The first week after that passed relatively uneventfully. 

Angad and I were not still not talking and I had to get used to the new normal. There was only so much I could do to get him to give me a chance to explain myself or apologize. The first two or three days were crushing but then it got easier and easier to pretend like nothing was wrong. 

Yesterday when we went out as a group to get some food Angad even sat next to me for a few seconds and passed me the salt shaker. To anyone else, nothing might seem out of place but I knew the depth of the rift this incident had caused between us. 

He barely glanced at me and purposely tried to avoid skin to skin contact. I thanked him and he nodded. Outwardly he was all smiles and politeness, inwardly he was cold and firm on his decision to keep things professional. 

It was difficult for me to admit this but I missed us. 

It was so easy to be myself around Angad that his behaviour over the week had caused me more pain than I could have imagined. Sure there were so many others who were equally fun, supportive and just nice to be around but our hour-long practice sessions had become such a huge part of my routine that I often found myself going back and just sitting on the stage all by myself. 

I would read my book, journal or write songs there, reminiscing about the times we goofed around because that was how we spent half the time before everyone else joined us for the group rehearsals. 

As we walked into college after our short drive because Siddharth needed cigarettes I caught myself thinking of our little picnic we had that day after our rehearsal. It was so perfect. Was this the same man who had been thoughtful enough to remember my coffee order and get me doughnuts? Because now he refused to even look at me until absolutely necessary. 

Something had to go wrong after all. Things had been going great for me for too long. Seemed too good to be true. 

I sighed and said goodbyes to everybody. I had a few missed calls from Smriti but I decided I could just talk to her in class since that was where I was headed. 

***

I knew something was wrong the moment I walked into the classroom. Sure people looked at me when I walked in but something about today was different. I could hear an increase in the buzz of whispered conversation melting into each other. People were straight-up staring at me and many were giggling?

Did I have something on my face? I should probably get back to the washroom and check. 

Smriti wasn't in class yet so I placed my bag on one of the empty benches and decided to leave. 

I knew the people in my class by their faces but I didn't know all their names. The boy sitting behind that bench grinned at me in a very weird manner. I furrowed my brows in confusion. Usually, nobody talked to me unless it was for official department business so this was new. The buzz grew louder and more people were laughing now. 

Seriously what was it? I stood there absolutely puzzled. Was I missing the big joke? 

I looked around to make sure it was just me and yes, everyone was staring at me. 

"What is it?" I demanded out loud finally fed up with the grins, stares and whispers.

"Meera!" came a panicked voice from the doorway of the classroom. 

I looked up to find Smriti panting and holding on to the door. Nirav appeared behind her and he had the same panicked expression on his face. My heart started thudding in my chest and I had this foreboding feeling that more things were about to go wrong. 

"Meera get your bag and come with us," Nirav said. 

I snatched my bag from the bench and started rushing out of the class when a boy whose name I also didn't know addressed me,

"If you have some time for me give me a call. My name is Archit. You have my number," he said and then winked suggestively. 

Before I could reply or ask him whatever he was talking about Nirav grasped my hand and practically pulled me out of the classroom. 

"Ow! I've told you so many times, no grabbing!" I yelled. 

"Meera shut up and follow us," Smriti said and that shut me up all right. Smriti had become more assertive after all. 

They lead me to the area behind the building that afforded us some privacy and sat me down on a ledge. 

"Meera you have to be very calm about what we show you next. We don't know where this came from or who is behind this but it has been circulating on all the college WhatsApp groups since today morning." Smriti said still breathless.

"It somehow already has two hundred followers--" Nirav continued but I cut him off impatiently.

"Just show me the damned thing!" 

Nirav placed his phone in my hands.

It was an Instagram account called @RedWagonSlut. Funnily the first thing I noticed was that it had gained even more followers than the last time Nirav had checked it. It had reached almost four hundred. 

If it wasn't already apparent from the username then let me explain what that account was about.

Me. 

The description read 'Fan account for Maurya's resident Red Wagon Slut'.

