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The Student Council President 'Aditya Agnihotri', still frustrated with everything, grabbed the prakriti wrist.
"You. Meeting. Now,"
She groaned dramatically. "Ugh, do I have to?"
"Yes, because you're my assistant—even though you act like you're allergic to responsibility"
"I am allergic to responsibility!"
vedant snorted as the Aditya dragged her away.
At the same time
Shanaya silently walked in the opposite direction, deep in thought.
She had just witnessed Chaos that's she never thought, She could
And honestly? It was hilarious
But…
Somewhere deep down, she actually felt happy thinking about her bestfriend.
She knows, vedant was clearly doomed if prakriti found out that he had a feelings for her!
And considering how chaotic their friendship was? That was a death sentence!
"How do I help him without making it obvious?"
She needed a strategy, A flawless plan!
And meanwhile, on the verge of another meltdown
Vedant was still cursing his entire existence.
"Why! Why is Shanaya is best friends of my ex-best friend?"
"Why is my angel ALSO the cousin of two of the most popular and annoying guys in this school?"
"WHY IS MY LIFE LIKE THIS?!"
Akshit patted his shoulder with a fake sympathetic smile "It's okay! You're just the universe's favorite punching bag,"
He groaned dramatically "I KNOW!"
As vedant continued his dramatic rant about his cursed fate, Ishika just stood there, smirking!
Which was never a good sign
And then—
She casually said, "I thought you was joking yesterday but you seriously like her!"
Vedant
His brain short-circuited.
"What?"
Ishika smirk grew widen "Oh, come on bhai, You think I don't know?"
Vedant heartbeat sped up.
"Know….what Ishi?" he asked way too quickly.
Ishika gave him a look 'I'm not idiot'
"That you have a crush on my friend Shanaya"
The world tilted.
Vedant choked on air.
Akshit gasped dramatically "WAIT—YOU SERIOUSLY LIKE HER?!"
Vedant went completely still.
His face was somewhere between horror and betrayal.
He turned to Ishika
"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"
She rolled her eyes "Oh Please, I have eyes and You were keep spating about your crush, and Who's your ex bestfriend others than prakriti di!"
Akshit, who had just been deep in thought about matchmaking, snapped his head up and stating a fact "And Vedant Singh Rajput, who never paid attention to any girl, is now holding a girl in his arms and gazing at her like a wiped lover!"
vedant ran a hand through his hair, panicking. "No way, If you figured it out, that means—"
Prakriti too
Ishika said, her eyes twinkling with mischief "Ohhh, I cannot wait to use this information"
Vedant groaned in despair
"I AM SO SCREWED!"
_____________________________________
The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, but Shanaya didn't move. She sat on the edge of a stone bench, staring at the flowers swaying gently in the wind, her fingers tracing the edge of her book. Luna, her cat, wasn't there to comfort her, but the weight in her chest felt just as heavy. Her mother's latest fight echoed in her mind, the words still sharp, still painful.
Behind her, Prakriti appeared, her voice cutting through the silence. "I know you're not listening to me, Shanaya." She sounded playful, but there was a tenderness to her tone. She sat down beside her, close but not too close—enough to respect her space, yet enough to show she wasn't going anywhere.
Shanaya didn't look up. She never did when she felt vulnerable, when the walls around her started to crumble. "I'm just tired, that's all," she muttered, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Tired of pretending it's okay."
Prakriti didn't ask any questions. She simply sat in silence, waiting, letting Shanaya speak when she was ready.
After a long moment, Shanaya's voice came, barely above a whisper. "I don't know what happened to my family. It was supposed to be different, Prakriti... I thought they'd always be together." Her eyes stung with unshed tears, but she blinked them away, refusing to let them fall. "But now I don't even know where I belong. My cousins… they were my family, and now I don't even know them anymore."
Prakriti's hand found hers, gentle, grounding. "You're not alone, Shanaya. You've got me. You always will."
Shanaya's chest tightened. "But that's the problem. People leave, Prakriti. And when they do, they don't come back." Her voice cracked slightly, betraying the fear she tried to hide so well. "I don't know if I can handle anyone else leaving me. I'm not strong enough for that."
