Without drying her hair in the heavy rains of California, March left for college in a hurry. While sitting in the public transport, March muttered to herself, "March, you should've read the next chapter of the book, but you want to immerse yourself in the world of the novel. It's the first day in college, and you're already lacking in it."

All of a sudden, March smiled to herself and muttered again, "But who cares? The novel was so romantic, after all. Blaine and Teresa were just about to have their first kiss, but I had to get dressed for college. As soon as I get any free class, I will make sure to continue to read further". While grumbling to herself, March reached college.

March entered the college showing her ID card at the gate. As soon as she entered college, she heard someone shout out her name, "March, come on, we have a class on the first floor".

It was Jessica. She was March's only friend and roommate in Cali- fornia. Both of them were very close to each other. Apart from being best friends and roommates, both were classmates. Jessica had left for college early in the morning itself, leaving March to come to col- lege all by herself. Jessica was waiting for March to arrive in college. As she saw her coming, she called out to her. March mumbled to her- self about Jessica calling out to her aloud.

"Oh God, why is Jessica calling out my name so loudly in the col- lege? Doesn't she know how embarrassing it is?" March grumbled.

While looking at Jessica, March gestured to her to leave without her. March then decided to run towards the main building. She ran so fast without noting the people close by or around her that she bumped into someone and slammed hard on the ground. Along with her, all her novels, college textbooks, and cell phones fell on the floor. She picked up herself and exclaimed, "What is up with me today? Why is all this happening to me today?"

The boy she bumped into turned back to March in anger and re- plied, "Can't you see? Do you close your eyes and walk? Can't you even walk straight without bumping into people?"

Hearing him, March turned back and saw a boy behind her. Dre- ssed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, the guy seemed annoyed with the accident. March looked at him furiously and then bent down to pick up her books and belongings from the floor. Taking a final glance at him, March checked out his appearance. Fair complexioned, well-defined jawline, lean-muscular body, and tall he- ight. The boy looked attractive. The moment March saw him correctly, she was immediately mesmerized by his looks and was lost.

As soon as she saw him, she became numb. After looking at him, all her anger disappeared. She felt as if she was featured in a Hollywood movie wherein the background played the legendary Titanic's OST where instead of Jack and Rose, she had to imagine her and this boy in the film. While such scenarios were playing in her head, the boy had already picked up his belongings. Not knowing that the boy had already left from there, March stretches out her hand, thinking that her hands would magically brush past against his, making her locks fly as though she was in some 90s Hollywood movie, but nothing of that sort happened. The boy looked at March, and he disappeared into the crowd within seconds. She sat all by herself on the college corridor with her hands outstretched, looking dumb, but she pretended as though nothing had happened.

"Maybe he didn't get a good glance at me; he will very soon," She thought to herself.

She picked up her belongings, but the only thing running around. in her mind was, "who was that boy after all? He looked quite smart. Is he a senior, or is he a young professor in college?"

Such questions kept running around in her head when suddenly her phone rang, making her break her chain of thoughts. The person calling her was Jessica.

"Ahh, it had to be Jessica again!" she mumbled to herself.

She picked up the call.

"Yes, yes, Jessica, I'll be right there," she answered and hung up the phone without even giving Jessica a chance to speak.

While walking towards the main building, March noticed the book she held in her hand.

"What is this? 'The Brief History of Time?' But I remember re- ading a romantic novel. I guess the books got mixed up. Maybe this is my chance to get a chance to talk to him again," said March to herself.

She smiled, thinking about how the meeting would go. She then glanced over the time on her watch and said to herself again, "But what about my class? It starts in about 20 minutes. What should I do?"

Even before she could make up her mind deciding what she wanted to do, either attend her classes or go and meet the boy, her feet automatically turned away from the main building and headed towards the boy.

On the very first day of college itself, March, who came from a small town called Burney, was found roaming around college searc- hing for a boy. Her father was a government officer, and her mother was a housewife. March was the only girl in the family who had come to a big city like California to pursue her higher education. March was addressed as a problem. According to her family, she was considered someone who would attract some trouble or the other. She could never sit in one place and study, but she surprised her family members with her excellent marks when the results were out. She was among the top rank holders in her high school.

