New RagNa SS: Un-Conventional [DISCONTINUED] - Page 5

So, here we are - again! We wrote this part up as quickly as we could before the universities restarted again. We wanted to give you at least another part before going back. We haven't proofread it yet, so there will definitely be lots of mistakes. So please be mindful of that.

Author's Note: Flashbacks are italicized! See end notes (after the story) for more clarification. I don't want to give spoilers just yet ~

Warning: Language (We used "hell" in some parts but just wanted to point this out in case we used other things).

"Oye! What? Raghav, yaar, give me back the notebook," the boy whined.

Raghav raised his eyebrow. "Why? Does it belong to you?"

The guy flinched back at the coldness in Raghav's voice. "N-No. I was just about to give it back to her, I promise."

Raghav cocked his head to the side. "Really? Because it looked to me like you're the one who snatched it from her. Tell me something, Abhijeet. Do you think that this is the behavior school expects from model students? From the Elites?"

The guy visibly shuddered at the thunderous expression on Raghav's face. He gulped and turned towards the girl. "I-I am really sorry!" he hastily said and rushed away from them, down the hall.

Raghav turned to the girl, who had casually turned back towards her locker and started taking out the things that she needed. He waited for her to acknowledge him. No one would be able to guess that she was the one being bullied.

When she finally turned around, he presented her notebook to her. She looked at him, unimpressed. "You really didn't need to do that. I had it under control."

Raghav looked at her, incredulous. She clearly didn't have it under control. However, instead of saying anything, he presented the notebook towards her again. She shook her head looking at the notebook. "It's not mine. You can have it."

Saying this, she went down the hall as well. Of all the responses, Raghav hadn't been expecting that one. When he opened the notebook to see if there was a name on it indicating who the owner of the notebook is, he snickered. There, in thick writing, in the middle of the page, was:

"Dear Meena Ma'am,

I tried to work through the problems you gave in class, but I just couldn't because I was too dumb to understand. Instead of actually sitting down and asking help from the one girl who's smart enough to help, I bullied her into jacking her homework notebook to submit it as mine. I was too dumb to realize that just because she doesn't put her name inside the notebook, I should have still checked to see if that was, in fact, the math homework. Now, I am caught and I am too idiotic to even realize that. You should really award that girl points for her smarts.

Sincerely,

Abhijeet Singh

The dumbest Students You would Have the Displeasure to Meet"

Raghav snickered loudly after reading. Yes, it wasn't the most conventional way of dealing with bullies like Abhi but it was a good one. The end of the term homework notebook meant 50% of the final points in the class. Everyone knew that the only reason Abhi even kept up his grades was because he stole homework notebooks of the smart people and turn them as his after scratching their names from the front cover. Students weren't allowed to write about anything that's not course-related inside the notebook (which was quite dumb because a name should be allowed inside since it was your identity), and the teacher never took any complaints against him seriously because there were no proofs and his father was one of the big sponsors for the school.

Raghav almost wished that he hadn't interfered just to see the response the teacher would have to this.

------

"Uhm, Mr. Sher - I mean, Sammy. Is there any other place we can do this interview?"

Sammy open his mouth to answer her question, but Raghav beat him to it. "Why?" he asked with a forced smile plastered on his lips, "Is the setting making you uncomfortable Ms. Jadhav?" Without even turning around towards the voice, Kalpi could feel the sarcasm drip from the question.

She cleared her throat, and turned slightly towards Raghav so she could talk to both of them at the same time. "Of course not. It's just that I wouldn't want to bother you. You know, since we will be loud. Because of the interview. Wouldn't want to interfere with your work. I mean, you guys are already awfully busy without me coming here and adding more work to it."

Before hearing Raghav's dry tone, she could see it on his face, as his eyebrow climbed up and his lips curled into a mean smirk, "Oh, but you already have, haven't you? I mean, we could've been having an important meeting right now. I need Sammy for all the material I am going over anyways. So, you just don't mind and do your thing. I will just be here to make sure that the interview doesn't take longer than necessary." Kalpi could hear Raghav's teeth grinding profusely throughout his little hate speech - yes, that's what Kalpi was calling it.

