ACT 1 - THE BIRTH OF WAR.

Chapter 2 - Two Toppers : Separate Worlds

Third-person POV

The next day

If ranking were the spine of the department , the Friend groups are the nerves. Two individuals, fighting for who is best in studies. Two different parallel worlds, two different friend groups.

One was near the front rows… Near the board… Near the faculty. Desks filled with notebooks and textbooks and hands busy with working on something the faculty would say. Friends talking in hushed tones about deadlines, assignments and few gossips.

And across the lecture hall... The other group exits.

They occupy the last rows. A different world even though it seems parallel. The chatter seems endless… From competitions to future plans… Those actually seem like dares rather than plans… A side that is filled with energy which actually lacks from the front rows.

And Alexander belonged there

He leaned back against the chair, posture relaxed as if there was nothing in this world that would restrain him. Executing confidence, laughing along with his friends about some sick joke.

Benjamin forced himself not to look. Not to look at him… The professor arrived gaining the attention from the students from front row to the last row. The lecture began, the once clear board was filled with complex theories.

Benjamin automatically started writing in his notebooks his full concentration on the theories. Then a voice cut from behind.

"Sir" A cold bold voice spoke…gaining the attention from every living person in the class. "The assumption only holds if we take the first vari, but it varies with the second variable".

"Explain what you mean Alexander". The professor said.

He did , clearly in simpler terms without notes. Oozing with confidence,, what he is saying is correct. And it is. Benjamin knows it too. Because even he knows what Alexander wanted to convey. The only difference. One was confident. And the other was not.

Benjamin looked upwards and he couldn't resist his muscles to turn... Alexander's eyes flickered to the front row, encountering a brief 1 second eye contact. A look of recognition between two toppers - You noticed it too right .

Alexander looked away immediately. Which actually annoyed Benjamin again.

It's lunch hour… The University mess was filled with chaos.

Benjamin's table was filled with commentary from his friends.

"He is always showing off" said Adam. "Well what do you expect from a college jock. He turned blind getting a rank one" Ethan said supporting him. And the two expectedly turned towards Benjamin, wanting an equal reply from their friend. Benjamin just nodded as if he was agreeing to what they were saying.

Again across the mess hall... the other group exists.

Alexander's table was filled with laughter and energy. Friends compliment him. Benjamin noticed, no - studied Alexander's face. A small faint restrained smile.

The two worlds did not overlap. Couldn't overlap.

Yet comparison followed them. If one name was said… The second person's name was already compared to - During the second hour, after lunch the professor handed the assignment, even his compliments seemed to compare them.

By evening, Ben took the long route, his mind filled with Alexander, his voice… The comparison, how he seems to top him. Once he reached the room. His desk filled with notebooks again preparing for the next exam.

Somewhere around the campus, Alexander may also be getting ready for the exam, preparing it. The next challenge, and the next comparison.

Ben wrote in his notebook

Know your opponent

But only later he would understand how incomplete that thought would be. Because no one knows what the future unfolds. Even me…

TO BE CONTINUED.

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