With a good height and a milky white complexion, March looked attractive. She looked cute with her shoulder-length and cute bangs. A glossy lip balm was all that she would wear as make-up to enhance her beauty.

Reading romantic novels was her favourite thing to do, and thus she assumed the world around to be similar to the one she read in books. However, despite living in a world of dreams, March never experienced a relationship with any boy. Crushes here and there were a part of her growing-up years, but things never formally progressed for her.

She didn't find the boy despite searching for him in different cla- sses. She continued looking for him for straight 45 minutes and finally stopped near one of the classes and said to herself, "I've looked for that boy in the entire college. Does he even belong to this place? Let's have a look at the cafeteria and other classes; he has to be here somewhere."

After thinking about all this, she glances over at her watch. "Oh no! The classes started half an hour back, which is why no one is seen outside roaming around on the campus. If I keep roaming aro- und like this, someone will notice me for sure. I better hurry and get back to my class. Don't plan on making the professor get angry just on the first day".

After thinking her way through, she headed straight for her class. As March reached her class, she was greeted by the professor stan- ding at the door.

"Ma'am, may I come in? I'm so sorry for being late," March apolo- gized and sought permission.

Hearing her voice, all the students turned their heads to look at her, but March's eyes were fixed on the teacher. The professor was dressed well and looked extremely smart. She looked to be in her ap-

proach 30's and had sharp features. She looked beautiful.

Listening to her voice, the professor looked back at her and asked, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Ma'am, I'm March Portman. I'm a student of this class. I'm extremely sorry for being late. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again," March introduced herself apologetically.

The professor turned towards her and replied with a broad smile, "Hello, March, I am your English professor, Ms Anna D'Souza, come here, you're not at all late. Everyone was introducing themselves. Come inside, darling... Why don't you introduce yourself too."

After hearing her, March walked into the class with confidence. She had a smile on her face. She walked up to her place and then in- troduced herself.

"Hi, my name is March Portman. I am from Burney, and since I ranked amongst the top 3 in school, I decided to pursue my higher studies in California and managed to get admission here," March in- troduced herself.

After saying this, as March moved to take a seat at the nearest chair, her eyes fell on the boy with whom she had the accident in the corridor earlier. Seeing him, March's excitement increased many folds. She was surprised to see him and thought to herself, "This is the same guy that I bumped into the corridor earlier. I've been lo- oking for him all over the place, but how funny fate can be, he tur- ned out to be my classmate. Wow! God, you work in mysterious ways."

On the other hand, Asher was not bothered by anything that was happening around him. He was completely immersed in his books. He didn't even look up to see March enter the classroom. March went ahead and sat beside him. She was smirking while she kept sta- ring at the boy. She wanted to speak to him, so she thought of ways to begin a conversation with him. She knew that they had already met in the morning by bumping into each other, and she could use it to start a conversation with him. March gathered up all her courage and spoke, "Hey!!". However, to her disappointment, she received no response. Thinking that the boy must not have heard her, she repe- ated herself, "Hello? Hey, I'm talking to you".

"I don't talk to strangers," the boy replied with a heavy voice.

Saying this, he got up from his seat, and as soon as he did so, the class got over. March was taken aback by this cold behaviour.

"What? A 40-minute class is over so fast? That means I was half an hour late?" March spoke to herself softly.

She was also annoyed by the stranger boy's cold behaviour thrown at her. Suddenly someone approached her.

"Hi, I am Stanley. I am a third ranker just like you and better than Asher in his studies. I think he may be a little out of luck this time," Stanley remarked with a grin.

Hearing Stanley, March's eyes gleamed in excitement as she

asked, "What? Do you know him? I mean, his name is Asher?"

"Yes, I do, but right now, I'm kind of in a rush. I have to go to the library to solve some sample papers. I'll talk to you later. Bye," Stanley answered and left from there, leaving March with no chance to even say anything to him.

