Beginning the chapter by thanking all my viewers 😊 , voters 🤗 and commenters 😘

Anyways, Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Chapter 12 - Playing Detective

#Next Day, Auditorium#

"🎶 Ho.. chhu le toh khari main
toh khari main khari main...

Ho.. sun saathiya maahiya
Barsa de ishqa ki syahiyaan...🎶 "

As Bulbul ended the song, Purab performed his last dance step with grace.

"That was perfect Bulbul. You sang so beautifully."

"Thanks Purab. You were quite amazing yourself."

"Thanks. Shall we practice our next song?"

Bulbul nodded and was about to sing, when she started coughing. Seeing this, Purab went and got her his water bottle. Once she was alright, she thanked him and handed him the bottle. However, when he grabbed it, he accidentally placed his hand on hers. Both looked at each other and got lost in each other's eyes. Time didn't matter to them, neither did the rest of the world. Only the other existed for them.

That was how Aliyah found them when she came into the auditorium. She gripped the door harder in anger.

"Such a frown doesn't look good on such a beautiful face" remarked someone from behind her. She turned to find a boy carrying some electric equipment and was dressed as a technician. She was already angry, and he only served to piss her off further.

"Shut up! You're a technician, aren't you? Mind your own business and scram. Don't dare interfere in other's matters!" she stormed away from there in anger.

He looked at her go, wide-eyed. Someone came and patted him on his back "Want to flirt some more little bro?" he joked.

"What an attitude that girl has! I had only complimented her." 😣

"Anyone with two eyes could see that she was pissed off Sumit. You foolishly walked in front of an angry lioness. What did you expect?" 😑

"So what? Shouldn't she blush at my compliment and forget her anger?"

"Sumit, you're an idiot. You may be an expert in computers, but you'll score zero in making a girl fall for you."

"Shut up Samay. Its because of your plan about us pretending to be technicians. That's the reason we're not being able to get any girls!"

Samay smirked "Not we, only you. I already got a few fan-girls here. Part of my charm little brother." he turned around and walked towards the corridor. "Now lets go check the pool. Maybe we can find some clues on the person who tried to harm Pragya."

Sumit looked at him irritated. He could never understand how his brother did that.

'He always gets the girls. How come he always gets the girls, even when he doesn't try hard?! This is so unfair.' He sighed and followed Samay.

#With Pragya#

Pragya was looking around for Shabbir. She needed to tell him what Kriti had told her about Abhi and Karan. With everything that happened the previous day, she forgot to tell Shabbir that Abhi and Karan were trying to dig into his personal life in order to unravel the truth.

She didn't find him in the auditorium earlier and so, she decided to look in all the classes nearby. As she peeped into another classroom, she accidentally collided into someone and fell back.

"I'm really sorry! Are you alright miss?"

"No no. Its okay. I was the one who wasn't looking where I was going." She stood up and dusted her clothes "I'm kind of new here. So, I still have problems finding the right class." she spoke with a smile.

"I see. I'm new here as well. This is my first day here."

Pragya put forward her hand "Hi. I'm Pragya. Pragya Arora."

The guy smiled and shook her hand "I'm Akash. Akash Pratap. The new Biology teacher."

At once Pragya's eyes widened 'He's a teacher!? And I crashed into him on his first day! Not to mention the fact that I'm talking to him like he is my buddy! Oh no! I should withdraw my hand. But....But what if he thinks i'm being rude? Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!'

Akash laughed looking at Pragya's panicked face. "Dont worry, I won't make any complaints against you."

"Thank you Akash. I mean teacher! Thank you teacher." Pragya stuttered out.

Akash laughed at her nervousness and excused himself as he moved past her.

Pragya sighed in relief "Thank goodness I didn't embarrass myself anymore in fro-" Suddenly, her eyes widened and she looked back abruptly 'Pratap? He said his title was Pratap! Could he...could he be the lost son!? I need to find Shabbir and Purab. Fast!'

#Auditorium#

"Hey Bulbul! How's practice going on?"

