Two weeks passed by in a jiffy. The more Aditya tried to get close to Amaya, the farther she moved away. On the other hand, Amaya's life became chaotic with Rhea moving in with her in her room. She started spending more time outside her room. Someday she spent her evenings studying in one secluded corner of the library, on others she found a spot for herself in one corner of the hostel compound. She was nowhere to be seen during the lunches and breaks. Rhea had made her life difficult. Evading the bullying during the day was still manageable but there was no escape during the night. Her only driving force to go through her day was the thought of finding a good job and becoming independent.

Aditya was losing patience. Never in his life, did he have to chase anything. He got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. And this game of shadows made Amaya irresistible for him. His desire to get close to her was driving him crazy. He spent his time away from his friends, trying to find Amaya. But his restlessness grew by seconds. So, against his better judgement he thought of penning his feelings down and sharing with Amaya. Completely unsure of the outcome, he escaped his friends and went to the farthest corner of the library. He sat down, still unsure of the idea of a letter. Lost in the thoughts of how to best express his feelings in words, he dropped his pen. When he bent to pick it up, he was in for a surprise. Just two tables away, Amaya was sitting under the table with her books. He couldn't help but smile. On realising she was caught, she gasped for air in shock, opening her mouth wide, but quickly covered it. Her expressions went from that of shock to, guilt, to fear. She looked at Aditya and without uttering a word, signalled him to not speak of it. Aditya was amused and assured her his silence with a nod. She dived back into her books but Aditya was lost in her. He had not expected to be writing a letter for her while sitting in front of her.

Aditya was in complete loss of words. He so desperately wanted to pen his thoughts but had no clue how to do it and what to write. He kept staring at her, smiling all the while. She buried her head in the books fully aware of the eyes staring at her. "Stop staring at me please." She shrugged at him. "Alright. But if I may ask, why are you sitting under the table?" They were having an actual conversation. "Your girlfriend doesn't let me live in peace." His smile faded at the mention of Rhea as his girlfriend, that too by the girl he likes. "I told you; she is my ex-girlfriend." He did not want to be rude, but his voice was stern. "Sorry. I know. I am sorry. But you know, she is everywhere now. She is in my room when I wake up, she is in the class and then again in the room when I am back. I have become a refugee now, finding refuge here and there." Amaya vented her frustration. Speaking to Aditya somehow felt easier.

"I did not realise; it was this bad." He felt bad for her. "It was bad before. Now its worst." She banged her head against her book and continued, "That day, she followed me to the library and tore the book I was reading. I had to pay a fine with the money I don't even have. She has either coloured or punctured hole in all my clothes. Hey, that reminds me, thank you for helping me that day. And I still have your pullover. I am not getting a chance to wash it. 'Rhea terror' you know." Aditya was mesmerised by her voice but the moment she mentioned about washing his pullover, he came out of his trance state. "Absolutely not. No washing. You just give it back to me. I don't want you to wash it. Please." Amaya was a little taken aback. "Sure. I did not know you were very specific about washing your clothes. I would have used a good soap." She teased him.

"Yeah. Sorry. No. Just don't wash it." He had been hoping to wear the pullover that she had worn, in the same state, hoping it would be reminiscent of her. She smiled at him. He couldn't contain his excitement. He was smiling and so was she. And it quickly occurred to him what he wanted to write in his note to her. His little love note was quickly done. He spent the rest of the evening on his phone waiting for her to be done. He even managed to get a picture of her.

It was around 10 pm that she closed her books and packed. As she started to leave, he followed suit. "What are you doing?" She looked puzzled. "It's quite late. I will walk you to the hostel." She hesitated. "No. If she sees you, she will explode. In fact, if anyone sees you with me, it would be a scandal for no reason at all. One that I would not want to be in the middle of." She was right. It would be a scandal. "Honestly, I don't care and neither should you. We are friends, aren't we?" He made it clear. He did not mind, but he cared about her. "We are friends?" She hesitantly smiled. Her happiness was evident in her eyes, the happiness of finally making one friend. "Of course, we are. Hope you don't mind. Ok. I will walk behind you at a distance." Her radiant smile filled his heart with joy.

That night they both could not sleep. Aditya was excited for the note he planned to keep in Amaya's locker. Amaya was happy to have made one friend. Although, she could not have a normal friendship with him considering the effect it would have on Rhea, but just the thought of finally having a friend made her happy. She shared it with her diary without mentioning his name, as if the diary would judge her or tell on her. The next morning, Amaya was up early and got ready. Before making her way to the library, she decided to go to the school to keep some books in her locker. On the stairs she literally bumped into Badal. "Watch where you are going!" He made a face as he left from there. Amaya was not going to let anything affect her good mood that day. She rushed to keep her stuff. On opening her locker, something fell out of it. She picked it up and looked around as she closed her locker. No one was in sight. She quickly opened it wondering what it was. The note read;
'I had never imagined myself feeling how I am feeling these days. Your smile has completely blown me away. So, smile for me always. It makes my day.'

She covered her mouth in shock and again looked around to see if there was anyone. Her first thought was it to be a prank. She kept looking around expecting someone to come out and make a fool of her. But when she spotted no one, the thought of it being genuine hit her and she coyly smiled, biting her lower lip. With the note in her hand, she gently covered her eyes with it, continuously smiling, feeling good about herself. The day had suddenly gotten better. Not just for her, but for Aditya too who stood at the end of the corridor, hiding behind a pillar, secretly observing her. He decided to make these notes a regular affair for it brought the cutest smile on her face.

