Page 11 of Reckless Hate

“Samantha Roy… welcome to Simha University.”

Her heart raced as their eyes continued to clash. She didn’t respond to his greeting. With great difficulty, she kept her face neutral before dragging her eyes away from him and walked past him to the breakfast area.

Even while she placed a custom order for a French-style omelet, she could feel the burning gaze on her back. And just like the previous day when their eyes had met, her skin broke into goosebumps.

He looked like a fallen angel. He wasn’t the kind anyone could forget easily. With a face that resembled the chiseled statues in the Louvre Museum, the dark eyes felt as though they could pierce into a person’s soul.

She took a deep breath at her ridiculously fanciful thinking.

Ignore him.

Even as she thought those words, she knew it wasn’t possible.

The dark look filled with hatred in Ved Simha’s eyes indicated that she would be seeing him again soon.

***

For the rest of the day, Samantha attended classes, fighting to push away thoughts of one particular guy from her mind. She was angry that she even let the guy haunt her thoughts. He was no one and she shouldn’t care.

Soon, it was late afternoon when she had to enroll in her extracurricular activity. She went to her apartment to change before heading to the activities area.

She was walking inside the huge sports recreation building when she came across a group of students. Her heart jerked, wondering if Ved Simha was a part of the group. But she couldn’t see his handsome, chiseled face.

Shaking her head in annoyance for feeling flustered, she took a deep breath and continued to go to the sports arena. She followed the directions that pointed to the Eagles house team.

As soon as she entered the tennis courts, all eyes fell on her.

“Are you lost, baby?” a guy asked. “This is not the fashion department.”

Samantha looked at the guy. “I’m quite aware. Thanks for pointing that out.”

The amused look on the guy’s face began to dim. “Wait. You are really here to join the Eagles tennis team?”

“Yes.”

Everyone’s eyes swept over her taking in her attire. She was wearing the Simha tennis uniform in the Eagles color. But her sleeveless tank top perfectly molded her body while her skirt was an inch shorter so the material wouldn’t keep getting in the way or irritate her skin. Her hair was swept into a high ponytail and she added a green hand-stitched headband to keep wisps of hair from falling into her eyes and to absorb sweat.

A girl’s eyes narrowed. “These are the advanced league teams, not some beginners coaching area. The final teams have already been decided. Unless you are magically better than all of us, you won’t be chosen to be on the team.”

Samantha ignored the girl and walked past the group to where the coach was standing. As she neared, the middle-aged man with graying hair looked at her.

“Hello, Coach. I’m Samantha Roy. The transfer student from France.”

As soon as she introduced herself, the coach’s eyes lit up. “Ah! Samantha Roy. Yes, I’ve been expecting you. Welcome!”

The coach blew the whistle. “Guys! Pause and come here quickly.”

There was palpable excitement in his voice.

When everyone gathered around them, he smiled at Samantha. “Guys, this is Samantha Roy, the new transfer student from France.”

Most of the team members looked on condescendingly.

“Samantha is here at Simha with a tennis scholarship. Her father is Aravind Roy, the legendary tennis player who is also a proud graduate from Simha. I’m hoping Samantha is going to be our winning bet to the tennis championship this year.”

There was shock on everyone’s faces.

The coach smiled at her. “Samantha, you are up first. Show us what you got. Millie, you play opposite her.”

---