beside her with their hips cocked to the side, and the rest of the Dazzlers as well. In the crowded corridors, we all just stood face-to-face and glared at each other openly, furiously, loaded with frank and pure, unadulterated hatred. But it didn't take me long to see the one hauntingly gorgeous face that wasn't glaring at me. The same, gorgeous hazel orbs I'd been so lost in the night before were soft and shiny like always and his movie-star perfect lips twitched into the hint of a smile. He could still make my heart pound, pulse flutter, stomach lurch and I felt myself breathing unevenly, in odd fits and shocks as he looked down at me. I lowered my eyes and turned away, annoyed at my fast-beating heart pace, and tried to speak in a cool, composed voice. "Let's go, guys," I said, tugging on Vishaka's arm.

"Why? You were on cloud nine yesterday. What happened now?" Sharon demanded in an icy-cold voice full of scorn and self-satisfaction, tossing her thick brown hair over her shoulders. "Whatever happened, they sure remembered that we have a dividend line between us," Simmie answered to Sharon, putting away her expensive Blackberry for once. "Well, good for you then," Vicky said with a smirk, keeping his eyes trained on Vishaka; he looked really intense this morning. Even though Neha was the one standing opposite him, he seemed to refusing to look at her. I wondered why. "Guys, stop it," Rey said in his husky, soothing, mesmerizing voice, shaking his perfectly-sculpted head and patting Simmie's arm. "Let's go to class. We're getting late." "Rey, why are you always against the fight?" Simmie demanded – but I could see she couldn't ignore Rey's touch either (No girl could, and guess what? Neither could I). "This just isn't the time. Let's go to class," he said. Even though he was speaking to Simmie, I could feel that his intense, clear, hazel-eyed gaze wasn't stirring from me – even though I was refusing to look back at him. Memories of the night before painfully came flushing right back, making me feel numb and electrified again. And I couldn't help it; I slowly raised my eyes to his long-lashed, perfect, green-gold ones reluctantly and let him lock them in mine. As soon as the connection was made, that pleasure began flushing through me again: ice-cold fire, red-hot ice. It felt magical; the comfort, sweet closeness I'd felt to him the night before came right back and I felt my bones melt, my knees go weak. The room started to shimmer brightly, soft, shimmering light – unreal, too bright, too beautiful. Just like his eyes – too beautiful, too stunningly beautiful. As I snapped away from his magnetic eye-power, I could still feel the image – like staring at the sun for too long etches its image into the person's vision. I could still feel their dark, deep, mesmerizing strength even as I looked away from them and regained my heartbeat, thought process and breath. His disturbing, spicy smell blew towards me again and I remembered the breeze in that gorgeous outdoor garden.

Unable to take being with him anymore, I grabbed Neha's arm. "We can fight when we have the time for it," I told the Dazzlers crisply, never looking at Rey. I tugged at it, and was surprised to see that she was eye-locked with Vicky, her full lips a little apart, looking innocent and vulnerable. I clicked my fingers in front of her gaze and she snapped out of it quickly and subtly. "Huh? Yeah. Let's go," she said in Hindi. She took my hand and we all walked away; I could feel Rey's gaze on my back all the way until I disappeared around a corner.

(Sharon's point-of-view)

I snickered pitifully at the Weaklings, feeling smug and superior and at the top of the world once again. But then, I saw his face and felt a pierce of self-reserve and once again squeezed my eyes shut. I trusted he couldn't tell how quickly my heart had started drumming at the sight of him, the flare of sudden relief I'd felt seeing him, the way my breathing had got uneven when I saw how handsome he looked in the orange jacket he wore over a white V-necked T shirt and his faded jeans, the way I could feel my eyes glowing as they stared at his handsome, youthful face. I shivered involuntarily, trying to keep my heart beating – as I saw once again the passionate, glowing look of intense longing in his dark, deep eyes. And I made the mistake of meeting his gaze, as the Dazzlers and Weaklings around us pushed at each other to get forward and argue with each other. Both of us remained in our places, just eye-locked. Once again, I felt the same I'd felt the night before when we'd slow-danced to that gorgeous, lilting piano music – the fiery yet icy thrill of electrical current, the comfort yet awkwardness like no other, the perfectness in each vein. I felt on fire with the cold, freezing with the heat. I didn't even notice I was trembling. I could see a smile in his eyes as he stared back down into my eyes relentlessly, making them smoulder like he had the night before. It took a moment to remember how to exhale; in fact, I hadn't even noticed I wasn't breathing until my head started swimming. With a jagged breath inwards, I broke the silence and assumed my composure, trying not to look affected. But I could still feel the delicate, strangely pleasurable trembles all through my veins. "Let's go, guys. It's no use fighting with these people," I said, tugging on Simmie's arm. Rene looked confused. "But Sharon, you just said they're the world's most fun people to argue with," she said, sounding dumbfounded. "Huh? I did," I said, feeling the confusion in my voice as well. I looked up to see a smile in Swayam's dark, mesmerizing eyes – though his manly jaw was set hard. "Well, if you're not going to be the ones to leave, we might as well do it," Vishaka said, rolling her eyes. I felt a flare of resentment and rebellion against the other members of the team, gritting my teeth. "Hello, hello," I said. "Just walk off if you know what's best for you." I heard a wistful sigh from Swayam, a sigh that sent my heartbeats staggering. I winced at the supernatural effect his simple sigh had from me. "Well, let's just go," he said, shooting us a last look. HUH?

I just stared after him, dumbfounded, too astonished to speak as the Team Weaklings swept away dramatically. Had the same Swayam – the mushy Majnu who had always been faithful to his feelings for me, even through the insults I'd rained on him, even after I slapped him, even after I went back to giving him tashan after he repaired my car, the same Majnu who still had hope I would respond to his affection even after all my insults – just blown me off? Blown off the hottest girl at St Louise? Then, I flashed back to the garden as he had wound a stray strand of my hair behind my ear – and a shock ran through my body, my heart sputtering hyperactively at his casual touch – and said, "You're a diva, a star, a role model for everyone else. For me, you are Sharon… Just Sharon."

Next chapter: The Dazzlers & Weaklings all face each other again in the library and sit on different tables. Swayam & Sharon indirectly talk to each other. Rey & Kriya have a staring/flashback session between the shelves of the library.

Thanks a lot for reading. PLEASE REVIEW! Have a great day, and come back to see the next chapter please.