My mood was really sour even after I came back home. I felt like doing nothing because I really wanted to just erase the memories of Boomer from everyone's minds.

Feeling angry at my friends for suggesting me to take part in that dance competition against The Emperors, I went to Vibhan's studio and wreaked havoc on my crew.

They were clueless about why I was snatching their hair and biting them, and Ritvik Bhaiyya had to hold me down before I transformed into a wild animal.

A bit of my frustration was taken care of after fighting the guys, but it rose again when Arushi informed me that I needed to submit two of my assignments again - the new lecturer was really disgusted by my handwriting.

I was playing a game on KD's iPad and was going to watch some web series before Arushi started tutoring me, but that free time was also gone now. Arushi gave me her notebook to copy the homework, and I begrudgingly stopped my game and started writing.

"You haven't returned Kshitij's iPad yet?" Arushi asked.

"I forgot," I replied.

"Bhoomi, you shouldn't keep someone else's stuff for so long."

"I know, but I really forgot to give it back to him. He hasn't said anything, so it is okay."

"Fine."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I felt that Aru's tone was a bit odd.

"You mad about something?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No, but my laptop has been acting up a lot these days. It keeps hanging up, and a lot of my files also got erased. I didn't even take backup."

"Have mercy on the old guy. It has already been six years; of course, its end is near," I said.

Arushi started complaining how her parents never listened to her about buying a new laptop for her and always gave her used things of her elder brother. Before Arushi, the same laptop was used by her brother for three years before he went to another state for higher studies.

She fisted her hands in agony when her laptop screen turned black, and she had to forcefully shut it down.

"This is the fourth time since morning," she cursed.

I glanced at KD's iPad. "Aru, you can use this tablet for your work."

She sighed and refused. "It is not either mine or yours, so how can I use it without its owner's permission?"

I waved my hand in dismissal. "Oh, come on, stop being so formal. You think KD would have refused if he was here? Just use it, and I will tell him about it later."

As it is, he will dance in joy once he knows that his crush used his iPad.

Arushi looked conflicted, so I forced the tablet on her. After a lot of thinking, she finally gave in and started working on it. I smiled to myself when Arushi carefully handled the gadget and was gently typing on it unlike how she butchered her laptop's keyboard.

Three hours later, I was done with my assignments, so I asked Aru if she wanted to watch a movie. She agreed, and after the movie session, I packed my bags, and my best friend gave me an extra bag to cover up the iPad.

I noticed how Arushi was really concerned and kept scolding me to be careful while handling KD's property. I teased her if she was actually worried about the non-living object or its living owner. I succeeded in making Aru turn into a tomato.

I ran away after she looked like she would beat me up if I didn't stop making fun of her. I continued on my way to my house, but the path leading towards my chawl was blocked by a big tempo.

All of the kids and aunties were busy watching the amount of furniture being loaded out from that tempo, and they were discussing which rich person had shifted into our chawl.

I was also amazed when I saw a 55 inch LED TV being carried out along with a double-door fridge. Even the tempo and employees working belonged to a well known packers and movers company.

After observing for some time, I scrunched through the small opening between the tempo and the houses, and I was shocked to see those men moving the expensive furniture in the direction of my colony.

As I walked towards my house, I noticed those men going past me and stopping in front of Akshay's house. They knocked on the door, and Akshay's mother came out.

She nodded to everything those men asked and motioned inside her house. I looked at them in confusion, and when Akshay's mother noticed me, she told me to come to her.

I went, and aunty was really delighted. Before I could question her, she herself showed me all the stuff that was being brought to her house; I also noticed some men painting the inner walls.

"Aunty, are you shifting out?!" I asked in shock.

Aunty laughed. "No, Bhoomi. Our house is getting renovated, that's it."

"What?" I was surprised even more. "But, can you really afford it at the moment? I mean, Akshay has also left his part-time job, so how are you going to handle the expenses? Did the kids trouble you again? Tell me that they they forced you to buy this mountain-sized TV, and I will break their bones. How can they not understand their own family condition? And where is Akshay? Does he know that-"

Aunty squeezed my shoulder. "Relax, Bhoomi, relax. It is nothing like you are thinking."

