Someone Like You (17 page)

‘Is it just me or do you too think that it was adorable?’ Pia asks me as she gets ready for class the next morning. It amazes me how she can wake up early, go to the gym, take a shower and get dressed every morning by the time I struggle to get my eyelids open. Willpower like hers is hard to find.

‘What was cute?’ I croak, my head dug deep into my pillow.

‘What Tanmay did last night? I thought it was kind of cute.’

‘It was stupid. I know that he does not drink and I don’t want him to start now, just because his friends think it’s a cool thing to do. He is
not
that guy,’ I say and pull the pillow over my head. ‘And I hate chemistry labs.’

‘Will you please just get up? We are already late!’

‘I don’t think I am going.’

‘Please? You have ten minutes. And you can’t ditch me today. Tanmay is going to be there. I don’t know what he will say or what I should say!’ she starts freaking out and turns red in the face.

‘What is there to say? You have a boyfriend you love.’

‘Exactly. I love Vishal and I plan to keep loving him for life. I know that Tanmay has …
something
for me, and I think it is sweet. But I cannot let it develop into something more serious. You don’t understand. I can’t give Tanmay false
hope, only to let him down eventually. I can’t do this to him. And I need you to help me in this. I need to make him understand!’

‘Woah, woah, woah. Just relax, Pia. We’ll figure it out,’ I say, trying to calm her down. She is in a a full-fledged panic attack and I am left with no other option. I get up, wash my face, brush my teeth, try to look presentable and walk the long walk to the chemistry lab.

‘Do you think he will remember?’ Pia asks.

‘I have never had friends who drink, and I really don’t like people who do so. So, I have no idea. For all I know, I may not be talking to him for the next few days,’ I say. I am majorly pissed at him. Not for saying the things he said to Pia last night, nor because of the way he shouted it from outside the girls’ hostel. But because of drinking. He really doesn’t have to drink; he is such a kid. He should still be subsisting on milk and Cerelac—why did he have alcohol?

We enter the chemistry lab, and it smells of ammonia, and I instantly feel sick. Just the look of yellowed bottles, beakers and test tubes makes me want to run away and never come back. Pia, on the other hand, loves chemistry and knows more about benzene rings than any sane person should. It is kind of creepy.

We are the last ones to enter the class and the students have already huddled near the lab in-charge’s table to take down the procedure and requirements for today’s experiment. While Pia finds her way to the front, I hide behind the taller guys to avoid being asked a question.

Fifteen minutes of instructions and the experiment is the same, to add something into something, at a certain temperature, till it starts smelling funny and the colour changes. I don’t see the sense behind anyone wanting to do that. Pia breaks through the crowd and looks at me with the widest and silliest grin possible and says, ‘Guess what!’

‘What?’ I ask and hope it’s not about chemistry.

‘Look at who’s going to assist us,’ she says and points to someone standing right next to the professor.

It’s Karthik. In his black T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, he looks just like us. His hair is all ruffled and it looks like he has just gotten out of bed. He is surrounded by a lot of girls from our class and uninterestedly answers the questions the girls ask him between foolish giggles. Even the few guys around him giggle. He has that effect on people.

‘Whatever,’ I say and accompany Pia to our table.

She starts picking out chemicals and bases and whatnot with alarming accuracy and determination. Like they are all just different shades of lipstick or something.

‘You’re so good at this!’ I exclaim.

‘We all have our strong points,’ she says and smiles at me.

I stand in a corner and look at Pia while she goes about the experiment excitedly. I don’t even pretend to hide my boredom. I wonder what Tanmay is up to. Maybe suffering from a terrible hangover. A little later, Karthik—who I have been unintentionally staring at for quite some time—walks up to us.

‘Hi,’ he says and Pia smiles at him.

He looks at me and I don’t acknowledge his look or his smile.

‘I am sorry for yesterday. I should never have asked him to drink. He created a problem for you guys, didn’t he?’ Karthik says. ‘But at least he was better than the guy who keeps following you like a creep? What’s his name … Akshat?’

