Update 11
Shiva, Robert and Xavier were sitting in a bar, having their drinks.
Shiva: Hey Rob. Why are you so silent, man?
Robert: Hmm… Ahh. Yeah. What were you saying?
Xavier: You’re lost bro.
Robert: Yeah. I’m lost in thoughts.
Shiva: What are you thinking about?
Robert: Well…
He smiles sheepishly.
Xavier: I know bro. I’m also thinking about the same.
Robert: What?
Xavier: Yeah. How can I not think about her man!
Shiva: I agree. She’s the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, dude.
Xavier: I’m unable to sleep buddy. I dream only of her.
Shiva: You are not the only one bro.
Robert: I agree.
Xavier: What do we do?
Robert: We try to impress her. If any of us makes progress, he should bring the rest of us into the game.
Xavier: What do you mean?
Robert: If anybody gets lucky to play with her, the others need at least a show.
Shiva: I agree.
Xavier: I also agree. But do you think she would fall for us? Look at her man.
Robert: If we stick to our plan, it’s easy.
Shiva: Ok. What’s the plan?
Vijay, Nick, Michael and Lokesh met up at their usual coffee shop. They were unusually silent, but they understood that there is some serious discussion which is about to take place.
Vijay: I have a confession to make.
The three boys stared at him, but did not ask him about it. They suspected they knew what he was about to say. He looked at them expecting them to be curious to know, but they were all silent with a suspicious look. He decided to continue.
Vijay: You know? I… I…
Michael: I’m in love with Sukanya.
Vijay was shocked and so were the others. He was confused because he spoke the exact words that he was about to say.
Vijay: What the fuck are you saying?
Michael: I love Sukanya. Is that Greek to you?
Nick: Oh boy. Then what about us?
Michael: What do you mean?
Nick: I also love that girl.
Lokesh: Fuck you all. I was the first one to love her. It was love at first sight.
Vijay: I know. Fuck is all you know. What do you know about love. Only thing you want from a girl is fuck.
Lokesh: Oh! Is that so? Then do one thing. You love her and I’ll fuck her.
Xavier: Don’t talk dirty. You morons.
Lokesh: Oh Xavier. Don’t you want to fuck her?
Nick: What the fuck is this man? Stop fighting.
Nick: Look. I doubt that the trio gang is planning something. If we fight like this among ourselves, they will take the lead. We need to work on a pact.
Joe: Hey Cathy. I heard a new girl joined our class, yesterday.
Cathy: How do you know? You have not attended the classes since a week.
Joe: I was added to a WhatsApp group.
Cathy: That bitch, Ragini added you too in the group?
Joe: Why not? I’m also part of the class. Now tell me about her.
Cathy: Yeah, yeah. An average looking girl joined the class. Why do you care?
He didn’t know how Sukanya looked as she did not add her photo in her profile picture, instead she added her favourite cricketer, Virat.
Joe: I just asked. Why are you so worked up?
Cathy: No, I’m not. I came here to see you play cricket. You focus on the match.
Joe was playing a warm up match. There’s an inter-college tournament coming up in a month. He was preparing for that. He was mostly OD.
Praveen was glad to be a part of the WhatsApp group, but he did not like to chat with her publicly. He also did not want to be taken to be desperate. He started sending some generic messages, expecting her to respond. She did on some occasions and she ignored sometimes. He was looking for a chance to chat with her privately. He is not brave enough to take initiative. The other boys started to ping her privately on some pretext. She started getting messages from the boys separately, and she responded as a courtesy. Vijay, Nick, Micheal and Lokesh took every opportunity and pinged her. She hated their persistence. Meanwhile the trio Robert, Shiva and Xavier played strategically. They tried to make a good impression with decent approach. Ragini got the undercurrents and understood that every boy in the group is trying to impress Sukanya. She was also treated with greater respect as she was a close confidant of Sukanya. She enjoyed the attention.
Every boy in the group is a potential suitor for her. Every one of them were making their own plans. Sukanya is oblivious to the sexual tension around her. Everyone behaved decently with her and she never suspected a thing, but Ragini knew the lust in everyone’s eyes. She knew that every one of the boys who are acting decently in front of her, are fucking her ruthlessly in their minds. Cathy was also fuming about the attention Sukanya received. But she did not bother much because Joe did not fall for her, yet. As a matter of fact, he did not see her. Luckily for her, Sukanya did not keep her picture as a profile pic. Ragini became the centre of attraction as she was like a shadow for Sukanya. She trusted her. The boys wanted to get whatever information she knew about her, but Sukanya did not open much about herself. Days passed and it was almost two weeks since she joined the college. Classes were routine and everyday was a repetition for her. Waking up in the morning, going to the college, dealing with the boys who try to impress her on every occasion and return home.
