He snorted and walked out of the room and I followed him. I checked my phone as we walked out. Nisha had messaged saying she was DYING to meet Raghu. Ugh.

The four of us didn’t hit it off immediately. I was too concerned about what Nisha was going to say to me about him later and I froze with anxiety after introducing everyone. I watched Anirudh and Raghu chat with each other in that measured way that guys have.

Nisha frowned and turned to me. ‘Why didn’t you say he was cute?’ she asked me in a whisper, raising one eyebrow.

‘Because I don’t think he is cute?’ I said, making a face.

All around me, the smells of popcorn and nachos wafted in the air, tempting me endlessly. I pulled in my stomach without even realizing I was doing it.

‘Liar. Just look at that cheeky grin,’ she said in my ear.

I looked. He was indeed grinning in a very cocky way at something that Anirudh was saying. Anirudh being the equivalent of a sixty-year-old grandpa when it came to education was grilling Raghu about why he hadn’t joined college after his twelfth and how could he be so chill about taking a year off. The fact that Raghu was so easy-going about his education was riling up Anirudh, who had been gunning to become a doctor from even before we had met. It wasn’t just his dream. It was the collective dream of his entire family.

‘It’s all right, dude. My mom is freaked out, but one year this way or that isn’t going to ruin my life,’ Raghu said, smiling and shaking his head.

Anirudh glanced at me with a disbelieving look. I nodded at him, but I wasn’t annoyed by Raghu’s take-it-easy manner. I was irked at my own lack of ambition or rather my confusion.

Since the movie was about to begin, we strolled inside, taking the 3D glasses from the counter. Anirudh and Raghu started to bond when they discovered that they both supported Liverpool FC. I think Anirudh was finally able to stop thinking of Raghu as abnormal.

Since we had come to see a superhero movie, Nisha and Raghu got into an argument over different fandoms with Raghu telling Nisha that Marvel was overrated shit.

Nisha nearly choked on her popcorn. ‘You don’t really believe that!’ she accused him.

‘How do you know what I believe or not?’ Raghu drawled, enjoying riling her up.

Anirudh frowned. He had noticed the high spots of colour on Nisha’s face. He opened his mouth to intervene when she started talking rapidly, leaning forward and sideways in her seat to address Raghu.

‘You just want to be seen as swimming against the tide. That’s why you haven’t joined any college. Not because you want to become a big chef,’ she said.