She chuckled, and that's when I registered how much different she looked now. There was a glow on her face, hiding the ever-present worry she had since her husband had left her, and her saree was bright and no longer had any dullness or mismatched blouses.

Even though I was confused, I was still happy to see the change.

Aunty told me to supervise the men while she made tea for all of us. I went to my home, and after freshening up and checking up on my family, I returned to do my duty at Akshay's house.

When Rahul came after playing with his friends, he quickly jumped on the latest sofa.

"Rahul, get off this instant," I scolded him. "Your mother hasn't even done pooja of the new stuff."

Rahul grumbled in annoyance and started getting up, but he suddenly shot up and ran behind me.

"Suhana Didi!" Rahul yelled and hugged Suhana.

I raised my eyebrows when I noticed Akshay's girlfriend arrive. Rahul was stuck to her like glue. He pointed in my direction, and Suhana listened to him attentively.

"Bhoomi Didi won't let me play on the sofa," Rahul complained to her.

Suhana patted his head. "Is that so? Don't worry. I will talk to her, okay?"

Rahul nodded happily, and after getting the signal, he made a big dive on the new sofa.

"Rahul, can't you understand once?" I warned.

"Let the kid be, Bhoomi," Suhana said. "It isn't like he is at your home, so chill."

"I know," I replied. "But Aunty has told me to supervise, and I know she does not like any new thing to be used before doing a pooja, so I have to make sure that the kids follow the rules."

Suhana nodded shortly. "Okay."

She called for Akshay's mother, and when aunty arrived, I smirked at Rahul as he was soon going to regret not listening to me.

"Suhana beta, come, come. See for yourself how our house is glowing after you arrived," Aunty said.

Instead of Rahul, I was the one who got a shock when Aunty ruffled his hair and politely told him to freshen up and then play however he wanted.

Rahul proudly walked past me, shooting me an arrogant smirk. I punched him on the back, and he ran inside the bathroom.

"You should be careful with kids, Bhoomi," Suhana scolded me.

I rolled my eyes. "You should see us fighting then."

"You can leave now," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"I am here, no? These men are working for me, so I will supervise them. You can go home."

I sighed. I should have understood what was going on the moment Suhana announced her presence. All this renovation was being done by her only, and since I knew she was still on guards around me, she didn't want me there.

"Suhana, Akki and I are best friends," I said. "His home is my home too. I know you are his girlfriend now, but you can't order me around."

Suhana twisted her lips. "That's the whole difference, right? You are his best friend, and I am his girlfriend. I have more right on him than you. Of course, I can tell you what to do since you are in his house right now."

"No, you can't," I argued. "I don't know why you are so insecure when you and Akshay are already dating. If you have any kind of doubts regarding me, then I will be happy to clear them out. I also want my best friend to not have any issues in his personal life."

"Sure."

After hearing Suhana's reply, I knew she was not in the mental state to understand what I was trying to convey. I didn't want her to fight with Akshay again, so I told aunty that I was going home and took my leave.

At my house, my mother was busy cooking dinner and rambling about how Akshay's mother had totally changed after Suhana started coming over. Mom also asked me if Suhana was Akshay's girlfriend, and I told her to not poke nose in their business.

I understood my mother's concern because Akshay and I were chuddy-buddies. Both families lived in different houses, but we never considered each other as different people. A lot of times, Mom had beaten up Akshay, and his mom had beaten me up. And most of the times, we both were thrashed by both of our mothers.

I knew why Mom was taking so much interest in that matter, but I didn't reveal anything. Even a small kid would have noticed how Akshay's mother was already treating Suhana like her daughter-in-law.

I had no problems with Suhana trying to help her boyfriend's family, but I was worried about Akshay's siblings demanding stuff from her just like they did with their brother.

Then let them do so, Bhoomi. It is none of your concern. Don't you remember what Suhana said? She is Akki's girlfriend, and she can do whatever she wants. As long as her boyfriend has no problem, then why do you care?

Hm, that's true. I should stop worrying. Everyone in Akshay's family seems very happy, so I won't spoil their mood.

I concentrated on my own issues and remembered that the exams were coming up. I didn't have any pending assignments, but I was worried about exam preparations. Earlier, even if I had all the time to study, I still couldn't score much and my academic performance was suffering, but the situation was grim for me as I had joined the dance training now.