Sammy cleared his throat pointedly to diffuse the tension that Kalpi could feel prickling at her skin. "Kalpi, what Raghav meant to say was that you don't need to worry about the location. He doesn't mind the sound at all. We both went through college living in pretty loud dorm rooms. Compared to that, this is nothing, okay?" He smiled softly at her and, if Kalpi wasn't already committed to her studies, her heart may have actually made an attempt to skip a beat. Why weren't there more people like Sammy around? Raghav really needed to learn a lesson in social etiquettes.

Raghav, in retaliation, cleared his throat as well. "No, actually, Sammy, that's not what I meant at all. I meant that this is a terrible time for an interview." And Kalpi could feel his glare dig into her skull again.

"Well, then it's a really good thing that I asked Sammy to be my case study and not you then. Since I wouldn't want to waste your precious time. I mean, I am sure Sammy wouldn't mind if you start on something already and he collaborates with you later on. Besides, this interview will only take half an hour at best, if we don't have any further interruptions." Yup! Kalpi did say that out loud, without really meaning to. As soon as she uttered those words out loud to show her annoyance, she could feel her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. She had to forcibly stop her eyes from widening in horror. How could she let her professionalism go so easily? Ugh, Raghav Singhania needs to go to Hel -- Helsinki. Yeah, she was sure that he could probably afford a ticket to there. If not, then he can for sure get a ticket by terrorizing the airline with his menacing presence and judgmental face.

She took a seething breath and attempted a smile at Raghav, before abruptly turning around to look at a stunned Sammy who, to his credit, quickly collected himself and smiled at her.

After that little outburst, the interview had gone pretty smoothly for the both of them. Raghav had quietly kept to himself, doing whatever it is that he was doing (probably planning for some kind of world domination with just using his monosyllabic tone of speech).

After they were finally done with the interview, Kalpi realized that it ended up taking longer than an hour. Despite all the initial grumbling from Raghav, Raghav made sure that they had snacks and beverages to help them push through, which Kalpi was grateful for because she was starving.

She walked out of the office with Sammy. "Thank you so much, Sammy! You've no idea how big of a favor this is."

"Well, then, I guess I will for sure call in this favor one day in the future. Keep that one in the tab. You owe me," Sammy finished off cheekily. Kalpi grinned in response.

"Is Pakhi coming to pick you up right now?" Sammy inquired as they neared the parking structure.

"Yeah, she's already here. Since you're already coming to the lunch with us anyways, do you just want to get a ride with her instead of taking your car? I am sure she won't mind dropping you off back to the office after lunch."

Sammy nodded. "I was actually hoping for the same. My car actually broke down today. I had to tell Raghav to pick me up on his way here in the morning. So, I am really hoping that Pakhi is willing to give me a ride back here."

Kalpi smiled, "I honestly don't think she will mind. Besides, weren't you guys like super good friends in college? You, Raghav and Pakhi? I am sure she won't mind at all!"

Sammy grinned at her and nodded, looking wistful as Pakhi stopped her car in front of them to get in. Once they finally settled in and Pakhi started driving towards the little fast food place they decided to go to, Kalpi gave in to her impulse to ask something that had been nagging her for a while.

"Guys, I don't get one thing. Why isn't Raghav coming? Weren't you three besties? I feel like he should be here, if anything," Kalpi asked curiously.

"Oh yeah. He did actually have a meeting and this was the only time when Pakhi was free this week so I just decided to come by myself. He will hang out with us next week. You're more than welcome to join us, if you'd like?" Kalpi could hear the smile in his voice even from the front seat.

"No, it's alright. You guys catch up. I was just curious. Besides, it's just going to make things weird with me being there."

There was an awkward pause. "Yeah. About that..." Pakhi said hesitantly, "What is up with you both? I thought you used to be close friends. Even when I asked if Raghav could be your case study, before Sammy came in the picture, Raghav was still fine with it. What happened?"

