A/N: the case of ghostly garnish has been unpublished here and will now be in a separate work with the title "the case of kite, ghosts and friendships" on a later day.

Third Person POV:

[EARLIER THE SAME DAY]

The hallways buzzed with the incoming students as they made their way to their respective floors and classrooms while chatting with their friends and classmates.

"That Arav! We really shouldn't have trusted him." Faiz ranted.

Kiran nodded as he chugged his energy drink and discarded the can in a nearby dustbin. "He chose his former friends. We should've seen that coming."

Rahul raised his eyebrows. "You guys are still stuck up about it?"

Faiz rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "Don't tell me you're on his side now!"

He dismissed the allegation with a wave of his hands. "What do I even have to gain from their stupid friend circle anyway?"

Faiz responded with a shrug. "I don't know, something feels off about you, now that you question it. Are you sure you're not planning to ditch us or something?"

"Do I look like I would care about him?" Rahul said in his defense. "I am just surprised you brought up the conversation out of the blue. You are questioning me, I should be questioning you instead!"

He sighed, unsure where to begin. "Well... I heard something happened recently and Suresh Sir is involved. I have no idea what but it definitely seems like a big deal."

Rahul thought for a moment. "That seems... concerning, to say the least."

At the exact moment, as if by fate, Suresh Sir walked by besides them. But instead of heading for his cabin like usual, he paused in his tracks, catching the three off guard.

They turned towards his direction and awkwardly greeted him, wondering why he had stopped.

He greeted them back in a practiced tone, but somewhere, his voice must've cracked, because their expressions shifted ever so slightly.

Suresh Sir began. "Listen, I don't know what rumors you've heard but I am only interrupting you guys since I heard my name. I am not going to ask what you know but I'll ask you of this—don't start a wildfire. This would quickly become a run-of-the-mill talk but I request only so much. I need this matter to stay low until we find a way around it."

He scratched the back of his head, a tinge of frustration seeping in. "And don't trouble Jay, Karan and Arav. Unless you want your grades to be compromised for the same."

Kiran, who had been silently observing for long, asked. "But why, sir? Since the matter involves you and you requested us to not speak of it, we will agree. I don't understand what's the matter about us having to stay away from them and moreover, why are our grades at stake?"

Suresh Sir began to say something but stopped himself. "Nothing important. But it's best to steer clear of the matter. Please?"

They nodded hesitantly and he walked away, leaving them more confused than before.

Faiz spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "So... the rumors are true."

"No teacher has ever bothered about what we did. Why does he care now?" Kiran asked as he clenched and unclenched his hands.

Rahul contemplated for a moment before answering. "I don't know what's going on but first the face off where we ended up with bruises and bandages, now their secret alliance and in the past, Arav's mysterious disappearance. It's almost as if the pieces are connected together.

Faiz yelled in frustration. "Then explain what's going on, Mr. Detective, because he has no business threatening our grades like that!"

Realization hit Rahul like a pile of bricks falling on top of his head and he said, "I don't know what's going either but I will try to find out. Don't do anything stupid in the mean time."

Maya's POV:

I almost called my parents but didn't find the strength to face them. To know that their child, who they had lovingly raised, fell into such depths of darkness... no, I couldn't burden them with it. Not yet, though eventually, they will find out. I don't know if they'll ever forgive me for it.

The keystrokes made the familiar mechanical sound as I typed the code on my PC. When I hit run, however, there was an error.

'Not again!'

I spent another twenty minutes debugging the code before I realized I had typed "if" as "fi" in a conditional code. I mentally facepalmed myself as I corrected it. I wish there was a system that could understand what the coder wanted to say, without worrying about all the nitty-gritty technicalities and headaches.

Once the code run was successful, I uploaded it to the meta code where everyone's code was merged. Each of us had different functionalities to write, and together, the whole code was formed. We had weekly full-code runs and I couldn't even begin to imagine the headache the testers faced as they sat through hours and hours of debugging and filtering out the errors and assigning us our updates, where we either got the next code run or had to correct our previous code. NexaTech was doing awesome in terms of team work, but I am sure having more than ten people in the coding department would greatly benefit them or benefit us for that matter.

I took a small tea break, walking out into the hallways and down the staircase where the tea stall was and pulled out my contact list. It was a desperate attempt for hope and longing, but I had to try. My hands lingered over the call button near Suresh's contact.

'It's a bad idea.' My mind berated me but I went through with the decision regardless.

If there was one person who'd always been there for me without judgement, it was him and now, when we were at a point where he could potentially turn against me if things went downhill... it was a scary thought, but then, if our hostage-villainess deal meant something, it would also be the bridge for us to mend things, right?

The phone ringed a few times and I was almost about to end it but he picked it up. He didn't speak directly, but rather, addressed someone who must've been with him.

The sound of footsteps greeted me and a small sigh escaped his lips. The surrounding noise went from almost quiet to loud with the buzz of students. I instinctively smiled.

"Maya?" His raspy voice was tinged with an undertone of worry and I imagined him rubbing his temple to relieve the stress.

I almost wanted to believe he was worried about me but then I remembered him talking to someone right before attending my call. Maybe it was something regarding school.

"Are you there?" He asked, pulling me out of my reverie.

Right. He was still on the call, patiently waiting for me to talk.

I cleared my throat. "Yes, I am here. It's just... How are you?"

He laughed a little at my question. It was as if it should have been obvious. Like it was the last thing he wanted to hear. And yet, beneath his mirth, I could sense the struggle he desperately tried to hide. I wish I could soothe him just the way his voice soothed me.

"I am fine," He paused and then added, "I suppose. How have you been?"

I gulped and said, "I am fine too, I suppose. I am worried about things but I am sure it will work out."

He hummed before speaking. "I know things are tough, but hang in there. I believe in you."

It was my time to laugh but each cackle felt like a dagger piercing through me, cutting me up into pieces. "I am sure you do, Suresh. I don't know how to face the world."

I could sense his smile radiating through the phone and I almost wished I could reach out and hug him but for now, I steadied my breath and focused on the call.

"Who cares for the world, Maya?" He quipped. "There's things to care about but not societal reputation. That's always made up by society."

"I suppose. I think you might be busy now. Do you want to catch up later?"

"As in call, or a meeting?"

"Call, of course. Though, I wouldn't mind travelling for you. Even if it's the end of the world."

"That's sweet of you Maya." He said softly, and it tugged at my heart. "Sure, we can talk on a call later. I have some things to clear out here."

"Thanks Suresh, I appreciate it."

With a click, the call ended, leaving me with a sense of hope brewing inside me.

❛For those who have ever stood on the edge,
And for those who have pulled them back.
You are not alone.❜
— sulkytae (from "Reasons to Live")

A/N: Reasons to Live is a must read if you're going through a tough time. It has daily updates and really lucid language. It gives me heavy "Ten Reasons Not to Die" vibes (yes, it's on wattpad and no, it's not a paid story) but it has this sweet aching twist that just makes me love the story even more.

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