Few weeks had passed by, since the incident.

Sameera was glad that the gang was quiet, and there was no harm to Karthik or to her, yet.

But, she still had a bad feeling about it.

"Maybe, they just forgot about the incident", she thought.

Sameera had become  friends with few people in her class.

They didn't call themselves a gang, but they were .

Sameera loved her gang, to the utmost.

Though it was only a few days of their togetherness, she felt wholesome to be with them.

Her tiny gang were made up of Prathik, Sushma, Vaibhav, Shabir  and Radha.

Prathik and Sushma were the quiet ones , but Radha and Shabir were the naughty, bold ones whom no one dared to tease.

Sameera recalled the way they met and became friends.

Initially, it was only Vaibhav, Shabir and Radha, after which Sameera had joined them.

One day, Sameera had to eat lunch alone, because Karthik was out of town.

So, ultimately, these people had asked her to join them for lunch and that was how their friendship began.

Meanwhile, Prathik was pulled into their gang, because he talked to no one and wanted to isolate himself.

But, Vaibhav wouldn't leave him.

He was a soft hearted, kind person, who knew the pain of loneliness, as he had experienced  it during his school days.

He was the reason why Sushma was in their gang too.

So, finally, they were a fully formed gang.

Prathik started to speak with all of them , properly and he began to forget that he was homesick.

Sameera smiled , while recalling all these incidents while she entered the classroom, in the morning.

She was greeted by a chorus of "Hey !!!!! "

"Good morning guys !"

"Sameera . You know what? They are selecting dancers for our college team. I am going to participate", said  Shabir, with enthusiasm .

"Wow. You will get selected."

"Hope so. If it happens, then I will become very busy  and popular , so you guys get my autograph now itself " , he said jokingly.

Everyone sighed.

"Okay chill. You don't want your friend to be famous", he faked a sad face and pretended to cry.

"Come on Shabir. Enough of your drama", Radha said, laughing  at his performance.

"What do we have for today?", asked Sameera.

"The professors would be gone for a meeting , at noon. So, mostly we would be free , unless , there isn't a substitute."

"Cool ! Shall we go out for a movie , then ?", asked Vaibhav.

"I don't think I will be able to come.", said Sameera.

"Why?", the group chorused.

"I will be helping out Karthik with his writing work. "

"I can't come too", Prathik said.

"What about you?", Radha glared at him.

"I have a report to finish", he said, scared at Radha's expression.

"How come you guys are busy and we seem to be free all the time ?", asked Shabir.

"You can do the report later and you don't seem to spend enough time with us ", Radha said .

"Come on, guys. Karthik really needs my help. You people go and enjoy", Sameera tried to convince them.

"The report is for that online course I am taking . ", Prathik said.

"You are excused, Sameera, but only for this time".

"Thank you guys."

"You, don't you dare give any excuses", Radha  threatened Prathik.

Radha had a soft corner for Prathik, but she never tried to show it outside. 

"Today is the last date for submission, Radha. I couldn't do it yesterday because I had to help you with the assignments.", pleaded Prathik.

After a few arguments, they decided to go , without Sameera and Prathik.

Both Sameera  and Prathik had convinced them to go without them, as they didn't want to go without them.

Later, in the evening

"Prathik. I am going to the library. Do you wanna come ?"

"Yes. Sameera . I have to send a mail.", said Prathik.

"Okay"

They set towards the library.

It was a warm evening, with soft breezes of air, that rustled  through the dried leaves and  with the sound of birds chirping, it  was very pleasant .

The college was almost empty, as it  was a Friday and  most of the students had gone home early.

"How peaceful !" , Sameera said, with her eyes closed,  as she enjoyed the atmosphere there.

"Yeah", he said , without even looking up.

He was busily checking his file.

They seemed to be oblivious of the dark shadows , that approached them silently.

There appeared a group of people before them.

Sameera stopped in her tracks as she saw them.

She didn't know who they  were .

There were four guys, who looked like villains of a movie.