I needed more time as I also had to save up money to get myself a new phone. I didn't want to imagine what I would have done if I hadn't gotten those expensive health supplements from Tejas.

Tejas... I feel like a hypocrite for ignoring him when he has helped me so much. What can I do? He helped me, but after yesterday, I am doubtful if he did that too because of Boomer only.

The feeling of taking help for free was very strong, so I took a blank paper and started writing down all the stuff Tejas had given me.

I searched those items online, and my mind started going numb as I jotted down their prices. The supplements themselves were running in thousands, and those shoes were equally expensive.

How am I going to repay him for all this? I was able to pay off Hriaan's fees in the form of accepting his dance challenge, but what will I do in case of Tejas? Why did I accept Hriaan's request? Tejas seemed very furious about it too.

Bhoomi, do you think Hriaan also suggested that dance battle because he also has the same outlook about you as Tejas?

You mean Hriaan challenged me because he was also still mad about having a draw with my crew? I guess you are right. I still remember how threatening he looked that day when he had stolen my snacks and had indirectly mentioned about the match between Unix and The Emperors.

Feeling sad about it, I even wrote down the amount of money Hriaan wasted on petrol for dropping me off to my home that day. I even mentioned his fees because after realising the actual reason behind getting his attention also, I didn't want to have any debts.

As for Mahreen, I was confused if she just found me interesting or her obsession was also reserved for Boomer.

Thinking about all the debt I had collected, I slept, and my mind was busy calculating the money I needed to earn.

The next day at college, I spotted Tejas and his gang, but I didn't go and meet them like earlier. I acted like I was very busy, and even if it was against my personality, I studied like a diligent student. Unfortunately, I couldn't return KD's iPad because he was absent.

The first half went by smoothly, and I was in the cafeteria with Arushi. Like me, Arushi had also found out about Akshay and Suhana, and we both didn't bother him as he now spent a lot of time with his girlfriend.

Arushi didn't feel like eating her tiffin as she was still mad at her parents, and by her mood, I knew she had an heated argument with them regarding her laptop.

She got some snacks to eat, and I happily ate her tiffin as she had brought dosa and idlis. After finishing hers, I opened my lunchbox, but before either of us could take even one bite, my tiffin was snatched.

"How could you eat by yourself, Shorty?" Hriaan asked and gulped down a whole chapati in one go.

He put his own tiffin in front of me and told me to eat it in exchange.

"Didn't you say you were on a diet?" I accused.

He nodded and ate a handful of pakode from Arushi's plate. "Of course, I am, and thank you for sharing, Arushi."

Arushi pursed her lips. "You are welcome."

"Why are you stealing from her?" I scolded him.

"Which thief steals so openly?" Hriaan teased. "By the way, can you please bring more lunch next time? This is not enough for me."

I pointed at his untouched lunchbox. "Then why do you bring this?"

"Because I don't want to get beaten up by Mom."

He happily finished the majority of the food, and I kept observing him as he rambled about his day.

Ask him, Bhoomi.

"Hriaan, can I ask you something?" I questioned.

He bobbled his head, and I narrowed my eyes to catch any details in case he lied.

"Why did you befriend me?" I asked.

"Excuse me? What kind of question is that?" he replied.

"Okay, I will ask in a different way. Why did you ask me to have a dance battle with you?"

"Are you suffering from short-term memory loss?" Hriaan knocked on my head and held his palm in front of my face. "How many fingers are these?"

I swatted his hand away. "I remember everything, but that's not what I mean. I am asking why you challenged me when you could have easily taken your fees. Your mom had also said that she won't interfere, so why did you still refuse the pay?"

Hriaan chewed slowly. "I don't see any problem with what I did. Care to explain why you look so pissed off right now regarding that incident? It wasn't like I forced you to battle me."

"Alright then, I will ask directly. Are you still angry about me faking my identity as Boomer and having a draw with your crew? Isn't it because you were still holding a grudge against Unix that you felt like having a battle with me to satisfy your anger?

"I accept that you are better than me, but if you decided to befriend me only to challenge me one day and show me that you could easily defeat me, then I will suggest you to not waste your time on me. I will inform you too since you also seem to be stuck on that Boomer's issue: it was a mistake, and I never intended to go against The Emperors. I know I cosplayed as Boomer, but that's not who I am. If you bothered yourself with me just because of that, then I apologise again."

