Chapter 2

I dribbled the basketball as we were talking. Jai was jumping from one side to another in front of me, trying to snatch the ball from me. He was never good at sports. So I did not even need to try hard.

"There she is. Fully in your view. Now go over to her... and ask her out for a movie or something."Jai said.

I looked back. Ayisha and her friends were sitting under a tree chatting. She looked so beautiful just sitting there. I felt nervous just by looking at her.

"It's going to be easy. You are going to do great, bro." Jai said jumping left and right again. And then he took the ball from me. He looked surprised at himself for getting the ball. He beamed and tried to score a basket. The ball totally misse3d the hoop and fell down. "Hm..." with a frown was all Jai's reaction. I went and retrieved the ball.

"What makes you think that Ayisha will agree if I ask her out?" I asked Jai.

He made a face of 'you are making no sense'. "You are Veer Malik." He told me.

"So?" I asked. He makes it sound as if that makes some sort of brand statement.

"Let's stop the game for a second." Said Jai and came closer to me, he flung his hand around my shoulder. "We have about 50 people in general vicinity now. Let's generally assume 25 of them are girls. Do you know how many of them are checking you out?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow and a smartass look.

I looked around.

"Don't look, dude..." Jai pulled me down with his hand around my neck. "You are making it seem so obvious. I will tell you..." He looked over his shoulder. "3 O' Clock direction..." I looked around. "That's 9 O' Clock, dude..." He hissed. I looked in the other direction. A junior girl was definitely staring at us with adoring eyes.

"Behind us. Near the tree." Jai said, I turned my eye and look behind and frowned. Some 13-year-olds were giggling looking at us. My eyes met with them, and they broke into giggles.

"That's just disturbing," I hissed to Jai. He grinned.

"Those 11th class girls down by the bleachers," Jai said. I looked at them. They seemed busy talking among themselves. "They were definitely looking over here 5 minutes back," Jai said taking his hand off from my shoulder and standing facing me.

"AND near the faculty building," Jai said. I looked over, without making it obvious. Liya of our class was sitting with her friends and she was definitely stealing looks at us.

I could see all the girls stare at me and Jai. We were still in uniform. But we had removed our coats and ties. The pale blue uniform shirt might be doing its trick. Because once the navy blue coat is removed our uniform are really good. The pale blue shirt goes really well with the beige pants. And right now, I even had a few buttons of my shirt unbuttoned with my chest showing. Jai had his buttons opened all the way down, but he was wearing two layers of white t-shirt inside. And he pulled off this look so damn well.

"How do you know that they are not checking you out?" I asked. I think at least Liya was not checking me out; she was definitely checking Jai out. He does not get it, but I think he looks better than me in a sense. He is like freaking beautiful. Sure he looks like a girl mostly. But some girls dig that flawless skin stuff. Jai looks like the Korean Pop stars my cousin Sara is really really crazy about and have posters all over her bedroom walls.

"It could be you," I told Jai. "And besides..." I looked at Ayisha. "Ayisha is not checking me out." She was just talking to her friends. "I don't even think she knows that I exist." Okay, now this comes out involuntarily. I don't know what's the deal with Jai is. When I am with him I end up saying things that I definitely would not have said out aloud to anyone. He makes me say my thoughts out loud. It's kind of scary. But I guess that is why he is my best friend.

"Now you are being stupid," Jai said. "We have been in the same class for the past 3 years. She knows you exist. And AGAIN. You are freaking Veer Malik, bro. Everybody knows you exist. "

I guess.... I nodded.

"So ask her out," Jai said.

"No," I said, shaking my head. I am definitely not going to do that. Because even if Jai says that I am this guy who some girls think is good looking, I think I am nothing compared to Ayisha. She is like awesome. And I don't think Ayisha cares about looks. She is the type that won't care how a guy 'looks'. And maybe that's what I like about her. She is awesome.

I shook my head and went back to our little game. "Are you going to score? The ball is totally in your hands?"

Jai took a look at the ball and threw it into the basket. It touched the rim of the basket and fell off. "Dude, you are bad." I looked at him.

"I know." He lifted up his arms. "Sorry. Not great at sports."

"You just need practice," I said. "Come here."

"You are not making me do this again."

"Yes. I am. Come here." I said. "My best friend does not suck at sports."

"My best friend does not suck at talking to girls." He said back at me.

I laughed. He is like this expert dating coach and exceptionally good at giving girl advice. It's strange how much he knows about girls. So he is the one all the guys in the hostel come to when they need advice about girls. One of the guys, Sahil, he and his girlfriend almost broke up and Sahil was like heartbroken. Jai helped them get together, patched it up and all. And after Jai was branded as the official adviser on love matters.

And maybe I could use his help as well.

I dribbled the ball. "You think Ayisha will like me if I asked her out?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jai frowned. "Why wouldn't she?"