Later on, Jessica came towards March and said, "Oh my god! How long does it take you to come from the main gate to the classroom? 1 hour? I know you were roaming around the campus so that you co- uld bunk classes. If you had told me you wanted to bunk, I would've accompanied you too, but I remember you being excited for college until last night. What happened today? What made you want to miss the class on the first day of college itself?"

Jessica continued to let out her thoughts all in one breathe.

March didn't utter a word. She continued looking at Jessica while she spoke. After some time, March let out a slight giggle and told her, "Oh God, let me speak for myself. Listen to my point of view also. I don't want to bunk classes; if I wanted to bunk, why would I come to class right at the end anyway? I got late searching for someone."

Jessica then lovingly brushed her hair and asked March, "So, who is that someone that you were searching for?"

March became shy and replied to her, "After talking to you on call while I was rushing to get to the class, I bumped into a boy. When I caught a glance at his face, he looked extremely handsome; I couldn't refrain from looking at him, so I went looking for him"

Hearing March, Jessica smiled and replied, "So did you find your Mr Handsome?"

March looked around to see if anyone was around. She walked closer to Jessica and whispered, "Yes."

Jessica jumped up with full excitement as she asked, "Who is he?

Is he a senior? Which department is he from? Did he talk to you?".

Jessica bombarded March with questions to which she smiled and replied, "Thankfully, professor Anna was lenient or else she wouldn't have let me enter and embarrassed me in front of the whole class on the first day itself."

As soon as Professor Anna started teaching, Jessica was lost in her thoughts; she turned over to March and spoke, "But March, how can one be so beautiful? Yeah, her personality itself is so cool that forget about boys; girls only are capable of going crazy over her"

March laughed at Jessica's reply and answered, "I don't know about the rest, but I'm very sure that you're going crazy over her beauty. It might be different for me, but when it comes to you, you always have a weak spot for beautiful girls."

Hearing March, both of them started laughing loudly. After a while, Jessica calmed down and asked March again, "So tell me, where did you find that boy? What was your first impression of him?".

March looked around to see if anyone was there again and whispered to her, "The boy I was searching for all over the campus turned out to be our classmate itself."

Hearing this, Jessica was a little surprised.

"In class? Who is he?" She asked her. As soon as March told her about the boy pointing at him, Jessica exclaimed loudly, "What? Asher?"

Hearing her exclaim loudly, March grabbed Jessica's hand and took her out of the classroom. Showing her big eyes to her, Jessica implied, "Yes, shout louder. I should've held a microphone for you to make an announcement."

Jessica removed March's hand from her mouth and spoke, "I'm so sorry, but didn't you find anyone else to hit on?". March looked at her with stern eyes and replied, "What's the problem with him? He's so smart after all".

"Not only is he smart and intelligent, but he's also very arrogant and insolent," said Jessica. Before Jessica could even complete what she had to say, March interrupted her mid-way and said, "Jessica, you were in class at the time of the introduction, right? You heard him speak about himself, right? Now enlighten me."

Jessica sighed a deep breath and looked at March, and answered, "I've never seen you this interested in anyone before; what's the matter, March?"

"Don't have to use your brains so much; just tell me what he said

about himself during the introduction," March replied, ignoring

Jessica's previous words.

Jessica continued as she spoke, "He didn't say anything special. He just kept praising himself. He said his name was Asher Lewis, and he was also from California. He topped his boards. Everyone called him the 'God of solutions'; the reason is still unknown. What I still can't seem to understand is why we're all the girls cheering and hooting for him while he was giving his introduction? Every word that came out of his mouth proved how arrogant he was. March, I'm warning you from the very beginning itself that if you chase after him, your path is not going to be a bed of roses."

March interrupted Jessica as soon as she heard her and said, "Yes, you are right; he is not only arrogant but also very forgetful. He hit his head so hard in the morning that when I went up to him to greet him, he replied to me saying, 'I don't talk to strangers.

