So here we are again, reading yet another Rhea disaster story or maybe let's just call it a little reflective detour into what my so-called bonding with Aaliya during our trip circle looked like, even though "bonding" is a very generous word when you're surrounded by people who either overshare their tragic fictional love lives or spy on others like they're on a secret mission from the CIA or something.
Now, Aaliya is the kind of girl who, unlike others I could name with my eyes closed, actually understands the concept of boundaries like she gets that sometimes you need to keep something to yourself not because you're hiding a criminal record or anything but because your brain needs the silence and privacy to function, and even if she senses you're holding back a little tea, she won't drag it out of you. And that's kind of how I am too, not because I'm some sort of enlightened being or anything, but because I genuinely don't care enough to dig through anyone's emotional baggage unless it's dumped in front of me without my consent.
But then there's Rhea. Yes. Rhea, who thinks friendship means access to every little detail of your life and throws a fit when she's not in the loop but will also lie through her teeth about her own life like she's auditioning for a low-budget drama no one asked for. Like for example, this one time she told me about her "ex-boyfriend" and I put that in quotes because honestly this guy sounds like a Bollywood villain written by a bored thirteen-year-old. Apparently, he was some big name in her little hometown and everyone feared him like he was the Godfather or something and of course, he was madly in love with her and she rejected him like every day and still he wouldn't stop coming after her.
But wait, it gets worse. She said, and please don't throw up, that a teacher from her school who was literally in his early 30s got romantically interested in her when she was like sixteen or seventeen and that this ex-boyfriend beat the crap out of that teacher and that's how he won her heart. First of all, gross. Second of all, what the actual hell. But you know what, she comes from one of those small towns where these wannabe goon-love-triangle situations seem vaguely possible, so I didn't even argue or ask questions because honestly, I wasn't even listening.
Cut to this one day after college when I'm walking out minding my own peaceful business and suddenly I hear someone yelling "Nina Nina Nina" and I turn and see Rhea standing by the gate with some random boy and she looks like she's about to perform on stage while the guy just stands there blinking like he didn't sign up for any of this and she runs up to me all excited and breathless and says "Meet him! Just remember his face, I'll tell you a story about him later!" and then she vanished with him and honestly both me and the guy had the exact same expression like please get us out of here, and I just walked away because what else do you do in moments like these.
Then, of course, she calls me in the evening and goes all dramatic saying "He's my ex-boyfriend and he followed me here and got into the same college and he's such a psycho he just won't move on" and I swear I had to bite my tongue because from the way she was throwing herself around him earlier, it really didn't look like he was the one not over her but whatever I didn't even bother because this is classic Rhea behaviour and I've learned to save my brain cells by not engaging.
Now let's talk about Aaliya. So sometimes, you know how we end up liking a guy who is objectively below our level but he's popular and funny and for some reason, everyone treats him like he's hot stuff even though he's just aggressively average? Yeah, that's Nikhil. He's this college guy who's literally everywhere, planning events, talking to professors like he owns the place, jumping into every activity, but still, he had this weird accent, was mid-looking at best, and somehow managed to be the center of attention because apparently personality is the new hot.
Aaliya and Nikhil were close and by close I mean she was clearly attached to him but she also had enough self-awareness to not date him seriously because she was way out of his league and he wasn't even trying to pretend he wanted something real because let's face it, he just wanted to say he casually hooked up with a hot girl like Aaliya to boost his ego.
And here's the thing, I kind of always knew something was going on but I respected her enough to never bring it up unless she wanted to talk about it because unlike some people I'm not dying to collect gossip like I'm building a vault of secrets.
But Rhea, oh my god, Rhea was obsessed. She was poking around and I honestly think it wasn't even about curiosity anymore. She wanted to get picked by Nikhil, probably because her so-called ex Aditya was Nikhil's buddy and she thought that getting with Nikhil would somehow make Aditya jealous which made no sense because according to her this guy was already obsessed with her so why chase his attention if he's apparently begging for it? None of it tracks but welcome to Rhea logic.
She'd randomly call or text Nikhil with these fake problems like "Can you explain crypto to me?" as if he's a financial advisor and not a college playboy and later Aaliya calls me and says "Bro, Rhea's entire backstory is a lie" because according to Nikhil, Aditya has never even dated her, never liked her, is actually a decent and quiet guy, and Rhea is the one stalking him and he finally blocked her. Which, honestly, restored a tiny bit of my faith in humanity because I was really starting to wonder if the world had just stopped making sense.
And of course Rhea kept up with her little side hobby of trash-talking Aaliya behind her back with wild accusations like she's hiding her age or she's secretly dating some guy from her school and acting like it's shocking that a pretty, single girl hasn't been in a relationship before. She'd obsess over her connection with Nikhil like she was Sherlock Holmes on caffeine and every time she'd justify her creepiness by saying things like "a best friend should share everything" as if that excuses violating someone's privacy like it's your birthright.
Once she even said she followed Aaliya last weekend because no one knew where she was going and I was like: wait a freaking minute, YOU DID WHAT? She straight up admitted to following her like it was no big deal and said she went to this shady-looking building and I was about to call the cops in my head because she made it sound like Aaliya was selling drugs or hiding a dead body but nope, turns out she went to a flat where some of Nikhil's friends live and hung out with him and Rhea immediately assumed they were sleeping together and acted like Aaliya should be publicly shamed for daring to have a personal life.
Anyway, a few days later we had this college concert and my friend Rohan brought one of his friends along and while dancing I accidentally scratched this poor guy's face with my nails and I felt bad so I apologized and told Rhea and the only thing she had to say was "his friend is soooo cute" and oh my god, you won't believe the Rhea nonsense that happened next.
But for that, stay tuned because that crazy story deserves its own chapter.