seducing the senior

1

The cursor blinked on the screen, mocking her.

Error: Expected ';' before 'return'.

Adhira let out a groan that sounded somewhere between a growl and a whimper, dropping her forehead onto the cool wooden surface of her study desk. She had been staring at the same block of C++ code for three hours, and the letters were starting to blur into an incomprehensible soup.

Engineering was supposed to be her conquered territory.

She was Adhira, a fierce, cheerful, the girl who walked into a room and owned it.

With her sharp, striking features, expressive eyes lined with thick black kajal, and a smile that naturally drew people in, she was used to navigating college life with bold confidence.

But this? This was public humiliation by a machine.

Her phone screen lit up next to her keyboard.

Adhira's lip curled in instant distaste. She picked up the phone, her fingers flying across the screen. No thanks, Rohan. I prefer studying alone. See you in class. She tossed the phone face-down.

College boys. They looked at her like she was some shiny new commodity displayed in a campus shop window.

She didn't mind talking to them in groups, keeping the banter light and strictly academic, but she kept a titanium-reinforced boundary around herself.

No lingering text conversations, no "study dates," no letting them blur the lines.

She was here for a degree, not to stroke the egos of nineteen-year-old boys who thought a motorcycle and a smirk constituted a personality.

A heavy scent of roasted cumin and garlic drifted into her room, pulling her out of her misery. The tadka was ready.

Pushing her heavy, dark hair out of her face and twisting it into a messy, impatient clip, Adhira abandoned her laptop and padded out to the kitchen.

Her mother was standing by the stove, humming softly, tossing spices into a bubbling pan of dal. She didn't even need to turn around to know her daughter was there.

"If looks could kill, that laptop would be in ashes by now," her mother said, her voice warm and laced with amusement.

Adhira slumped onto one of the kitchen stools, resting her chin on her hands. "Ma, I'm going to drop out. I'll become a monk in the Himalayas. Or I'll just open a golgappa stall. Honestly, feeding people spicy water makes more sense than whatever a 'pointer' is."

Her mother laughed, a rich, comforting sound, and handed Adhira a small steel cup of piping hot chai.

"Drink. The Himalayas are too cold for you, and you eat more golgappas than you'd ever sell.

" She reached over, affectionately tucking a stray lock of hair behind Adhira's ear.

"First semester is always hard, beta. You're just adjusting."

"It's an alien language," Adhira grumbled, wrapping her hands around the hot cup, soaking in the quiet comfort of her mother's presence.

Their bond was seamless; Adhira didn't have secrets from her.

"I should have just taken Mechanical like Ayan.

At least in Mechanical, you can physically hit the machine with a wrench if it doesn't work. "

"Did I hear my name?"

The front door clicked shut, and Ayan strolled into the hallway, carelessly tossing his heavy backpack onto the sofa. Tall, broad-shouldered, and exuding the laid-back arrogance of a final-year senior, Ayan wandered into the kitchen and immediately reached for Adhira's tea.

She slapped his hand away with lightning speed. "Get your own, you parasite."

"Respect your elders, tiny gremlin," Ayan shot back, grinning as he ruffled her already messy hair, completely ignoring her glare.

He leaned against the counter, popping a piece of cucumber from the cutting board into his mouth.

"So, what's the crisis? You've got your 'the world is ending' face on. "

"She's fighting with her computer again," their mother supplied helpfully, stirring the pot.

"I'm not fighting with it, it's bullying me!

" Adhira argued, pointing a dramatic finger at the hallway leading to her room.

"Ayan, I swear, if I don't pass this module, I'm going to fail the year.

The professor goes too fast, and half the guys in my class won't help unless I bat my eyelashes at them, which I would rather die than do. "

Ayan's teasing smile faded, replaced instantly by the fiercely protective older brother. He knew how Adhira operated, and he respected the hell out of the walls she kept up. "Did some idiot bother you? Give me a name."

"No, nobody bothered me, relax, Terminator," Adhira sighed, rolling her eyes but feeling a warm rush of affection for him. "I just need someone to actually teach me the logic. Without an ulterior motive."

Ayan chewed on the cucumber, his brow furrowing in thought. Then, his face cleared. "Wait. I actually have a solution for this."

Adhira eyed him suspiciously. "Is it legal?"

"Ha-ha. Hilarious," Ayan deadpanned. "I asked around the senior circles today. I found you a tutor. Someone from the CS department who actually knows how to code."

Adhira sat up straighter, a spark of hope igniting in her chest. "Really? Who?"

"A third-year," Ayan said, stealing Adhira's tea while she was distracted and taking a quick sip before she could hit him again.

"Sneha. I figured you wouldn't want some sweaty guy from my batch breathing down your neck or trying to hit on you while you study.

I told her you needed help, and she agreed to come over tomorrow afternoon. "

Adhira exhaled a long, heavy breath of relief. A female senior. Perfect. "Ayan, I take back every mean thing I've ever said about you. You are the best brother in the world."

"Put that in writing," Ayan smirked.

The next afternoon, Adhira had her study station fully prepped. Her laptop was open on the living room coffee table, her notebooks were color-coordinated, and she felt a rare surge of optimism. She was finally going to conquer this stupid assignment.

Ayan was lounging on the adjacent sofa, mindlessly scrolling through his phone, having just gotten back from his own classes.

Right on time, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Ayan muttered, pushing himself off the couch.

Adhira grabbed a fresh pen, clicking it a few times in anticipation. She looked up just as Ayan swung the front door open.

"Hey, Ayan," a breathless, distinctly overly-sweet voice floated through the doorway.

Adhira paused, the clicking of her pen coming to a dead halt.

Standing on their welcome mat was Sneha.

She was a third-year, yes, but she certainly didn't look like she had come for a grueling coding session.

Her hair was perfectly blown out into voluminous waves, her lips were coated in a fresh, glistening layer of tint, and her perfume—heavy, floral, and suffocatingly sweet—immediately invaded the living room.

But it wasn't the fresh makeup or the suffocating perfume that made Adhira's sharp instincts flare.

It was the way Sneha's eyes locked entirely onto Ayan, completely oblivious to the fact that her actual "student" was sitting right there.

Sneha stepped into the house, her shoulder brushing a fraction too close to Ayan's chest as she passed him, a coy, practiced smile playing on her lips.

Adhira's grip tightened on her pen. She narrowed her eyes, her protective, bold nature instantly rising to the surface. The C++ code on her laptop was suddenly the least of her problems.