Page 46 of Reckless Hate

She turned back, feeling strangely hurt and disappointed. When she looked up, she saw Rishi’s grinning face.

“Oh, shut up,” she said.

Her friend’s grin got even wider.

CHAPTER 22

Days passed in a blur with classes, tennis practice and workshop. Her enemy continued to ignore her, which kept her at the edge. She almost went up to him twice to yell at him and ask what his damn problem was. But she controlled herself.

Good riddance.

Inside her mind, she kept repeating that it was good to have her enemy stay away from her.

“Oh hi, Samantha.”

She looked up to see a girl from her tennis team.

“Hi.”

The girl smiled. “Team Simha is having an unofficial party tonight at the Fort before the matches begin in two weeks. Join us.”

Samantha knew the Fort was the medieval fort situated an hour from the campus. The little girl she once was would have jumped with excitement. But right then, she didn’t want to go.

“It’ll be a lot of fun, Samantha. You’ll get to meet the rest of team Simha.”

Her heart jerked at the fact that her enemy would be there. It was all the more reason why she shouldn’t go. She was about to tell the girl that she didn’t want to go, but she paused.

What if her enemy thought she didn’t show up because of him? She didn’t want him to think she made decisions based on him, especially after she had told him all she felt towards him was indifference.

“I’ll come.”

The girl smiled. “Awesome.”

Samantha’s heart thudded when she returned to her housing unit. She called Rishi.

“Darling, it’s an exclusive invite for Team Simha. I’m not a part of it. I don’t think I should come.”

Samantha frowned. “Then I guess I’ll drop out.”

“Don’t be a wuss, darling! You have to go! Otherwise, the Simha boy is going to think he scared you away.”

That made her scowl. She had been thinking along those lines a while ago too. But to have Rishi affirm it, meant her enemy would also think he managed to scare her off.

“All right,” she said. “I guess, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She got ready for the party. She wore a comfortable knee-length blue-colored dress that wouldn’t impede her movement. Putting on matching accessories and applying red lipstick, she slipped into comfortable flat shoes.

When she stepped out, she was determined to make sure her enemy would think she didn’t care about him.

***

The medieval fort looked exactly like how it was in the pictures Samantha had seen over a decade ago. The only difference in the pictures was how the students were dressed—bell bottom pants were replaced by short skirts and dresses.

Parking her car next to the other vehicles, she stepped out to go towards the fort. The sound of revving engines got louder as she neared the fort.

“Simha! Simha! Simha!”

There was palpable excitement as the crowd cheered the bikers racing in front of the fort. She knew the Simha cousins were known for their biking capabilities. Secret races were held that were considered reckless. Rishi had told her about them as he had gone to many of those races.

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