"Why are you scowling?" Divya asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking about something that I hate," I replied.

While Divya and Rashi were busy gossiping I was staring holes through the newspaper.

"Give me that!" Surbhi snatched the paper from my hand and smiled from ear to ear.

"Isn't he just great? Look Tanya."

She shoved the paper in her face and Tanya instantly blushed. That idiot was again featured in a news article. I cursed mentally and glanced at Tanya. Someone was really happy with what they saw. I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

"Not you too Sandhya," she whined. We never left a chance to tease her.

"Parth!" I called him over and he took a seat with us.

"Wassup girls?" he asked and took a slice of pizza from my box. I stared as he put the slice in his mouth. Everything was in slow motion.

"Why do you look like you want to murder me?" he said after he took a bite. I pursed my lips and said a silent prayer for my pizza slice. Sharing is caring, I know but not when it came to pizza. Even if it was Parth that I had to share with.

I gave him a smile and he looked at me weirdly. I pushed the box towards him and smiled more. He glanced at Surbhi who was already staring at me wide-eyed. She knew how much I loved pizza and would kill if someone even tried to touch it.

"Parth, my friend, I need a huge favour," I said.

"Why are you talking like that? If you want my help then say so. Don't creep me out." He scooted away a little.

I grabbed his arm and excused ourselves. If I had brought Ved's name in front of girls, there would have been a lot of questions and I didn't want to recite my history like that to them.

"What is it, Sandhya? Is someone troubling you?" he asked.

Yes, and that someone is your good friend, Ved Rajput. Would you do me a favour and kill him?

"No. It's nothing like that. Wait a minute." I took a folder out of my bag and handed it to him. I had properly arranged the papers from Shreyas' diary and glued the ones that were torn apart. Who knew if they held the secret to a lost treasure?

"What's this?" Parth skimmed through them and looked at me.

I told him in short how the papers were from Shreyas' diary and how he ran away when I tried to return it. I mentioned about Ved but altered some details.

"Yeah, Shreyas is a shy person. He doesn't like to socialize much. Total opposite of Shree. They are twins but their personalities are completely different. Thanks Sandhya. I will return them. Don't worry."

"Thank you, Parth," I smiled and sighed in relief. I told him not to mention my name and he looked confused. I explained that I just didn't want more misunderstandings.

Shreyas already thought I was a stalker but that wasn't my main concern. Ved would surely get to know and then....... Well, whatever. I was safe. Period.

×~×

"Why didn't you ask me for help?" Surbhi asked me and looked hurt.

"Are you jealous?" I teased. She gave me a dead look and I put my arms across her shoulders as we walked towards our class.

She continued ignoring me but was failing in it. She couldn't stay angry at me for longer than 5 minutes.

I pinched her cheeks and told her the same story I told Parth. She went into a laughing fit when I mentioned how Shreyas ran for his life when he saw me.

"You know that saying? First impression is the last impression," she said inbetween her laughs.

"Yeah, yeah. Go on. Make fun of me all you want," I said but joined her. I would never forget his expression.

"What's so funny?" Ved asked as we took our seats. I ignored him and took out my books.

I looked at Surbhi daring her to tell him. She didn't. Good. Instead she told him a joke which even I found lame but nice try Surbhi. I appreciated her.

Ved didn't laugh and Surbhi quickly changed the topic. After few minutes, he left and I mentally thanked Surbhi for annoying him so quickly. I high-fived her and she asked me what was that for. I shrugged my shoulders.

Do you need a reason to high-five? Well, I had one but she didn't know. Nor did Ved who was doing his favourite pastime, staring holes through my head while plotting my murder.

×~×

"Sandhya!"

"Parth. Wassup? How was your class?" I asked as he approached me.

"Boring. I wish I had bunked it. I could have spent the time on the field," he said sadly. He was really a football maniac.

"I gave the papers to Shreyas by the way. You know how hard it was for me to come up with a false story? You don't know how I explained him how I found them and put them in a folder neatly." He sighed.

"Thanks Parth. You were a great help." I patted his back. He smiled and left for his football practice.

"Using Parth to run errands for you now. Aren't you a sneaky little bitch?" Ved appeared out of nowhere.

He adjusted his bag's strap and leaned on the pillar. He put his hands in his pockets and gave me a challenging look.

"He is my friend," I said and turned around.

"Just friend or friend with benefits?" he mocked.

What did he say? I turned on my heels and stomped towards him. How could he even think like that? Parth was his friend too.

I raised my hand but stopped just mere inches away from his face. He didn't even flinch.

