(Warning: Drugs are mentioned in this chapter.)

∆~~~~~∆

Honk!

The bus arrived and I fought with other passengers to get in. You had to be competitive if you didn't want to get late to your destination. I pushed through the crowd but didn't get a vacant seat.

I huffed and grabbed a support handle on the bus's ceiling. My earphones were already plugged in, so I distracted myself instead of cursing the people who constantly kept pushing others to move forward.

Songs were playing in my ears but instead of the music, my mind was focused on yesterday's events. A cold sweat broke through when I wondered what would have happened to Jahnvi if I hadn't came in time to save her. I had warned her to keep her act together but she didn't pay any heed to me and landed herself in trouble.

Fortunately, she learned her lesson and I was just glad my sister was safe. She didn't bug me to come with me today. She was even helping around the house, surprising everyone. Then, my mind turned from Jahnvi to Nikhil.

Nikhil. I tightened the grip on the support handle. I took deep breaths to control the anger which had begun rising. Karthik was a bad influence for him. Why couldn't he see it? I thought he was smart enough to know the difference between right and wrong.

I didn't like the way he talked to me at all. I would have beaten him up for that right there but I thought he must be under the influence of alcohol. He might not know what he was saying himself. That was possible. But, why would he get involved in these illegal things in the first place?

Wasn't he worried about the consequences if his parents or the college authorities found out? His dad will thrash him to a pulp if he discovered about it. I needed to talk to Nikhil to get his act together before he got in some serious trouble.

I was not letting him go without a proper explanation. Aunty had asked me to look out for him. I would do that even if she hadn't asked me. I won't let just one incident come between our friendship. I will talk to him. And if he didn't listen, maybe beat that into his brain.

He should be focusing on his studies right now. Argh! I was getting agitated now. I might brake the handle and that won't be good. I removed all of the thoughts from my mind and focused on the song's lyrics that was currently playing.

The bus came to a halt and I got down at my stop. I stretched my hands and flexed the sore fingers. I rolled my shoulders and corrected my posture. I started walking towards the school's gates, when a bike zoomed past me at a frightening speed. What an idiot!

I continued on my way but that bike returned and stopped in front of me. I narrowed my eyes at the biker but he was wearing a helmet, so I couldn't see his face. I ignored him and tried to move past him but he moved his bike forward and I flinched.

He did that few times and I almost punched him. I didn't care if he was wearing a helmet or not. But my hands still hurt from yesterday's fight so I refrained myself from doing so.

He took out his helmet and I gave him a dead look. Of course, who else it would be? Ved tilted his head and I scowled at him. I was not in the mood for his childish behaviour right now.

"I have an advice for you," he said.

"I don't want it."

"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong.".

"I should be saying that to you."

"No need to get all tacky right now."

"Why do you have to disturb me all the time? You don't have any other work to do?"

"You don't know? It's my passion to trouble you."

"You are not getting a medal for that."

"Doesn't matter."

"Ugh! Why am I wasting my time here?" I huffed and stomped away from there.

Just trust Ved to make my already ruined mood worse. He put his helmet back and started his bike. He came beside me and hit me on the head. Before I could return the favour, he drove off into the parking lot.

I entered the college and my eyes searched for my prey. Spotted him. He was busy in a conversation with Karthik. I was not surprised. I approached them and glared at Karthik who smirked when he saw me.

I ignored him and directed my gaze on Nikhil. He looked at me pointedly. So he did remember what happened yesterday. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and glared at him.

"I need an explanation," I demanded.

"For what?"

"For yesterday. I know you weren't in a good mood and all but you can talk to me, you know."

"I am not explaining anything to you."

"I am your friend, Nikhil. Why are you acting like this? If you won't tell me, how would I know?"

"Look, Sandhya. I don't want to cause a scene right now."

"Same here. If you aren't comfortable talking about it now, we can do it after lectures. The bell is gonna ring soon. Let's go, I think Mehta sir is going to hold a surprise test today."

"Are you his babysitter?" Ved mocked as he came and joined us.

"Keep your trap shut," I bit back.

"She is being a controlling bitch. I told you, she isn't good news," he said to Nikhil and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Guys, I don't want a fight right now. Sandhya, stop this," Nikhil told me.

"He started it! Why are you blaming me? Most importantly, why is he even interrupting our conversation?" I accused.

"He is my best friend. You can't always talk bad about him and expect me to just keep mum about it."

"Okay, fine. No need to argue but I would prefer if you just tell me why you were involved in those things yesterday?" I asked and glanced at Karthik. He just gave me an arrogant smirk.

Nikhil exhaled deeply and I proded him more. I waited for his reply but he didn't say anything. Ved whispered something in his ear and I knew he must be saying something to provoke him against me. But no use buddy. I knew Nikhil wouldn't come under peer pressure.

Brrrring!

The bell rang and Nikhil was the first one to move. He bro-hugged Karthik and left for our lecture. He was clearly trying to avoid me. Why? I moved my hand to grab his arm but Ved stopped it in mid-air.

"Don't meddle in my business," I warned Ved.

He tightened his grip on my wrist and glared at me. I yanked my hand away and looked at him with same amount of hatred.

"You know everything, don't you? Why aren't you helping him then?" I pointed a finger at him.

"Unlike you, I know how to deal with these situations instead of being a nuisance," he returned.

"I am not the main concern here. You know Nikhil is doing drugs, right? It's not good. We should stop him, and Karthik too." I looked at Karthik who also left leaving me and Ved alone.

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Ved asked.

"Yes I am!"

"Let me be clear about this. I will help him, not you."

"Come on, Ved. Don't be ridiculous. It's a serious matter here."

"He is my friend, not yours. I will handle the situation, so you can just fuck off."

