Anantha Pov

I woke up in the morning. And opened my phone and the first thing I saw was his text. Last night we talked over the phone till midnight. I had told him I woke up at 6 AM in the morning.

Mr. Akaay :- Good Morning. brownie. I hope you slept well.

I saw his text. He texted me on 5.58. He said he woke up late. Why would he text me this early? It's cute though. I immediately replied to him.

Anantha:- Good Morning. Mr Akaay. I hope you had a nice sleep too.

I waited for his reply but he didn't reply. Why?. It's 6: 10 now. So I chose to ignore it for a moment. And stood up from my bed. And started to workout. And practice fighting.

It's 8 AM. I checked my phone. Still no reply. And why I'm upset over small things. He must be busy. I got ready and ate my breakfast and went to University.

______________________________________

I reached my class. I saw Maya and Nihal were sitting talking about something. I went to them. They both shift a little to give me a seat. They always bicker so I have to sit between them. Uff.

“You know. A new professor of law is coming today.” Nihal says in a curious tone.

“I heard he is handsome,” Maya says in excitement.

“Tumhe toh har ladka handsome lagta he” Nihal replied in an annoying tone.

“Bilkul bhi nahi. Mujhe tum handsome toh nai lage aaj tak. Uble hue Ande” She deadpan him

“What did you say?” he asked in warning.

“Are you deaf? Uble hue Ande” she repeated a little louder this time.

They were fighting. But my mind was racing to see who this person was. Their bickering faded in thin air. When I heard footsteps of someone. It felt familiar. Goosebumps raised on my body.

Someone entered the class. Slowly he came in front of the teacher's desk. He stopped there. He put his files and some books. He clapped his hands in the air.

“Attention. Students” he said. Same voice. With more growth.

I froze on my seat and my eyes widened. Nihal and Maya both looked in that direction. I can feel that. I look down immediately. Nihal’s eyes came to me. More widened than mine.

“So this Karthik Khurana is your new professor,” he said. Him as a new professor. Why?

Nihal and I nodded in agreement. We didn't say anything, just heard his lecture.

“He is actually handsome,” Maya said. And we both looked at her with narrowed eyes. She looked at us.

“What? Don't you think so?” She innocently said. Blinking her eyes

We just shake our heads. The lecture was going on. But my mind was racing with some other thoughts. What is he doing here? Why is he here?

“So class. See you tomorrow. Make sure you do what I said.” Professor said and started to leave . He was walking and he paused for a second. Turn and look at me. Then he turned his eyes to the door and went out.

Thank God I wear a mask all the time. I would have caught it. Maybe he won't recognise me now. I've grown now. We went out of class too.

__________________________________

We were sitting in a university cafe. They were having snacks. It was 11: 00 AM when I checked my phone. I saw his text. Finally.Why am I so happy? He is making me crazy. I think.

On Text

Mr. Akaay :- What are you doing?

Anantha :- chatting with friends in a college cafe.

Anantha:- What are you doing?

Mr. Akaay :- Missing you. Btw When will your classes end every day?

He is missing me. Why didn't he call me earlier then? Liar. I shouldn't get mad, it's too early. Plus we are not dating. Are we or not? I should ask him.

Anantha :- Around 12 PM mostly. Sometimes it's 1 PM.

Mr. Akaay :- okay.

Okay. Just okay. Something seems off. I think he doesn't want me. What did I do now? No text was coming. He wasn't even typing.

Then my phone screen flashed his name. My eyes widened. He is calling me. What should I do? Nihal narrowed his eyes. Maya was trying to look at my phone. I covered my phone.

“I have to take this” I stood up from my seat. And walk away from them. Still looking at them from far. Not so far but far.

I answered his call.

On call

“Hello,” he says in a soft voice.

“Hello,” I replied.

“Hey… how are you?.”He asked in the same soft tone.

“I'm fine. Where have you been?” I said regret. I don't wanna be so desperate.

“I mean you didn't reply earlier so….” Damn. I wanna dig a hole in the ground and jump in. What am I doing? He chuckled.

“Oh I texted you and went to sleep again. I'm sorry I didn't text.” He says. Assuring me.

“Btw when are leaving.” He asked

“Maybe in 10 minutes.” I say

“Okay. Have fun. Get home safely.” He says. Gently.

“Hmmm.” I just hm in replied.

“Bye” he says

“Bye” I replied.

I cut the call. Shit I forget to ask him. What are we? Tonight I will ask him.

I was walking to my friends when I saw that professor walking around. I went to my friends. And sat there.

“Yaar yeh professor kitna handsome he. Yeh pat jaye toh maza aa jaye” Maya says. While looking at him.

“Padhai pe dhyan de. Ladko par nahi” Nihal replied in angry tone.

“ Tumhe kya problem he.” Maya says getting annoyed by him..

“Anantha tumare boyfriend ka call tha kya?” Maya asked me. I gulped hard. Nihal was looking at me with shocking eyes.

“No. It's just…” I stammer. Their curious eyes were making this hard. And I lied to them. It's even worse.

“That's fine. Whenever you want. You can tell us.” Nihal said. Making it was for me.

“Par mujhe abhi jaan na tha. But that's fine” Maya says, pouting. I can't say anything. I don't even know what we are?

“Let's go,” Nihal says.

I nodded my head in agreement. We stood up from sitting. And started to leave. We were about to go when I saw that professor Karthik was coming in our direction.

We pause in place. He came to us. Nihal and I looked at each other. And Maya doesn't know anything. He stopped in front of us.

“It's you right? Mr. Sohni’s son.” Karthik asked Nihal. Nihal just nodded his head.

“You know him?” Maya asked Nihal.

“Yes. We grew up in the same town” Karthik says with a chuckle. His voice was making me puke.

“Btw. Youuu” Karthik was about to ask questions.

“She is my girlfriend.” Nihal cut in holding Maya's hand, he said.

“And she is her best friend from childhood.” Nihal says pointing at me.

“And we are leaving. We are a little busy” Nihal says. With urgency. Karthik agreed. And let us leave.

“Well then. See you around” Karthik says. And left.

We started to walk. Actually we were running from him. Maya was confused. Nihal saved me today. Thank God.

We were talking when I felt something familiar in my eyes. I looked in that direction.

Akaay.