Page 154 - The World's Best Boyfriend

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Dhruv was suspended from the examinations and he was to repeat the first

semester.
Despite this Aranya saw Dhruv take all the examinations, often matching her
supplementary sheet to supplementary sheet, and looked past her like she was
made of plexiglas. She wasn’t sure if she had to be apologetic or grateful so she

chose to stay confused. In her head she tried to justify why Dhruv would take the
blame on himself but always came up with naught.

Aranya had a hard time concentrating on the examinations; Dhruv had already
won the examination, the Olympics and the Nobel Prize with his little gesture.
The exams ended without incident and Aranya calculated her expected score
in each of the subjects. The cumulative total would beat the previous highest

held by Sanchit when he was in his first year. She kept her fingers crossed.
‘Thank you, Aranya,’ the girl she had helped out said.

‘Are you better now?’
‘Yes, much better. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.’
‘Anyone would have done the same.’
‘My friends and I are going to a club near the college tonight. It would be

great if you can come. We have already talked to the warden. She’s okay if we
come back by two.’

‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ said Aranya, reflexively. Years of turning down plans that
hampered intellectual progress had altered her DNA. She didn’t even have to
think before tanking plans. ‘But thanks for asking.’

‘Do let me know if you change your mind.’ The girl hugged her and she left
smiling.
While other students would celebrate the culmination of mid-semester

examinations which counted for a measly 20 per cent of the final score, she
would start out on the roadmap to tackle the remaining 80 per cent. She had
already made a glossary of topics with decreasing order of importance and she

had to strike off two of them from the list by the next morning. There was no
time to waste.
The first hour passes by in a jiffy and adrenaline courses through her veins as

she thinks of her thumping victory two months from now. But somehow, from