Page 14 of Reckless Dare

Ved looked excited. “Ooh. And what’s that, bro? The kissing game?”

Rana shook his head. “Most of them are drunk right now. The kissing will lead to complaints from housing unit wardens.”

Heavy partying often led to wardens finding guys sneaking out of girls’ housing units where the opposite sex wasn’t allowed. Although Abhi didn’t like to moral police, he did draw the line at the number of complaints received right at the beginning of the mid-year session. And things would get even trickier if the college management found out that the hook-ups were the result of the party hosted by the student council president.

“The new game is for the newbies to introduce themselves,” he said.

There was momentary silence before his cousin Ved began laughing.

“Your wish is our command, Mr. President, sir.”

Abhi watched as his two cousins went to the ongoing party. They broke up the beer bong game, but not before Ved indulged in it and kissed a few girls to keep them from getting upset about stopping the game midway.

“All right, guys,” Rana announced. “Time to sober up. On public demand, since we have a few new faces, we are going to have introductions.”

There were frowns and boos since the game wasn’t as interesting as simply getting drunk and partying with friends.

“But during those introductions, we want the newbies to not only give us information about themselves, but they also have to pick someone to go on a date with.”

There were loud cheers and hoots.

Abhi’s mouth twisted at the creative take of his cousin to keep the drunk students entertained. He was sure the students would be excited to go on a date with the new faces.

His eyes were once again drawn to Ava who was smiling listening to the rules of the game. And when she heard the last part, he saw her eyes widen slightly. And then she looked towards him.

When their eyes met, she began blushing before quickly looking away.

Is she thinking of picking me for the date?

He hoped she would.

With a never before strange anticipation coursing through him, he watched as the game began. His two cousins once again stood next to him.

Only a dozen or so new students were at the party. The ones that began their introductions were the bolder ones.

They all shared several facts about themselves. Who their family was and what they were worth. Some of them even threw in the stock exchange rate.

One of the girls threw in a sultry gaze towards him. “And the guy I want to pick for my date is any of the Simhas.” She pointed at him and his cousins.

“Anytime, sweetheart!” Ved shouted, sending the girl a flying kiss.

There were loud hoots and cheers.

Most of the new girls said the same thing about wanting to pick one of the Simhas for a date. Abhi knew it was because of the Simha family and the wealth and power that came along with it. None of those girls really knew or cared about the real person behind the Simha name.

Somehow, he sensed Ava would be different.

It surprised him that he formed that impression about her when he didn’t know much about her. But somehow, he just felt it as a gut instinct.

Finally, it was Ava’s turn to speak. There was a strange electric-charged atmosphere when she stepped forward while people waited for her to speak. Or maybe it was something only he felt.

Her cheeks were slightly reddened because of everyone’s attention on her. But she cleared her voice and let out a small laugh.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Avantika Patel, but my friends call me Ava. I’m in second year Medicine.”

Ved nudged Abhi from the side. “Bro, she’s going to be a doctor. Grandpa will be thrilled.”

“Grandma too,” Rana added.

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