Kalpi gulped inaudibly. "Yeah, not really sure. I mean, I wouldn't call us close or any such thing like that. But we were friends. We were a lot more civil. I've no clue what happened. I mean, after we graduated from high school, we just sort of drifted apart I guess. He became friends with you guys and had different group of friends and I became involved in different thing. Nothing major happened. I haven't even talked to the guy in such a long time. I really don't know why he's always glaring at me," she finished her heated rant and folded her arms across her chest in defiance. After a few second, she glanced back at Sammy, "No offense to your friend, but he's really strange. I have seriously no clue why he's so mad at me."

Sammy didn't say anything but only looked thoughtful. After another brief pause, "You know, back in college, he would talk about you a lot when we first met. Didn't you guys have those planned meetings at that one coffee shop? I used to tease him about meeting with his secret girlfriend there." Kalpi could hear the fondness Sammy had for Raghav in that statement.

It chilled her to even go back that far. Yes, they did attempt to keep in touch. It just didn't work out. And she told Pakhi and Sammy the exact thing. After that, there had been a lull in the car that lasted till they reached their destination. Kalpi was glad that both of them got the message that she hadn't wanted to talk any further about it.

What exactly would she tell them anyways? It wasn't as if she was trying to hide her old life. It was mostly because it reminded her of the slowness by which the one friend she held dear distanced himself from her. She hadn't seen it then, but she found herself going back to all of those times they hung out as friends, made effort to keep in touch, and realized how she would always make effort with everything in her life, including this friendship. He would always be so busy. It wasn't exactly his fault that he didn't have time to hang out with her anymore, but she still felt like he could've tried more. She had made sure to leave that hour of the week free no matter how busy she got, in case he wanted to hang out at the coffee shop. What started out as a routine, dwindled down to occasional visits, which, then, transformed into rare occurrences. Gradually, she stopped trying to get a glimpse of him around campus or walking down the common pathway where she knew he would be hanging out.

No, she wasn't angry. She was disappointed - at herself - for thinking that someone would make time for her. Raghav made new friends and he was happy with them. They were all really nice too. In fact, she had met Sammy through Raghav. It was one of those days when Raghav and Kalpi were trying to hang out since Raghav was usually busy during the times that Kalpi was free. Back then, they were both dorming together and Kalpi thought that Sammy was just an added bonus to their trio. Of course, she had been wrong. Sammy came with Pakhi, who was Sammy's long-time high school friend. That brought Pakhi's other friends in the group, and Kalpi just felt so out-of-place whenever Raghav tried to hang out with all of them together. While Sammy's and Pakhi's friendship stayed cemented, and only seemed to evolve, hers and Raghav's relationship had dwindled down to few visits here and there.

That's why Kalpi stopped going when they were around. That severely limited her time with Raghav. With Raghav already not being able to hang out with her regularly after they were done with high school, things slowly fell apart. She didn't even know that they weren't close anymore, until she found out about the death of Raghav's father through Pakhi. She couldn't stop herself from going to comfort him. However, when she did see him, he was already surrounded by everyone who cared. So, she gave her condolences and stayed just to be polite. She kept her feelings and care to herself. And, after that, whenever they had met again, there was a thin line of forced politeness. It had been awkward and they just weren't able to fall into the same level of comfort again. The Raghav that she could read like a book seemed so different, so guarded, almost like a stranger to her. She had tried reaching out to him, but he had pulled away. It had scared her so much back then. The ache of losing someone so close to her almost terrified her enough into not making another close friend.

The irony of the whole situation was that she later ended being close friends with Pakhi after getting her bachelor's and losing almost all contact with her undergrad friends. Both of them met at a part time job that Kalpi had the summer before Kalpi joined the University as a PhD candidate. Pakhi was actually a manager at a firm that Kalpi interned at. Both of them actually got along, their similar taste in humor winning above their differences. It had been a breath of fresh air for Kalpi who desperately needed a friend, even though she never even realized.