Bulbul looked up from the paper she was reading. "Hi Kriti." She folded the page and kept it aside. "Practice is going well. Purab is an amazing partner. He performs his steps so elegantly. And when he did a back flip I-"

"Oh ho! There you go singing praises of your boyfriend again."

Bulbul pouted "I wish he was. But he still hasn't proposed yet."

"But why not? You know he likes you. You've also given him signs that you like him. So what's the problem?"

"I don't know Kriti. These boys show great courage when they have to fight with their fists. But when it comes to proposing a girl, they become like mice on the alley ways, hiding away from sight."

Kriti laughed at Bulbul's statement.

"By the way, what are you doing here?" asked Bulbul.

"Aww...can't I visit my best friend?"

"Of course you can my bestie." Bulbul gave her an one arm hug.

Kriti smiled at her, although she felt guilty for lying. She was actually there to find Shabbir's things. She knew that Shabbir kept all his things on the back stage in the auditorium during practice. He was confident that no one would dare steal from him. Indeed nothing has ever been stolen from him. However, today she plans to spy on his things. 'First I need to get Bulbul out of here.'

"Bulbul, I think you should try harder to show him that you like him. Otherwise, he won't propose you."

"I guess you're right. What should I do?"

"You can start by spending more time with him. I think I saw Purab going into the canteen." said Vivek, as he came near them. Bulbul nodded and headed for the exit.

"What are you doing here, coward? I thought you wouldn't show your face to me after you decided to expose us to Abhi and Karan." 😒

Vivek rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I'm a science geek. This fighting and all, isn't my area. That's why I got scared when Abhi was about to hit me."

"Abhi isn't like that. He would never hit anyone without a good cause. You should have known that."

"I'm new here, remember?" Kriti was about to speak again, but Vivek interrupted "Lets just forget about it, alright? I promise I won't do it again. Let me help you find clues on whatever Shabbir's secret is. Please Kriti?" he gave her a pleading look.

Kriti looked at him sternly. Finally, she nodded "Alright. Keep watch and make sure no one comes towards the backstage. Got it?" When he nodded, she turned around and headed towards the back stage.

#With Pragya#

Pragya looked everywhere for Shabbir. 'Where could he be? I searched almost everywhere!'

A thought struck her 'The only place I haven't checked is the pool. But...but should I go there after what happened?'

She thought for a moment and finally decided to go there. 'I'll just stay away from the pool.'

#Indoor Pool#

Shabbir had come to college early to practice in peace, as he knew once everyone arrived, there wouldn't a moment of relief. However, the summer heat, combined with the suffocating auditorium, made him all sweaty and uncomfortable. Which is what brought him to the pool. He changed into his swimming shorts and was heading towards the pool, when he saw two individuals at the edge of the pool. They looked like they were peering into the water.

'Why are they looking at the water as if it will swallow them up? What a couple of weirdos!' He shook his head at their antics and came near the pool. However, before he could get into the water, he heard someone call his name.

"Shabbir! Shabbir, I need to tell you something." Pragya spoke in one breath. She was huffing and puffing from running all the way there.

"Tell me what?" Shabbir asked her with little interest. 'She probably has something useless to say.'

"There's a new teacher in college and his name is Akash Pratap."

This gained her Shabbir's full attention. "Are...are you sure?" Pragya nodded "Great! Let me go to the changing room to g-"

"What! We don't have time to waste! Lets go." Pragya told him, irritated.

"What the heck! You want me to go out half naked, just in my shorts!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pool, the two persons heard their argument.

One individual looked up from the water and nudged the other "Oi, Samay. Look there! Isn't that Pragya?"

Samay looked up and indeed saw Pragya, chatting with a guy in swim shorts.

"The heck! How dare that guy talk to her in that state?"

"Bhai, I think he is trying to pollute out Pragya's mind and then take advantage of her innocent nature." spoke Sumit, behaving like an overprotective brother who panicks over his sister meeting with a guy.

