*Jessica's P.O.V. *

I came back to my room thinking about the moments I shared with Max - I mean, with that jerk! I had to agree he had a soft side he didn't want to show, and maybe he had some reasons behind that, but he was still a jerk. I checked my watch: it was 2:30 P.M. I had one hour to prepare for Nina's rapid-fire questions.

I sighed and unlocked my phone and saw that there were a few messages and several missed calls. I didn't bother to check my phone after heading out for lunch with Max. That was weird.

The messages were:

Noah-

Are you skipping class?
Pick up the phone at least.
Again. . . not in class? Reply back or I'm calling Nina.
Max is also not in class. Please don't do anything stupid.

Nina-

Where are you? Skipping college?
You better have a solid reason for this. See you, Tc.

There were four missed calls from Noah and two from Nina.

I was feeling great for having such caring friends, but also guilty for hanging out with Max.

What should I do now?

Nina would surely make fun of me.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed, breaking the chain of my guilty thoughts. The text was from an unknown number;

Don't think too much about me. Btw, I had a great time with you and I'm looking forward to more. :)

Your jerk!

I immediately felt better, and the feeling of guilt vanished. I was grinning from ear to ear. I read the message again and again. I can't believe it; he also liked it.

Wait, also? There is no freaking way that I liked his company. No.

I pulled my hairs out from frustration. I needed to talk to someone about this - Mahi. I dialed her number, and she picked up after the third ring.

"Yes?" she said, answering the call. She sounded angry.

"Hey, honey. Please, don't be mad. I was busy," I said, feeling bad.

"The person you're trying to reach is either busy or angry. Try again later," she replied evenly.

I chuckled. Typical Mahi.

"Okay, come online. We'll sort it out there. "

"No, I'm busy. Tell me right now what you want."

I sighed. "Mahi, it's not a local call on which we can talk for hours. . . It's ISD, and it's damn expensive."

"Fine." She hung up. I turned on my laptop and logged into Skype.

After fifteen minutes, she came online. "Just say whatever you want to now because I have to go somewhere."

"Mahi, I'm sorry. I didn't have time yesterday. It was a rough day for me. I will never forget you, ever," I tried to convince her.

"You could have dropped a message."

"I did."

"That you'll call me later, but you didn't." She pouted.

"I know, and I'm extremely sorry about that. It won't happen again."

"Whatever, and how come you're calling me at this time? Don't you have classes?" she asked and arched one eyebrow.

"I skipped it," I whispered.

"You, what?" she asked, shocked.

"Fine, I skipped the classes."

"Jessica Kapoor, you bunked the college?" she almost shouted.

"Oye! Calm down. Don't be overly dramatic. I had things to do, so I skipped it. Anyway, how are your studies going?" I tried to change the subject.

"Don't you dare try to change the topic, and what kind of things? May I know? Because as far I know, you are a freaking nerd who would rather die than bunk."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not that psycho, okay? And I didn't want to, but he forced me to skip," I blurted out, and after realizing it, quickly covered my mouth.

Damn.

She raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean by he forced you?"

Before I could speak anything, there was a loud bang at my door. I signaled to Mahi and went to open the door.

"Am I allowed inside?" Nina asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, of course. I was just talking with Mahi," I said nervously.

Great timing!

Now, they both will kill me together.

"Great, I also wanted to meet her," she said excitedly, entering in my room.

She put her bag aside and sat on the bed, facing the laptop.

"Hey, I'm Nina. You must be Mahi. I've heard a lot of things about you from Jessica." She smiled.

"Hello, It's nice to meet you, Nina. Jazz told me about you. Thanks for supporting her in adjusting to over there." She smiled back.

"It's okay, dear. She is worth all of it. Anyways, Jessica," Nina said, facing me. "Where were you today?"

"Yeah, I was asking the same question. Now, you don't need to answer twice," Mahi said and winked.

I bit my lips. Now, there was no way to escape. I didn't know why I was feeling so scared.

It's not a crime to hang out with a guy, but if the guy is a popular bad boy . . . then surely, it is.

"We're waiting," they said simultaneously.

Of course!

I sat on the bed and turned the camera towards me so that I could face Mahi. I told her everything about yesterday's event. I could see the shock in her facial expression, replaced by a wide grin after hearing everything.

"So, finally . . . my cute, innocent Jazz is falling for someone." She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

"Just shut up and listen." I groaned.

"Okay," she said and put a finger on her lips like a child.

Nina chuckled, watching her.

"So, when I went college today, I found out someone had captured our pics and published them. I thought Max was behind this, but when I confronted him, he proved innocent. Then, he practically forced me to spend the afternoon with him. That's it," I said skipping out on the details.