"He is my friend too."

"He is not."

"I am not backing down just because of your empty threats. FYI, he considers me his friend too. I don't need your opinion about it."

"He doesn't."

"He does."

"You will know soon."

I narrowed my eyes at him and he smiled at me smugly. There was no use arguing with him. I was only wasting my time. Oh no! The surprise test! I forgot about it completely. I dashed towards the classroom while Ved followed, walking like a king.

Mehta sir let me in after scolding me and I went to my seat. Ved arrived soon after, but he didn't get any scolding. Instead he got praised for the win against our neighbouring college in the basketball match. So unfair. I glanced at Nikhil and he averted his gaze. Ved could say whatever he wanted but I was not letting Nikhil drift away from me so easily.

×~×

"Nikhil, wait. I have to ask you something."

"Not again, Sandhya," he said and tried to get away.

"It's important."

"What is it?" He stopped and I smiled.

Ved was not here to disturb us, so I could use this chance to talk to him properly.

"I wanted to know how much you have studied so far," I said.

"How many times you gonna ask that dude? I am tired of it."

"Come on. Atleast tell me how you did on the test."

"It was okay."

"Okay? Are you serious? Okay isn't good, Nikhil. Remember what aunty says? You have to be the best. Anything else doesn't matter."

Nikhil inhaled deeply and took out a cigarette from his back pocket. Before he lit it up, I snatched it from his hand and threw it away.

"It's not good for your health," I reprimanded him.

"Stop being so bossy, yaar."

"I am just looking after you."

"Looking after, my foot." He stormed off and I just stared at his back. What was wrong with him?

All day, I kept thinking about how to get Nikhil to talk with me without us getting into an argument. I didn't remember doing anything wrong to him. What was the issue then? Surbhi told me to give him some space but there was no time for that. At lunch, I saw him smoking with some boys and when I went to talk to him, he ignored me. Why was he so angry at me?

After the last lecture, I packed up to leave for home. All the club activities were put on hold because of some heated argument between the managers of some clubs. They were demanding an increase in the money alloted to them for their activities. Whatever. I was glad for the little break I got from it.

Also, my contract with Rajeev's gym was coming to an end this week. More time on hand then. I decided to renew it after my exams got over. It would be better to keep the stress low.

I sighed when I spotted Nikhil getting out of the parking lot on his bike. I missed riding it. I walked towards him and stood in front, blocking his way. He motioned with his hand to move away but I didn't budge.

"What do you want?" he asked in frustration.

"Why are you angry at me?" I asked.

"I am not."

"Then why are you behaving like this?"

"Behaving like what?"

"You already know. I just want you to talk with me if anything is troubling you. Resorting to alcohol and drugs isn't a solution, Nikhil. Let me help."

"You don't know anything."

"I won't if you won't tell me. Come on man. Don't you consider me your friend?"

"Stop bothering him," Ved warned as he came and parked his bike beside Nikhil's.

I gave him a dead look and waved him off. I wasn't going to get intimidated by him. He was all bark and no bite. He only wanted to scare me with all his big talk.

"Nikhil, would you please just think clearly about what you are doing?" I pleaded.

"I am not a kid," Nikhil retorted.

"Move aside before I say something that will hurt you," he added.

"I will have to tell your parents if you won't listen to me," I said.

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"You can think like that if you want." I shrugged my shoulders.

"See, Nikhil? This is what I was telling you about. I warned you to be careful but you didn't listen. She forces her demands on others under the pretense of friendship. And when you don't listen to her, she looses her shit. Can't you see? She is trying to control you," Ved said to him.

Nikhil gave me a pointed look and I furrowed my eyebrows. Just what the heck was Ved saying? I wasn't controlling him. Why would I?

"He is manipulating you, Nikhil. Don't listen to him," I tried to reason.

"The one who is a manipulative witch is you, Sandhya Rai," Ved bit back.

"You idiot! You should be helping him instead of-"

"Shut up! Don't say a word against him, Sandhya. Don't forget, he is my best friend," Nikhil said sharply.

I took a deep breath and looked at him sadly. He put on his helmet and I moved out of his way. With Ved being an obstacle, I wouldn't be able to talk to Nikhil without interruptions. He bid goodbye to Ved and drove off. He didn't say anything to me. I wanted to kick him so much.

Even if he was mad at me-I don't know for what-he could have atleast said bye to me. I just wished he was going home instead of hanging out with wrong company. I turned towards Ved who was grinning at me. I wanted to bash his pretty face so badly that he wouldn't be able to recognise his own face.

He moved his bike forward and I flinched. He jerked the vehicle again and the tyre hit me on the knee. Ouch! This bastard was going to hell for this. I rubbed my leg and scowled at him. He showed no remorse. As he moved past me, I hit him on his shoulder. It had no effect. Damn his strong built. He flipped me the bird and zoomed out of the parking lot.

I cursed him as I reached the bus stop and even invented some of curse words, as I boarded the bus. It was all because of him. He must have told Nikhil something bad about me. There was no way Nikhil would talk to me like that. I wasn't his enemy. Why won't he share his problems with me? Was I that overbearing? No, right?

As I was mulling over all the possibilities, my phone buzzed. Mom was calling. I picked up the call and she told me that we were having dinner at Nikhil's house today. That was not surprising. We would dine at each other's place like ten to twelve times in a month. They were like relatives to us now.

Mom wanted me to pick up her order from the tailor on my way. I ended the call after assuring her that I wouldn't forget. My stop came and I got down from the bus. I got mom's order and an evil smile spread across my face as I walked towards my home.

Nikhil was avoiding me in the college but what would he do when we arrived at his place tonight? Wait, Nikhil. I am going to make you answer my every question. You wouldn't be able to run away then, would you?