Robotics wasn't alien to me, but I was a noob in it. Before getting into Sarthak's training program, I mainly focused on b-boying, and other styles like Krumping and finger-tutting; Robotics didn't interest me much, so I hardly made efforts to learn it when Ritvik Bhaiyya was teaching us.

Due to this, I was finding it really difficult to come up with a choreography. I had spent the whole yesterday's evening in finding reference videos so that I could just copy and mix-match them to come up with a routine. Unfortunately, the physical application of my plan had turned into a really big challenge.

I was jealous of Akshay, who was already done choreographing his Disco routine and was happily doing his assignments, while I was struggling to complete my own homework while coming up with choreographies in my mind.

My other best friend, Arushi was busy typing like a speed racer on her laptop. The intensity with which she was pushing the keys told me that I shouldn't disturb her. She was in a very bad mood since the morning, and I doubted if KD had anything to do with it.

I had messaged KD about it, but he confessed that he was unaware of why Arushi was mad. He even got worried and told me that he would come to our classroom, but I told him to hold his horses. Fortunately, he agreed to my advice - we had to proceed slowly.

Seeing that I was not going to be of much help to Arushi, I turned my attention back to my notebooks. Mini images of all the Robotics professionals and coaches, whose videos I had watched, kept dancing in front of my eyes, so I closed my books and decided to take a break.

I shut my eyes close and began imagining myself doing a smooth Robotics routine. I ran diffrent simulations in my mind, and after approximately half an hour, I came up with a choreo. I instantly began practicing in my seat and doodled the key poses in the back of my notebook.

Finally, I had a demo to show my mentor. Feeling proud, I announced a break for myself. Since Akshay was busy completing his assignments, and Arushi was exuding a dangerous aura, I left the classroom to see if I could get something to eat. Somehow, I was feeling very hungry since morning.

I had even finished off Arushi's tiffin as I didn't get the time to prepare mine, but I was still getting hunger pangs. I was walking down the hallway, when I noticed the face of the girl whom I liked but preferred to ignore.

I pushed myself further into the wall as I walked, hoping my short height would be of some benefit, but as if she had radars inside her, Mahreen snapped her head in my direction.

"Boomer!"

She waved at me, so I just returned the gesture. I kept walking, but she moved at lightening speed and caught me. I was surprised at the speed she moved, but my doubt was cleared when I saw familiar roller skates on her feet. Soon, Jiya arrived beside her, rolling on her skates like usual.

"Why you keep ignoring me, Boomer?" Mahreen complained.

"She is very sensitive, so be careful with your answers," Jiya adviced me.

"I was just in a rush," I told Mahreen.

She asked me where I was going, and when I told her my destination, she bobbled her head.

"I have got really tasty donuts and waffles straight from my mom's bakery," Mahreen said. "You have to taste them."

Without waiting for my reply, Mahreen pulled me towards the bench where she was sitting with her friends. Jiya followed behind, and Mahreen told me to sit. I obediently sat down when my eyes got the view of really beautiful mouth-watering donuts.

Mahreen pushed a box towards me and told me to eat all I wanted. I felt like a kid enjoying sweets while Mahreen fed me like a mother. I still didn't get why she liked me so much.

The donuts were so tasty that I stuffed a whole chocolate flavoured donut in my mouth. Jiya scolded me to eat slowly, but the donuts were so soft that they melted in my mouth easily. Thanks to Mahreen, I cured my hunger pangs and was even able to save a few bucks.

As I was done eating, I took my leave. Mahreen wanted me to stay, but I had to go. When I left, I heard Jiya mentioning Hriaan's party to Mahreen, and both girls began discussing what they were going to wear.

I also want to go... Will Mom allow me?

I feared that if I brought up the topic of party in front of mom, she might send me to work. That thought was swirling in my head like whirlpool even after I reached Sarthak's studio. Akshay went to show his choreography to his mentor, and I went to mine.

There was a long line, so I joined the queue and tapped my foot. I knew that even if somehow my mother gave me permission, there was still the question about what I would wear. I didn't want to go to Hriaan's party in my old clothes. My friends would have beaten me up for that.

I observed my fellow dancers in front of me. A lot them came from financially weak backgrounds and affording good workout clothes was a headache. Still, they were wearing clothes that were comfortable and good for their health.

I looked behind me and observed only a few dancers with torn shoes or a hole in their shirts. After checking them, I looked down at my feet. My two toes were sticking out a lot more than the previous week, and even if I was wearing the shirt Mom had brought for me when the training had started, my innerwear surely needed an upgrade.

We didn't need good activewear just for trends, but our movements and health were greatly affected by the quality of clothes and footwear we used. Tight clothing caused skin issues and the risk of them ripping apart during performances, while very loose clothing disrupted free movement and improper shoes had the dangers of us tripping and breaking our ankles.