"Once a coward, always a coward," he smirked. I just patted his cheek mockingly.

"Live in your dreams all you want Ved and keep your dirty thinking to yourself. If you don't know how to respect friendship, you should keep your mouth shut," I said and gave him a fake smile.

He glared at me and his face turned hard with fury. So I did the best thing I could do in that moment. You guessed it right. I ran away.

"Bitch!" I heard him shout.

I flicked him off and ran like my life depended on it. That was fun. Atleast for me. I was stopped in time before I bumped into someone huge. I knew only one person that huge.

"Whoa! Slow down kid. Why are you in such a hurry?" Rajeev stopped me from splitting my skull into two.

"Just exercising?" I said or more like questioned. I calmed down and he gave me some water.

"Have you adopted her? You always seem to be taking care of her," Mayank grumbled. I gulped down the whole bottle and snatched the one in Mayank's hand too. He gave me a stinky eye.

"Are you both a couple? I always see you together."

That earned me a smack on the head from Rajeev. Mayank pursed his lips and sighed.

"You will never understand. He just won't accept my feelings," Mayank replied and got hit on the head too. I almost spit out the water.

"Don't encourage her idiot," Rajeev retorted. Mayank and I began laughing. They soon left for their class on the first floor and I went to the main ground.

I sat under a banyan tree and brought out my novel. This was one of my favourite spot to relax. I didn't want to attend any club activities today. I was tired. After this, I would leave for home. I began reading and relaxed.

"Can I sit here?" I just nodded without looking at who asked the question. The person sat some distance away but I continued reading. I was at an interesting point right now.

What?! How could he do this? He was supposed to be her best friend! If this was a real story, I would have killed him. I heard the bell ring and cursed. Great timing.

I shut the book close and got up. I tripped myself. Useless sandals. I heard someone laughing softly. I got up and would have tripped again. Shreyas was laughing quietly while writing something down.

And no. He wasn't wearing a hoodie right now. Must have realized how hot it was. He looked at me and I looked away. Why wasn't he running away now? Whatever.

I picked up my broken sandal and started walking towards the exit. I am going to throw these away. Behind me, I could still hear Shreyas laughing. He must have seen me trip. I smiled myself as I imagined how it must have looked.
Couldn't blame him for that.

As I was rushing to catch my bus, I almost ran into a motorbike. Or should I say the motorbike ran into me? I was properly walking on the left side and it came from wrong lane.

The biker reversed a little distance and came forward again. I flinched. What the hell? When I started moving past it, he took off his helmet.

"Hi Sandhya!"

"Who are you?" I asked. I knew who he was. Nikhil. Ved's best friend and junior basketball team's vice captain.

He was wearing grey jeans and a bomber jacket over a red shirt. His brown hair were styled in a military cut, matching with his brown eyes. He was lean and well toned.

What did he want with me? Had Ved sent him to bully me?

I narrowed my eyes at him. He smiled back. I never did anything wrong to him.

"Oh come on. Don't be like that. I know there's some rivalry going on between you and Ved but I don't want to be involved in that. I am sorry for my behaviour," he said.

"You are his friend and you even recorded with your phone when he bullied me. Why should I believe you?" I asked and checked the timing. My bus would be here in 15 minutes. Why was I wasting my time talking to him?

He gave me his phone and told me to delete the recordings. I was shocked. I searched his face for any sign of lie but found none. I deleted the recordings and gave him his phone back.

"You didn't forward it to anyone else? To Ved?" I asked. He shook his head. He told me it was childish and regretted it deeply. Should I believe him? I stared at my feet. My sandal was still broken. Staring wasn't gonna repair it.

"You still don't believe me?"

I looked up at him confusedly. What did he want me to say?

He was Ved's friend but he wasn't Ved. Just like Parth and others. Moreover he was my classmate too. I wouldn't be able to ignore him for all three years. He had good reputation too. I bit my bottom lip.

"Look, I apologise again. You can continue on your way. I won't hold you hostage any longer." He motioned with his hand and gave me way.

Was I overthinking again? He was sincerely apologizing and I couldn't see Ved anywhere near. I sighed and smiled at him.

"You don't have to say sorry. It's okay. I was just overthinking," I said and he smiled back. We shook hands and he drove off.

Did I just gain another friend? Cheers to me. There was no use holding a grudge. Only if Ved could learn a few things from his best friend.

Did you see, Ved? I made one more friend and he was one of your best friends. In your face, Ved Rajput. I laughed evilly inside and forgot about my broken sandal. And guess what happened? I tripped.