New faces were everywhere—some nervous, some excited—standing in long lines to get their hostel rooms. Among them was Aadhya.
Tonight, ragging would most likely begin again, but I wasn't too worried for her. Adithya had already asked our girls to keep an eye on her, and I had spoken to Sneha too. Between them, I knew she'd be safe.
Once her hostel was allotted, I finally got a chance to meet her. Adithya, of course, was tagging along. We walked her around the campus, talking casually, pointing out the usual things—canteen, classrooms, shortcuts to the hostel. It wasn't much, but just being beside her on the same campus felt… different. Like something we'd both been waiting for.
After a while, she went off to unpack her things, and we headed back to our hostel. My mind, though, wasn't on anything else. Today was Wednesday. That meant I had till Friday to figure out some excuse, some plan—anything—that would give me the one thing I'd been waiting for all this time: a day alone with her.
I sent her a quick message: "Call me once you're free."
A few minutes later, her reply popped up:
"Sid… juniors are getting ragged right now. If anyone sees me talking to someone, they'll assume it's my boyfriend. And you know how fast rumors spread here. I don't want the whole college gossiping about us on the first day."
I typed back quickly: "Alright… just stay safe for now."
A moment later, another message appeared:
"Don't worry, Sid… I'll call you tonight, once everyone's asleep."
Adithya suddenly appeared, grabbing me by the arm. "Sid, what are you doing in the room? Come on, let's go pick up some juniors!"
Arun was already there with three freshers in tow. I stayed mostly in the background, watching, trying not to get involved, but sneaking in messages to Aadhya whenever I could.
Later that night, once the hostel had quieted down, my phone buzzed. It was her.
"Sid… I'm free now."
I answered immediately.
"Hey… do you like college so far?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
"Yeah," she said softly. "It's good."
"So… how was the ragging?" I asked.
"I wasn't ragged much… they just asked for intros. Sneha saved me and kept me aside," she replied lightly.
I grinned. "Oh… I definitely owe her a treat for that."
There was a small pause before I asked hesitantly, "Hey… do you have any plan for how we can be alone on our weekend outing?"
She chuckled softly. "Why would we need to be alone?"
I sighed, frustrated. "It's just… it's been so long. Every time we go out, Adithya and Arun tag along."
Her voice softened, affectionate. "Of course they'll be there… they're my brothers."
"Okay… I thought maybe you also wanted to be alone, that's why I asked."
She laughed, a warm, lilting sound. "Sorry… actually, I do want to be alone with you. I've missed those moments. And… I already have a plan for that."
I perked up. "Oh? Really? Tell me!"
"No," she said teasingly. "You'd overdo things and spoil it. You don't need to do anything. Just say 'okay' when I ask you something… that's all."
I sighed. "Okay."
"Good," she said. "That's all you need to do."
And so, I waited.
Finally, the day of the outing arrived. Plans had been made the night before—we were going to Golconda, then catch a movie, and return after dinner. The group included me, Adithya, Aadhya, Arun, Sneha, and Krithika. The cab we had booked was already waiting at the meeting point.
Everyone gathered, excited and ready—but then Aadhya appeared in her casual clothes. She looked a little pale and said, "I… I can't come. I'm not feeling well."
Adithya frowned. "We planned this for you! And now you're not coming?"
Aadhya shook her head. "So… do you want me to sit in the cab the whole day?"
I quickly intervened. "It's fine, Adi. We can go some other time."
Aadhya shot me a slightly annoyed look, then turned to Adithya. "Please… you all got ready and paid the advance for the cab. You should go and enjoy. I'll stay today, and if I feel better, I'll meet you at the movie."
Adithya sighed but nodded. "Yeah… that works too."
She asked for some water, saying she felt a little weak.
Adithya looked concerned. "Are you sure you can come alone to the movie?"
Aadhya shook her head. "If one of you can stay back, it would be better. But I won't spoil their day."
Adithya said. "Okay, I'll stay then."
"No," Aadhya said firmly. "You planned this day and are really excited. You should go."
Adithya started to protest, "But…"
"Sid said he's not that interested in going. Can you stay back, Sid?" Aadhya's eyes met mine.
Adithya looked at me, confused. "You told me you were excited for this…"
I shrugged, feeling awkward. "Yeah, I just said that because you're excited. I didn't want to spoil it. Honestly, I'm not that interested in Golconda—it didn't impress me last time."
Arun chimed in. "But you took a lot of pictures that day."
I smiled faintly. "Yeah, just pictures. It's fine, but the same spots again… I'm not really interested."
Adithya finally nodded. "Okay, you both can come straight to the movie. I'll share the tickets."
Arun offered, "Sid, if you want, I can stay back with you."
Sneha rolled her eyes and laughed. "Arun, come on! Sid can stay back—it won't be fun without you."
With that, everyone piled into the cab and drove off, leaving me and Aadhya behind.
I looked at Aadhya and gave her a thumbs up. "Nice," I said.
She smiled and leaned back slightly. "Okay, now we have until evening if you want to watch the movie. Otherwise, we have time until dinner. So… what's the plan?"
I froze for a second. My mind went blank—I had completely forgotten we were supposed to have a plan today.
I scratched the back of my head, feeling a little embarrassed. "Honestly… I forgot to make a plan," I admitted.
Aadhya raised an eyebrow. "What…?"
"I thought… this day wouldn't come," I said, a little awkwardly.
Her lips curved into a teasing smile. "So… you didn't believe me?"
I quickly shook my head. "No, not like that. It's just… after all the planning, I thought we'd never actually—"
Aadhya clapped her hands lightly. "Okay, I'll go get ready. Come back here in thirty minutes. Decide what we'll do before I'm back," she said, giving me a playful look.
And just like that, she left.