Aditya Singh — Who Let Them Cook?
Aditya Singh had survived a lot of things.
Jaanvi Vaidya's rage.
Debate regionals with a fever.
Accidentally texting "ily" to his entire team's group chat (don't ask).
But nothing — nothing — prepared him for what it felt like to sit in debate class surrounded by scheming idiots pretending to be innocent.
It started with a whisper behind him.
"Operation Push Them Together is a go," Ron muttered.
Rey nodded solemnly like they were launching a military strike. "Initiating phase one: joint research."
Aditya narrowed his eyes. "What are you two doing?"
"Nothing," they said in perfect unison — which, to be clear, made it more suspicious.
He turned to Siya, who sat a few seats away, pretending to doodle in her planner.
"Siya?"
She blinked. "Huh? Oh. Just planning my week."
She was writing: Make Aditya emotionally combust before Friday.
Aditya sighed. "I'm surrounded by traitors."
Meanwhile, Jaanvi was at the front of the room, organizing research materials like she was prepping for battle. Completely, utterly unaware.
She was chewing on her pen, highlighting three different sources at once, and humming some melody under her breath. Aditya glanced over before he could stop himself.
She looked... focused.
Calm.
Kind of cute, actually.
He looked away immediately. This was not the time.
Mr. Carter clapped. "Today, we're doing partner research rounds. Everyone's assigned randomly."
Aditya raised his hand. "What if we—"
"Too late, Singh. You're with Vaidya. Again."
The entire class made a sound. That sound you hear in sitcoms when something very awkward and very entertaining is about to happen.
Saachi (definitely involved in this) stage-whispered, "Oooooh. Fate strikes again."
Rey fake-coughed: "Soulmates."
Aditya groaned. Jaanvi just looked confused.
"What is wrong with everyone today?" she mumbled as she walked to the back table.
Aditya joined her. "I think they're having a group hallucination."
She raised a brow. "Or maybe they're finally losing it after years of watching you speak."
He smirked. "Still got that sass, huh?"
"Still got that face," she muttered.
He choked on a laugh. "Was that... supposed to be an insult?"
She shrugged. "You decide."
The research started out normal.
They chose a topic. Assigned sources. Argued about who got the better points. The usual.
Until the projector — which was being screen-shared from Ron's laptop — suddenly lit up the whiteboard with:
"TOP TEN SIGNS YOU'RE STILL IN LOVE WITH YOUR EX 💘"
Silence.
And then laughter. So much laughter.
Jaanvi blinked. "Um."
Aditya sat frozen, face slowly going pale. "Ron."
Ron grinned from the other side of the room. "Oops."
Mr. Carter looked up from his desk. "This better be relevant to your argument."
"Oh it is," Siya said, completely deadpan. "It's emotional rhetoric. Very persuasive."
Saachi was howling into her elbow. Rey was filming.
Jaanvi turned to Aditya. "Are they okay?"
"They're never okay," he muttered.
"And why does that look like your handwriting in the search bar?" she added, narrowing her eyes.
Aditya's heart dropped. "It's not. I swear."
She tilted her head, clearly not believing him.
Ron clicked to the next slide:
"#3 — You keep making eye contact and pretending it doesn't mean anything."
Siya coughed. "Relevant."
Jaanvi turned scarlet. Aditya wanted the floor to open up and eat him whole.
Eventually Mr. Carter rolled his eyes and made them all get back to work, but the damage was done.
Jaanvi sat in silence for a minute, pretending to type.
Then, casually: "So... are you still in love with your ex?"
Aditya looked at her.
Straight-faced.
"Terribly," he said dryly.
She snorted. "Good. Because I'm clearly the ex with taste."
Some friends throw you under the bus.
Jaanvi's threw her into a shipping war — and she might not even mind.
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