Let's buy some new activewear first. After I am done with this first round of solo evaluation, I will work in the break and save up a lot. As for Hriaan's and Yukta's party, let's see what happens.

My turn arrived, and I placed my notebook on my mentor's desk. Fatima ma'am quirked an eyebrow.

"What's this, Bhoomi?" she asked.

"My choreography, ma'am," I announced proudly.

She picked up the notebook and waved it in the air. "This is your choreo?"

When I nodded, she sighed. I showed her the page where I had doodled my main poses and stood back in my spot.

"What do you think?" I asked.

Fatima ma'am glanced between me and my drawings a few times before she reviewed my sketches.

"What is this?" she mumbled. "So ugly..."

I knew my drawing was as bad as my handwriting, maybe worse than it. Still, I hoped that Fatima ma'am would understand it and I could leave early to start my next mission of convincing my mom.

Fatima ma'am pinched her nose bridge when she could no longer look at my drawings.

"This won't do, Bhoomi," she said strictly. "I need a proper video presentation and that too in either a pendrive or CD."

I sighed. "Okay, ma'am."

"Why didn't you chose Krumping?" she scolded.

"I want to learn something new."

Fatima ma'am pursed her lips. "I don't understand why you would take this risk when your ranking is already so low. Just look at how your fellow dancers have intelligently chosen the styles that they are confident in, while you are still acting like a toddler."

I tried to not look her in the eyes. She was really intimidating and getting scolded from her wasn't what I had in mind.

"I won't accept this," she pointed at my doodles, "go and make a rough choreo, and report to me within next two hours. If you are not able to do so, I will force you to change your dance style."

I vigorously nodded and bolted out of there before she ripped my head off. I reached a practice hall and occupied a corner. I opened my notebook and wondered why Fatima ma'am didn't like my drawings. I forced my mind to come up with a revision to save time. Thanks to my slow brain, I easily wasted one hour out of the two hour limit.

What should I do? My brain is totally not working right now. I really want to do Robotics. I need to do something.

A light bulb lit up in my brain. I hurriedly placed the notebook on my bag and ran outside.

I dived into a practice room and scanned like hawk. When I found my target, I moved at flash speed and grabbed the dancer who could help me. A lot of trainees were proficient in all kinds of dance styles and I knew a few who could help me with my choreography.

Thanks to my brilliant idea, I was able to get some tips and ideas. With fifteen minutes left, I managed to get ample amount of data to create a rough demo to show Fatima ma'am.

After gathering the video references, I ran back to my practice hall and was about to crash into the floor due to my happiness when I noticed a very familiar figure looming over the spot I was previously occupying.

My notebook was in the hands of none other than Tejas, and he was intently observing my pathetic drawings. After getting the bad reaction from my mentor, I deemed it best to not make my appearance in front of the well known Mr. Perfectionist.

I quietly observed Tejas and was surprised to see his concentrated expression. He was closely analysing each sketch, his eyebrows knitted together.

I am sure he is laughing in his mind. Why did I leave my notebook lying openly like that? If he has already seen my name on the notebook, then I can happily die of embarrassment.

After rotating my notebook in every angle, Tejas took out a red pen from his pocket. He placed my book against the glass wall and rapidly began drawing lines all across the pages. His movements were so fast that my eyes were having trouble keeping up.

Few minutes later, he moved the pen away and nodded to himself. He gently placed the notebook back on my bag, and after glancing at it once more, he left.

When he was out of sight, I moved my feet and grabbed my notebook. My eyes almost popped out.

So many red markings! It feels like he just checked my test paper.

My eyes kept gliding over the paper; I couldn't believe that Tejas spent his precious time correcting my mistakes. But how did he understand my scrawny stick figures? Even his sketches were so good.

Thanks to him, I was able to prepare a demo better than what I had in my mind. I was done within five minutes, and with last five minutes remaining, I submitted my demo video to Fatima ma'am. She was suspicious if I had put half-assed efforts and kept scolding me till she saw my video.

I wouldn't say she was highly impressed, but I could see that she was not disappointed either.

"This is not up to the mark, but you can use a few portions in your final choreography," she said. "You still have time, so do your best. Come to me if you face any issues. If you fail this evaluation, Bhoomi, I won't just light your ass on fire, but I will have a full blown argument with Sarthak Sir also. He keeps praising you, but you are barely performing upto the mark. Your future is in your hands only."

"I promise I will do my best," I said.

"You have to. You got no other choice."

She excused me, and I gladly left her cabin. It was all thanks to my fellow dancers and Tejas that I managed to save my ass. Still, I had a long way to go before I started celebrating.

As the task for the day was done, I prepared myself for the verbal fight with my sweet-mouthed mother.