‘You asked him to drink? Why would you do that?’ I ask angrily.
And Akshat? How does he know about all that?

‘We needed to celebrate, that’s all. The team won. That doesn’t happen a lot, you know? And he was awesome on the field yesterday. He deserved to drink and celebrate, right?’

‘But he doesn’t drink and you did not need to make him.’

‘I did not
make
him. You make it sound like I
forced
him to drink, like I’m some kind of a villain or something here. And I know that he doesn’t drink, but he will some day. If not yesterday, it would have happened sooner or later. He’s a man, he can handle a drink,’ he smirks.

‘Oh, yeah? He can handle a drink? Why do I have a feeling that what happened yesterday suggests something different? You’re such a typical guy,’ I say, not appreciating what he just said.

‘What? So? He went a little out of hand last night? And I suggested a drink? What the hell is so wrong with that?’

‘You totally don’t get it, do you? This is how it starts, this alcohol business. And I really don’t like it.’

‘But apparently
he
does,’ Karthik smirks again.

‘You have no concerns about how you may affect his life, do you? He really looks up to you. Please don’t influence him in all the wrong ways,’ I say.

‘Fine, Mom. I won’t. But I think he is old enough to take his own decisions,’ he says, his arms locked stubbornly in front of his chest.

‘Whatever,’ I say. ‘And if you don’t mind, we have an experiment to do.’

‘Of course,’ he says and walks away.

‘What was that?’ Pia asks, shocked. ‘Why were you fighting with him?’

‘I just didn’t like that he made Tanmay drink.’

‘But you saw him drunk yesterday. You were okay, then, weren’t you?’

‘I didn’t know that Karthik made him drink. I thought it was his own choice,’ I say.

Pia gives me a strange look.

Frankly, even I don’t know why I am so angry. I am concerned about Tanmay, but I didn’t think I would be so angry. I have always been uncomfortable around people who
drink, but I am more disturbed by Tanmay’s drinking because he is such a kid, and so different from the others.

A little later, Tanmay walks in to the Chemistry lab, and joins us, unnoticed by any of the lab assistants or the teacher in-charge. His eyes are bloodshot and he’s still in the clothes he was wearing last night. He is smiling stupidly as we walks up to us.

‘Are you okay?’ Pia asks and puts her hand on his elbow.

‘Never better,’ he smiles goofily.

‘Where are your spectacles?’ I ask.

‘I think I broke them somewhere … last night. I have a spare pair back in my room. I will use them for now,’ he says.

‘So, how was last night?’ I ask and he keeps smiling stupidly.

‘AWESOME!’
he says and laughs. Half the class turns to look at us and Tanmay fiddles with the beakers to fake that he is working.

‘What happened last night?’ Pia asks.

‘I went out with the team and we had a party to celebrate the win against NITE. Everyone drank but I didn’t. After the party, I met Karthik and forced him to celebrate with me,’ he says, his speech still slurred. ‘He was not happy about the team winning. He never is. But I pleaded with him so he took me out drinking! Then, we drank a lot and drove around the city. Then, the next morning, I found myself sleeping in Karthik’s room, on the floor. Crazy night!’

‘Are you sure that’s all you did?’ I ask, forgetting all about being mad at him for drinking.

‘Yes, why?’ he asks stupidly.

‘Don’t you remember coming outside our hostel?’ Pia asks.

‘Outside
your
hostel? No. Why would I come to your hostel?’ Tanmay looks puzzled.

‘You don’t remember?’ I ask. ‘You don’t remember the song? I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL! YOU’RE MY SUNSHINE!’ I start singing out of tune, just like Tanmay had sung it.

‘Oh.’ Tanmay’s face goes blank, and I guess he can now remember bits of it. The colour from his face disappears and he freezes. ‘Oh. I sang that … I don’t really … I … did I do anything else?’

‘You proposed to her, you fool,’ I say, and note that Pia is almost blushing.

