Normally she would not be doing this. she would be stopping- trying to stop them. They would have gotten an ear full from her after that. But this was not a normal situation nor was the circumstances. What he did was unforgivable. Her blood boiled to think about what he did to her and her Jaan.

Yet, she was in two minds. No matter what, does this justify their actions? a lot of thoughts on the outcome of their prank had swirled her mind, but she couldn't hold onto any for more than a few seconds, to make any sense out of it. So she went ahead with the plan.

"Are you sure about this twinkle? There's still time," Ragini asked twinkle, ignoring the groan from Divya.

"Of course I am sure. Look, guys, I don't by any means stand by what your gang does but Harshad deserves what he is getting. After what he did to you and Ms Sharma today... I can't even believe I used to date that jerk," she scrunched her face in disgust. "He does not get to walk away from this, not if I can help it." Although she didn't know that Harshad was behind the bromine incident, these two acts and her own experience were enough to rile her up.

"See Ragini, I told you she was smart. Not that you had a choice either way,'' Divya smirked, giving twinkle a not so friendly pat on the back. "Anyways, we are going. Remember if he does anything you don't like or can't handle, cough twice and we will come to get you. Don't try to play the hero, Got it?" she wasn't concerned in all honesty, but just didn't want to deal with the whining if anything did go wrong. "Jadu is not going to magically show up and save your ass."

"Yea because he only comes when Divya calls him right?" Ragini said in mock seriousness.

"Shut up."

Twinkle checked her earbud one last time to make sure it was working properly. "Yes."

As the two musicians left, twinkle approached Harshad carefully. Through her past with him, she was well aware of the lengths he would go to get what he wanted. She was lucky to have been rescued on time but revenge was still due. Being unaware of what exactly was planned allowed her to fully commit to playing her role in the grand scheme of things and get what she wanted.

She tapped his shoulder and took a small step back as he turned.

"Twinkle twinkle little star. What can I do for you?" he ogled, taking a sip from his bottle. She had to stomach the bile that rose to her throat. "Miss what we had?"

"What an idiot," she mumbled under her breath and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"Sorry, what?" he blinked, leaning closer, almost stepping into her personal space.

Pulling herself together she forced moisture to gather in the corner of her eyes wanting to make this look as real as possible. "Maybe."

He raised his eyebrows in question and she gave him a painful smile. "Maybe I do miss what we had and I still have feelings for you. Can we start over?"

Harshad recoiled in confusion and tried to read her for any signs of false hope. "What? You want to start over?"

"Yea, I know our break up was messy. But I don't care because no matter how much I try to deny it, I still love you."

"But..."

"I didn't like what Divya and gang did to you earlier. It made me realise that I still want to be with you. I smile when I think about our peaceful moments. Remember our first date? The one where that monkey scratched you..."

He choked on the water he was drinking. Twinkle took this opportunity to show him how much she meant her words. She plastered a look of concern and rubbed his back.

"Monkey?" he rasped out after regaining control of his voice.

"Yeah, the one near the restaurant. The blood..."

"I got it, twinkle."

She sighed. "I know whatever happened, shouldn't have but...nevermind. From now on it will be you and i. No more lies, no more betrayals. Just me and you," she took his hand into her own. "If your answer is yes, meet me in the clearing near the lake in 10. I'll wait for you Harshad. Now and forever." she gave his hand a squeeze before making her way to the clearing.

When she was out of earshot, she spoke into the earbud. "How was that?"

"Convincing." came Divya's bored reply. She heard a few indistinct chatters along the lines of, be nice or that's rude, on the other end. She laughed a little. they won't change.

"Then my job is done. I'll see you guys at the bonfire later." she took off her earbud and tucked it away safely into her pocket. As discreetly as possible, she slipped back into her tent to watch with teary eyes as Harshad made his way to the given location, passing a few campers a smug look.

She gave her heart to him and he shot a bullet right through it. There were days she had finally misplaced the baggage of his infidelity. It was temporary; reality always came crashing down when he appeared in front of her. But her thirst for those brief moments spurs her forward to go to school every day. Over the last three years, these moments felt longer and more frequent. There are entire days that the universe seems like it is on her side. Today was one of those days. Her thirst was truly going to be quenched. she was going to watch him suffer the way she did.

---broken promises---

"Twinkle? Where are you?" Harshad called out as he walked, with his hands stuffed in his pocket around the clearing looking for his ex-girlfriend. "I am ready for second chances."

Behind the tree, the group of musicians were softly giggling at his stupidity. "This guy really thinks twinkle will give him a second chance after what he did?" Shikar asked.

"Please, she has too much self-respect for that," Ragini told him.

Divya stood up dusting her jeans. "Well, then let's teach him some respect."

As Harshad neared the tree they were hiding behind, shikar tightened his grip. The second he stepped foot on the ring rope, he pulled the string with all his strength. Harshad's agonising screams filled the space as they stepped out from their hiding spot.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, boring eyes at his enemies that were upside down to him.

"Having fun there." Divya taunted crossing her arms.

