Chapter 19

"Hurry up! Have to train better for the matches. We only have a day!" Ayaan announced to his team.

Being the captain of the cricket team, he had often gotten himself busy in the maintaining and training of his team; he wanted it to become the best inter-college team within the city and more. He had gotten in charge of the cricket team last year and since then, the team's name and fame had increased exponentially. Furthermore, he had also managed to use his contacts socially and professionally to expand inter-college events to inter-city events, meaning that now St Xavier's would play colleges in Delhi and Pune, and more such colleges outside Mumbai.

This is why he'd take his job as cricket captain very seriously. He wouldn't afford goof ups.

"When is the game?" Rohan asked, reaching to seeing his friend worry over the pitch.

"Tomorrow evening." Ayaan replied, without looking up at him, "They'll be here at 4pm."

"And who's it against?"

Ayaan's grip on his bat tightened, "Delhi."

Suddenly, it all made sense to Rohan. Ayaan had a deep rivalry against the captain of the Delhi cricket team, Shaan. Ever since he found out that the game is with Delhi, he had made it a point to break them, especially because it was a home ground game.

"That makes sense." Rohan exclaimed.

"I can't stand him here; if he wins, he's going to boast about it till we graduate." He gritted between his teeth, "He isn't allowed to win."

"Alright. I just came here to tell you that they'll be here tomorrow morning."

"Why morning?" Ayaan asked.

"Because they want to attend the Xavier's Career seminar taking place in the morning. So they'll be where by 10. Then we're free till 4."

Ayaan hummed in response.

~•~

The sun beamed onto Ayaan's room as he got up and instantly, the adrenaline rushed through him. It was D-Day. He did his bathroom business and showered and got ready in his normal jeans and shirt and went outside to face the day.

"Good Morning." Rohan said, "Someone's very competitive today." He smirked.

"It's about reputation. I don't want St Xavier's to suffer and lose in this game." Ayaan stated, "I'm going to head to the career conference. Will you be coming to it?"

"I will, but before we go," Rohan started, "I want to know, do you really hate Shaan that much?"

Ayaan chuckled, "Nah, it's just friendly rivalry. He's a good sport but this ego gets the better of him and I don't support that. I can't stand that."

"Good, because I like the guy. I was thinking of inviting him to the semester ball." Rohan said, "It'll be a nice change to add more people."

Ayaan hummed in response, "Good idea."

"Let's go now." Rohan said as they entered the room.

The conference room. As they entered, they saw a bunch of competitive glares given by the Delhi team. Ayaan chuckled and soon the hall's vibe relaxed and they started getting into banter.

"Well well well," a deep husky voice called out loud, "Ayaan Malhotra, good to see you."

Ayaan smirked, knowing the source of this voice, he turned, "Shaan Thapar, good to see you too."

"How's it going man?" Shaan said and stretched his hand out for a bro fist, Ayaan reciprocated and smiled back. "I'm good man, how are you?"

"Excited to play you today. It's been a while. Where have you been?" Shaan asked.

"Been busy bro. I've had a lot of things going on simultaneously." Ayaan said, "Come. Let's sit."

They sat down and the conference started. While Ayaan and Shaan were rivals when they were on the field, but they were not rivals otherwise. They were good friends. They knew each other through a lot of social parties and events and, of course, cricket. So they were quite close.

The conference started. Ayaan's focus level was high until the speaker announced, "Alright! We'll be taking a short break." The speaker stated, "We'll be back in 30 minutes."

The lights switched on and chatter in the room increased. Ayaan got into conversation with Shaan until he was called out with a phone call. He walked outside and attended the call from around 15 minutes.

Once he went inside, he froze seeing what he saw. He felt strange. Walking closer to them, he noticed Shaan talking to 3 girls - specifically, Meera, Ananya and Naina.

Ayaan walked to them, "Hi."

Shaan looked at him, greeted him again and Ananya looked at Ayaan, "Hi Ayaan!" Meera smiled at him as well, saying hello.

"Do you know them?" Shaan asked him.

"Know them?" Ayaan chuckled, "Yes. We're friends. Some of them are classmates too. How do you know them?"

"I don't, I just noticed them talking about some good place in Mumbai, as they sat in front of us, and I got curious so I joined in." Shaan said, "So far, I'm being told Mannat is a good place."Shaan chuckled.

"Mannat?" Ayaan chuckled, "Whose idea was this now?"

"Her's." Shaan said and gestured at Naina, making Ayaan also wonder. How did Naina talk to him? She doesn't talk to anyone.

"Wow, did Naina talk?" Ayaan chuckled, "It took us so long to hear her voice, right, Naina?" His eyes pierced into Naina's.

Naina looked at him and quickly nodded, trying to divert the attention from herself. She was sitting and attending a wonderful conference until her friends and her were suddenly called by Shaan, a dude she had never seen before. He spoke to them so casually and Shaan's friendly vibe reminded her a bit of Ishaan. Maybe that is why, when she was asked, she suggested to him the only place she loved to visit in Mumbai. SRK's home.

"So," Shaan continued, "Naina, you don't talk much? Why's that?"

"I don't know." Naina replied. She felt put on the spot and she didn't like it. She preferred being in then background and the only sense of security she got was when she tugged at her sweatshirt.

Shaan chuckled, "I like silent people. It's new."

Ayaan, watching this interaction, didn't realize that he was feeling weird. It wasn't like Naina was being different to Shaan, she was the same. Quiet and calm. But still, he felt weird internally.

"Guys, the conference is starting again." Ayaan said, not knowing he wanted to end the convo. They settled down and Shaan gestured Naina, Meera and Ananya to sit with them. Meera agreed for all of them and they sat down.

Ayaan glanced at Naina, who was listening to the conference whole heartedly. She didn't seem to care that Ayaan was glancing at her. But little did he know, her heart was in a turmoil.

Once the conference ended, Naina got up and decided to leave, but was stopped by her friends, who encouraged her to join them for coffee before heading off to her silent place. Seeing as though she had no option, she said okay.

They walked towards the canteen and everyone was in talks. Shaan and Ayaan spoke about cricket, while she walked behind silently - just the way she liked it. But then, she was called out by a voice, "Hey."

She looked to see Shaan walking beside her. She gave him a small smile, "Hi."

"You okay? You seem genuinely forced." He chuckled, "Did we force you here, Naina?"

Her lips tugged in a small smile, "No. it's fine. I just prefer silence or being alone I guess. They know that... I'm not forced."

"Wow, you're someone new. Most people I know prefer being the center of attention." He said, curiously watching her.

"I guess, there's a first time for everything."

Unknown to them, Ayaan's gaze was lingering into them while Meera spoke to him. He didn't listen to a word Meera said because his mind and eyes were focused on Naina and Shaan.

What was going on here?

And, why were his fists clenching?

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