I scrolled through the few posts it had and they were pictures of me in different settings with different members of Red Wagon taken from afar at bad angles. The very first one was me hugging Angad after our performance at Bhaskara, I scrolled away from that as fast as I could. The next one was Siddharth and I standing next to his car in the parking space behind the college. Others included the one where I was hugging Yug to console him after his break up with Nikhil, Angad and I dancing around on the stage, the one where I am trying to snatch my phone back from him, Siddharth and I having coffee in the canteen, Yug tickling me while I laugh uncontrollably. 

All of these photos had been taken out of context and coloured with the vile commentary in the captions. There were more four-letter derogatory words in those captions than I had used in the past year. The photos ranged from right after the fresher's party to as recent as the competition. 

My disgust only paled in comparison to the shock I felt after seeing those photos. Many photos were taken at a time when we hadn't known anybody was around us let alone taking photos of us. 

I noticed that the post where I was trying to get my phone back from Angad was not a photo but a video. I clicked on it and sure enough, it was a full one minute video of us bantering. It was taken from a distance so there was no audio. The caption read: 'Here we see the RedWagonSlut begging Angad like she begs for c***. Who else is she gonna suck off now?'

The next caption, under a picture of Siddharth letting me try out his bass guitar and teaching me the basics, read: 'The RedWagonSlut attacks again. Is she gonna fuck every member?'

The picture of me hugging Yug had the caption 'RedWagonSlut is 3 for 3 now. Place your bets on whether she will fuck the fourth and last member of Red Wagon who has a girlfriend.'

The rest had similar repulsive implications that I had slept with every member of the band and that is why they 'kept me around'. The comments were similarly filled with people laughing at my expense or agreeing with the captions. 

My hands were shaking by the time I reached the last post of the short feed. 

I held back sobs that were threatening to emerge. 

"Who has done this?" I asked looking up at the sky. 

"We don't know. All of these posts were added today in the morning and a forward has been circulating on WhatsApp groups with a link to this profile." Smriti answered timidly unsure of how I would react. 

I handed Nirav his cell phone back and ran into the nearest washroom and bolted the first empty stall. 

Smriti and Nirav followed me and let me know that they'd be outside waiting for me. As long as it took. I tried to sob as silently as I could. That was just it. I didn't know how long it would take me to get myself together. 

My phone started ringing and I checked the caller ID. It was Siddharth. 

I had no strength left in me to hold another conversation, especially with any of them. I declined his call and switched off my cell phone. 

Who would do such a thing? I am sure in the short time I had spent in Maurya I hadn't made any enemies that would stoop to such a level. Why had they done this? I had basically been stalked the last couple of months if the pictures were anything to go by. 

My only consolation was that both instances where I had kissed Angad were not captured and uploaded on there. 

Or maybe they had been captured and the person was waiting for some sick grand finale to reveal all.

Smriti knocked on the stall door softly,

"Hey, are you okay Meera? Vahni has been calling me non-stop. Do you want me to tell her where we are?"

"No!" I said instantly. 

I couldn't face anybody right now. It was all too much. I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand and some of my eyeliner streaked on it. I realized I must look like an absolute raccoon by this point. 

And then a sudden feeling of Deja Vu hit me. 

My mind flashed back to our Chemistry board exam. Me sitting on a toilet seat, crying my eyes out because I have been publically humiliated and hurt. My friend knocking on the stall door and me thinking that everything is ruined. 

The tears dried out as I thought of how I had let this happen to myself again? I had vowed to spend the next phase of my life working on myself. 

I had steered clear of relationships, focused on myself, I had stepped out of my comfort zone, I had tried to become the best version of myself. Where had I gone wrong? Why do I get caught in the middle of drama? 

I steeled myself and opened my bag to grab wet wipes that I always kept with myself now. I wiped my face as well as I could without a reflective surface. I knew my eyes were red and my face was flushed by now. 

I got up and walked out of the stall. Smriti hovered in the background, unsure of what to say. I turned to her,

"I am leaving for home right now. I need some time to myself. I may not answer your texts or calls but don't worry too much." I said as steadily as I could. 

"Please take care Meera," Smriti said in a tremulous voice.

"We will report this account and get it taken down. Don't worry." Nirav assured me. 

All I could do was nod. 

"Get to class," I told them and walked out feeling numb. 

Even the trip I made across the courtyard to the gate felt too long. People stared at me, pointed and whispered and laughed. I just kept my head down and left through the gates of Maurya.