"Then we should go introduce him with our fists." Samay cracked his knuckles and stood up.

Pragya, on the other hand, stared at Shabbir, wide-eyed. She was so stressed about finding the truth about the teacher, that she didn't pay any attention to Shabbir's half-dressed state.

'Wow. He's got the body of a model.' She quickly realized her train of thoughts and mentally smacked herself. She closed her eyes and covered them with her hands.

Shabbir laughed at her childish act "Hahaha... you're such a prude. Are you a ten year old?"

"Whatever! Go change quickly!"

"Pragya, what's going on here?" She turned around to find Samay and Sumit there.

Shabbir noted that these guys were same ones that were near the pool.

"Samay? Sumit? What are both of you doing here?"

"Someone named Purab gave an add in the college website, looking for technicians. We agreed for the job." Samay explained and turned to Shabbir "Is this your boyfriend?"

Pragya blushed "What!? No! Of course not." 😳

Sumit grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. "Then why are you standing with her in only your swim shorts?" he asked, glaring at Shabbir.

"What? You're misunderstanding the entire thing. I was just talking with her about-"

"You mean to say you were trying to seduce her by flaunting your body at her while making the excuse of chatting to her? How dare you try to pollute her mind!?" accused Samay.

Shabbir took a step back and laughed nervously "H-hey, look! I wasn't doing anything like that, alright! Tell them Pragya."

"Yes guys, he wasn't do-"

"No Pragya, you're too innocent to realize the truth about these type of guys. Let us handle this." Sumit spoke, balling his hands into fists.

Shabbir raised his hands in a peace sign "Easy now. Calm down." 😌

'Oh my! These guys will make a pancake out of me if they start hitting me.' Shabbir tried to look for an escape route.

Pragya was embarrassed and irritated. Shabbir wasn't assaulting her and it was not as if she was a little child that didn't understand things. 'Why must these two embarrass me and treat me like I'm 5 yrs old!?'

She grabbed their hands and pulled them aside. "What the heck? Why are you behaving like raging bulls!?" 😠

"He's trying to trap you in his game. He just wants to use you Pragya. You can't fall for him."

"Sumit, you idiot! He wasn't doing anything like that. In fact, it was me who came to talk to him and take him with me."

"Eh? So you mean you are the one who likes him? Oh, now I see."

Before Pragya could correct Sumit, Samay spoke "In that case, he better not reject you. Because if he breaks your heart, I'll break him into pieces!" 😈

"Don't you think you're over doing it?" 😑

"Whatever. Why are you here in the first place? Don't you remember what happened to you in the pool?"

"I know but-" from the corner of her eyes, she saw Shabbir come out, fully dressed, and move out of the auditorium. "See you later!" She ran away towards Shabbir, grabbed his hand and took him away.

"You're brothers sure are over-protective of you." remarked Shabbir.

"Not brothers, cousins. And they didn't mean any harm. They were just looking out for me."

'Didn't mean any harm? They were about to pulverize my face!' 😣

However, Shabbir let the topic go. "I see. Anyways, forget that. Lets go to the auditorium. I've texted Purab to meet us there."

#Auditorium#

Kriti thought it would be easy. However, she didn't expect every participant's bag to be backstage. She searched through every bag there to get the right one. Finally, she got Shabbir's bag and found a diary in it.

"Let's see what you're hiding Shabbir." Kriti began to flip the front page.

Just then, Vivek came rushing towards the her. "Kriti quick! Shabbir and Pragya are heading towards this place! Lets go!"

Kriti's eyes widened and she dropped the diary in shock. She quickly picked it up, put it back in the bag and zipped it.

Both of them tried to escape through the other exit behind the stage. However, they noticed Purab and Bulbul talking outside.

"Shit! We can't go out. Purab will no doubt catch us." Kriti panicked. Suddenly, she saw the shelves there and pulled Vivek towards them. They hid behind the shelves.

"Okay then Purab. I need to go find Ria to practice for our duet. See you later. Bye."

