"Aww...don't cover your face Ash, you're not that ugly," Vivaan mocked, sliding into the seat beside me.

I was sitting in my usual place, slouched with my face in my palms and elbows resting on the desk. My headache had forced me to open my shoulder length hair from their usual tight, high pony tail.

Maybe I looked depressed.

"Why are you here?" I tried to snap, though my muffled voice ruined the effect.

"When my parents got married, they did some stuff I'd rather not think about, and three quarters of a year later, I came here."

Had it been any other time, I would've twisted his ear with one hand and slammed his face on the desk with another. He was an extremely lucky Homo sapien, however, for I didn't have even an iota of energy inside me.

Slowly gathering my hair in a loose bun, I gave him my most deadly glare.

It successfully wiped the grin off his face. "Okay, chill, I was just trying to make a joke."

"Not funny, why are you here?"

"This is our free period...and I'm bored..." he said meekly, scratching his head.

"Then go annoy Radhika, she's the one person who'd actually like that."

"I would but," he hesitated, "she has made it explicitly clear that she does not want to talk to me. And I don't even know why, she was fine in the morning."

"Oh," I said, already bored, "that's unfortunate. As much as I would like to help you Viv, I won't because honestly, I don't want to. But don't worry, Rads would come around, her mood swings are rare and short. Mine, on the other hand, are very frequent. So bugger off."

"I'm just worried about her." He frowned, "why are you being so mean today?"

"I'm always mean."

Ignoring me, he persisted, "how much did you score in physics? Did you fail again?"

"Geez, thanks for having so much faith in me," I muttered sarcastically. "And no I didn't fail. But after studying my butt off for a week, I somehow still managed to lose seven marks."

"Let me have a look."

As he scanned my answer sheet, I allowed my eyes to wander, absently searching for his girlfriend. Despite my uncaring words, I couldn't help but feel anxious. Radhika was the most cheerful person I knew. She was one of those girls who never forgot to smile at random strangers, firmly believing that it might make their day better. When life threw lemons at her, she caught them like an expert cricketer and made lemon rice. She was many things, but right now, she was nowhere to be found.

In the entire classroom that is.

The moment I was about to voice my concern, Vivaan finished his inspection, announcing, "this is not too bad Ash, your concepts are clear, you've mostly lost marks in calculation errors. Try to concentrate more from next time."

Sighing loudly, I admitted, "it's hard to concentrate if I'm shit-scared when I see the question paper, and that happens all the time."

"Exam anxiety?" he asked.

"Nah, more like physics anxiety."

"So then...start practicing. The first term exams are beginning from September twelfth, start practicing now."

"Thank you for telling me, a fortnight before exams, that I should start studying, captain obvious."

His reply was cut off as the bell rang, signalling our freedom from prison, at least for the rest of the day.

Hastily shoving my things in my bag, I swung it across one shoulder and waved in the general direction of Vivaan, hurrying out of the classroom.

My searching eyes landed on Kian and I called his name out loud. He stopped in the middle of the corridor and stepped aside to let the wild crowd of students pass by. I practically ran towards him.

"Kian!" I panted, "who's our bus in-charge for today?"

He furrowed his beautiful brows in confusion, "Nisha ma'am I think, why?"

Great! The one teacher who hates me the most.

"Would you tell her to mark me present? 'Cause I might be late for the attendance."

"Okay..."

"Thanks a bunch!" I said, smiling gratefully, before dashing down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Make sure you don't miss the bus!" Kian called out behind me.

"Yeah I would!" I replied over my shoulder.

I re-entered my classroom, hoping that Radhika would be there, collecting her bag and belongings. All I found, however, was an empty class littered with bits of paper.

Deciding to look for her in her bus room, I again sprinted towards another classroom, this time two floors above.

But on the way I crashed into someone familiar coming out of a girls' washroom. Radhika landed on her backside while I managed to quickly regain my balance, after stumbling back a couple of steps.

Rubbing her bum as she got up, Rads glared at me, "watch where you're going would ya?"

She looked miserable, nothing like her usual happy self. There were tear tracks on her slightly rounded cheeks, with wide red eyes. Her hair was a mess, strands coming out of the braid which reached her shoulder blades. Worst of all, blood was seeping out of her left thumb.

I gasped, taking a hold of her hand for closer inspection, "what happened?"