~*~

"Absolutely not!" Mom shouted as soon as she heard my plan.

I waited for her cough to stop, and she again scolded me.

"Don't you see we already have a lot on our plates? If you have that much free time on your hands, then go and work," she said.

I knew it. She will never allow me to go to a party, especially a hi-fi one like Hriaan's. The one I had gone to with my crew was only possible because the guys were with me and my mother trusted Vibhan a lot. Unfortunately, he had pulled back his decision of attending Hriaan's party after Ritvik Bhaiyya had a lot of modifications to do in their routine for their upcoming dance battle.

"You are not going, and that's final," Mom announced and told me to either study, or do other household chores while she prepared for dinner. I sighed, and just when I accepted defeat and Mom began moving towards the kitchen in victory, my sister's cold voice cut through the air.

"Why won't you just let her live her life?" Dhara Di asked Mom.

Mom turned around and looked at her eldest daughter in question. "What do you want to say?"

"Aren't you satisfied with caging me that now you are restricting Bhoomi also?"

My eyes widened. I could feel the sparks of a very big argument flying around. To avoid that, I opened my mouth to put a stop to the whole topic, but my mother was faster than me.

"I am restricting Bhoomi?!" Mom yelled.

Dhara Di nodded and that angered our mother more. Both women kept staring at each other, and I was really mad at my sister for picking up fight with our mother for such a small reason.

"Why won't you let her go and do what other kids her age are doing? Her friend invited her, and if she won't mix with new people, how will she grow her connections?" Dhara Di asked.

Mom raised her hands in the air. "Why does she need new connections? The only things she should be focusing on right now are her studies and dance training. That's it."

"Really? Then why do you keep sending her to work whenever you please but won't let her go to a party when she wants? You don't care about her studies and training when she earns money for you?"

What the fuck did Dhara Di just say?

My mother glanced at me and then again at my sister. "You are saying that I make Bhoomi work and use all that money for myself? How can you be so heartless to talk like that about your own mother?"

I scolded my sister to stop when Mom began crying. Mom kept mumbling that she did nothing for our family, and my sister just kept staring at her blankly.

"Both of you, please stop fighting for such a petty reason. I just won't go; that party is not so important that you two need to butt heads for that," I said.

Mom kept looking at Dhara Di. Both women seemed to be doing telepathy. After having a round of violent cough, my mother wiped her tears and huffed.

"Bhoomi, you can go to the party," Dhara Di said.

Mom's eyes blazed, but she didn't argue. I looked at Mom for confirmation, and she just told me to do what my sister wanted. She went inside the kitchen, and I moved beside my sister.

"Are you insane, Di?" I asked. "What the hell were you doing exactly?"

Dhara Di had no guilt on her face. "Aren't you getting late? Get out of here instantly, or I will myself won't allow you to go."

Anger was radiating off her like hot steam. I left for Jiya's house to get ready, but I couldn't erase the fight that I just witnessed.

What got into my sister? And how come Mom didn't explode after hearing what Dhara Di said to her? But what happened to her suddenly? It is understandable that she wanted to take my side, but she seemed to be angry about some other stuff too because if she wasn't, she wouldn't have gotten into that kind of argument with Mom.

When I reached Jiya's home, she had a whole set of clothes ready for me to choose.

"Pick any one you like," she said and continued applying makeup.

I was really thankful to Jiya. She knew that Hriaan had invited me and she also knew that I didn't have any party clothes to wear. So, she herself offered to help me, and I gladly accepted it.

I roamed my eyes on the beautiful pieces of shiny clothings and picked up a few to try.

"Who all are coming from the crew?" I asked.

"Only Shlok is allowed to come," Jiya replied. "Ritvik Bhaiyya is not satisfied with others, so he will make them train all night."

"I feel bad for them."

"Me too, girl, me too."

Jiya twisted her lips when I wore the first dress. She said that I looked shorter, and like that, she rejected every other dress I had chosen.

She scanned all the dresses she had laid down for me and shook her head. "These won't do either."

She opened her cupboard and took out a very expensive-looking one-piece.

"Wear this. I think it will suit you the best," she said.

When I took the dress, I noticed that the price tag was still intact. I told her that I won't wear her new dress; it didn't seem appropriate.

Jiya pinched my arm. "How can you calculate my love for you like this? Just shut up and wear it. I don't want any arguments."

I hugged her when she told me that I could try all the new dresses if I wanted. I didn't need to do so though. The one-piece she had given me was perfect.

"You look so adorable," Jiya gushed.

I blushed as she kept complimenting me. She did my hair and makeup, and I was also a bit surprised to see my new look.

"Ready for the party?" Jiya asked and wiggled her eyebrows.

I grinned. "Yup."