Chronicles of a Tamil Freshman is a story series featured on tamilyouth.ca revolving around protagonist Tanya. Make sure to read Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 first!
Written by: Thagsana Rangarajan
Tanya felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Great…I guess the professor’s trying to personally escort me out of the lecture hall for breaking his precious chair,” Tanya thought, rolling her eyes. She sighed, lifted her chin off the table and peered behind her. Her gaze was met by piercing hazel eyes. It wasn’t the professor.
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He smiled from the row behind her. He was wearing a thick, dark grey sweater that complemented his broad physique, paired with navy blue jeans. His hair was jet black, and artfully tousled. He had a defined jaw line with fine features. His brown complexion and clean-shaven appearance accentuated his bright white smile. Essentially, if Surya, Madhavan, and Vijay had a baby, he would be it.
Mesmerized, Tanya felt her stomach swell up with butterflies. Though, as a result of rushing to class in the morning, she realized that she probably looked like a deranged caveman wearing mango-scented perfume. She quickly turned back around. In her desperate attempt to appear more attractive, she undid her messy pony tail and shook loose her shoulder-length hair. She then pulled out her chapstick from her pocket, and generously applied it to her coarse lips. Once again, she turned to face him, and her smile widened as the tune of Kadhal Sadugudu began playing in her head.
“Hey,” Tanya said, smiling like a dazed schoolgirl. Her smile, however, faded when she noticed that he had been trying to hand her something.
“You dropped your pen,” he said with a slight chuckle.
Tanya looked down to see that he was, indeed, holding her blue pen in his hand. Embarrassed, she took the pen from his grasp, and thanked him before swiftly turning around and sinking deeper into her seat.
45 minutes had passed, and Tanya was struggling to keep her eyes open as the professor droned on about proper essay etiquette:
“…and that’s how you write an essay in complete form. I expect you all to go home today and write an essay on one of the topics that I discussed in lecture today. Please hand them in at the beginning of next class,” he said, as he concluded the lecture. The clock struck 9:20, and students began packing up their things and exiting the lecture hall.
Tanya froze. “An assignment, already?!” she thought to herself.
Tanya began packing up her books while thinking of ways to put an explosive laxative in the professor’s morning coffee next class. She smirked with an evil grin, as she imagined the professor sprinting out of the lecture hall, as a result of ‘nature calling’. She put her backpack on, and started skipping down the stairs, until she noticed him approach her.
“Hey, I just wanted to say that the prof was a real jerk for putting you on blast like that. You okay?” He asked, with a kind and reassuring tone in his voice.
Tanya could feel her heart pounding out of her chest.
“Haha, yeah… I’m fine. I’m used to embarrassing myself in public,” Tanya said, jokingly.
He laughed. “Well, just make sure to take the back exit next time, slacker. I guess I’ll see you next class. Your name?” he asked, as he stuck his hand out to shake her hand.
“Ta-Tanya” she stuttered, as she shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you Tanya, my name’s Prithushan. I’ll see you around,” he said, with a subtle smile. He then waved goodbye, and headed out towards the exit.
“Prithushan…” she whispered to herself, in an infatuated trance.
She shook herself out of her dazed state and realized that she had a few more classes to attend. She looked down at her phone, and checked her class schedule.
“Next class is at 2:30pm—Biological Processes,” Tanya muttered. She yawned loudly, and decided on heading back home to take a quick nap and shower before her next class. The caveman-look was definitely not cute.
She exited the GBS Building, and was beginning to experience a sudden onset of emotions that she couldn’t describe: excited, giddy, and shy all at the same time. She stared at the pavement, as she slowly walked towards her residence, and smiled as she thought about him. She was love-struck, and couldn’t understand how it had happened so fast.
She twisted the door knob, and entered her tiny room. It was completely empty, once again. She assumed that Eliza and Claire were probably still in class.
Tanya placed her backpack underneath her desk, and quickly changed into her tank top and gym shorts. She climbed the ladder against her bunk-bed, and leaped into the top-bunk. She pulled the covers over her head, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she envisioned an open field. Suttum Vizhi Sudare began playing in the background. Prithushan, dressed as Surya, was wearing tinted sunglasses, a fitted blue sweater, and blue jeans. He bobbed his head in unison with the background beat, and smiled widely. Tanya stepped towards him, with a bashful smile, and an elegant pink dress. He circled her, while swaying his shoulders and eventually reached out for her hand.
It was then that her dream came to a stop, when the ringing of her alarm clock sounded. Tanya slowly sat up, and began stretching her arms, while letting out a long, musical yawn. Her hair somewhat resembled a messy bee-hive and a drool stain had formed around the right side of her face. She rubbed her eyes, and opened them. At that moment, however, she nearly screeched.
Prithushan was staring at her with a perplexed expression on his face. Tanya’s eyes expanded, and wondered whether she was still in her dream. She pinched herself multiple times, but Prithushan still stood in front of her, in her very own room (minus the tinted sunglasses).
“Pri-Pri-Prithushan?” She stuttered in a soft whisper.
It was at that moment that Claire emerged from behind him, and held his hand.
“Hey, sleepy head! I’ve been meaning to introduce you to him for some time now. Meet my boyfriend, Prithushan,” Claire said.
To be continued…
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Author
Thagsana Rangarajan is in her final year of a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University. In her free time, she enjoys writing short stories and hopes to publish a novel in the future.
