(🚨Long chapter ahead 🚨)

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Ayush's advice worked. I apologized to my friends and even though they avoided me, I was happy that they were not being rude to Parth and Surbhi. Tanya had initiated talk with Surbhi on her own and maybe she finally sorted out their differences.

My best friend looked in a good mood and I saw her chatting with Divya when they were going for their lectures. Since, Surbhi shared most of her lectures with Tanya and other girls, it must have been really hard for her to ignore them.

Moreover, they were fighting with each other when none of them had done anything wrong. So, it was really nice to see them get back on talking terms and they avoided mentioning anything related to me or Rashi's boyfriend.

Even if Nikhil and Shree showed that they didn't care, I knew that they didn't want to mistreat Parth. And now that I had cleared out their misunderstandings to some extent, they were more welcoming and nice to my best friend.

In conclusion, a simple apology saved their friendships. I was content with being alone and Shreyas scolded me for saying sorry to everyone but I told him that it would not hurt anyone. He gave up and told me to do whatever I wanted.

Surbhi worried for me and always tried to include me in the group but I kept my distance. Just as I had suggested, Tanya and Divya came to sit with us during lunch and Rashi aslo joined after a few days.

Though none of them talked to me. I also preferred it to be that way. I didn't want to force them to be my friend if they didn't want to. But I didn't want to leave Surbhi alone too. Actually, she wouldn't have let me.

Tanya exchanged a few words with me and told me that she had talked to Rashi about what I had said. Rashi was still not convinced but she understood that Surbhi had no fault in this. I thanked Tanya for that and assured her that what I had said earlier about not bothering them was true.

She nodded and then we went to our respective lectures. Other classes were okay but Chemistry class was really difficult. Shree was my lab partner and I did my best to not come in his way as he made sure that Mahek didn't come under my target.

Mahek tried to annoy me a lot of times and would always pass comments on me during class. She would come to Shree and tell him to stay away from me or to just change the lab partner.

I ignored her though my hands were itching to punch her everytime. I even asked Nair mam in front of everyone if we could exchange the lab partners, but she refused and ended up saying that Shree and I had good team work.

So, he was stuck with me for another semester. I completely avoided him whenever he would crack jokes or pull a prank on someone. Many times, I caught him looking at me but I didn't pay any attention.

I just did my work and talked to him only when it was related to assignments or an experiment we had to do together. Apart from that, nothing else. I did the same with Nikhil too. I kept all the talks formal and minded my business.

Earlier I used to get sad over little things like why he would not talk to me or why no one believed me but now I had stopped doing that. It was meaningless. And I had noticed that I had less drama happening in my life when I didn't poke my nose in someone else's life.

I could concentrate on my studies and other activities which were actually going to benefit me in the future instead of running behind the fools who didn't even value me. It was high time I started investing in myself.

And the only person who needed to be thanked for this was Ayush. Yeah, he said a lot of harsh things but if he hadn't said those words, I would be still an idiot who thought that I could make everything alright.

I wished someone had told me this earlier so that all of the blunders made by me could have been avoided. Now, that I look back at my past, I couldn't stop myself from laughing at all the things I did just to protect my friends.

I decided to thank Ayush for his wise words and helping me to get back on track. Maybe I could apologize to him too. I knew I had hurt him during childhood when I gifted him that doll. I didn't know that the outcome would be so bad.

He was badly insulted and that too at such a young age. And I never got to say sorry to him. No, actually I had a lot of time to do that but I was just stubborn to apologise. I believed I did nothing wrong and it just caused more problems.

So, after my last lecture was over I went to meet my ex-best friend. I spotted him near the soccer ground. I waited for him to freshen up in the boys' locker room and bid goodbye to Parth who was in a really merry mood.

He was going to pick up his girlfriend from the airport who had come for his birthday which was next week. Talking of that, I needed to buy a gift for him. As I was thinking about what I could gift Parth on his birthday, Ayush came out of the locker room and I stopped him.

Before I could say anything, he told me that I did a good job at managing not to drive his friends apart. I took that as a compliment and asked him if he could give me a few minutes from his busy schedule.

He thought for a moment and then nodded. We sat on the bench outside the corridor and he put his bag between us. His team mates said their farewells and he motioned for me to talk.

"Thank you Ayush. I realised my mistake. And I apologized to everyone," I said.

"That's good. Now you better be in your own zone and let others live happily."

"Yeah." I pursed my lips at his sharp tone but masked my sadness.