Radhika quickly snatched it back, "none of your business," she snapped, "stop being so nosy, you're not a doctor yet."

I was completely taken aback by her uncharacteristically harsh words. Racking my brain for an appropriate response, I just stared at her for a couple of minutes, before giving up and murmering, "I was worried that...Vivaan said..."

She interrupted my weak rambling, "I don't care Ash, move out of the way, it's getting late."

I blocked her way as she tried to move past me, "please Radhika, tell me what's wrong. You're scaring me..."

Her eyes softened as she sighed, "it really is nothing Ash. I just...wasn't feeling too well and had a mini breakdown. But no need to worry, it's nothing serious, honestly. Infact, it's quite petty..."

"I don't care, tell me."

"I really don't want to talk about it right now." She sighed again, "and it is getting late, I have to go or I'll miss my bus. Seriously though, don't worry, I'm actually pretty okay now."

"If you say so," I said, my voice unsure, "but do text me today, will you?"

"Yeah, okay, stop worrying." She quickly gave me a light hug and fast-walked across the corridor.

Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't push back the sinking feeling in my stomach as I watched her retreating figure.

{[]}

Unfortunately, my maddening headache lasted throughout the day. So much so, that half an hour into my chemistry lesson at coaching, I gave up trying to concentrate. Blindly scribbling untidy notes instead.

In top of that, my one worded replies quickly shut Kian up on our way back home, making me feel insanely guilty later.

By the time I reached home, I was utterly exhausted. My bones felt like lead, and legs like jelly, when I fell face-first on my pillows.

"Rough day huh?" ma remarked, running her hands through my hair.

"You have no idea. Above everything, I have a killer headache."

"Well I guessed as much." She laughed lightly, "when was the last time you oiled your hair?"

I sat up, crossing my legs, "I don't know...a few weeks ago?"

Her expression turned stern immediately. "Ashiana I've told you to you to take care of your hair, otherwise, it'll turn white before you're thirty! Now go get me some coconut oil."

I had no choice but to oblige. My mother took a plastic chair and I settled down at her feet, as she proceeded to massage my head with oil.

It literally felt like heaven, especially after the stressful day I had endured. Her fingers worked like magic, making the throb in my head disappear within minutes. When she finished I went straight to bed, instantly pulled into a dreamless slumber as soon as I hit the pillows.

{[]}

The next day was no better. Classes passed by in a blur as I tried my best to pay attention in all of them. The only thought that kept me going was prospect of not attending coaching today, for it was cancelled due to some reason I didn't care to remember.

Before I knew it, it was almost the end of the day, with double psychology being the only hurdle left between me and freedom.

As I was gathering my books, Naira, a fellow bio student, informed me, "we've got two free periods in our hands! Ma'am is absent."

"So...what then? Substitution?" I enquired.

"Yeap!"

Dropping my books on my desk, I took my seat, not really looking forward to practicing chemistry numericals, but knowing that I had to utilize my time somehow.

So I proceeded to do exactly that, sitting in a corner like a loner. While almost everyone animatedly chatted with each other.

Fifteen minutes in, my head started throbbing again, due to my attempts to concentrate on organic compounds. When thirty other students were shouting like hooligans.

Throwing the pen down, I rubbed my head, deciding that a lazy stroll down the hallways might do me some good.

Convincing my inner conscious that I wasn't really bunking, for there was no teacher in the class, I slipped out of the room. As I started walking across the corridor, I turned my head left and right, trying to look as inconspicious as possible.

On second thoughts, maybe bunking psychology was not the best decision.

To my horror I spotted Nisha ma'am, our school's newly appointed coordinater, walking in front of me, merely five meters away.

In an attempt to escape her prying eyes, which fortunately had not seen me yet, I stepped into an out or order girls' washroom, located in the most secluded corner of our school.

Letting out a sigh, I closed the door behind me. The first thing I saw in the dirty room was my reflection in a cracked mirror, above a half broken, pale-pink wash basin. Dark brown eyes stared back at me, outlined with grayish black dark circles, a result of countless sleepless nights. My cheeks were flushed dark red due to speed-walking for fifteen minutes, enhanced by the faint pimple scars. Shiny, oiled, pitch black hair were tightly pulled back in a braid, leaving my forehead looking larger than usual.