Prakriti squeezed her hand, her grip steady. "You don't have to be strong alone. Let me be there for you, okay? You're not as invisible as you think. You're not the only one who's lost, Shanaya. We all are. But we can choose to face it together."
Shanaya finally turned to face her, her eyes shimmering with emotion. The walls she'd built around herself started to feel a little thinner. "I'm scared, Prakriti," she admitted, her voice barely a breath. "What if I can't trust anyone again?"
Prakriti didn't answer right away. She didn't have to. The way she looked at Shanaya, with that fierce love in her eyes, said everything.
"You're not alone in this," Prakriti whispered. "I promise."
_________________________
The sky was gray. The kind of sullen overcast that matched his mood.
Ruhaan leaned against the railing outside the upper floor of the Discipline Committee office, arms crossed, the wind tugging at the loose strands of his perfectly styled hair.
His phone buzzed again.
Another message from the council's internal group chat—this time about replacing broken décor, which Ishika had apparently destroyed That afternoon during her outburst.
He didn't even read it.
He could still hear her voice.
"Next time, the vase will land on your head. Got it?"
She said it like a threat.
But it echoed in his head like a promise.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to push the memory out of his system—the way her voice trembled with fury and pride, the fire in her eyes, the way she didn't back down even when he'd lost control and pinned her against that wall.
He shouldn't have done that.
He knew it. The moment his hand left her wrist and he took that step back.
But she—
She had mentioned his mother.
He clenched his jaw, knuckles whitening around the steel railing.
That one name—his mother—was the only thread that could unravel him completely.
And she had pulled it like it meant nothing.
But when she spoke about her own father...
Something inside him paused.
"My dream is also my papa dream."
Ruhaan didn't want to feel anything when she said that.
He didn't want to relate.
But he did.
Too much.
Because once upon a time, his mother had dreams too. For him.
Before she died. Before he became That perfect boy everyone feared or desired—but no one really knew.
Not like she did.
Not like Ishika Malhotra did.
That girl—she didn't see his polished mask. She went straight for the rot underneath.
And that was dangerous.
She was supposed to be an annoying distraction. Loud. Predictable. Temporary.
But she wasn't.
He Shut off his phone. And whispered under his breath like a curse,
"Why the hell does it feel like she already knows how to break me?"
Ishika's Room – Late Night
The lights were off.
Only the faint glow of her table lamp lit the corner of the room where Ishika sat, knees tucked to her chest, guitar lying untouched beside her.
She had been staring at the instrument for an hour.
Normally, this was her escape—but tonight, her hand refused to move.
Because her mind wasn't quiet.
"You're too impulsive… that's why they'll always see you as second best."
She hated that the words had struck something real.
She hated more that it came from him.
Ruhaan Agnihotri—the boy who turned every room into a war zone the second she entered it. The boy who always looked like he knew something she didn't. Who acted like he'd already seen the ending of a story she hadn't even started.
And the worst part?
He wasn't always wrong.
She looked over at her desk drawer, slowly opened it, and pulled out the crumpled paper she'd hidden since the student council results came in.
Her report.
The evaluation that said she was creative, passionate, strong-willed—and yet, "too emotionally reactive to handle formal leadership under pressure."
She hadn't told anyone about it. Not even Prakriti.
Because it sounded too much like Ruhaan's voice.
She exhaled sharply, stood up, and walked over to the mirror. Her reflection looked… exhausted. But not broken.
No. Not anymore.
He thought she was done?
He had no idea what she was capable of yet.
She wasn't just going to scream, or throw things, or demand fairness like a child.
She was going to earn it. And then she'd make sure he had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Even if it killed her.
Her phone buzzed on the table.
A message.
From an unknown number.
"Golden plates don't shine forever. Let's see how far you get without throwing vases."
– R.A.
She stared at the screen.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, then typed:
"Don't worry. Next time, I'll throw facts. They hurt worse."
Delivered. Read. No reply.
And still—her heart was racing.
TO BE CONTINUED.....