The atmosphere in the field was vibrant enough to bring the dead back to life. The campers were cheering, hooting, singing; everyone was happy. Or so they thought. What most don't know is that some of these smiles are facades. Inside they are breaking and yearning for someone to put them out of this misery.

Drishti could feel Rakshit's stare over her shoulder. After their conversation in the command post, they didn't talk. She knows what she told him had set off a string of thoughts and assumptions in his mind. She couldn't deal with them now, her focus was this bunch of enthusiastic monkeys in her group.

"Sahil, will you quit jumping? You look like an idiot." Divya huffed, snapping him out of his daydream.

He immediately stopped and his vision darted around to his group member's irritated faces. He gave a sheepish smile and stood properly.

The campers had been broken off into their respective houses for icebreakers. Funny enough there wasn't any ice for them to break as this was her own form class.

Drishti glanced at her watch before grabbing the attention of her campers. "We are the house willows and I'm your housemaster. We have a while before the infinity trails start. Do you guys wanna play any icebreaker games?"

"What are we five?" Harshad incredulously asked. "There's no way we are gonna play those games, as you call them."

"Then what do young adults do during icebreakers?" she rolled her eyes. "If you have any suggestions I would definitely want to hear them."

"We plan how to win the infinity trials."

"See, this is why you don't score well," Sahil said. "How do we plan to win when we don't know what the activity is, you dumbbell."

The students and Drishti laughed while Harshad looked away feeling embarrassment wash over him. "Shut up!" he shouted.

When no one stopped, Drishti decided to intervene and spare him the embarrassment. "Come on willows, let's not further embarrass the poor fellow. What do you guys wanna do?"

"Truth or dare?" Rajat, another one of her students suggested.

"Sure."

Once everyone was settled in an area more open away from the tents, Rajat took his disposable water bottle and kept it in the middle of the circle they were now seated in.

"Who goes first?" he asked. In S.P.A.C.E it was a tradition that if truth or dare is played, someone has to volunteer to be the first to choose before spinning the bottle.

No one responded and the happy vibes were slowly diminishing as everyone started at the plastic bottle. Although this was an entertaining game no one wanted to be the one that had to choose when the school's most notorious band was also playing.

Divya rolled her eyes at her petrified classmates. "I'll go first. Dare."

Drishti perked up at this. It was the best opportunity to get into her head. "I dare you to change your answer to the truth." she challenged before anyone else.

Divya had to hitch in a breath to prevent herself from hurting her housemaster. She still had not gotten a chance to speak with her after the whole locker room incident. Although Drishti was awkward about the whole thing, Divya was angry. Or was she?

"And why would I do that?" she cocked her eyebrow.

"Because that's the dare."

Divya gave her a dirty look before accepting the dare. "What do you want to know, Miss Sharma?"

"Why do the nightmares- I mean midnight spirits bully people?"

The house members let out a slow jeer while Drishti held three angry gazes.

"We don't bully them, we get back at those that mess with us. It's called teaching a lesson not bullying."

"That's not how your victims feel. "

"That's not our problem."

"It is when you are the one doing the vicious act."

"We are not accountable for how their emotions work. It's up to them to feel how they want to," Lakshya spoke.

"Yes, but your actions are the one that causes those emotions."

"As I've said, we are not accountable for how they feel. If I told you that you are ugly and you feel sad although you know that is not true, that is not my problem," he explained, trying to keep his cool. " If you chose to ignore it and move on, that is also not my problem." he continued not waiting for a response.

Instead of backing off as he expected, Drishti threw them another question. "Then what makes you think you are superior to your victim to do that?"

The students shifted uncomfortably as the only sound heard was the gritting of teeth. They threw their housemaster a look of pity and waited for someone to react.

"You are only allowed one question at a time, Miss Sharma," Ragini spoke, as she held onto Divya's forearm to stop her from lunging at her.

She doesn't understand how this woman still had the guts to stand against them after the whole storeroom and locker room incident. She was angry at her in the beginning but after blowing off some steam, she understood that it was not her fault. Mostly. Nonetheless, she saved her from digging her grave further.

"Fair enough." Drishti shrugged her shoulders.

Divya spun the bottle and it landed on Sahil. He gulped and whispered, "truth."

"What's the biggest romantic fail you've experienced?" Shikar asked.

Sahil blushed hard and hid his face in the jacket he took off. "I proposed to someone in middle school in front of everyone and she rejected me. Then threw peanut butter in my face." he grimaced.

The group had to bite their lips to contain the laughs that were begging to be unleashed from the pit of their stomachs. To get the spotlight off him, Sahil spun the bottle.

