“Let’s date!”

“What the fuck?”

“Arre puri baat toh sun le.”

She said and he looked at her incredulously.

“Let's fake date. Iss tarah se you'll be an official part of us. Matlab jaise mai Shreya ke saath rehti hu, tum mere saath rahoge and effectively uske paas rahoge. And maybe you can get a chance to make her know you and charm her. Kya pata usse bhi ye realise ho jaaye ki wo Rohit mai nhi tum mai interested hai.”

Aur mera bhi rasta saaf ho jaaye aur kisi ko hurt bhi na ho.

She smirked at her excellent plan. Kartik too thought about it. The idea wasn't bad. And the chance was worth taking.

“I’m in!”

He said and shook her hand. She grinned wide thinking about the possibility of getting closer to Rohit. Her delulu self told her that maybe he'd get jealous seeing her with someone else and confess his feelings.

Only if she knew the truth. 

“Lekin Rohit ko mat batana about this fake dating thing. Let him believe we're dating in real.”

She said making him frown.

“Why? Usko batane mai kya problem hai?”

“What if he accidentally speaks about it in front of Shreya? Saara plan kharab ho jaayega na. The less people know about it, the better.”

She said and he nodded in understanding, making her sigh in relief. Yeah! Because if Rohit gets to know her plan to get into his attention would fail.

“Lekin backstory kya rakhenge? Like how did we start dating?”

Kartik asked and Mansi thought for a moment before saying.

“Tune propose kia.”

“Rohit nhi maanega.”

He said knowing that Rohit knew about his feelings for Shreya very well and wouldn't take even a minute to call their bluff.

“Kyu? He knows you like Shreya?”

That would solve her problem. Kartik bit the inside of his cheek. Should he tell her? But what if she denied saying they shouldn't continue with the fake dating plan because Rohit would never go for Shreya then and he would never get to be close with Shreya.

“Umm…nhi…but he knows mai kabhi kisi ko saamne ne approach nhi krunga.”

“Tsk! Mai special hu na. Tujhe mai itni pasand aa gyi ki tujhse raha nhi gaya. Simple!”

Kartik rolled his eyes before nodding. He had no other option.

Mansi and Shreya were in the middle of the class. Kartik and Rohit were still sitting at their usual places, that is a few seats away from the two.

Mansi had asked Kartik not to tell Rohit anything until she tells Shreya. He too agreed because he wanted to know her reaction on the news.

Mansi bit her lip and poked Shreya's thigh, trying to gain her attention. The girl was too studious. Completely opposite of Mansi. She hummed but continued to look at the professor who was explaining something.

“Sun na!”

Mansi whispered and Shreya hummed again while taking down notes.

“I'm dating Kartik.”

She broke the news making Shreya hum again before realised what Mansi spoke and looked at her wide eyed.

She continued to look at her waiting for Mansi to dissolve into laughter but when she didn't, she asked.

“What?”

“Haan.”

“Kab? Kaise? Kis liye?”

“Umm…aaj subha hi. He proposed. Aur phir maine socha jab saamne se koi boyfriend banne aa raha hai toh mai kyu mana kru? Phir Kartik good looking bhi hai. So maine socha why not. I mean chal gaya toh achha nhi toh tata bye bye.”

She shrugged and Shreya gave her an incredulous look.

“Tu pagal hai kya? Aise thodi na hota hai.”

“Arre life ek hi baar milti hai. Enjoy kr na. Soch soch kr puri life thodi na kharab krungi.”

Shreya looked away thinking. Mansi was right. Maybe she should also confess her feelings to Rohit and ask him to be her boyfriend.

Mansi, on the other hand thought that Shreya didn't like her dating Kartik and assumed she felt something for him and mentally yayyed.

Mansi was called by a teacher for some event discussion. She was very active in those extra curricular activities. Kartik was in the washroom Shreya saw Rohit alone and approached him.

“Hey!”

She greeted him shyly and he smiled awkwardly before returning her greeting.

“Umm…free ho? Kuch baat krni thi.”

Rohit nodded reluctantly although he knew what she might want to say.

“I…umm…I really like you Rohit.”

He sighed and opened his mouth to speak.

“Shreya-”

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

“What!”

Ok? This had gone far from what he imagined. He had to clear it to her.

“Shreya mai-”

“I know you might feel ki cheezein awkward ho jaayengi but aisa nhi hoga. I promise. I really like you and agar tumhe lag raha hai ki Mansi and Kartik might feel weird with their best friend's dating toh ab toh wo problem bhi nhi hai since they are dating each other too-”

“They're what?”

He asked, shocked yet again. What was happening today? Was he hearing things? 

“Umm…Kartik ne bataya nhi tumhe? He proposed to Mansi this morning and she accepted. They're dating.”

Rohit felt his blood run cold. Kartik proposed Mansi? Why would he do that? He liked Shreya. Then why propose Mansi?

“Hey?”

Shreya waved her hand before his eyes and he closed his eyes before smiling at her and saying.

“Can I tell you after giving it a thought?”

She nodded and went back because Mansi was back. Rohit decided to talk to Kartik when they got back to their PG room.

Rohit and Kartik were roommates. 

“I'm so tired!”

Kartik said falling back on his bed.

“You're dating Mansi?”

Rohit asked in a little pissed off voice and Kartik looked at him. 

“Who told you?”

“Shreya. But that's not the point. Why are you dating Mansi?”

Kartik shrugged casually and said.

“Because she's a nice girl. Cool hai. Beautiful hai. Aur mere type ki bhi hai.”

“Tere type ki? Kal tak toh tu Shreya ke peeche tha na. Aaj achanak Mansi tere type ki kaise ho gyi? Itna diverse type hai kya tera? Mansi and Shreya are two completely different personalities.”

Rohit said with disbelief.

“Tell me the real reason, Kartik.”

He demanded and Kartik sighed before saying.