Arushi placed her hand on mine and told me to calm down. I didn't realise that with each word, my voice also rose, and there were a few heads turned in our direction curiously.

Hriaan listened to everything calmly and pushed my lunchbox towards me.

"I didn't know you had such a big inferiority complex, Shorty," he said. "Oh, sorry, I mispronounced your name, Miss Bhoomi Devarkar. After hearing your rant, I can surely tell that it is not me who needs to know who the real you is, but you, for sure, are suffering from identity crisis."

I glared at him. "What do you mean? You guys keep calling me 'Boomer', and you can lie all you want, but I know why you and your best friend were showing so much interest in me. Both of you are just furious about me helping my crew and you guys ending up having a draw with us. Be honest with me. If I had never participated in that competition, you would have never even talked to me, right?"

Hriaan scoffed. "Wow, I didn't know your small brain was capable of cooking so much useless stuff. As for me being honest, I don't think I need to prove it. I have never faked myself in front of you. And since you questioned me so much, then let me also ask you one thing. If you claim that you are not Boomer and just Bhoomi, then who was that person who was battling against my crew that day? Was it some ghost?

"Even if you came up with a random stage name, it was still you, wasn't it? I don't understand why you are having so much trouble accepting the fact that Boomer is you and vice-versa. Are you trying to say that just because you are a girl, you are incapable of going against the boys, and since I challenged you, I must have done it only because of a grudge? I accept I was livid for some time after that match with Unix, but that was it.

"I challenged you because I saw you worth it, but I guess I made a wrong decision then. I apologise for taking up for your invaluable time and energy. Also, don't worry about me bothering you again; I don't go around making friends to fulfill my grudge."

Hriaan took his lunchbox and stuffed it inside his bag. "Thank you for letting me steal your food."

"Hriaan, wait, I-"

He shook his head and got up. "Since we aren't friends, why waste each other's time?"

He waved Arushi bye and walked off. I called his name, but he didn't look back. What he had said just now was feeling like a huge load on my mind.

"Why did you pick a fight with him intentionally?" Arushi asked me.

"I just wanted to clear my doubts. I didn't know he will storm off like this," I grumbled.

"What he said wasn't wrong though."

I looked at my best friend in confusion. "Really?"

She gave me a smile. "I wasn't directly involved, so I can't be of much help, but I can advise you to take your time and think carefully about your thoughts and what Hriaan told you just now. Don't stress too much."

"You think I shouldn't have brought up the topic? Why do I feel like Hriaan was hurt by what I said?"

"I won't lie, Bhoomi," Arushi said. "I also saw that he was a bit annoyed by what you were saying, but you can talk to him again. Clear out your misunderstandings, but before that, clear out your mind first."

"Okay."

What Hriaan had said kept echoing in my ears. His words were repeating themselves, and I was getting more and more frustrated.

Like Arushi suggested, I took my time and pondered over the conversation that took place between me and Hriaan and also the encounters between me and Tejas regarding the same issue.

Boomer is not my real identity, and I am also not planning on using it ever again, but Boomer is still me. I was the one who faked being a b-boy, and even if my friends came up with a pathetic stage name, I was the one who competed against The Emperors for my crew. So, why do I have so much hatred for my own alias? Am I jealous of my own self? Ugh, it sounds so absurd!

Of course, it does, Bhoomi. You hate Boomer because that's not how you wanted to introduce yourself to your dance idol. It is because you were so much bothered about The Emperors, especially Tejas, finding out, that you started cursing your own fake persona that you had yourself created. And Hriaan is absolutely right. Even if you cosplayed, you are Boomer, and the other way around is also equally true.

Oh, that's so right. I was afraid of ruining my impression in front of Tejas, so I started despising Boomer. I considered that incident so unlucky that I completely neglected the fact that I had showed the courage to face The Emperors on my crew's behalf. Now, I am acting like I never did so and behaving like a coward.

What you gonna do now?

I will talk to Hriaan and tell him that he was right. I was running away from myself only.

I felt the clouds of confusion clearing up, leading to my frustration getting slowly dissipated. I was able to get a good sleep, but a few words of Hriaan still lingered around.

Do I really have inferiority complex?