Page 72 of Reckless Hate

“So? What are you wearing for the party tonight?” Rishi asked, cutting into her musing.

“I’m not sure I’ll go. I might have an early night in. I’m a bit tired.”

“Whaat!!”

Rishi’s outraged yell was so loud she had to keep the phone away from her ear.

“Samantha Roy! You better attend the party! How can you not? You won! And you need to celebrate! Not hide in your room like some loser!”

Samantha was amused by her friend’s outrage. “First of all, it’s okay to lose. It’s just a game. You win some and lose some.” That’s what her father had taught her when she was young. “And secondly, I might consider dropping in for a while.”

“You better! I’m going to ask you the details tomorrow when you get back to the campus.”

She let out a laugh at Rishi’s warning.

Ending the call, she remained standing in front of the huge wall-size window of the hotel room that overlooked the city. After living at Simha University for a while, it felt odd looking at a busy city with lights lit up everywhere.

She hesitated whether or not to go down. Over the past three days, she had come straight back to her room in the evenings and didn’t step out until the next morning. She even ordered room service for her meals.

She knew the rest of the students from Team Simha hung out together. But she also knew they weren’t allowed to party or drink during the game nights. And since it was the last day, there was a huge celebration planned with students from other universities as well.

She was thinking about skipping the celebration party when her phone pinged with a message.

This time, it was from her enemy.

V.Simha: Where are you?

She stared at it, wondering whether or not to answer. They were technically done with the Outreach Program. So, there wasn’t any need for them to interact together, except for the finalreport they needed to turn in.

V.Simha: I know you read my message.

Annoyed, she picked up her phone and replied.

Samantha: I am in my room, just about to sleep.

V.Simha: Liar. You are wide awake, riding the victory high.

Her heart jerked as she frowned at the message. How the hell did he know her mind was racing with the win? Even though she didn’t show it outwardly, she was beyond excited about winning a trophy for Simha University.

V.Simha: Join the party. Stop hiding in your room all the time.

She was pissed at his words. She wasn’t hiding. She chose not to join the party.

But as usual the jerk’s words triggered her, and she decided to join the party for a bit. Opening her travel suitcase, she pulled out a dress to wear and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

The bathroom wasn’t huge, but it was fancy. She had already showered when she returned to her room, so she simply washed her face and wiped it with one of the hand towels monogrammed with the Simha logo. Since the hotel belonged to the Simha family, everything was fancy.

She slipped into the red dress and wore light makeup before stepping into her high heels. Then grabbing her phone and keycard, she went to the party downstairs.

***

The entire hotel bar area and half of the lobby was quite crowded. It was filled with students laughing, drinking and dancing to the loud music.

She spotted a few students from Team Simha, but the rest were from other universities. She walked towards the bar area and sat on one of the stools, intending to watch the party for a few minutes before returning to her room. As soon as she sat down, a guy greeted her.

“Samantha Roy?” he asked.

She looked at him.

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