In the bus..

"What does this Avni think of herself?" thought Neil as he was staring at Avni who was reading a book. "I'll never forget what you did to me Ms. Avni Mehta. It wasn't my fault and even if it was, you had nothing to do with it. You didn't have to make me go through all of that, it wasn't fair."

Meanwhile, the bus stopped at Neela's bungalow. Avni got off the bus. Neil registered the address- he wasn't going to forget it. 

*********

"How was your day bacha?" asked Neela who was cooking for Avni. 

"It was fine maa" said Avni lamely. 

"So any new boys in the class?" inquired Neela. 

"Naye ka toh pata nahin, puraani pareshaani  zaroor vaapis aagayi hai" Avni said under her breath. 

"okay change and come for lunch, then I will drop you for your classes"

"Yaa maa"

*******

A few days passed, Neil and Avni ignored each other, while Neil ensuring that he made everyday unbearable for her. Avni, all this while acted calmly as she did not want to invite anymore troubles. Neil was amazed at this because she wasn't the same Avni he knew 6 years ago. The old Avni fought with him, fought for him and he cannot forget... stood against him. They weren't quite friends back then, just classmates. Avni was a jovial girl, always cracking jokes and supporting others. But the Avni that was in front of him, was timid, weak and unwilling to protest. He wondered what happened in those years while he was in Shimla. But as soon as the thought of Shimla stroke him, he looked at Avni in anger. 

But Neil decided to let everything go. He felt sad looking at Avni, so alone so weak. He did not know the cause for it but thought she might have been guilty for what she did to him. Nevertheless, he started to soften. He kinda left his thoughts about troubling her and made sure that her did not interfere with her routine. In an essence, he forgot about her. But Avni had troubles forgetting him. 

"Yaar Ms. Ajooba, yeh apni accounting ki kitab mein jo third chapter hai, uski quik summary de de yaar please" asked Neil.

"Abhi! are 30 minutes mein test hai aur tum abhi puch rahe ho?Chalo koi baat nahin" Avni explained Neil and his friends. This was probably the first conversation they had without fighting. 

Days went by. Avni and Neil were becoming friends or good classmates, at least. However, Avni had troubles with this, she wanted Neil to stay away. She would often dream of him, daydream of him, think about how their future would be. But she would get embarrassed from  these thoughts and then would brush them off as she thought a person like Neil would never like Avni and how she is especially after what she had done to him. 

"Kya soch rahi hai Avni, woh teri jaisi ladkiyon ki taraf dekhta bhi nahi hai- pasand karna to door ki baat. Ye sab tere hormones ka kusoor hai, just stop thinking about it". Avni spoke to herself. 

But she found it hard to control herself, Neil would try to be friends with her, he would try to flatter her (and she admitted that it worked), but she would always turn him down. She knew that she had started liking him, but also knew that he would never like her. He was the playboy- flirting with every girl, he had the best girls in school- he was the 'cool' guy. She knew he deserved someone better than her. 

Time went by. Avni would help Neil with their studies, she would often steal glances at him playing or reading in class. This did not go unnoticed by Neil, but he thought not to confront her about this as he knew it would embarrass her. 

Precap: "Mahabaleshwar! Yay" Everyone exclaimed in joy

Avni, tu chal rahi hai? Ali asked her

Nahin yaar mujhe bahut kaam hai, Maa ke saath thoda time bhi spend karna chahti hoon. Avni explained Ali. "Waise how much does it cost?" Avni inquired (generally)

"Yaar not much, it's about 6000"

"Yaa, not bad" Avni said.

Neil was listening to all this. He thought Avni refused because of the cost of the trip. He felt bad for her and decided to help her out...