"Ummm.... Ayush.... I wanted to say sorry to you too."

"What for?" He quirked up an eyebrow.

"You remember your tenth birthday?" I asked and looked down towards the ground.

I was finally going to do it. I wished he would forgive me.

"You had invited me to your house to celebrate even though Ved protested a lot. I had brought a gift for you. During our school picnic, I saw you looking at that Samurai doll with starry eyes. I wanted to buy it but I didn't had any money at that time.

"So, when I saw that doll in a fair I bought it. I threw tantrums when mom refused to buy it but dad let me have my way even if that doll was too expensive. It was my gift for you and I knew you would like it.

"But unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be like that and you got insulted in front of everyone. I didn't understand why those kids made fun of you and I never accepted that it was my mistake. So, I just wanted to say sorry for being a brat and hurting you."

I looked at him and he was staring in front of him. He was not moving at all and neither was he blinking. I waved my hand in front of him and called his name multiple times but he didn't respond.

I thought he was pranking me and I shook him but he was frozen in his spot. Then I saw a tear fall down from his right eye. I could not understand what was going on.

"Ayush! Hey! Ayush... can you hear me? Ayush!" I yelled and started panicking.

His breathing had become laboured and he was crying non stop but he was not replying to me. I shook him strongly and shouted his name but to no use. It was like he was in some another world.

"Get away from him!"

Ved stormed towards us and I flinched away. Ved pulled Ayush in a hug and I opened my mouth to tell him what happened but he shot me a glare and I closed my mouth back.

Ayush started wailing and Ved rubbed his back. Soon after, Nikhil and other basketball team members also arrived. I tried to touch Ayush but Nikhil pushed me away from him and started yelling at me.

"I don't know why he started crying," I said.

"Why can't you just let us live in peace?" Nikhil growled and acted as a barrier between Ayush and me.

"I promise I didn't do anything," I cried and tried to get near Ayush but Nikhil didn't let me.

In a flash, Ved left Ayush and came in front of me. "When have you not done anything, Sandhya?"

I stepped back as he towered over me. He told Nikhil to take care of Ayush while he dealt with me. I was so scared of him. His face was red with rage and veins were popping out on his neck as he clutched his hands in fists.

"Ved, I was just-"

"You were what?!" He grabbed my right elbow and shook me.

I winced at his hold and told him to leave me but he was blinded by fury. He didn't hear what I was saying and pinned me with his death glare. I knew I was intimidated by him but today, I was fucking scared of him. I had never seen him this angry before.

"You really have a death wish, don't you?" He said through gritted teeth.

I shook my head but he increased pressure on my elbow and I thought it would snap any minute. I grabbed his hand with my left hand and pushed him but he didn't budge. He only tightened his grip and I couldn't bear it any more.

"Ved you are hurting me. Leave my hand," I pleaded.

"Oh yeah? I am hurting you and what were you doing to Ayush? Just look at him! It is all because of you. Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?"

I nodded my head hoping that he will let me go but he stepped closer and poked my shoulder with his right index finger.

"Why don't you listen to me?" *poke* "Do you think I was joking around?" *poke* "Why don't you ever listen?!" he boomed and I thought my heart stopped working.

"I specifically told you to be away from Ayush, didn't I? Then why do always have to make things worse?" he questioned as his eyes darted around my face.

I looked at Ayush and he was still in that dishevelled state. Other guys were trying to help him but he seemed to be getting worse by each passing second.

"You must be happy to see him like that, don't you?" Ved accused and I looked at him in shock.

"No.... I am not..."

Ved almost crushed my arm and I winced in pain. "I shouldn't have been easy on you."

"Leave her arm Ved!" Mayank yelled and grabbed his hand.

"Ved!" he shouted again and pulled off Ved's arm from mine.

Mayank told him to go and check on Ayush. Ved listened to him but his eyes never left my face. He was looking at me like he would murder me but he yelled curses and ran towards Ayush. Ved caressed Ayush's hair and hugged him tightly.

After Ayush had calmed down a bit, Ved took him away with others following behind them. I only looked at them with tearful eyes and a broken heart. I made Ayush cry. Again.

Mayank consoled me and I hugged him, crying like a kid. He patted my head and told me that everything was okay but I knew it wasn't. There was something else that was troubling Ayush and going by how Ved reacted, I was sure they blamed me for it too.

"Don't cry, Sandhya. You didn't do anything," Mayank said.

