The music was as bad as the car. That was my first thought as I sat horrified between Shanaya and Tanya in the latter's blindingly pink Volkwagen Beetle Convertible. I could have taken my sensible Swift and saved my hair (and ears) from suffering, but no. I had to give in to Nini's demands of playing nice with the Barbie dolls of St.T. Good Lord, did they ever NOT get something they wanted? With Paula Abdul crooning "Will You Marry Me?" from the music player and nowhere to escape I thought back at the disastrous but brief stint I had at the college, many years back. Images of those seven months flashed before my eyes, making my insides shrink and heart cringe. It was terrible and I had every reason not to relive it. That was why I had shifted to Olympia International and completed my education away from the grounds of St. Teresa. I tried blocking the memories by closing my eyes when the car screeched to a stop. Even before I opened my eyes, I knew that I had reached it. The place where me and my dad had lost everything. St.T.
It hadn't taken more than 5 minutes for Shanaya and Tanya to ditch me and scramble away. Sighing to myself, I picked up my luggage and walked through the lush green grounds of the college; observing the immaculately maintained garden area. Dad would have loved this, I thought to myself. There should have been a moment of peace before my rotten luck came crashing back.
"Hi Mia!" Pseudo blocked my way with a couple of hamper bags in his hand and a ridiculous grin on his face. ( I thought Pseudo suited him better than Sudo)
"It's Maya and hello to you too." I said without a trace of warmth in my voice. I really wished he would stop being saccharine sweet to me. It only worsened my dislike for him. Luckily, he had the grace to look sheepish at the correction of my name. The next moment tough, he thrust one of the hamper bags into my hands.
"Here! This is your SOTY essential kit. It has all the materials required for a participant to prepare for the forthcoming challenges. There are a list of the rounds and events that you will be facing, along with a rule book for every event. You will find an itinerary of the pre-rounds as well. Good Luck!" The rambling robot walked off with me standing there dumbstruck. There was one thing in my mind though. SOTY? They were calling this SOTY? Shaking my head I walked to the building where the accommodation was fixed.
"You have GOT to be KIDDING me!" I knew that my voice was a tad too high for anyone's liking but I really didn't care. Through all these years when dad had told me about the competition, I assumed that he was being dramatic about its glamour quotient. I mean, who decided about a student's excellence through dance-offs, treasure hunts, fashion parades, MCQ tests and athletics? Wasn't it supposed to be something more? Scholastic excellence anyone? I was partly right when I found that this year's competition didn't involve any athletic race or dance-off. I wished they had been retained though, because there were worse events added instead.
"Short Film Creation, Master Chef, Homecoming Heroes, Event Management, Make Over Maestros and Talent Fest? MAKE OVER? Are you even thinking straight?!" I stared with a gobsmacked expression at Shanaya and Pseudo who were presiding over our orientation ceremony. Beside me Jeet snickered and whispered, "Do they ever?" to which I snorted in reply. I knew that I was getting into a mental asylum situation when Shanaya and her troupe were made in charge of the event suggestion collecting (which I never participated in due to the teeny tiny factor of my dad's funeral week) but I had hoped that Abhimanyu or Shruti would help bring some sanity. Guess who became the victim of great expectations? Me! The zombies could have captured me and removed my brain in exchange for this torture. I tried arguing, protesting, reasoning and begging. None of them worked.
On my way out from the miserable ceremony, I bumped into the one person I did not need to.
"Careful there!" I exclaimed while steadying the guy I had inadvertently dashed against. Looking up, I saw the face of the ex-Student of the Year. My boss. Rohan Nanda. I was surprised to see the beard gone, the hair tidy and the eyes normal instead of bloodshot. It was amazing how much it transformed him from an obnoxious looking rockstar to a guy you could imagine being friends with. My eyes seemed went down to complete the inspection of this change and for the first time I felt him look...normal. A dark blue V neck full sleeved t shirt accentuated his broad shoulders. His denim jeans looked cool and comfortable, the way you would wear for a casual day. A pair of casual black high top lace-up sneakers exuded ease and the brown Fossil watch looked cool. All together, he looked like a confident and charming guy you would like to go on a date. I felt mortified at the train of my thoughts and shook myself mentally.
"Looking good Ro" purred a voice behind me, breaking my eye-contact with him. Turning around I saw Tanya eyeing Rohan like a piece of candy she wanted to devour. The mental image of that was so disturbing that I physically felt like barfing. Rohan raised an eyebrow at my clear discomfort but held on to my arms despite now standing on his own two feet. I pointedly looked at his hands on my arms but simply received a smirk in return. Ok, this was getting weirder by the second. Before I could say anything,he put one arm over my shoulder and the other hand into his jean pocket while facing Tanya with a charming smile.
"Thanks Candy-doll" he remarked casually, using her sickening nickname much to her delight," But the real credit for this charm should go to my smart room-mate here." When I saw him jerk his head toward me after saying room-mate, I frowned and gave a questioning glace to the obviously crazy guy beside me. What was he talking about?
"What are you talking about?" Tanya asked with a slightly scornful look at me. I felt a slight hint of alarm when Rohan looked at me full-on and grinned.
"Didn't you know? Me and Maya are roomies till the competition ends." Somewhere beyond the rushing in my ears, I heard Tanya shriek and felt Rohan release me to stop her from getting into a fit. I also knew that I should be asking more questions. I had a million of them. But I did the one thing I had never done. I walked to the nearest washroom, shut myself in a cubicle and screamed.
Things had gone from bad to worse in one day and I had 29 more days to survive. With the crazy gang. And Rohan Nanda as a room mate.
I looked to the ceiling and said the only thing left to say.
"I'll be joining you soon dad."
A/N: Dun dun dunn! This was kind of a filler chapter but I need to build up to the competition. Abhi and Shruti will have major roles in the next chapter, so yay! Review and send me love!