"Kalpi!" Pakhi exclaimed, snapping Kalpi out of her thoughts. "You were zoning out on me. Again."

Kalpi scoffed. "What?! No. Of course not. I was listening to every word. We were talking about tomatoes, right?"

Pakhi made a mock-offended face. "No. Now we're talking about the authenticity of Jane Austen novels. Keep up, college-girl! You're going to need to be up-to-date with the latest and greatest when you're researching."

"Right. Because my research will be focusing on the cultural implications of Jane Austen novels on the audience instead of the traits needed to remain in power of an influential company, correct?" Kalpi replied sarcastically.

"Wait, is that what you research is on?" Sammy asked curiously.

"Haha no. You already know what my research is on. But my point stands. I hardly think people are going to care of what I think of Jane Austen's cultural knowledge when she wrote those books, which I am guessing was a lot considering that she practically lived it in her time." Kalpi shook her head and smirked at Pakhi. Pakhi merely narrowed her eyes at her.

"But Sammy, I do admire you," Kalpi deadpanned, "I mean between debating about the merits of Jane Austen novels with Pakhi and all those really challenging projects with Raghav, you must always be exhausted. Do you have another friend at the side that you go to rant that we're not aware of?"

Pakhi widened her eyes and huffed silently, trying to seem annoyed (and failing miserably).

Sammy merely smirked and leaned in closer to Kalpi. "Oh damn! You found out. Promise that you will keep this between us?" he stage-whispered. Kalpi laughed good-naturedly as Pakhi pouted.

"Achcha, both of you, stop bullying me! I feel bullied and sad now," Pakhi pursed her lips and tried to look upset. Kalpi reached out and pinched her cheeks affectionately until Pakhi gave in and smiled at her.

"Fine ab chodo mujhe," Pakhi said as she batted Kalpi's hands away. "How was the interview? I want details. Now."

"Umm how about I just let you read it? It will be faster," Kalpi said as she reached in her bad to fetch the notebook. After few moments of shuffling through her bag, she inhaled sharply and turned towards Sammy with wide eyes. "Umm, I think I left the notebook at the office."

Sammy, to his credit, only raised both of his eyebrows and nodded. "So, I suppose that means 'another time' for that interview reading for Pakhi then?" Kalpi rolled her eyes.

"Yaar, chill. When we go back to drop off Sammy, you can go inside and get it then!" Pakhi replied cheerfully. "Besides, it will give me time to drop in and say 'hi' to Raghav."

Kalpi nodded and quietly sipped her drink. Perhaps she will tell Pakhi to try another fast-food place next time they have lunch. She just noticed that the food had a bitter aftertaste.

After they were done, Pakhi quickly drove them back to the office. Sammy directed Kalpi to where she had left the notebook, and parted ways with her soon after since he had an important meeting. Pakhi went towards Raghav's cabin to quickly say hi, while went to the area where she had held Sammy's interview earlier in the day.

As she neared the conference room, she heard a soft chuckle. She quietly made her way, in order to make sure that she's not interrupting a meeting. Sammy had assured her earlier that there was nothing that was occupying the conference room at that time, but there could've been last-minute changes in plans. After all, Raghav did seem peeved at Kalpi for interrupting their busy day.

When she peeked in, she was shocked to see Raghav leaning over the table and reading something. He was facing the door, but the way he stood angled his body sideways. Still, Kalpi could make out the soft lines around his eyes that were caused by that smile. For a second, he looked just like the teenager that Kalpi had known and she felt warmth seeping in. Her eyes traveled down to the table to see the reason for his smile, curiously. It did come as a shock that her notebook was that reason. Just as soon as that warmth had come in, it got sucked out of her system.

He had been laughing at her interview notes? Wha?! She cleared her throat pointedly, only to have him abruptly look up at her. She saw a brief flash of guilt on his face, covered quickly by an exaggerated sense of arrogance. She ignored his entire existence, and strode in to quickly grab her notebook and leave. As soon as she tried to slide the notebook towards her, she felt the movement constricted by Raghav's hand on the notebook. She tried again, to no avail. After a brief moment, she took a deep breath and looked at him, trying to not look annoyed.