"Bye Bulbul." Purab smiled and waved at her. He had a great time chatting with her in the canteen. Too bad they needed to part, as she had to practice and Shabbir texted him to meet him backstage.

Purab reached there just as both Shabbir and Pragya arrived. "So?"

"Pragya found out that the new Biology teacher, Akash, writes Pratap as his title."

Purab looked shock, which turned into a grin. "That's great news. What are we doing standing here for? Lets go meet him."

"We don't know if he is one of the Pratap sons we are looking for. We need to be sure."

"How do we find out more about him?"

"Shouldn't your father know about it before us? I mean, he is the Principal after all. Doesn't he check the resume of every new teacher?" asked Pragya.

"No. Dad doesn't deal with any of the recruitments in the college. Sure he is the Principal, but the appointment and selection is done by the Vice-Principal."

"Then let's go ask Mr. Mehra to take the resume of that teacher from the Vice-Principal." They nodded and the three of them moved out.

Vivek watched them go and sighed in relief. "Whew! I'm glad they didn't see us. Right, Kriti?" However, when he looked towards her, he found her frozen in shock.

Kriti was confused by their discussion about the new teacher and the title Pratap. She was more confused as to why Pragya Di was helping Shabbir and Purab. However, what shocked her to the core was that Shabbir had called his father, Dad. And he was also talking about Mr. Mehra as if... as if they were on good terms. 'But..but he hates his father and his father hates him. Then what is this? What is going on here!? What's this new twist? I must tell Karan and Abhi.'

Before Vivek could ask her anything, she ran away from there. He looked at her go and sighed "There is no way I'm running in this heat. I'll just go grab a coke."

#Corridor#

Pragya, Purab and Shabbir were heading towards the Principal's office. Pragya paused suddenly.

"Guys. His resume would only contain information about his academics and qualifications. It won't have anything on his personal life."

"Then what do you want us to do?"

"For now, you both go where you were heading. I'll go to Abhi. He said that that he could hack any information. He won't help you two, but maybe he would help me find more about Akash Pratap."

They nodded and she left for the library. That was the most probable place where she thought Karan and Abhi could be. She just hoped she was right.

#Library#

To a passerby, it would seem that Abhi and Karan were reading. However, they were actually keeping an eye over two people who were inspecting a shelf.

Abhi and Karan had planned to leave for the computer lab. However, they found two individuals stroll into the library. They were wearing clothes of technicians. But if they really were technicians, they had no business in the library. What was more odd was that the moment they came in, they asked a student which was the shelf that caused the accident. It increased Abhi's suspicion.

"Abhi, Karan, hi!" They turned to find Pragya approach them.

Abhi's face broke out in to a smile up on seeing her. "Hi Pragya. What brings you here?"

From the corner of his eyes, Karan saw Kriti waving at him discreetly from the door, looking distressed. 'Abhi won't be able to leave now. I should go find out what she wants. Guess I need a good excuse.'

"Um...you both keep chatting. I just remembered I needed to go help Kriti with the project. See ya."

Once Karan left, Pragya sat down in his place. "I wanted to ask a favor."

Abhi raised an eyebrow in question "Alright. Speak up." he spoke calmly.

"Well...remember you told me that you could hack into anything? Could you help me find some information on a person?"

"May I know why?"

"I..I'm sorry. I really can't tell you why. But trust me, it's not for something illegal or to harm someone. I swear!"

Abhi looked at her with narrowed eyes. Finally he sighed and opened his bag. He took out his laptop and placed it on the table. "I would need to check the city database files. It contains information about every person in the city. Give me the name you're looking for."

"Akash Pratap."

Abhi nodded and began his work.

After sometime...

"Is this the guy you're looking for?" asked Abhi, turning the laptop towards her.

"Yes! This is him."

Abhi turned the laptop to himself and began reading "Akash Pratap. Son of Rana Pratap. Age, 27. Siblings, none. Place of-"

"That would be enough Abhi." interrupted Pragya. It was clear to her now that Akash wasn't the person they were looking for, since his father's name was Rana and he also didn't have any sibling. "Wow. You managed to find out about him so quickly. Thanks Abhi."