"No one can force you to hang out with him, so don't give me that crap," Mahi said first.

"I agree, and what is this? Are we watching a show or what? Why are you giving us details about the trailer only? We want to know every single thing, and don't try to act smart because you can't hide anything. Now, spit," Nina said in a serious tone, to which Mahi nodded.

I didn't have a choice, so I told them everything. I skipped out on some tiny details like what I felt about him. I didn't think they needed to know about it. Besides, it would give them one more reason to tease me. I looked at Nina and then at Mahi who was grinning from ear to ear. But, Nina was hell beyond shocked. I turned towards Mahi, ignoring the looks Nina was giving me.

I couldn't handle both crazy girls together.

Before I could say anything to Mahi, Nina grabbed my shoulder. "You are hanging out with Max? Are you out of your mind? Seriously, Jessica, what's going on between you two?" she yelled.

What's wrong with her? Yesterday she was teasing me and now she just shouted?

"It was just a lunch, and there is nothing between us. Now, for God's sake, stop yelling," I shouted at the last words.

"Whoa! Girls, calm down. Nina, let her explain, please? If she went out with that guy, there must be some reason. She is not stupid," Mahi said.

"Thanks, Mahi, and the reason is tomorrow's test. I didn't pay attention in the class because of the pictures incident, and even if it wasn't Max, I would never have known about the test. He even helped me by giving his notes, and in return, the only thing he asked was to spend the afternoon with him. So, I went out with him, and you know where he took me?" I asked them, excitedly remembering the Indian stall.

"Obviously some fancy restaurant just to impress you," Nina said, rolling her eyes.

"Nina, just listen. Please?" Mahi said, giving me a small nod to continue.

"An Indian restaurant . . . I was so happy today. After so many days, I had a perfect lunch," I told them, happily clapping my hands.

"What? Did you ask him to take you there?" Nina asked, again shocked.

"Oh, this is the best part. I didn't mention a single thing to him. I sometimes feel like he has some kind of power of reading thoughts. It's the second time: first, coffee, and now, Indian food."

"Wow, Jazz. According to your story, this Max guy really seems nice, so give him a chance, but be careful. It could be his technique to impress you. Just don't let him play with you," Mahi warned.

"I agree with Mahi. Although, it's very strange of Max; he doesn't give a damn about what girls want, but with you, he acts differently. However, we also can't deny the fact that he is a player. He roams around with different girls in the same day," Nina said.

What the hell? Where did this come from?

Max and I weren't together. We weren't even proper friends, and there would be nothing more to our friendship until I was sure that he was not the jerk everyone said he was.

"You guys are talking nonsense. I'm not interested in him, but still, if you guys say so, I'll be careful, okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, and now after today's date, I won't bug you with my over-protective behavior. I can give him a chance with you," Nina said and winked.

"Oh, please. I don't need that as there is nothing between us." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah . . . We'll see about that." Nina smirked.

"You guys are . . . unbelievable." I let out a frustrated groan.

"And you're stupid."

"Idiot, too."

"And stubborn."

"Dhakkan."

"What's that mean?" Nina asked and tilted her head towards Mahi in confusion.

Mahi opened her mouth to reply but closed it as soon as her eyes met with mine. I was glaring at her from taking Nina's side.

She gulped down and waved her left hand to dismiss the topic, faking a chuckle. "Never mind, leave it. I'm getting sleepy, so I'm going to sleep. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure, bye," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at her.

Nina also wished her a good night, and I turned off my laptop.

"I'm also going now - feeling tired," she said, yawning.

"Yeah, get some rest."

She patted my shoulder. "I'm sorry if I overreacted. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I know. You don't need to apologize. I'm very lucky to have a friend like you." I smiled, hugging her.

"Obviously, and I know it's difficult, but please, try to stay away from that jerk!" she said and winked.

"For God's sake, how many times do I need to . . ."

"There is nothing . . . Yeah, yeah . . ." she interrupted. "But, you never know when things can change," she added, winking again.

She walked outside of the room, leaving me with her truthful words.

That night, I couldn't sleep well, and that was all to Max's credit.

I kept thinking about his actions; he genuinely seemed nice, but what if it was only a way to fool me? I couldn't take that chance. I was not here for another heartbreak.

Agh . . . Where was this even coming from in the first place?

I was seriously getting mad. Nina was right; I had to stay away from Max. He was messing with my mind and distracting me from my dreams. This was the last thought that crossed my mind before my eyes slowly closed at 2:34 A.M.

*****

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