"Mr. Singhania! Hope your work was going well. I just came in to quickly grab these and get out of your hair. Don't want to interrupt your work any more than I already have today!" she exclaimed with fake cheerfulness.

Raghav smirked back at her. "Oh, but Ms. Jadhav, you already took up most of my day. You aren't interrupting anything that you haven't already interrupted before. Besides, when you weren't here, I had your lovely note-taking manual to keep me company. You know, since you basically commandeered my partner today."

Kalpi could feel her nerve popping. What was Raghav's problem with her? She got that they were very busy but he had acted as if Kalpi herself was a parasite to be around from the day he had come back. That, in itself, was going beyond the hurt-zone into complete annoyance.

"Look, I do apologize for that. I didn't mean to monopolize him but he himself made those plans with Pakhi. And I don't get it. Ever since you came back, you have been so abrupt with me. What exactly is it that I did wrong?" Kalpi asked frustrated.

There was a long silence that stretched as she saw myriad of emotions playing on Raghav's face. There was something vulnerable in the way he looked at her, before his gaze turned accusing and his jaws clenched. She saw the instant his hackles rose again. She sighed. Communicating with him was futile.

"Mr. Singhania, I am very sorry again. Next time I am around, I will make sure to not interrupt anything. Now, please let go of my notebook. I am running late for a meeting," Kalpi said impassively.

Raghav slowly looked towards the notebook, and flipped it shut again. He had a brief smile while still looking down at it, "You still haven't tore the page with the note about Abhi."

Kalpi looked confused, not entirely catching up with the change in tone of the conversation. That's when she realized that that had been the notebook she had wrote the note to the teacher about Abhi - the one that the teacher never got because Raghav had interrupted when Abhi tried to bully her homework off of her. Raghav had somehow managed to put that back in Kalpi's locker (Kalpi still had no idea how he got the locker combination to put it back in her locker).

She gulped as the memory of that flooded in her brain again. "Yeah, I guess I forgot," she said as she slid the notebook to her and moved to leave.

"Kalpi," Raghav said with the same softness he was addressing the notebook with and Kalpi had to pause at the shock. She turned around towards him from the doorway, but she made no move to walk any closer.

"Why did you change your mind about the case-study? Why did you ask Sammy instead?" his tone seemed...off.

What was she supposed to say to that? Her brain wasn't exactly helpful when it came to unexpected situations like these, mostly because she always planned for ten different scenarios ahead of time. So, when unexpected situations came, she was unprepared. That's why she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"You know why. To avoid situations like these where you make me feel like I am nothing more than an insect who's hell-bent on wasting your precious time," she replied with more vehemence than she had planned to say out loud. "I get that we're not exactly on the best terms anymore. And I am not expecting any sort of special treatment just because I knew you. But I do expect mutual respect," Kalpi completely turned towards him and leaned on the door slightly to look directly at him, "You give me that and I will steer clear of you and your work."

After that, she walked out with her notebook clutched to her side and her heart pounding in her chest.

Some clarifications: There have been mentions of RagNa knowing each other. So, Kalpi and Raghav knew each other during high school (which is referred to the period anywhere between grade 9th-12th in American schooling). After that, they went to get their bachelors (also called undergrad), where Raghav dormed (lived in dormitory/shared room with) with Sammy and became close friends with him. Also, I used university and college interchangeably here. They are referring to the same place but are used interchangeably in case someone noticed that and got confused by that.

Thank you soo much for taking your time and reading it. We wrote a really long part this time as a treat for all the people who were gracious enough to wait so long. We hope that the story still keeps you intrigued so far. We promise to try and reveal the story little by little so it makes more sense. I just realized that our original idea was simpler than the story will turn out to be lol. Please do read and review because we love all of your lovely comments!