I shrugged.

"Dude, this is going to sound weird," Jai said taking a step closer, "but any girl here will be lucky to have you. Not because you are freaking good looking. But because you are you. Seriously. You are smart, you are nice, you are considerate. And on top of that, you are good looking. You are like attractive. To any girl. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

Okay, now this was officially awkward. But I guess that gives me a bit of confidence.

I smiled at him and threw the ball at him. It hit him in the chest, he groaned. "Shut up and play the game," I said. He frowned and threw the ball to the hoop. It missed and fell down.

"I don't know what the hell am I doing wrong," Jai yelled at me groaning again.

"Here, let me show you," I said taking the ball and angled it to fall to the hoop. "You see that. Angle... And then..." I shoot the ball. "The right force..." I picked up the ball which had fallen through the hoop and handed it to Jai. "Try again."

Jai held the ball to the hoop. I went and adjusted his hands. He was holding it way too low. I don't know why the guy never gets any muscles. His hand is like soft... But well it's not a rule that all guys should have muscles. Some guys would not have muscles. There are guys in our hostel whose hands are like match sticks. Compared to that, Jai's soft hands are fine.

Jai threw the ball and it went through the hoop. He looked stunned. His mouth hanging open.

"Did you see that?" he asked me.

"Yup," I told him. "Now act normal, dork. It's was just one basket." I flung my hand around his shoulder. He was totally jumping up and down. And when I turned around, I saw that Ayisha was looking at us. Involuntarily I moved my fingers through my hair, looking at her nervously.

"She looked at me," I whispered to Jai in a triumphant tone.

Jai looked at me. "Now you act normal. It was just one look." He said. "We have way to go. And I, my brother, am going to help you go all the way till you reach that destination."

Jai rushed into the washroom as we went to our room. He had grabbed his things before he went in. I dropped to the bed, still playing with the basketball. I threw it to the wall and caught it when it bounced back.

I was thinking about Ayisha and her smile, and her big round eyes when suddenly the door of the washroom opened and Jai's face popped out. "Veer," he called in an urgent voice. "I forgot to get a towel. Can you grab one for me?"

I got up from the bed and went to Jai's wardrobe and looked back at him. "Is it okay if I open it?" Normally he freaks out if I touch his stuff. Two years back, when he first came he would not even let me near his stuff. Now I got used to it. I understood his nature. So I stay away.

"Just make it fast," Jai says.

I opened his drawer and grabbed a towel and fling it across the room. It fell to the floor in front of the bathroom. Jai looked down. He did not bend down and pick it up.

"What?" I asked. "Should I like, come over there and pick it up for you?" Seriously... He can just grab it off the floor. But Jai was making a troubled face now. He acts so weirdly sometimes. I mean he is so conscious about his body or something. We have been living together for two years and I have never seen him without a shirt. Not like I want to see or anything. But this is a boys' hostel. Everybody roams around shirtless. Some guys even roam around just in their underwear. But you won't catch Jai without clothes. He is always fully clothed. So I was wondering if he had a scar or something he was ashamed of. So I wanted to tease him to come out of the bathroom to get the towel. I mean, how bad it can be. And we are practically brothers now. He need not be 'shy' around me...

Jai was not trying to grab the towel by his hands, still hidden behind the door. Then his head vanished inside and only his hand came out, way at the bottom near the floor and he grabbed the towel and closed the door.

Now seriously... I laughed. He is sort of cute sometimes.

My phone began to ring. And I went to it to take the call. It was my mom. I frowned.

"Hello..."

"Hey, dear..." She said. "How is it going?"

"Fine," I said.

"I saw your marks in the mock test."

I felt the familiar irritation come up.

"Veer, you know you have to do better than that." She said.

I clenched my jaw.

"Veer? Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah," I said.

"You have to do better than that." She said.

"I heard you the first time," I told her. I was in no mood to fight with her. "I will work harder next time," I told her. "You don't have to worry, mom."

"Oh...Okay. Fine." She said. "How is everything else? How is Jai?"

"He is fine," I said. "Mom, I need to do some homework. So...can we...?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Go do your homework. I have to get to a surgery in thirty minutes anyway." She said. "Bye, son... Love you."

I cut the call. And flung the phone to the table and got on the bed. I hate my parents... All they know is how to hurt me.

Jai came out after a while. He was acting weird. I thought he will kill me for the towel issue. But he just got into his bed and sat there. I sighed... I wanted to fight with him so as to get my mind off my mother's call. Fighting with him seemed like a very good distraction. I flung a pillow at him. "You are weird sometimes, you know that?" I asked him. He is weird.

He did not reply. He just looked at me. His wet hair lay messy over his forehead. I got up and went to him and kind of strangled him with the pillow. He pushed me off. "What's with you?" He grunted. I don't know. I did not want to think of my parents. So fight back...

