My life was going as usual. Home, college, therapy sessions, soccer matches, assignments, and repeat. It was a boring routine, and it looked like Sandhya had finally decided to stay away from me.

I didn't know if I was completely happy about it or not. I was the one who yelled at her, but a little part of me wanted to talk to her. I was annoyed on having doubts on my own decisions.

It had been a lots of weeks, and I reminded myself that it was for my own good if I didn't contact Sandhya, but that traitorous inner voice kept making me feel guilty for treating her badly. Even my therapist pointed out that my mental health had improved significantly after I joined the college. She adviced me to keep attending my classes physically as it would prove beneficial for my health.

My therapist asked me if I could pinpoint the exact reason for the improvement, but I kept mum. I acted like I was confused, so she didn't pressurise me, but I knew who the reason was. After finishing my session, I went home and plopped down on my gaming chair.

I was going to start one of my favourite online games, but I opened my D drive in the computer and my mouse hovered over the folder named 'Old memories - Do Not Open'. Fighting my urge to follow the advice given by me to myself, I opened the folder and sighed when I noticed one more folder inside it.

It was titled 'I said Do Not Open It'. I knew I had invited myself into a rabbit hole when I opened the aforementioned folder. Finally after going through a dozen more folders - which were made from preventing myself from opening the files - I reached the soft copies of the old pics I had scanned for safety purposes.

I had shoved the original pictures into a box and kept them in the storage room.

I opened the first picture and gulped nervously as I saw my ten year old self smiling at the camera as my mother adjusted the party cap on my head. Then the next picture was of me and Ved when we had our first day of our preschool. Slowly, I moved ahead and nostalgia hit me as I remembered the carefree days.

I didn't forget the pics which had Sandhya in them. My mind was divided into two extremes. Logic and reasoning seemed to shut off whenever I wanted to bring a conclusion to my problems. It was as if I didn't want to be happy myself and wanted to live in misery.

It took only one moment to shatter my life, and now it was taking me every single second to keep my sanity alive. The trauma was still lingering around even when I was doing well outside. The thought of making very little to no progress frustrated me. I felt like I was running in circles. No matter how much far I ran, I always came back to the same point.

Trrrinnnnggg! Trrrinnnnggg!

I blinked rapidly when I heard my alarm go off. As expected, I had traveled into the memoryland for four hours. It wasn't the first time it had happened, so I had set up an alarm beforehand. I shut off my computer and went downstairs to see if there was anything there for me to eat.

Grabbing some snacks, I came back to my room and took out my notebooks to do assignments. Along with them came out some torn old papers.

I picked up the papers and checked them. Shaking my head, I retrieved the remaining torn pieces and took the scissors, tape and glue from my study table. I had already managed to tidy up most of the notes earlier, but I guess some were still hiding in my backpack to come out at the right time.

"Sandhya, Sandhya, Sandhya. What's the use of being so nice when no one else cares? Look at this hard work of yours being ripped off like nothing. When will you learn to respect boundaries?" I mumbled as I taped the first page and set it aside.

"Wasn't Nikhil your best friend too? How did you manage to ruin the friendship yourself? Even if you both were friends, there is a limit to how much you can do for each other. You are not a God to be omnipresent, Sandhya. Let others handle their own shit."

I glued the tiny pieces of next two pages and placed them on top of the first page.

"Why are you so selfless? Don't you know people take advantage of you if you are too naive? Not to forget Shree and Mahek. Why are you so concerned about him? Did your stubbornness grow as you grew up? Why do you want to make everything alright?"

I shook my head as I noticed the amount of hand written notes Sandhya had made for Nikhil.

"I am sure you were awake whole night to make these. And look at what Nikhil did."

I spent next two hours repairing the notes, completely forgetting about my assignments. When I was done and setting the notes in a folder, my phone rang. I picked up the call, and Nikhil's voice landed in my ears.

"Bro, did you know what happened today?" Nikhil asked.

What was he so excited about?

"Please tell me the gossip," I replied.

"Umm... you okay, Ayush? Did something happen?" he asked.

"No. Why?"

"You sound angry, that's why."

I inspected my voice before speaking and realised that I was indeed feeling a bit of anger towards Nikhil unknowingly. Maybe I became too emotional because of the notes.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said. "What were you saying again?"

"Sandhya got slapped by Rashi. Man, the scene was huge. I don't know what Sandhya did this time, but Rashi looked pitiful. What do you think would have happened between them? And you know who Sandhya blamed for siding with Mahek?" Nikhil informed.

"Going by the way you are talking, it must be Ved," I said.

"Exactly. Bro, I just don't understand what Sandhya's thinking nowadays. What has happened to her? She keeps getting in troubles and fights with everyone."

"Are you worried about her?" I asked curiously.

