2014 April 22

National Law University Delhi

The first day in college is special for everyone. The first day in a college away from the place which was nothing less than a jailcell she called home was even more special for maya.

From the moment she stepped past the ten feet gate hoisting the name 'National Law University Delhi' she couldnt stop smiling. It was a new chapter for her. The only thing which encouraged her to keep breathing the last few weeks.

It was the first time her father had agreed to something maya asked without putting an unnecessary fight.

Ravichandran menon, her father , would fight with her for every single thing.

Maya wasn't allowed to go to outings with her friends, even after she begged and cried for a week. Even when she was a child she wasnt allowed to go out and play with other kids when her father was home. She will start crying and he would hit her to stop crying which made her cry even more.

When he wasnt home her mother Jaya being an angel she was would sneak her out for a few hours and let her play.

The hitting had halted during the time when maya got her first period. After that it was like he was almost disgusted to touch her.

Then the verbal abuse started. Ravi never cursed at her but there were worse things than curse words a father could tell his daughter to hurt her.

He would tell her that She was a bad seed. That she was the bad luck of the family which made him lose all the money, that she was useless and ungrateful. Even when she would cry at his hurtful words he would say that she is crying for attention.

It made her so unwanted that maya used to cut herself, not to die, not for attention, but to feel alive. She still bore those scars on her forearms.

So overall maya's relationship with her father was...... STRAINED. But him agreeing to sent her away to school so far away without even putting up a fight was almost as if he was getting rid of her. No expense for him as she got admitted on a full on scholarship.

So getting away from that jail and the dadzilla jailkeeper was exciting for her.

As she walked down the cemented pathway matching her steps to the entry song playing in her head, she noticed that she was way underdressed.

The girls there were wearing tattered jeans and off shoulder tops. Their bright red lipsticks and high heels all were so trendy and admirable. Maya wondered if she could ever blend in here.

She was already 5'7. So she never understood the need to buy heels until now. Looking down at her outfit the faded jeans and peach full sleeve top she wore were the trendiest in kerala but delhi fashion was in a new time zone.

So as she made upher mind for the fashion police intervention she noticed the cheers ringing in a distance.

Students were gathered together with their arms in the air moving with the loud music playing along. The chants got louder as she moved towards the crowd.

"NLU" "NLU" "NLU".

People were cheering on top of their lungs. As she weeved through the crowd and reached a reasonably noncrowded space with a perfect view to the event happening.

Few boys in football uniforms of red and black stripes were carrying a another guy on their shoulders. The guy on top was holding up a magnificent golden trophy.

They won a tournament or something

Maya thought.

"Adhi scored the final goal"

"You should have seen him he was almost flying across the field"

"God he's so hot!!"

The loud thoughts of her fellow collegemates filled her ears.

She crained her neck trying to read the guys' jersey.

She scrolled through the guys in uniforms. But one of them caught her eye and not in a good way.

He was wearing the uniform too but was standing much far from his teammates. He was looking at them and there was nothing similar of happiness in his eyes.

It was rage.

She was very familiar with that look in her fathers eyes. The scary guys eyes passed through the crowd and halted at her. She immediately looked away.

Which one of them is adhi????

She surveyed all of jerseys and finally found the one she was looking for.

He held his arms up high covering half of his face. She could only see his sharp jaw with a small stubble. He was smiling so brightly his dimples came into view. Then he put his arms down.

Sharp brown eyes, thick brows and cut cut on his left eyebrow. His smile was so pure it brightened up the whole crowd. His face was glistening with a thin layer of sweat. He was practically shining in the sunlight.

The crowd went crazy when the guys put him down. Girls were frantically taking pictures. Maya couldnt take her eyes off him. She looked at those gorgeous brown eyes then they travelled down to his nose, his lips and stayed for a moment, then again travelled down to his shoulder and chest and there it was, written in bold white letters.

'ADHITYA'

Maya mouthed his name and looked upto his face again. Her eyes went wide as she found his eyes on her.

He was looking at her. Looking at her and smiling.

There gazes met and he continued to look at her. Maya wanted to break eye contact but couldnt.

He had her locked under his gaze. The slowly his gaze travelled down and fell on her lips then back to her eyes. Still she couldnt take her eyes off his.

But eventually she did as she felt a sharp shove at her back. She lost her balance and fell into the cement pathway. She tried to use her arms to lessen the impact but ended up scraping them bad.

"Owww" a cry left her mouth.

A gnarly cut ran up the inside of the right palm. She was looking at her hand when she felt a pair of arms grabbing her by the shoulder and pulled to her feet.

Maya looked up from her bloodied hand and met those brown pair of eyes she was staring into a few moments earlier.

"Are you okay? " Adhi asked in a deep hushed voice so only she could hear.

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