Centerfold

1. Who?

Amara's POV

"Amara, you are in charge of greeting our chief guest with a bouquet and you'll also take care of the welcome speech." Miss Kamble told making me internally groan.

We have our 'Annual College Fest' coming up tomorrow and there's this special guest coming, his arrival has created a lot of buzz from the moment his name was announced a few minutes ago.

This is the first time I'm hearing his name and I'm curious to know why it's such a big deal, our college welcomes old and bald dignitaries every year during the fest and it's nothing new but I don't get what the commotion is about this year.

I responded in positive and started planning everything in my head. I'm not a fan of procrastination, I like to stay prepared, plan everything and calculate my every move. I panic when I fail to do so. I don't know, it's just the way I am. I do the best I can to avoid debacles.

I can be impulsive at times and that's because I don't want to live my life with regrets. I'm always scared when I think about stuff like, 'what if I just let a golden opportunity slip right through my fingertips?' , ' what if I had accepted the challenge the other day?' , 'would my life be the same if I had done something unusual last week?'...

See, this is what I'm talking about, there will be a lot of 'what if's and self-doubt and I'm not ready for that.

I heard my friends talk among themselves, Tara and Karan were seated behind me and Vanya and Vihaan were seated towards my left.

"Oh my God, this is not a joke, right? The. Abhimanyu. Arora. Is. The. Chief. Guest!??" Vanya squealed making me question her sanity.

"Excuse me? Why are you so elated?" Vihaan asked glaring at Vanya who let out a nervous chuckle.

Vihaan and Vanya, the childhood sweethearts, the dream couple, they've been together since our highschool days and everytime I see them sharing a cute moment, I'm reduced to tears.

Why? Because they're so damn cute. Everybody envies this power couple. They understand and complement each other so well. May God bless this desi 'ZiGi' with lots and lots of happiness, love and kids in the future.

"Don't worry, baby, you're hot...." She said making Vihaan smirk proudly "But Abhimanyu's hotter." She proudly stated wiping off Vihaan's smirk and we all burst out laughing seeing his face.

"I'll see you after class, Vanya." Vihaan said making Vanya gulp. All of us smirked as we knew what was coming for Vanya.

I chose this moment to interrupt and ask my basic but important question,

"Who is this Abhimanyu? Is he a rising actor or something?"

They all stopped chattering and looked at me as if I've grown two heads.

"Are you sure you belong in this era? Because I don't think so, granny." Karan deadpanned making me smack the back of his head.

Karan, Vihaan, Vanya, Tara and I have been best friends since our childhood. Tara was my first friend, I met her during our diaper days because my parents and her parents were close friends.

Later, both of us met Karan when he was getting bullied by a bunch of spoilt brat for wearing pink during our 6th grade and Tara and I being the wild girls we were (and are) showed those bullies their places and that's how we befriended Karan.

Kara then introduced us to his only friend Vihaan and then Vihaan got added to our small circle too.

Vanya then joined our school, a new admision, and nobody wanted to befriend her because she was the tallest girl in our class, which is why Tara and I went and made her feel comfortable.

Vihaan was smitten by her then and there and it was evident too and that's how this small circle of ours was born. I couldn't be luckier, I love these four people to death.

"Amara, seriously? You don't know who he is? Damn girl."

I rolled my eyes and said,

"Guys, I don't, which is why I'm asking you guys duh."

Tara , the craziest in our gang, yanked me back and stared right into my eyes and spoke admiringly about the Abhimanyu I'm clueless about.

"Freaking gummy bears, I don't wanna hear you ladies talking about how hot or irresistibly good he looks, tell me something about, um, like, what does he do?"

"He makes me drop my panty and-" Tara went on and I had to clamp her mouth shut with the palm of my hand to stop her and that bloody b***h licked my palm, eww.

"Damn you disgusting creature" I almost yelled wiping my palm on my jeans.

"Okay okay, so he is the COO of The Arora Group. He owns the Atharva News Channel. A famous entrepreneur, nothing much is known about his personal life but girls, we, swoon at the sight of him, you might too, so beware." Vanya explained making me scoff.

I am a girl who is not looking for a relationship. Sure, I drool over celebrities, because they're a gorgeous exception.

I've never had a boyfriend, I've never went on dates with anyone, I find solace in the arms of my books, music particularly Taylor Swift aka the music industry, food and blanket - the only things I live for.

I'm a 23 year old who's in the final year of her mass communication and journalism course and my priority is, was and will always be my studies and my aim.

The only male species I'm close to consists of the men in my family - my dad and brother, Karan and Vihaan. Mr. Abhimanyu is going to be no exception, I'm sure.

"Right, you're not into men, we get it." Tara said making them guffaw.

"Ughhh guys, there's nothing like that, I haven't found a person who is worthy of my eyes, time or anything...yet." I explained and in return, I earned a comment from Karan,

"And that will happen when you hit 80."

I just rolled my eyes in response, yes, I do that a lot. No offense, but I'm not into dating girls, I'm straight and I've had a few infatuations, that's it, but those infatuations never blossomed into fully-fledged flowers.

Tara and I bid goodbye to the others and hopped onto my baby Lolo, my red TVS Jupiter scooty gifted by my dad for my 18th birthday.

Red is my favourite colour. It gets me all excited and jumpy, it's like a blanket of warm hugs; just like my home. It's a brilliant and majestic colour and it exudes royalty, riches and the feeling of calmness and passion, the very reason why I think it's capable of being called my favourite colour.

Back to the present, Tara and I leave college together, she doesn't have a driver's license and me, being the best friend in town, offered to be her personal chauffeur.

I reached home within 20 minutes and after greeting my parents, I scrambled up the stairs to freshen up and start preparing.

"A very hearty and warm welcome to our honourable chief guest, Mr. Abhimanyu Arora...."

Oh Little did I know..... his entry in my life would cost me every fibre of my existence and much more.