Stranger? He didn't even look at me.

Also, In that accident that we had in the morning, I have his book with me," March concluded.

As soon as she said this, her eyes fell on the novel that he held in his hand earlier.

"I was so upset thinking I lost my book, but then after seeing him in class, I felt so relieved so much that I forgot even to get the book exchanged. It is either that he might not have noticed it or he doesn't preserve that book so much," March stated.

Jessica was perplexed listening to March.

"What? Book exchange? Don't tell me your romantic novel got exchanged with him?" she asked.

March nodded her head in approval. Jessica was shocked to rece-

ive such a reply from her.

"March, if he ever opens that novel and starts to read it, your love story will come to an end even before starting," Jessica remarked.

March, on the other hand, was already so upset. Hearing Jessica's words, she felt all the worse.

"No, this can't happen. I will somehow find the book back, or else

that might ruin my first impression on him again," She answered.

Perplexed about the fact of what March meant, Jessica asked her

again, "What do you mean 'once again'? I don't understand."

"Yes, I have already ruined my first impression by scolding him when I saw him in the morning," she answered.

Hearing her, Jessica took a deep breath and spoke, "March!!! What do I do with you? If he is the 'God of solutions', then you are the 'God of problems".

"No, both of us are from here," March and Jessica both exclaimed together.

Earlier it was only March searching for Asher Lewis in the entire campus but now Jessica had also joined her in it. After wandering for about 15 minutes, both of them headed to the cafeteria. Jessica was mad tired.

"This boy will never be found. To find him we'll have to sort out a full-fledged plan and to do that I need to eat something or else my brains will not work," Jessica exclaimed.

March also related to her situation and replied, "Okay then, let's do one thing, let's sit here in the cafeteria and order something to eat. And we can think of where we could find Asher." As she said this her stomach growled looking at the snacks placed at the opposite ta- ble. Saying this both of them walked towards the cafeteria booth.

Jessica and March took one of the tables and settled down. They were talking among themselves like detectives and having their food at the same time. They were figuring out ways in which they could get a hold of Asher. After putting the last piece of chips in her mouth, Jessica spoke, "Take a look at his physique, he looks like a sportsper- son, if he's really into sports he'll probably be in the sports complex". March too finished her last bite and replied, "He might as well be there, he's not here in the cafeteria."

Jessica then gave it some thought and said, "What other places do children like to visit?"

Suddenly March's eyes grew wide with excitement. She looked at Jessica and squealed. "Library!" she stated with excitement. Hearing her, Jessica too stood up from her seat instantly. "Oh yes, library, why didn't we think of this earlier? I'm sure your God of solutions will be sitting in some corner of the library reading solutions to spe- cific problems" Jessica chuckled.

Both of them quickly packed their bags and moved towards the library. As they walked towards the library March recalled her co- nversation with Stanley.

"Ahh Stanley, the third ranker.. he also said that Asher usually goes to the library to study" March shared with Jessica. Both of them rushed towards the library.

"Come on, hurry up, if only he reads that book of yours, your crush will continue to remain a crush like all the other times," Je- ssica shouted to March. Saying this both of them ran to the library.

After reaching the library, both of them stood in front of it gazing at the huge building.

"Whoa! What is this building? Why is a library so huge?" Jessica

exclaimed.

March was also shocked to see such a huge library in front of her.

"I have never seen such a huge library in my entire life, even my school was not as huge as this one," she remarked.

Looking towards the main entrance, Jessica spoke, "We can't af- ford to waste time getting surprised, let's go and find Asher."

The library was on the first floor below which was the parking valet. After reaching the first floor, the security guards ask them "Show me your library card, only then y'all will be able to enter". Both of them looked at each other and then went on to ask the security guard, "What? What library card? So you mean to say that to enter the library we need to make a card of our own?"

"Yes, even the freshers know this. You're from this college, aren't you? Or Did you come to the campus just to have fun?" the guard questioned looking at both of them with suspicious eyes. "If not then I can only allow you to enter the library after showing me your ID card or else there will be no entry," he added.