Averting my eyes from the mirror, I scanned the floor, covered with tiles the same colour as the basin. The wall tiles were a bit different, as they were also patterned with ugly, deep magenta flowers over the standard pale-pink background.

My inspection would've lasted longer if I had not noticed the smoke coming out of a cubicle, having a door which was thankfully brown and not pink. The now strong smell of cigarettes both alarming and reassuring.

I was relieved that there was no actual fire in the bathroom, but at the same time, alarmed to note that someone was smoking in here.

Praying to every God I knew existed, I desperately hoped that it was a member of the cleaning staff and not a student, as I knocked lightly and called out, "hello?"

The door swung open immediately, making me stumble back, partially because of its force and partially because of shock.

"You!"

"Ash?"

Our voices bounced off the walls, echoing in unison, as Aditya unsuccessfully tried to hide the cancer-stick behind his back.

And it was that action of his, which made me lose my shit.

{[]}

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I spluttered ten minutes later, when I had managed to calm myself.

As soon as it clicked that, of all people, Aditya was standing in front of me, I legit went crazy. Frantically searching his pockets, I found an entire packet of cigarettes, which was straight away chucked down a commode and flushed out of sight. After that, I took the liberty to deliver sharp blows on his head, all the while shouting unintelligible curses.

Infuriatingly, Aditya remained eerily quiet throughout my outburst, his unfocused eyes fixed on the mirror behind me.

It took him another couple of minutes to reply, his voice sounding scratched and unused.

"I can't believe this, Ashiana Pathak is bunking a class!"

"I...you haven't answered...I don't know what to say right now..."

"You mean besides, 'you fucking idiot! Bloody son of a smelly sock! How stupid are you Aditya? For fucks' sake! What the hell happened?' " He took a deep breath, "man, you sure do like to curse."

Sliding down on the floor, he sat cross-legged, its filth the last of all his concerns. After a moment of hesitation, I followed suit.

"I'm sorry Adi," I said, in my most gentle, most genuine tone possible, "but you can't blame me for freaking out. I mean...why did you..."

"The stress got to me I guess." He let out a hollow chuckle, "everything is out of my control, my subjects, my career, my whole life."

"So you thought this was the perfect solution?"

"No, not really, but this was the most attractive solution."

"Let's make one thing clear," I said, gritting my teeth, "that this is not any kind of solution."

He didn't say anything to that, just continued staring at his knees.

"Adi, why don't you talk to your pa--"

"I have alright?" he snapped, voice growing hard, "all they said was, 'what do you mean? You don't know what to do?  I thought we made it pretty clear that you'll graduate with a B.tech from IIT like your brother, and then proceed to prepare for your IAS prelims.' They're not even trying to listen. How do I tell them that I want to change my entire stream?"

My eyes widened slightly at the unexpected information before I weakly said, "I mean, you can take up something else in college if IAS is the end goal."

"Easy for you to say."

"I...I don't know man, is there no way to convince them?"

"Not if I don't want to end up on the streets. The fact that I don't know where I would be in a year's time is so fucking scary."

The silence stretched after that pronouncement was too loud, too frightening, neither of us knew what to say.

"Look," I began, unable to remain quiet anymore, "no matter how bad life seems at the moment, drugs is not the option. You'll start with tobacco then end up, I don't know, injecting heroine in your arm? Don't play with your life Aditya, please. Promise me you won't go down that road, ever."

He continued staring at the floor, twiddling his fingers.

"Look at me!" I pleaded.

Slowly raising his head, he met my eyes and nodded.

"Good." I smiled, leaning against the wall. "Sorry for hitting you."

"Better you than the VP."

I snorted out a laugh, and he joined too, resting his head on my shoulder.

{[]}

Here's the update, as promised :)

But for some reason I hate this chapter...do you feel the same? I guess it is too slow...or rushed...something like that, I don't know.

Also, do you think Ashiana is overbearing? Cause I do, and I've no idea if it's as bad as it sounds.

Anyway, on a more brighter note, I'd like to wish everyone a very happy Maha Navmi!! This last day of Navratri is bittersweet but oh well, there's still Diwali ;)

And tomorrow's Dusshera, so I hope we're all successful in defeating our demons the same way Lord Ram defeated the demon king Ravana.

Till then please,

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Have a blast today (cause I sure did)!!

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