"If you could hear one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?" Rajat asked when it stopped at twinkle, the class rep.

She thought for a while before a big smile crept onto her lips. "Someone you loved." the students nodded in approval while Drishti frowned.

"Who created it?" The willows house members sighed and she was even more confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Nevermind. Let's move on."

The next spin landed on shikar. Like with Divya, Drishti stepped in to ask before anyone else could. "I dare you to tell us what makes you feel superior to your victims?"

"We don't feel superior."

"Then why do you do it?"

"Because we can. Besides, we do not harm anyone physically or mentally. Neither do we do anything to anyone who keeps clear from us. If you don't want to go through it, then don't come in our way. Simple. And right now, you are not helping yourself." he warned.

Before they could continue, Ms Grover blew her whistle indicating the time was up. As the students gathered before her, she gave her next set of instructions. "Now that you guys are on the same page, hopefully, let's move on. I want to remind you guys that this is a camp, which means time is the one thing we don't have so I need some sense of urgency from you guys. Is that okay?!"

"Alright!"

"Refer to your camps booklets for the rotations. All the best and may the best house win. Let the trails begin!"

---broken promises---

After the trails had ended the groups were cooling down with their respective houses in the allocated areas. It had been an exhausting hour-long point earner. Although the main point of the camp was to have fun, it would be unfair to not have a spice of competitiveness in it. As a result, the campers gave their all in getting points. Unfortunately, all games are bound to have some injuries.

"That was intense." breathed Sahil holding an ice pack to his cheek after the trails.

"But we won. Look at the scoreboard," Lakshya pointed to the scoreboard outside the command post. "I think the racket to your face was worth it." he chuckled.

"Tell that to my throbbing cheek."

"And my black eye," added Rajat. "How did our seniors even come up with such weird plans? I mean, running with our feet tied, hoping into square boxes and then nerf war? How?"

"It was fun though. Our last two aspire camps were more survival camps. Do you guys remember Ryan?" Shikar asked, munching down his chips.

The willow house laughed a little and nodded their heads.

"I still feel bad for him. He was just trying to help us with the pot." twinkle said.

"Yeah. but I'm glad the burn wasn't that bad. Remember how he surprised us during the track?"

"I remember almost fainting because of his so-called surprise." Ragini quivered. She grabbed her water bottle from her bag and chugged it down in one go.

Divya rolled her eyes and rubbed her ears at the memory. "I remember my eardrums were ringing for days after that. How the hell do you scream so loud?"

Her house members erupted in barely concealed snorts and giggles while Ragini speared her best friend with a death glare. "Shut up."

"It's true," she shrugged. "Anyways, do you guys want to continue playing truth or dare?"

"There isn't anything else to do until our shower time so why not," Rajat said as he went to his tent to retrieve the plastic bottle they used earlier on.

"Who's going first?" Shikar inquired, wiping his hands as he finished up the packet of chips.

"I vote for Nikhil," twinkle raised her hands as a sign of vote. "Who else?"

Nikhil shrugged as the whole group raised their hands in agreement. Although he was the quietest student in the class, he wasn't a spoilsport. "Truth." he chose.

Drishti had been silently watching the exchange between her students. It felt weird but a good kind of weird. For the first time, she wasn't seeing different cliques between them. They were united, all of them were friends. There wasn't the timidness that was usually present in the class.

She let a small smile grace her lips as she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. Maybe there were not lost causes after all.

Rajat left the bottle in the middle and took his seat. "What's the dumbest thing you did when you were drunk?"

Ragini didn't need to check if her fists were clenched before placing her palm on the guitarist's knuckles. "Calm down Jaan," she whispered in her ear.

"I've never been drunk before," he answered honestly. "But I almost drove my car into a swimming pool once."

The revelation left everyone astonished but somehow Twinkle managed to ask, "How?"

"I wasn't paying attention to the roads and the next thing I knew I was in front of a swimming pool with the guards hitting my window. Mom and dad were so pissed that day." Nikhil giggled.

"Dare." Harshad declared proudly when the bottle stopped at him.

"Eat a whole piece of paper.'' Shikar challenged, handing him a blank piece of full scape paper.

The house cheered for him as he crushed the paper into a ball. Before he could stuff it into his mouth, however, the housemaster pulled it away.

"What?" he jumped to his feet taking a menacing step forward.

she shook her head at her campers. "This is dangerous and I'm not going to allow you to do this. This game is supposed to be for fun not to endanger someone's life. I expected better from you guys."