"It's alright. Although I wish you would tell me why you need to know about him."

Pragya looked at him in apology. "I wish I could. Its not that I don't trust you. It's just that it's not my secret to reveal. Please understand."

Abhi nodded. He slowly smiled at her "If you really feel thankful to me, then I guess you should treat me to a cup of coffee."

"Done. I'll meet you in the afternoon. I'll take you to one of my favourite cafes!" 😊

"Sure." They smiled at each other.

Suddenly, they both heard a voice. "You again!" Abhi turned to find it was the two technicians.

"Samay, Sumit? You both here?"

"Yes, and I think it's good that bhai and me are here. This guy seems to be stalking you. First at the pool, now in the library!"

"Sumit, calm down. Its not like that. Its not him."

"What do you mean its not him Pragya? We saw him with our own eyes." Samay came and grabbed Abhi's collar "What game are you playing at?"

At once, Abhi's face turned in to one of anger. "Leave my collar now. Or else, I won't hesitate to hit you."

"Oho-ho. You changed your personality so soon. Weren't you cowering before us near the pool? I see you finally grew a spine." taunted Samay.

Abhi looked at him confused. 'I haven't visited the pool today. Then why...' he suddenly realized what may have happened 'I guess they met Shabbir. *sigh* the pain of having an obnoxious twin.'

"Samay, Sumit, this isn't the guy you met at the pool. That was Shabbir, and this is Abhi, his younger twin."

Sumit and Samay looked at her with disbelief.

"You're kidding me, right?" asked Sumit.

"No! I'm telling the truth damnit! Now let him go Samay!" 😣

Samay loosened his grip on Abhi's collar. However, he tightened it once again "This means that both brothers are stalking you!? How dare they!?"

Pragya smacked her head in frustration. "Ugh! I'm not a child! Quit being so over-protective. Besides, both Abhi and Shabbir are just my college friends. Nothing more, nothing less. I swear!"

Samay didn't look convinced, but decided to trust Pragya and let go of Abhi.

"Bhai, you're letting him go? Don't leave him! We sh-Ow!" Pragya hit Sumit on the arm.

"Samay did the right thing by leaving him."

"Whatever! We were just looking out for you." Sumit huffed out. 😣

Pragya smiled and hugged both her cousins. "I know. But you both tend to go to extreme heights to protect me. I'm not a child guys. I can take care of myself."

"You'll always be our little doll Pragya. Even when you grow old and your teeth fall off." joked Samay.

Abhi smiled at them. Seeing the three of them reminded him of how he, Shabbir and Aliyah used to be.

"By the way, what were you two doing inspecting that shelf?" asked Abhi, curiously.

"Yes, I wanted to know that too. I found you two at the pool earlier. What are you guys up to?"

Samay and Sumit looked at each other for an excuse.

"Well? Speak up." Pragya said, placing her hands on her hips and looking at them suspiciously. Suddenly, they heard a voice scream out.

"You two technicians! What purpose do you have here?"

It was their teacher Prasanth.

"We... we were-"

"Shut up. I know people like you very well." He grabbed both of their hands and dragged them with him. "You both are coming with me to the Principal's office, right this instant!"

Bulbul bid goodbye to Ria and was about to enter the library, when she saw Samay and Sumit being dragged away by their Math teacher. She looked at them confused and came near Pragya and Abhi.

"What happened Di?"

"Don't ask Bulbul. My head is splitting from a major headache with these two here in the college." 😑

"Okkkaayyy. Anyway, I came to tell you that Maa wants us home. She said some special guests are coming!" Bulbul said with excitement.

"Really? I wonder who."

***********************************

Oh by the way, Akash Pratap, he's just a side character. Will be only for a few chaps. No one important. 😝

To be continued....

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Thanks! ~ 🌹 Mona 🌹