After saying this, the security guard showed them the way out. Both of them walked down the first floor being very disappointed in themselves.

"Now this is not enough for us to find Asher," March asserted. However, Just when March had given up, Jessica got all excited and exclaimed, "Is it possible. Look at the other side"

March looked at Jessica in a confused state of mind. Jessica was pointing towards the library window. March looked towards the window and suddenly all the typical Hollywood romantic scenes played in her head with the "Perfect" song by Ed Sheeran playing in the background. She forgot about everything and only focused on Asher sitting near the window in the library. He was lost in the world of the books. Asher looked extremely cute sitting by the window and being sun-kissed. Looking at him made March forget about everything.

Looking at March, Jessica smiled and teased, "How long do you plan on just looking at him?"

Hearing Jessica's words, March blushed as she said, "Since it's not possible for us to enter the library, I'll somehow catch his attention from here and tell him about my novel, maybe he'll be able to under-

stand that way."

Jessica agreed to her plan and picked a pebble from the ground.

"Go, March, show us your skills" Jessica motivated handing the pebble to March.

March took the stone from her hand and asked confusingly, "Why did you pick up the pebble? What was the need for it? I can simply shout from here and he'll be able to hear it."

Listening to March, Jessica placed her hand on her shoulders and

replied, "He's sitting in a library, I hope you know that one isn't

allowed to make noise or even talk loudly in the library. If he shouts

from there to reply to you the whole library will get disturbed"

"Jessica, you are a genius. I would've never been able to think of such a thing. You are right, he won't be able to give me a reply properly so I might as well throw him a chit," March suggested. Both of them went near the window and with a lot of force threw a paper slip wrapped in a pebble over to him. The stone went straight thro- ugh the window where Asher was sitting. Receiving the letter, Asher was surprised and he turned to look at both of them standing below.

The slip of paper had "Hi" written on it. Asher looked down at March and immediately shut the window and thought to himself, "What is that girl's problem? She's been following me everywhere since morning. It's starting to get very annoying."

Seeing this behavior of his, Jessica became furious. She looked at March and exclaimed, "Oh my God! Did he just shut the window on us? Where does this entire attitude emerge from? Why is he like this?"

March on the other hand could not even comprehend what just happened. She was frustrated and went on to say, "No, I can't give up so easily." After saying this she ran heading towards the library. Jessica followed her. After reaching the entry gate, March told the security guard, "Sir, this is an emergency."

The guard was sitting outside the reception area having his tea, after seeing both of them again, he said, "Hey, you both have come again? I've mentioned it earlier also no one is allowed to enter without an identity card."

"Sir, this is quite an emergency. I have to urgently meet a student who's inside. I have to inform him about an urgent project that has been assigned to us. If I fail to do so his marks in the project will get deducted. Please allow me to go inside or else he'll fail" March re- plied making an excuse

The guard kept his cup and stood up from the reception. He ap- proached them without saying a word and when he finally came near then he said, "Okay? So if it is that important why don't you call and tell him about it?"

"I don't have his number..If I had his number would I be putting myself up to such risks?" She mumbled to herself.

Seeing March mumble to herself, the guard called out, "What

happened? Now don't tell me you don't have his number?"

Before March could say anything, Jessica interrupted in the middle.

"Sir, we're fresher's and to add to that this is our first day so it's obvious that we wouldn't have each other's numbers. One can't exchange numbers on the very first day itself. But he knows us very well. If you can't let us in could you please call him out?" Jessica explained in a requesting tone.

Listening to Jessica;s explaination, the guard believed her words. He agreed to help both of them. He opened the library gate and said, "Look, is your friend visible from here?".

March's eyes were focused on him because she had been chasing him all morning. She recognized him within seconds.

"Sir, he's right there. Look, Sir, he's there, the boy sitting by the window wearing a white T-shirt and a black denim jacket" said March.

The guard turned to go inside as he told them, "Okay, you guys wait here I'll go and get him."