Drishti wasn't sure if she should be surprised to get the same blank expressions she got in class from them. She didn't have time to think further as Harshad snarled.

"I didn't ask you for your permission Miss Sharma and I'm not going to tolerate being talked down to by a woman. Give me the paper."

She crossed her arms, definitely giving him the most ferocious look she could muster.

"No."

He groaned in frustration and tried to snatch the paper from her. Drishti cried in pain as her arm was twisted painfully. She struggled to loosen his grip but her mind was shocked to see the students standing watching instead of helping. She twisted her lips in annoyance.

Suddenly the pressure on her wrist faded and two feminine arms were holding her up. She turned to see Ragini supporting her weight and Lakshya spitting fire through his eyes at her attacker.

"I warned you, Harshad Saxena." Divya seethed through her teeth as she crouched beside a fallen Harshad.

He ignored her and scowled at Drishti. Trying his luck again, he advanced towards her but was shoved back roughly by Divya who stood protectively in front of her.

"Cut it out, guys. Divya, Ragini, and Lakshya go back to your seats. Harshad this is my final warning to you. Behave yourself..."

The whistle for the shower rotations sounded and the house members disappeared to their respective tents to get their essentials.

Harshad gave her a crooked smirk whispering, "watch your back little lady." He walked away leaving her to her thoughts.

Shikar handed her an ice pack as he came back from the infirmary. The minute Harshad twisted her wrist, he was sure there would be a sprain. He left to get her an ice pack knowing his friends could handle this.

she grinned accepting the cool chill that seeped into her skin giving her realife from the pain in her wrist. The feeling didn't last long as Divya took off the ice pack. She whimpered as the pain set in again.

"Cover it with a cloth or you'll get a frostbite, numbskull." she handed it back the pack now wrapped in her handkerchief.

"Thanks, guys."

The group of friends didn't so much as acknowledge the thanks. They turned on their heels and left to get a shower.

"Jaan, you okay?" Ragini asked, sensing something wrong with the rockstar.

"I am fine."

"I don't think so."

"I am fine," she repeated.

Ragini wasn't convinced but decided to let the matter slide as of now. Divya would talk when she was ready or when they were at her favourite places that could force her to open up. Asking now would be useless.

Drishti exhaled and walked back to the command post. Understanding this band got complicated by the days.

On one hand, they were the most notorious students in S.P.A.C.E but they were respected more than feared. They bullied people who 'messed' with them. No matter what they called it, it was bullying. She had gone through their torments first hand.

On the flip side, they helped her even though they didn't like her. Maybe it was just out of humanity or hatred for Harshad, she didn't know. Divya and shikar were the most confusing. Why did she stand up for her and why did Shikhar get her an ice pack? The locker room incident was pretty hard to forget, even for her.

She sighed as ms Malhotra walked in with a knowing look. "Not now Ms M."

She held up her hand in defence as she picked up a bandage from the first aid kit. "That wrist may need medical attention now though."

"Damn it."

---broken promises---

Shikar tightened the end of the rope and dusted his hands. "Lucky, did you get the worms?"

"Already in the coffin. And the cameras?"

Shikar checked his phone before informing lakshya. "Done."

"Nice, let me tell them," Lakshya said as he took out his phone to message Divya. "What are you doing?" he asked when he saw shikar tapping his foot looking in the distance.

"Waiting," Shikar told him like it was the most obvious thing.

"Dumbass, waiting for what? For Harshad to come and see you so that our plan fails? Or for our two mental cases to come and smack you upside the head?"

"No. What else do you want me to do? Hang upside down the trees like a monkey?"

"We know you are a monkey, you don't need to keep proving that."

"Lucky donkey..."

"Shut up, stop calling me that." he scolded, dragging his little brother by the arm to hide behind a tree.

"No one can see us from here, lucky."

"Isn't that the whole point?"

Shikar looked up to the sky, lifting his hands in a prayer stance. "Why did you give me such a smart brother?"

Lakshya smacked him on the head and glared at him. "Don't you know when to be serious? This isn't a time for you lame jokes."

"Lucky, if no one can see us, then we can't see them either."

Lakshya facepalmed himself as he realised shikar was right. Only the campus area was well lit. This sector was restricted so no lamps were placed there. If anyone passed by, they wouldn't know.

the smug look left as soon as it came on his face. His phone was not a smart option to use. Harshad could easily see the light and understand that something is wrong.

"I guess we have to depend on our other sensors," he concluded, sitting on the fallen log behind the tree.

A/N: Dont forget to R&R!