"So, you are his girlfriend?", one of them asked Sameera, in a sarcastic tone.

"Excuse me?" , asked Sameera shocked.

Since when did I have a boyfriend? Without even my knowledge? , she thought.

"We know that you are the coward's girlfriend. Now, you are with another guy?", he said, pointing to Prathik.

"What the hell are you talking about? And who are you?", shouted Sameera,with her temper rising.

Meanwhile, Prathik stood there, not having a clue of what was happening.

"Shut up", shouted another guy.

"Don't try to play the fool  . Karthik has done a big mistake by meddling with us", said the guy, as he menaced towards Sameera with a evil grin on his face.

Prathik put himself in front of Sameera and said boldly."Don't  you dare try to touch her".

Prathik was extremely scared of them, but he didn't try to show it.

"Ooooohh. What are you gonna do to me, you tiny rat?", he said and punched Prathik hard in the face.

Prathik screamed with pain  and fell to the ground and Sameera tried to rush to him.

There was no one around and she didn't know what she was gonna do.

But before she could reach him, the guy pulled Sameera by her hair and dragged her .

"Nooooooooo", she screamed.

"Leave me alone, you freak!", she tried to free herself from his grip.

They  laughed at her struggle.

Prathik was almost unconscious, and he couldn't do anything to save her.

She struggled hard to free herself  , somehow managed to bite  his hand and tried to escape .

He let her free, groaning in pain and Sameera tried to run away, but he quickly grabbed her hand and was about to slap her , when someone caught hold of his hand.

The next moment, the guy was on the ground, his mouth bleeding and jaw broken.

Sameera stood there frozen and she couldn't move.

She was completely in shock.

She slowly realised what was happening  and saw a guy , who had come out of nowhere, fighting the bad guys.

She didn't know who he was  but she stood there watching him fight.

She couldn't see his face, and he seemed to be very strong, as the bad guys received hard  punches from him.

Within a few minutes, all the bad guys were down, groaning with pain.

He  brushed off dust from his sleeves, straightened his hair and turned towards her.

Kulu Kulu Venpani pola ....

Sala sala salladaiyaaga......

Pala pala karpanai motha....

Parakkava un ninaippaaga.

[Like fresh earIy morning dew.....

Sieved and filtered pure.....

FIights of fancy strike me new......

For dreams to come true for sure]

She had never seen anyone so bold, so handsome, so dashing. 

She felt a strong connection towards  him, though it was the first time she had seen him.

A small voice in her head said it was Him. 

Her soulmate.

Are you okay?", he asked her .  

She realised she was staring at him, into his  beautiful eyes ! 

 She came back to her senses  and  slowly nodded.

"That's better", he smiled.

His smile.

He looked like a very real fairy tale, beautiful in his own way.    

Sameera had fallen  for him !

Meanwhile, Karthik had come running to her .

"Are you alright? It's all my fault", said Karthik, who was on the verge of crying.

"Karthik ! I will take this guy to the hospital", he pointed at Prathik, who was still unconscious.

"You take care of her"

"Okay Bro."

Sameera had completely forgotten about Prathik.

" I will come to the hospital too", she said.

"No way. You should stay here. You are in shock. Bro will....."

"He is my friend, and I need to be there for him now", she said quietly.

Karthik knew she wouldn't change her mind.

"Let her come. She is  wounded too", the guy said , pointing to the bruises on her hands.

"I have my car.", he said , and went  to pick Prathik.

"Sameera ! I am extremely sorry. I have been a very bad friend to you "Karthik said  sadly .

"Karthik. I am alright. It is not your fault. You only hit that guy because he teased a girl wrongly. You should be proud of yourself", she tried to comfort him.

"No. Sameera. I should have taken care of you and I shouldn't have left you alone "

The guy had carried Prathik to the car, all by himself.

"I could use a hand here", he shouted to Karthik, to open the car door .

Together, they carried Prathik to the car and rushed to the hospital.

...................................................................................................................

People ! How is the chapter ? Who do you think is the person who saved Sameera ? Any wild guesses ?