One day the professor Srinivasan announced that the college will be conducting cultural program and he is planning to orchestrate a drama.
Prof. Srinivasan
He asked for participation. Everybody gave sarcastic reaction and hid themselves to avoid him. When everyone was silent and tried to escape, there was one hand that raised. It was Sukanya’s. As soon as the boys saw Sukanya raise her hand, they were curious. Praveen was the second one to raise his hand. The professor was impressed that Praveen who was an academic geek was willing to participate in extracurricular activities. He smiled at him. When he was about to finalize the two, remaining 7 boys also raised their hands. Along with them Ragini and a few girls, including Cathy raised their hands. The professor called up Praveen and asked him to take down the names. He took down all the names of the willing participants.
Prof. Srini: Ok boys and girls. I have worked on a script. I’ll call you all for a simple audition and finalize the characters.
Prof. Srini was a 45-year-old single man who spent most of his life on learning and career building. When he was ready to get married, he was already 35 and he did not get appropriate bride. Slowly he got frustrated with failed attempts and lost interest in marriage. He was a perfect gentleman, except that he will seek female escorts once in a week and go to some secluded resorts or malls. He was sexually very active and quenched his thirst every weekend. He lived alone in a studio apartment to which he occasionally brought prostitutes.
The professor announces that he would be creating the drama ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and gives a list of characters.
Prof. Srini: The main characters are Romeo, Juliet and Rosaline. I have also listed the rest.
Praveen: But sir, Rosaline does not physically appear in the drama.
Prof. Srini: I’m not replicating Shakespeare’s play; I’m recreating it using a little creatives liberty. It’s not exactly ‘Romeo and Juliet’ of Shakespeare.
Praveen: Whatever you say, sir.
The professor did not love Praveen only for his academic excellence, but also for his respect for the professor. They share a mutual admiration.
Prof. Srini: You are playing Romeo. You work on the casting of the remaining characters.
Praveen was so glad he got the responsibility to fix the cast. He showed no hesitation in casting Sukanya as Juliet. He casted Cathy for Rosaline and assigned the others characters to the appropriate people. When he was done, he shared the list with the professor and the professor shared the list with the class. When Cathy noticed that she was assigned Rosaline’s character, she refused as she did not want to play second fiddle with Sukanya. When she did that, Sukanya offered to take Rosaline’s character while Cathy could take Juliet’s role. She hated Sukanya even more. Before she responded, the professor barged in and said that casting cannot be interchanged. Anyone who wants to back off can do. We’ll find someone else. Cathy regretted she did not refuse before she was rejected.
The professor scanned the classroom and spotted Rebecca who he thought would fit the role.
Prof. Srini: Reba, would you like to take the role?
Reba hesitantly stood up.
Reba: I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it.
Prof. Srini: Do worry about whether you’ll be able to do it or not. I only care about whether you are willing or not.
Reba: (Hesitantly) Yes.
Prof. Srini: Good. Look Praveen, you lock the cast and get ready for rehearsals.
Praveen could not believe his luck. Imagining himself as Romeo and his dream girl as Juliet, he floated in the wind. He now also got a genuine reason to chat with her personally.
Prof. Srini: Also, students. Until the drama is executed on stage, address each other with the characters which will help you absorb the characters.
Praveen cannot believe his luck. Now even others will call him Romeo and Sukanya as Juliet. Everybody was glad about the drama, each for a different reason. Some were happy that they will get to express their talent, some happy that they will get OD attendance, and most of the boys were happy that they will get to know Sukanya better and have closer communication.
Prof. Srini: From tomorrow, until the next week, we have rehearsals every day. Be on time.
As the professor left each of the students were eager to participate in the rehearsals. The class dispersed. Praveen sat down to finetune a few details. Everyone left the class. Suddenly he heard someone say, ‘Bye Romeo.’ When he turned around his heart almost stopped beating when he saw Sukanya waving her hand as she moved past him and walked out of the classroom. His whole body felt ripples and a strange sensation.
‘Romeo’, he called himself and smiled shyly.