first encounter - II

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".

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