"I hurt Ayush. I always do that. Why am I like this?" I cried and more tears fell down my cheeks.

Mayank wiped them and told me that I was overthinking. "Relax. If you will cry this much, Rajeev will kill me."

I cried more and Mayank supported me like an older brother. He was taking care of me in absence of Rajeev. He knew if Rajeev saw me in this condition, he would ask a lot of questions and the first one to suffer would be Mayank.

After I was tired of crying my eyes out, I wiped my face and thanked Mayank for his help. He patted my head and assured that I was not at fault. I wanted to believe him but I couldn't.

He also left after making sure that I had calmed down. I waited for sometime before leaving. Everything happened so suddenly, I didn't even get time to process anything. I was just talking to Ayush and he suddenly started crying.

And Ved appeared out of nowhere with his friends. I felt really bad for Ayush and I couldn't do anything to help him. I wondered what would have happened if Ved hadn't come on time.

I looked at my elbow which had a big bruise on it and was throbbing in pain. It reminded me of Ved's enraged face. He was so pissed off and I couldn't even utter a proper reply when he confronted me. He might have punched me if I didn't get saved by Mayank on time.

Fuck! I was so tired of myself. Why can't everything go right for once?

But after what happened, I developed a newfound fear for Ved. I just could not take out that furious image of him from my mind. I knew it would haunt me forever. I needed to be careful around him or I might kiss my life goodbye.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

My phone rang and I picked up the call without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hello, Sandhya. Faiyaz here."

"Faiyaz? Hi! What's up?" I tried to cheer up myself but he caught that something was wrong.

"Is everything okay? You sound hoarse. Were you crying?" he asked in a worried voice.

"No. I was not crying. I was.... ummm... forget about me. Why did you call?" I avoided his question.

"Actually, I needed a little favour. Can you help me?"

"Of course. Tell me what I can do."

"Can you please pick up my sister from her evening classes today? I have to go to work and I can't make it. I don't have anyone else to rely on."

"Don't worry, Faiyaz. I will do that. Just tell me the address and I will pick her up," I replied and my mood brightened up a bit.

"Thanks, Sandhya. I am sending you the address. Please get her home before 8 pm. Her classes end at 7."

I checked the timing and it was 5 pm. I had two more hours but most of the time will be spent in traveling, so I told him that I will do as he requested and exited the college. I took the bus and after making a quick visit to home, I went to the address which Faiyaz had given me.

I was happy that he himself called me and asked for my help but I kept my happiness under check. I didn't want to do something which would make him mistrust me. I thought about Ayush but stopped before I started my second round of crying marathon.

After one hour, I reached the location and waited for Faiyaz's sister to come. It was a crowded area with lots of shops and small houses on both sides of the road. Vehicles were not parked in a proper order and took majority of the road space obstructing the path.

I sat down on a scooter and scrolled through my phone to pass time. I had to learn to control my emotions because even though my eyes were on the mobile screen, my mind was somewhere else.

"Sandhya?" Someone tapped my shoulder.

I looked up and for a minute I thought I was in some kind of dream. A very cute girl was standing in front of me; dressed in burkha and hijab covering her head. She looked like an angel with her heart shaped face and doe eyes. She was glowing like a star and I couldn't help but just stare at her in awe.

She tapped my shoulder again and I blinked rapidly. I smiled at her and when she said my name again, I nodded in positive. She asked me if Faiyaz had sent me and I again nodded like a kid.

"I am Zoya, Faiyaz's younger sister. Nice to meet you," she said and extended her hand for a hand shake.

I took it and she thanked me for helping her. I told her it was no big deal and when I said that she was really pretty, she got all shy. I wanted to hug her but it would have been too much since we met for the first time.

I liked her instantly and wished to have a sister like her. We started walking and she told me all about her. Her school, teachers, family, everything. I told her not to be so friendly with strangers and she laughed it off.

"I know who to trust and who not to," she said and I smiled.

We reached her home and once she was safely back inside her house, I called up Faiyaz to tell him the same. He thanked me and told me to stay for dinner. I checked the timing and told him it was getting late, so I better go home. We could hang out some other time.

He understood and told me to take care of myself. I returned the greeting and started leaving for my house. I had just gone a few metres away, when I heard Zoya calling my name. I turned back and she waved at me.

"Bye, Sandhya didi!"

(Didi:- a respective term used for older sisters.)

"Bye Zoya!" I waved back and continued on my way.

Sandhya didi? I liked the sound of it.