Alisha being my toughest competitor, I had a feeling that she would win. But it didn't mean that I was happy with my hunch coming true.

"You still won a second place and that's good enough," Drishti's Dad tried to cheer her up.

Her mood which was already ruined by coming second had fallen even more when the winner was announced.

She nodded but still looked like someone killed her puppy. After lots of encouraging words from everyone, she finally cheered up when Coach came to praise her.

I knew that feeling all too well. When the person who constantly scolded you for mistakes, all of a sudden praised you, it certainly felt like an achievement.

"Well, I was informed that we would be receiving the certificates today and other prizes would be given on a later date," Coach informed and then left as something came up.

"I will get going now. Drishti, congratulations once again," saying this, Aman left too.

"How about we all celebrate after Drishti gets her certificate?" Her Mom suggested.

"Mooom, how can we?" Drishti looked guiltily towards my parents.

"Oh no no, dear. Maira wouldn't want you to stop your celebrations and sit idle just for her sake," Mom said, understanding Drishti's plight.

"You two should also join us," Drishti's dad suggested.

"Actually today was a special day for Maira and Drishti made it more special by winning second place, so we were thinking of going to temple and then distribute sweets to poor people, to take blessings for both of our girls," Dad said.

He looked so rough and tough, I never knew that he was so emotional.

"That's really sweet of you Uncle," Drishti said sweetly.

"You enjoy, okay? We would take our leave now," Mom said, running her hand through Drishti's head in a caring way.

"Drishti, listen. As much as I want to be a part of your celebration, this is a great time to see the reactions of the competitors. They might blurt out something in happiness or rage, depending upon their win. We might get something solid. I will directly meet you at your home later. Bye."

I hurriedly left after Drishti hummed lowly, so that no one would realize that she was talking into thin air.

                         ~~~•~~~

Drishti's home. Evening 7 pm.

Plopping down on her bed, I looked at Drishti who was scribbling something on the diary.

"How was the celebration?" I asked with a small smile.

As much as I was happy with Drishti winning this competition, it also hurt knowing that this was supposed to be my dream and my achievement.

Still, I wasn't going to move with a sad face when Drishti only did this for me. She even dedicated her dance to me. She spoke about me on mike in front of the whole auditorium even when public speaking gave her chills.

"Celebration is still pending. We will be doing that later tonight," Drishti informed, looking at me with a wide smile.

"Then what did you do till now?" I asked curiously.

Something must have happened for her to look this happy when she was looking so down in the afternoon.

"This happened," she said turning the diary, she was scribbling on earlier.

The neighbour's name was cut off from the suspect list.

"What?...how?" I asked incoherently, not understanding what happened in few hours.

"Your parents told us that they would go to the temple and then distribute sweets, right? How could I let go of such an opportunity?" She answered my question with her share of questions.

"Tell me everything in detail."

Flashback (Drishti's POV)

Taking a box of sweets, I rang the doorbell of Maira's flat.

I rang it 2-3 times more and as expected her neighbour came out of her house.

"Dear, the owners are not at home. Oh! You are Drishti, right? What are you doing here? I thought Maira's parents went for your competition," she asked, looking confused.

"Yeah they had come but the competition got over, few hours ago. I bought some sweets for them as I won second place," I answered, pouting a little, looking sadly at the closed door of Maira's flat.

"Oh! Congratulations. They must have got stuck somewhere. Why don't you wait at my house till they come back?" Miss Shalini offered.

BINGO!!

That was what I wanted. My arrow struck at the right place.

Smiling gratefully, I agreed and went inside.

We both sat on her couch facing each other.

"Here have some of this," I said forwarding her the box of sweets.

"No, it's okay. You brought it for Maira's parents. Drishti you should keep coming. Your presence is like a ointment for Maira's parents. They aren't doing that well, right now. I keep hearing their cries and self hate for not understanding their daughter," Miss Shalini said, with a somber face.

"I will surely keep visiting. It feels good to know that you care about them. By the way, how are you able to hear everything, that goes along in their house?" I asked, trying to look mildly interested.

"Walls of this building are quite thin. If I am not watching TV or listening to songs then I get to hear the things that are said in a slightly loud voice than the usual. And if the door is open then I can hear the conversations even if they spoke in normal tone," she answered with a light chuckle.

"Oh! Then you must have been watching TV when Maira left the house at night. It had been nice if you heard her leaving and stopped her," I spoke, looking keenly at her to see if she got nervous while answering.

"I would have surely stopped her, if I was at home. Unfortunately, I was at my friend's bachelorette party," she answered looking sad.

There wasn't any stiffness in her body or any other sign of nervousness while she spoke.

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have foreseen the events," I assured her.

"Umm..If it's not a bother, Can I use your phone? I need to inform my parents that I would be a little late and my phone's battery has died," I asked, looking sheepish and needy.

"Of course," she said handling me her phone.

Steadily putting my phone on silent so that it couldn't blow my cover, I took her phone looking grateful.

Instead of calling my parents, I called on my phone.

"Umm..I don't know why the ring is not going through. Do you have any other phone through which I can contact them?" I asked trying to look tensed.

Hopefully, she didn't realize that all this was just an act.

"Sorry dear. I don't have any extra phone. Oh wait! You can charge your phone. Man, what a great idea, I got. Just wait, I will bring charger from inside," she stood up, looking excited upon being able to help me.

Until she came, I went through her phone to see if she had a duel sim and also check her Photo gallery to confirm whether she was really at the party.

I had to hurry or I was going to be in deep trouble.

Swiping past the Good morning and Good night pictures, I finally saw the party photos. I saw the details of photo and she was actually at the bachelorette party that night.

"Drishti, here take this charger," she said coming from inside and I hurriedly closed all the applications.

"Thank you," I smiled gratefully and gave back her phone.

Flashback over
(End of Drishti's POV)

"Woah! Drishti, You are the best," I exclaimed happily.

"I know," Drishti spoke looking smug.

Smiling I again looked towards the diary, which had another suspect canceled off.

A breeze passed through her window and the page of the diary turned.

There was another list but what was this list made for?