"Your 1st sessionals are scheduled and the datesheet will be forwarded to you shortly."
The Physiology HoD, Dr. Abha's stern voice rang through the lecture hall as she pointedly glared at two students in the back whom she had just reprimanded for talking and disturbing the class.
"So I advise the ones who have been taking studies way too casually up to now to start studying. These examinations are essential for your internal marks, and first year won't pass itself-"
From there on, she went on a tirade about irresponsible students and casual attitudes, completely derailing the lecture that was supposed to be about hemostasis.
Nikhil, who was sitting somewhere in the middle rows, exhaled quietly. His elbow rested on the desk, his chin propped up in his palm. Beside him sat Anuj.
As expected, the announcement had immediately transformed Anuj into a living anxiety attack.
"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered under his breath.
He wasn't stupid enough to say it loudly. Dr. Abha was still in the room, and nobody wanted to become the next victim of her disappointment.
"What?" Nikhil asked lazily.
He looked half asleep.
Which, to be fair, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
He had absolutely not stayed awake half the night thinking about what Aarav might be thinking right now.
Absolutely not.
That would be ridiculous.
Completely baseless.
The fact that he'd replayed the confession approximately seventy-three times before finally falling asleep at some ungodly hour was irrelevant.
They had crossed paths in the morning.
A complete coincidence, obviously.
Nikhil hadn't timed it.
He hadn't deliberately lingered near the corridor. Hadn't looked up every time footsteps approached.
He wasn't that gone.
Probably.
The reaction had been... disappointing.
Not bad.
Just disappointing.
Because Aarav hadn't exploded.
He hadn't glared or snapped.
He hadn't even looked particularly offended.
No.
Instead, he'd looked right through Nikhil.
As if Nikhil was a decorative plant.
Or a wall.
Or an especially uninteresting patch of air.
The worst part?
Nikhil had noticed the tiny details anyway.
The way Aarav's jaw had tightened.
The way his fingers had curled into a fist before relaxing.
The way he'd sped up his pace by exactly half a step.
Anyone else would've missed it.
Nikhil hadn't.
Because somewhere along the way he'd apparently developed a deeply embarrassing hobby called Studying Aarav.
"-and of course we'll have to seriously study markings, which reminds me, we haven't even taken markings yet. Are you even listening to me?!"
Nikhil blinked.
Apparently Anuj had been talking this entire time.
The lecture had ended, and students had started getting up from their seats. The room buzzed with conversations.
"What?" Nikhil repeated.
"The sessionals!" Anuj hissed. "The professor said they're very soon! Aren't you scared?"
"It's just exams, dude."
Nikhil stretched slightly.
Anuj looked personally betrayed.
"Just exams?"
"Yeah."
"Just exams?"
"That's what I said."
Anuj stared at him as though he'd announced gravity was optional.
"How can you say that so casually?"
"Because panicking won't make them disappear."
"Yes, but neither will ignoring them!"
"Worked pretty well so far."
"It has not worked pretty well so far!"
Nikhil sighed.
Honestly, Anuj's voice was starting to sound like background noise.
Which wasn't fair.
Anuj was genuinely worried.
But Nikhil had spent the entire morning being distracted by much more important matters.
Like the exact shade of pink that had briefly appeared at the tips of Aarav's ears before he'd ignored him.
Or how unfairly nice he'd looked despite clearly being annoyed.
Or how-
No.
Nope.
Not thinking about that.
Definitely not.
"-the syllabus is so big," Anuj continued.
He looked like a man standing before imminent execution.
"Upper limb. Lower limb. The entire limbs. That's just Anatomy. Then Physiology has CVS and Respiratory. Then Biochemistry-"
He sounded increasingly distressed with every subject.
"-and Biochemistry is the worst because everybody says it's easy, which means nobody studies it, which means we've all collectively made horrible life decisions and now it's all going to collapse on top of us during exams-"
Nikhil pinched the bridge of his nose.
Did this guy ever stop talking?
Was he born anxious?
Was anxiety hereditary?
Could it be airborne?
Should he be wearing protective equipment?
Just as he was about to tune the rest out, something in Anuj's rambling finally caught his attention.
"-for the markings, I messaged Karan boss. He said he'd take Physiology markings because that's his strong point, but he sucked at Anatomy and Biochemistry. For those, he said Aarav boss would probably take them. I checked last year's results- you can find them on the internet, and Aarav boss- I'm not kidding- has two distinctions. Two. Anatomy and Biochemistry."
Nikhil froze.
Not because of the distinctions.
Who cared about distinctions?
Okay, fine.
They were objectively impressive.
But that wasn't what his brain latched onto.
Markings.
Aarav.
He'd get to see Aarav.
Repeatedly.
In a setting where Aarav couldn't simply pretend Nikhil didn't exist.
A setting where ignoring him would be significantly harder.
A setting sanctioned by the sacred senior-junior hierarchy Aarav worshipped like it was written into the Constitution.
The realization settled over him slowly.
Then a smile started forming.
"Oh no," Anuj whispered.
Because he saw it.
He saw the smile.
And unfortunately for him, he had spent enough months living with Nikhil to recognize exactly what that smile meant.
The smile widened.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Anuj asked suspiciously.
"Like what?"
"Like a cat which just spilled the milk and got the cream."
Nikhil looked offended.
"That's a very specific comparison."
"It's also accurate."
Nikhil ignored him.
His thoughts had already wandered elsewhere.
Distinctions.
Two distinctions.
Huh.
That actually tracked.
Aarav looked like the kind of person who got distinctions.
The kind of person who highlighted notes in five colors.
The kind of person who probably revised before exams instead of discovering the syllabus forty-eight hours beforehand.
The kind of person who somehow looked annoyingly pretty while being academically successful.
Honestly.
Some people were God's favorites.
"Two distinctions," Anuj repeated reverently.
Nikhil hummed.
His priorities were entirely different.
Anuj was looking at academic achievement.
Nikhil was thinking about Aarav sitting in front of them explaining markings.
Aarav getting irritated when people didn't listen.
Aarav correcting mistakes.
Aarav pushing his glasses up his nose.
Aarav getting that little frown between his brows when concentrating.
Aarav.
Aarav.
Aarav.
At this point, Nikhil was beginning to suspect he might have a problem.
Unfortunately, he wasn't interested in solving it.
"That's incredible, honestly," Anuj continued. "Do you know how hard distinctions are in first year?"
"Mm."
"And Anatomy too."
"Mm."
"And Biochemistry."
"Mm."
"You aren't listening."
"I am."
"You definitely aren't."
Nikhil finally looked at him.
"Anuj."
"Yes?"
"I think it's wonderful that our senior is academically gifted."
Anuj narrowed his eyes.
The statement wasn't technically false.
That made it worse.
"Right."
"I can't wait to learn from him."
"Sure."
"Such knowledge."
"Mhmm."
"Such wisdom."
"Absolutely."
"Such beautiful-"
Nikhil stopped.
Anuj's eyes widened.
Nikhil's eyes widened.
A brief silence passed.
"Beautiful what?" Anuj asked slowly.
"Beautiful dedication to academics."
The answer came far too quickly.
Anuj looked unconvinced.
Nikhil looked innocent.
Neither believed the other.
Anuj sighed heavily.
There were moments in life when a person simply accepted their fate.
This was one of them.
"Whatever you're planning," he muttered, gathering his notes, "don't."
Nikhil smiled.
Which was not a reassuring response.
Unfortunately, it was the only response Anuj received.
And judging by that smile, the situation was already beyond saving.
---
AN: real talk tho i would prolly hate aarav if he was in my batch. Fcking nerd. (Jk)