Harshad felt the blood gushing from his toes to the brain as he fruitlessly struggled to loosen the rope around his ankle. "I'm not going to spare you guys."

Lakshya removed the fake grass that was covering the coffin buried in the mud, he opened the top and stepped back in line with the others. A look of disgust took over their features as the mouse and worms came into view.

"Same, we are not just going to leave you like this." As soon as the words left his mouth, Shikar released the end of the rope that was holding him up. Once Harshad was in, Lakshya slammed the cover shut and locked it in place.

"You know what they say. What goes around comes around. You locked me in a room and I locked you in a coffin. You messed with my best friend and I left you there with your best friends," Divya stomped on the cover for good measure. "I would have been nice and settled for just the coffin but after what you did to Ragini, I decided to be generous instead."

"See you tomorrow, lover boy," Ragini said, holding out her elbows for her friends.

Divya and shikar happily hooked their arms around them and walked back to camp. Lakshya waited until they were far enough before bending down to the closed coffin.

"Not so fun being on the receiving end is it? I won't be so lenient next time." His deadly calm voice was enough to make the trapped teenager shiver even more in the cold box. Lakshya jiggled the lock and made his way back to the tree.

Down in the coffin, Harshad was covered in cold sweat. The rats and worms were in no way his best friends.

He hate-feared them.

He scrambled and wiggled in what small room was left but it didn't make much of a difference. He tried to scream but nothing came out. Only shallow breaths that after a while became difficult to manage as the rats bit into his skin and clothes. He cringed as they scratched the sides of the box. It was like nails grinding against the blackboard.

Stupid idiot! What did I have to listen to that twinkle? Of course, she was playing me. There is no way in hell she will want to get back with me.

As his heart raced and eyes went wide with fear; he ordered his brain to function, demanding solutions instead of giving in to the fear of being surrounded by the small insects. The more he struggled the more the saliva thickened in his mouth.

Humans are brave and mighty until they come face to face with their deepest fear with no escape. Just like him. He could threaten them all he wanted, but now in the situation he is, it's stupidity.

The wooden box was still the same size but to him, it was coming closer to press him into the already tiny cubicle. Almost as if, warning him that they would eat him alive. The dropping temperature wasn't helping either.

I need to get out. Oh god, if you are up there, please save me! I will apologise to all the people I wronged but save me from this. From the midnight spirits. Harshad, why did you have to mess with them?! Tight spaces, rats, worms, cold weather. They thought of everything I didn't like.

He concluded his struggles with a heaving chest. His bones had no more strength and his muscles were all out of power. He wouldn't be let out of here until they wanted. The midnight spirits made sure he suffered to the best of their abilities.

"I am sorry. I am sorry," he repeated over and over again hoping his pleas won't go unanswered.

---broken promises---

The heat from the campfire was the only saving grace from the chilly weather of the campsite and the little crackling of the fire was the icing on the cake. Ragini picked up a marshmallow on a stick and passed it to twinkle who was sitting on her right, seemingly lost in her thoughts. She had to gently nudge her to gain her attention. She held up the stick once again offering it.

Twinkle gave a half-hearted smile accepting the treat.

"Care to share what's going on in your head?" Ragini asked as she came back with a cup of hot chocolate taking back her previous seat beside her.

"Sharing is caring." joked Shikar, taking a bite from his own semi burnt marshmallow.

"No it's not," Divya rolled her eyes.

The person in question let out a heavy sigh and forwarded her stick towards the fire. She didn't know what to say because she doesn't know what she is feeling or what she should be feeling. Harshad was finally getting what he deserved. After what he did to her and god knows how many other girls, he should be getting worse. But yet, it didn't feel right. "I don't think it is right."

"What is not right?"

"Whatever we are doing. Tricking him into going to the clearing and then whatever you guys are doing. Even laksh is not here so I am guessing it's bad."

"Twinkle af..." shikar started but got cut off.

"I know. I know. He is a jerk and all but what's the difference between him and us after this? I know I shouldn't be feeling sorry for him but I still do."

Ragini scooted a little closer, hanging her arm around twinkle's shoulder. She knows why the betrayed girl was feeling like that. No matter what she says she can't change how twinkle felt but she could offer some comfort.

"We don't care about where we stand in moral standards. People might say that what we did was wrong but it doesn't matter to us. Harshad wronged you and many others. This is payback because even you know that no one else is going to get back at him. And don't worry, we are with you." Divya informed disinterested.

"Why?" she asked, eyeing them curiously.

"Why what?" Shikar asked.

"Why are you with me? And why are you doing this? You guys came up to me in the middle of nowhere and asked for my help to do that."

"We saw how much you suffered before and after Harshad's betrayal. We saw it all twinkle, the fights, arguments, tears when you guys were dating. After you broke up, you were so afraid to ask Nikhil out. It didn't go anywhere but you didn't even dare to look him in the eye and it wasn't just because you were shy."