Nikhil was silent for a minute before his voice crackled back into the speaker. "Ahahaha... Why would I be, man? I am just concerned about ourselves. I don't want to get involved into all this drama."

"Basically, you do not want to get involved with Sandhya," I corrected.

"Yeah... I mean you can say it like that..." Nikhil mumbled under his breath.

"And Shree also doesn't want her near his girlfriend, right?" I asked.

"Yup. I mean he is a fun loving person, but he is really hot-tempered too. I am not a fan of violence is all I am saying."

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks for the information. I will check up on Ved. See ya."

"Cool. Bye, bro."

I hung up the call and called Ved. He picked up my call instantly and asked me about my health. I asked him about the incident with Rashi and Shree, and he confirmed what Nikhil had told me.

"Ayush, what I am supposed to do with Sandy Pandy? Why doesn't she listen?" Ved grumbled.

"Why are you stressing yourself over her? Let her do what she wants," I said.

"If I let her, then this world wouldn't be in peace."

"Ved, do you worry about her?"

"I do what?" Ved asked in shock.

I kept my voice calm. "I asked if you worry about her."

Just like what had happened with Nikhil, Ved was silent after I asked him that question, but it looked like Ved's soul had left his body. Fortunately, his soul came back.

"Stop kidding, Ayush. You also know I have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't create any blunder," Ved said.

"Just like you did back in school?" I asked.

"Yup. Someone has to."

His reply was enough, so we talked for a bit before hanging up.

Everyone is lying - even my best friend.

As if you aren't lying yourself, Ayush.

I couldn't sleep at all. I kept thinking about what Nikhil and Ved had said, what Shree had mentioned about Sandhya trying to break him up with Mahek, and then that confusion with Rashi. In all the situations, the common factor was Sandhya.

Why was she not understanding that she couldn't have the solution for everything? Was she doing it on purpose? What would she gain by turning her friends against herself? Or maybe, she never learned to take a step back?

If this continues, she would keep digging the hole for herself. Someone needs to tell her.

The next morning, I cancelled the therapy session and went to college. I noticed my friends avoiding Sandhya like a plague, and even her girl gang was wary of her. After the third lecture, she left towards the dean's building, and I followed her.

She sat down in a secluded spot and had a very sad aura around herself. She kept mumbling to herself, and I concluded that she was wondering about the current situations. It was time to make my entry.

I announced my presence, and she was surprised to see me. Initially, I had planned on only making her realise that she couldn't always be the hero, but as I continued talking to her, my insecurities sprang up automatically.

My voice became venomous, my expressions were piercing, while my body language must have depicted how frustrated I was. I thought Sandhya would leave after hearing that I hated her, but she was stuck to her spot. At least, she was ready to accept her mistakes.

My lecture was done, and I had full choice to leave but I kept listening when Sandhya started narrating about my tenth birthday. I should have stopped her but I couldn't.

My body froze automatically as her words landed in my ears, and by the time she mentioned about gifting me the doll, my mind had blacked out. I wanted to break out of the trance I had fallen in, but I just couldn't. I could hear her faint voice but it seemed distant, and gradually it faded.

I didn't remember instantly what had happened when I woke up in the hospital, but after five-ten minutes, the recent memory rushed back like waves. I winced as my head throbed, and Ved gave me some water.

"Where's she?" I asked as I darted my eyes around the white room.

"Who?" Ved asked.

"Sandhya," I said. "I was talking to her, but I zoned out suddenly."

On mentioning her name, Ved's face fell down and he averted his gaze.

"She is in college. Don't worry, she won't disturb you again," he informed, but his voice broke in the end.

His face was stoic, but it seemed as if he was guilty of something and scolding himself in his mind. Before I could ask him about it, Mayank Bhaiyaa arrived in the room with a nurse and smiled at me.

"Ved, we need to talk," Mayank Bhaiyaa said sternly.

Ved nodded like a kid and followed Mayank Bhaiyaa outside after patting my shoulder. While they were leaving, I heard Ved say 'Sorry' to him, while Mayank Bhaiyaa said 'You should be'.

Why was Ved sorry? What did he do?

When Ved returned, his face didn't give out much, but I knew he had a very serious conversation with Mayank Bhaiyaa.

"What did you talk about?" I asked.

"Nothing important," Ved replied plainly.

"Was it about Sandhya?"

Ved became a statue before he shook his head to himself and smiled at me.

"Yeah, about her and about you too," he said.

When Ved saw that I was becoming a curious cat, he reminded me that I needed rest and we could save the talks for later.

"Stop worrying about others and what they say, Ayush. Just remember that you will always be my priority," Ved said.

"I know."

Even though Ved said that, I could sense he was sad about something. My best friend had started keeping secrets from me.

Well, he wasn't the only one to blame. Everyone had secrets. I also had some, but I wish I had none.