a lifetime's hate and three lifetimes' love

five

Finally, it happened. The professors had noticed too. It was impossible not to. It was Professor Shalini who finally gave it voice. And she did in class, in front of everyone.

“Bee, what’s going on with you?”

Bee rose to his feet. And grinned. Might look like embarrassment to others, but those who knew him wouldn’t be fooled. Like El. Like Professor Shalini.

“What do you mean, ma’am?” Bee asked.

“Come on,” the professor said. “Don’t tell me none of your friends notice?” She looked at the boys and the girls near and around Bee. Her eyes paused on Appie longer than the rest.

The last couple of weeks, Appie had been spending a lot of time with Bee. She was going to the library with him every day after classes. They were leaving together. Something had clearly changed in their relationship.

The professor led her eyes back to Bee, and continued. “What changed? You’re quieter. You’re a much better student. A good student, in fact. Your grades are right up at the top, at least the recent ones. You’re pulling up your overall grade. You’re studious. You’re at the library every day. You’re in the labs. At times, you’re actually better than us. You sure know more than us, though just in some areas. So, something is definitely up. What is it? If you can’t tell me what, at least tell me this, it’s good, isn’t it? We don’t have to worry?”

Bee was popular with the professors. Not all of them. The professors from other departments, teaching the compulsory subjects, they didn’t take to him fondly. Those from the computers department, from Bee’s department, most definitely loved him. He was probably the favourite of many, and that even when his grades were bad and he was shameless about not wanting to study. Now that he had turned for the better, there couldn’t be anyone the professors liked better. And, of course, the professors were worried.

“No,” Bee said confidently. “No need to worry.”

“Okay,” the professor said. “What is it then? Come on, you can tell me.”

Professor Shalini had the reputation of being strict. She could frighten a student into submission with her unblinking stare. Bee wasn’t affected, however. She also never gave Bee the stare. In fact, she had a rather obvious soft spot for Bee.

And Bee was nice to her. He was nice to all the professors that liked him. He smiled warmly. He was respectful in his conduct. He was humble in speech. It was almost like fawning, without seeming so. It was difficult to dislike him when he put in the effort.

“Let’s just say I found my calling,” Bee said.

There it was. The confident him. When he was like that, his voice went deep, he seemed to grow in size, and he seemed to glow. He stole all the attention in the room. And everyone else was demoted to supporting roles. Except for him and the person his attention was concentrated upon, they were the main roles.

“I want to do Masters. Need to study a lot better. Need to fill my head with knowledge. My grades need to be the best they can be. I have no choice but to become a student you would like to call good. Also, I can be worthy of the attention and the affection you shower upon me.”

Everyone in class was blushing. Not even the strict Professor Shalini was spared. How could he speak such words so confidently and so loudly, so easily?

“I’m glad,” Professor Shalini said. Cleared her throat. “We are all glad. Even more so, because you are dragging along your friends too. That’s nice. Come to us for anything. Any kind of help.”

“Definitely, ma’am,” Bee said.

With that out of the way, Professor Shalini started the class. Bee was sitting in the back, in the very last row. But his eyes were glued to the front. His ears were filled with the professor’s voice. He was only listening to the professor. He wasn’t distracted for even a moment. And at some point, without herself realising it, all of the professor’s attention was on Bee. As if it was just them in the classroom. She teaching, he learning.

Even after the end of the class, after the professor left, Bee acted like nothing happened.

Appie went over to Bee side and stared at Abe and Nikita. They were Bee’s neighbours. Abe sat next to Bee. There was the aisle between Bee and Nikita.

“What?” Abe asked.

Abe was a distant cousin of Sophie’s, and so he was among the earliest friends of Appie’s.

Maybe he shouldn’t have spoken. The moment he did, it was as if he made the decision for her. Her eyes focussed on him like a laser. And she spoke in her most serious voice, one that left no room for disagreement.

“Move,” she said. “Sit somewhere else.”

“And why should I do that?” Abe asked.

“Because I’m sitting with Bee,” Appie answered without the faintest hesitation, or embarrassment. “I want to bathe in his glow. I want to be a good student too.”

Abe burst out laughing. Everyone at the back burst out laughing. Everyone except Bee and Appie herself.

She continued staring down at Abe. They were the same height. But he was sitting. She was on her feet. Her head was higher than his. She was looking down at him. And that made her stare so much more intense. She didn’t usually show it, but she could be persuasive with her strength, when she wanted to be. Now, she wanted it.

Abe felt ants on the seat. When he tore his eyes away from Appie and looked at Bee, his shock grew. Bee had the same expression as Appie. He wasn’t sure who was mirroring whom? The two of them definitely looked the same, Appie and Bee.

Abe had lost the fight. He quietly moved.

And Appie was smiling contentedly as she moved her things and sat down next to Bee.

The two then started whispering with each other. The two were having a private conversation that no one was invited to.

Everyone in the classroom was staring at the two. And everyone had the same question on their minds. Were the two a couple? Were they together?

El was no different. She couldn’t look away. And because everyone was the same, she escaped attention. Her surprise was greater, however. She did hear murmurs, in the last life. That Appie had a crush on Bee. She didn’t think much of it, but never could get it out of her head. Now, as she sat looking at the two of them, she had to wonder. Was it true?

El hated that another worry was added to the list. She couldn’t remain unbothered by the blossoming relationship between those two. She couldn’t keep from wondering if Appie and Bee were together in this life. And she hated that she was so affected by this. It shouldn’t be like this.