‘Yeah,’ Nisha said softly. ‘He’s scared of the NEET exams and he wants to be done with it fast. He thinks life will get back to normal for him once he writes the exam.’

‘Our finals are barely a few weeks away. In March! And you have to write the CET exam too,’ I reminded her. I felt dread rise in my stomach.

‘It’s just one movie, Ananya,’ Nisha snapped, irritated.

‘Fine, fine. I’ll come,’ I told her. For all I knew, Raghu wouldn’t be here for more than a week. Didn’t he have to get back to his life in Mumbai?

There was a sharp knock on my door and I ended the call with Nisha.

I went to my door, knowing it was Raghu. I paused, took a deep breath and then opened the door.

There he was, a bright smile on his face—and oh god, why was he so tall?

‘What?’

‘Come out! Why did you go to your room? I’m bored!’ he said. He’d apparently showered in the half hour I was inside my room and he looked squeaky clean and fresh. I still smelled of egg.

‘I . . .’

Before I could make an excuse, he reached out and grabbed my hand. I felt breathless in a strange sort of way as I tried to pull my hand away.

‘Okay, okay,’ I protested.

His hand was firm and dry, and I could only focus on how strong his grip was.

I was having the most annoying reactions to him and I couldn’t understand why. Or I didn’t want to. Maybe it was because I had never really been close to that many boys, in fact, none except Aniruddh, who didn’t count, of course. Since I was so obsessed with body image and self-esteem, I had never felt comfortable with anyone of the opposite sex or given much thought to the cute boys in college. Not that there were that many. Certainly not as cute as . . . Raghu.

He dragged me outside and I went reluctantly.

‘Come on! My mom and yours are planning some ugh-sounding reunion with friends they have found on Facebook from twenty years ago. Did you have any idea about this?’ he asked as he let go of my hand.

‘Oh shit. Is Aunty V serious about that?’ I asked finally. My hand actually throbbed a little. It could possibly be because he’d held it so hard, but I knew it was something else.

‘Yeah, man. I sat with them for like ten minutes and realized that they want to actually do this the last weekend of February! I don’t think I’ll be around for that.’

‘Why?’ the words slipped out before I could stop myself. Idiot. What do you care if he isn’t here, I berated myself.

‘I guess I’ll be back home by then,’ he said.