Jai kicked my leg. Good...

I grabbed him into a head lock...he hit my stomach. It was painful so I let go of him.

"Who was on the phone?" He asked.

I stopped. I looked away. He gets me so much...

"You okay?" He asked me.

"No," I said.

"Was it your mom on the phone?" Jai asked.

I sighed again.

"What did she say?" Jai asked.

"Usual," I said. "They only call me after they get a report card. Like they get reminded that they have a son only when the report card arrives in their mail."

Jai looked at me with sympathy.

"I feel kind of crappy," I admitted. "All they care about are my grades. After they dumped me here when I was 8... What the hell right do they have and call and tell me that I am not getting enough marks in school. Seriously??" I felt hurt. I felt tears in my eyes. Damn... This was not going to happen this way.

Jai came closer to me. He looked at me like he didn't know what to do but totally sympathies with me.

"Do you wanna do something?" Jai asked me. "Go out perhaps? To get your mood okay?"

I think I really need a break now. I can't just sit and study now. I will go mad. And I knew Jai understood that.

"Sure." I told Jai, "Let's take Happy and Varun as well."

He nodded.

"Check if Rathord is coming..." Happy hissed to Jai.

"Nah...he is probably in his room..." Jai said.

I moved to the first floor broken window and jumped out. Well, Rathrod's rule is that we should not go out after 8:30. But when has all rules strictly kept by everyone in any place. We had a secret way to go out after 8:30...

I pushed Jai's butt as he was having trouble jumping the wall. When he was finally over, I jumped over as well.

"Let's hurry..." Happy said. "By the way, since we are already out here.... I heard that total hot B grade movie is running in Sarita's"

"Really?" I turned to Happy.

"Yeah. Totally hot... And the heroine is so hot that even Sunny Leon is nothing compared to her. What's say? Let's go?"

"Totally," Varun said. "Why are you even asking?"

"I want to eat first though," Jai said.

"Idiot! Who prefer food over that stuff," Happy snapped.

"I am hungry," Jai yelled at him.

"Me too," I said. I was.

"Let's just get food and go." Happy said. We all nodded.

So that night I ate Bhabu bhaiyya's tasty street food, while the movie's title was rolling. We were in hurry to finish the food before the movie start that we almost choked on food.

"I heard Shekhar got a nice porn collection," Jai said, wiping his mouth after eating.

"Shekhar from class 10. Room number 502?" I asked.

"Hm..."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Heard from Ganesh." He said. "The boy's got an unlimited internet connection. And allegedly he has membership in international sites. You know the type that you need to pay to get a membership. And he has download stuff. Well, he is rich. So..."

"Yeah, Shekhar is rich," Varun said. "His dad owns a Fast-food chain that is like all over India and abroad. Lucky for him. I wish I had that kind of money."

"You are rich." Happy added to Jai, "Why don't you do something like that and help out these poor souls?"

Jai just chewed his food and looked at us strictly. Happy got silence at once.

"I should pay Shekhar a visit." Happy said, "The movie is starting..."

I looked back at the screen to see the hottest scenes ever... Jai, Varun and Happy were concentrating on the movie as well.

We got back to the hostel through the usual route. And it was pretty late, and Jai was even yawning. He dropped into his bed. While I was making my bed the conversation passed through my head and I looked back at Jai. "You know, how much money do you own exactly?"

"Huh?" He asked.

I knew that he can't touch the money he actually owns. He can't give away his location to his uncle. But he does get an allowance from his dad's old employees. But that is not much. They have to provide him with their personal savings. They can't risk touching the company money either. In case that becomes a lead towards Jai.

"I mean when you finally become 18 and own the company. How much will you own?" I asked.

"Millions." He said without thinking.

"Okay. Then then, when you get millions, we can get membership in a paid porn site." I said with a naughty smile.

Jai chuckled. "You sure that is your only wish when I get millions? I can buy you a Porsche or Lamborghini."

I considered. The idea of a sports car was totally awesome. But it's not like I can actually get them from him. I can't take that expensive gift from him.

"Nope. Porn is better."I said with a laugh.

"Why would you waste money on porn when you can get it for free?" Jai asked me.

"The quality is clearly different," I said.

He seemed to be thinking. "Yeah. Maybe." He admitted.

"Now I feel like watching porn," I mumbled. The idea had strung something. Hell. Whatever. I fetched my laptop and opened it. Jai jumped and came by my side at once. We have watched porn together before. I mean, we live together. He is in my room. I can't go watch it somewhere else. It was going to be in my own room. There is no way I was going to get any privacy from him. Because this is his room too. So yeah, we mostly end up watching together. And no big deal. We are both guys. And best friends. So yeah, we can totally watch porn together or even discuss about it.