Amaya was happy throughout the day, holding onto the note throughout. In the last class, when she stood up to the give an answer, the note fell. Raina who was sitting behind Amaya, picked it up and was shocked with what she read. She turned around with the most wicked expression and passed the note to Rhea who was sitting with Priya. The evil trio gloated over their luck. Rhea already had a plan in her mind. Once the class was over, they cornered Amaya who was frantically looking for the note. "Are you looking for this?" Rhea sat on a desk and waived the note at Amaya. "Please give it back. It is mine." She pleaded. "Nah uh. First tell me who gave it to you." Rhea pulled her hand back when Amaya tried to take the note from her.

"I have no idea. I just found it this morning. Please return it. It's mine." Rhea had hit jackpot. She knew exactly what she was going to do with this piece of information. Her lips automatically curved into a smirk. "Oh! Poor baby. You don't even know who it is. I will help you find out. But I just want something in return." Amaya looked at her suspiciously. "Why would you do that for me? Why are you being nice to me?" Her suspicions had a point there. She stood there cluelessly. "What would you even need from me? You are you. You have everything." Rhea smiled at her good fortune. "Well, I need some help with Math. I want you to tutor me. I will pay you and I will also find out who it was. I think that is a fair enough deal." Amaya knew she was screwed. There was no escaping, she had to face this situation and get something out of it. "I don't need any money. I need you to just leave me alone and not pick on me. I will help you with Math. I don't need anything else." It pissed Rhea to see Amaya bargaining in front of her and putting her conditions. But she had this excellent opportunity to turn everything in her favour and so did not want to let go of it. She got down from the desk and walked towards Amaya who stepped back in fear.

"Deal. I will not cause any problems for you. But you teach me Math and I will find your lover boy for you, just for fun." Rhea put one hand around Amaya's shoulder and handed the note to her with another. Her words were being kind to Amaya but her smirk indicated otherwise. Poor Amaya believed her and ran out after telling Rhea to meet her in their room at 9, every day for Math. Her heart was still beating like a drum. She ran and went to her safe place in the woods. She had recently stumbled upon this place while hiding from Rhea. It was at the far end of the hostel compound, the common wall between the boys' and girls' hostel and even a gate that opened from the Boys hostel side. There were huge trees on both side of the wall that kept the place along the wall well hidden from someone watching standing at the hostel. It even had a bright solar light fitted there. As a joke she called it her Haven.

She went to her Haven and rested her back against the wall just beside the gate. Her little heart thumping. Her mind was processing what had just happened. She was still not able to believe what Rhea had agreed to do. Will she finally be able to live in peace? And then it struck her. If Rhea really found out who gave her the note, she would make his life difficult too.
"Oh, shit. I am doomed." She exclaimed in an exasperated voice.

"Hey Amaya, is that you?" The voice coming from the other side of the wall made Amaya jump out of her skin. "Who is that?" Her books fell and her beloved note flew to the other side of the gate. "Please give me that paper, it is important to me." She was hopelessly staring at her note lying at the other side of the gate. Suddenly a smiling figure stepped in front of her. "You?" Seeing Aditya as the source of the voice made her relax a little. "Please give me that paper." He stood there thanking his stars for bringing him face to face with the one person he so desperately keeps looking for. "So, you have found a new hiding place." He turned and picked up the note. Before returning it to her, he opened it and read the contents out loud. This embarrassed Amaya. "Hey. Give it back." She put her hands through the grilled gate and tried to take it from his hands. But he was not going to just hand it over to her. He wanted to tease her a little to get that smile out of her.

"Come on, now. You have a fan. Somebody likes you!" This brought a smile to her face. She blushed with all her might making his heart flutter. "You are blushing." With a happy heart he kept teasing her. "No, I am not. Wait. I have got something for you." Saying this she took his pullover out of her bag. "Now return me my note." He giggled while taking his pullover back. Taking in the sweet fragrance coming out of it, he whispered, " You smell so nice."

Thankfully she did not hear it, but unfortunately for Aditya, she got a whiff of the cigarette. "Were you smoking?"
"No. No, I was not." He fumbled in his response. "You shouldn't smoke you know. You are not even an adult. Who got you the cigarettes anyway? Anyways, you have said I am your friend, so please listen to your friend and don't ever smoke again." He kept looking at her. The worry in her eyes was for him. Her genuine concern felt warm to him. His heart was so full of emotions in that one moment that he just smiled. "Promise me, you won't smoke." She went on about it again. "I promise." Now it was his turn to blush. The moment was becoming too emotional and to take the attention back to her, he brought the note up again. "So, who is the note from?"

"I have no clue. But it is sweet, right?" Hearing her appreciate it, made Aditya so happy with himself. "But are you sure, it is from a boy? May be your best friend Rhea wrote it? Maybe, it is just a prank." Suddenly, her smile disappeared.
"Why is it so difficult for you to believe that someone could write something good for me? That someone could actually like me for me?" Uh ho! He did not mean to hurt her. He was just fooling around, pulling her leg. He told himself to back off. "No, No. I mean, I was just..." But before he could complete, her eyes flooded with big round tears breaking his heart.
"Please, do not cry. I was just." She did not let him complete. It was not that those thoughts had not crossed her mind. In fact, it was what she believed more. But hearing someone else say those things out loud made it more real for her. Her happiness, and what made her feel a bit better about herself suddenly changed. "I know what you meant. I thought you were my friend. But you are mean." She picked her bag up and ran away crying.

As she reached the steps of her hostel, she again bumped into Badal. "Watch where you are going." On realising who it was, he softened his demeanour. "Hey, why are you crying?" He grabbed her wrist, scaring her. She pulled her hand back from his hold and ran inside while he stood there watching her disappear in the corridors with a smirk on his face.