There is an awkward silence, during which Tanmay and Pia try to look at everything else other than each other. Tanmay just stands there and looks at his feet and shuffles them uncomfortably. He looks highly embarrassed, and so does Pia. I feel like running away and giving them some time alone. I can see Karthik a few feet away from me, instructing some students. Maybe I should go to him and apologize. I feel bad about what I said to him before. Tanmay had a good time last night and there was no harm done. I should not have lashed out at Karthik like that.

‘Umm … I’ll be back in a minute,’ I say.

‘Where are you going?’ Pia and Tanmay ask at once.

‘Just to … to get some,’ I glance at the procedure lying on the platform and say, ‘conc. sulphuric acid for the next step. 4.2 ml, right?’

‘Do you even know how to withdraw acid from its bottle?’ Pia asks.

Now, I really don’t know much about chemistry experiments, but this is downright insulting. ‘Of course,’ I say. ‘I’ll use a 10 ml pipette.’

‘And suck it from your mouth?’ Pia cocks her head and asks. I am about to nod my head, because that was exactly what I was going to do, but judging by her stance, it seems to be the wrong answer. I keep my mouth shut. She shakes
her head and goes to fetch the acid, murmuring, ‘We always use a bubbler for acids. And this is concentrated sulphuric acid we are talking about …’

‘I knew that,’ I mutter. I know that getting the chemical was just her excuse to get out of the awkward situation between her and Tanmay, so I don’t protest and let her go.

‘Shit. I don’t believe I actually did that. What else did I say?’ Tanmay completely freaks out, as soon as Pia is out of sight.

‘Nothing much. That you love her and she is so beautiful and blah, blah, blah. You just kept shouting the same thing over and over again.’

‘Oh, shit.’

‘Don’t feel bad. You said nothing that was not true,’ I say.

‘But she … she must be so mad at me. That was so out of line. I shouldn’t have … I should apologize to her.’

‘Relax, now. I don’t think she will bring up the topic again. So just let it be. Or else it’ll get awkward.’

He nods and gets a little lost in thought.

‘Why doesn’t he like it when our team wins?’ I ask after a while.

‘Who? Oh, Karthik. Umm … when he was kicked out of the team two years ago, people had ganged up against him to throw him out. I told you about the girl, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, I know about it.’ I remember it from when Karthik told me.

‘So, no one believed him. Plus, no one ever understands him. By the look of him, people feel he is a bit of a loner. But he talks to a lot of people and everyone knows him. It’s all very strange. Someone told me that he used to miss practice, get drunk and kept sleeping in his room for days. Also, I think a lot of people in the team were really jealous of him. He used to be a really good player and hogged all the limelight.’

‘Like you did yesterday?’ I smile.

‘Oh. Thank you. Anyway—so, basically, it had ended up in a fight and it is said that Karthik had beaten up half the team before someone came from behind and knocked him out.’

‘Half the team?’

‘He is a little bit of a
goonda
, isn’t he?’

‘Maybe,’ I say, as images of Karthik taking on six guys and beating the living hell out of them flash in front of my eyes. ‘So now he hates it when our team wins?’

‘That would be an understatement. Usually, he coaches other teams just before the tournament to take down ICE, but this time he was busy.’

‘Busy? Doing what?’

‘He is working on his bike,’ Tanmay tells me.

‘Oh, I know. The silencer right?’ I ask, quite proud for some weird reason. I feel good that I know a bit of Karthik too; he had told me about his repair work on his bike.

‘Oh, no, not that one. That bike is always under repair. But I was talking about another bike—he is making a bike from scratch. No one has seen it, but he says it’s awesome. I saw a few drawings and they looked out of the world,’ Tanmay says excitedly.

‘What? Are you serious? He is actually
making
a bike? Where does he do all this? And when does he do all this?’ I shower him with a barrage of questions.

‘Oh. You don’t know? He has plenty of time; he completed his thesis way back. Now, all he does is this. He is a freaking genius. I hope I can see the bike some day,’ Tanmay says wistfully and tells me whatever he knows about it.