The Third Step

The night air had grown cooler and Loyana had lapsed into her self imposed cocoon of silence. She drove at a reasonable speed keeping her eyes on the road. I let the cold night air wash over me. It felt like a drought of clean water sliding down your throat on a hot summer's day. The silence of the night broken only by the crunch of gravel against rubber. I started to feel sleepy and then suddenly out of no where I thought of those cold grey eyes and my spine tingled.
Why and how I couldn't say but I was pretty sure that I'd probably be seeing them again.
Loyana drove to the nearest bus stop and said, u'll be able to get home alright? I decided that it was safer to get off there and although I knew that I'd probably have to walk home I said I'd be fine. I got out of the car and then she simply drove away without so much as a by your leave.
I waited for a few minutes and then just as I was about to walk home I saw an expensive car come to a stop right in front of me and the window rolled down..........
"What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Don't you have exams in a few days? And who was that girl?" This barrage of questions served like a series of volleys in a wimbeldon game gave me the much needed time to think about precisely what to say. I needen't have bothered. Rudra wasn't interested. He just wanted to rile me. "Get in.You didn't think I'd let you walk home, did you?" Another rhetorical question that did NOT need an answer. Rudra wouldn't have let anyone walk home.
Rudra had entered my life in pretty much the same way. I was struggling to find a foothold in the Institute and he was one of those do gooders who are bound by an invisible umbilical cord to places they have spent good times in.
I was at the end of my rope having tried everything to get the Librarian to issue a couple of extra books, bribery, sweet talking, chocolates nothing seemed to melt the heart of that harridan. Then Rudra breezed in. All easy charm and refreshing coolness. The atmosphere took on the color of mellow wine and for some reason the Librarian softened.
"Still harassing good kids Mrs. Rama?" And in a few minutes I had half a dozen extra books and both of them were yakking away like long lost kindered souls who meet accidentally in a storm. I couldn't believe my luck. "Thanks." No response. I might as well have been talking to a deaf post for all the attention they gave me.
I slunk away before the spell wore off and Mrs. Rama realised that she had just broken a hallowed library rule.

I didn't know then who or what Rudra was. I didn't want to know. My little padded shell was enough. All I could think of was the assignment that had been handed out and the fact that now I could hand in a better effort than my peers and who knows, get an even better grade than my last assignment. I know. My life sucked. And yes, I was geek no.1.