"I wasn't afraid to ask Nikhil because I feared getting hurt again," she shook her head. "It was because Harshad threatened to slut-shame me if I broke up with him. He didn't do it but I was afraid that if I asked Nikhil out on a date, he would. I couldn't risk losing him as a friend as well."

"Nikhil is a smart guy, I'm sure he wouldn't buy into that shit," Divya assured her although it sounded like she was annoyed more than anything else. "Anyone with a brain would know that. Wait," she paused, frowning thoughtfully. "That means you don't have a brain," she chuckled lightly, earning an elbow to the ribs from Ragini. "ow."

"I never thought about that. But since when were you guys so observant?"

"We are not that oblivious. Plus you were the one in the drama club. If anyone could convince him, it was you." Shikar informed, picking up another marshmallow.

"Tanya is also in a drama club and has dated him."

Divya snorted and looked at twinkle like she had grown another head. "Tanya can't act to save her life and I'm pretty sure it was more of a cover than anything else."

Ragini's jaw dropped when she heard her best friend carelessly give voice to what she decided was too personal to hear coming from someone other than Tanya herself.

"Cover?" twinkle furrowed her brows.

"Not our place to tell," Ragini said quickly, sending her blunt friends a pointed look. "She's a snob." she lied, guilt already etching itself into her features.

Twinkle nodded and they continued their barbeque session until she spoke up again. "Why now? It's been three years. I mean, you guys don't give a damn about anyone in space other than your own circle. And as far as I can tell, Miss Sharma is just another teacher for you. So why?"

This time shikar decided to answer her question. "Because he decided to mess with us and our camp is the perfect time and place to teach him a lesson. Besides its aspire camp, we forget rivalries during camps. Right now, we are just the members of the willow house. So we should help each other and you should get closure."

"What did he do? Other than what happened outside the washrooms," she said. "I mean you guys wouldn't have waited this long to get back at him. Something would have definitely happened in between."

"The whole campus is aware of what happened outside the restrooms with Ragini," Divya leaned closer to her ear to make sure no one else heard what she was about to say. "and he was the one behind the bromine incident in the chem lab."

Twinkle gasped covering her mouth."I can't believe that he can stoop this low. I mean you guys do stuff like that but never something that is life-threatening. I mean what was he thinking?! Bromine gas is so dangerous!"

She turned to Divya and started looking her over for any damage. "Are you okay?" she asked with a look of concern.

The rockstar straightened her back giving the worrying willower a smirk. "Of course. I am the most badass student in space. A little gas can't harm me."

Ragini's shoulders involuntary tense for a second before she forced herself to relax. No one knew what happened in the ambulance, and certainly not the self-proclaimed badass student of S.P.A.C.E. She tried to keep her face as neutral as possible and went back to marshmallow.

"Yeah, that's why you were almost unconscious and in the ER right?" Shikar replied with a goofy smile.

"Shut up mop head."

"And if I don't?"

"You will regret it."

"Why? Whacha you going to do about it? Cry?" he taunted, faking a sniffle.

"Not really. I am going to-" she completed her sentence by giving him a hard smack on the upper arm.

"Ouch! Ragini!" he shouted, rubbing his arm. It was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Ragini immediately spat out the hot chocolate she was drinking hearing his shriek. She stopped paying attention when her two younger friends started her banter. "Don't do that!"

"She hit me," Shikar complained.

"You mocked me." Divya countered.

"Shut up the both of you," she rubbed her temple cursing her fate. "Lucky should have been the one dealing with these two. This isn't the place or time to be bantering with each other," Wearing a soft look, she turned her attention to the scared teen. "Twinkle, do you want to know what is happening with him?" she questioned, turning their attention back to the original discussion.

The band patiently waited as Twinkle contemplated her decision. "Yes," she announced after making up her mind.

Shikar nodded in acknowledgement. He took out his phone to show her footage of the cameras placed inside the coffin. It was dark but from the night vision cameras, they were able to see his defeated form. His apologies were also clearly heard by the three of them and only his ex-girlfriend and to some extent, Ragini seemed bothered by it.

"How long is he going to be there?"

They shrugged their shoulders indicating it wasn't confirmed yet.

"He deserves it.'' Ragin gave her a reassuring pat to convince herself as well as twinkle.

"Enough of this, guys. That pillock hobbit is not going to ruin our campfire." Shikar bounced to his feet and stood upon the batch, effectively turning all eyes on him. Sahil and Rajat understood his intentions and joined him on the bench. "Campers oi!"

"Oi!" the people around responded.

"Dearest students, teachers, alumni and our favourite principal Ms Malhotra please join us at the ring of fire." Sahil requested as he handed out the glow sticks placed at the side of the benches.

S.P.A.C.E. was known for a lot of things. Developing their students to be self-reliant and self-sufficient was one of them. That's why there was no one in charge of the campfire happenings other than setting up the fire for the students. How fun the night was going to be was up to them. For it to be fun, someone needed to take the lead.

This tradition was loved by many students because they were not forced to sit through boring skits or do performances that no one was going to remember. This night belonged to them. It was their choice of how it turned out.

"Ms M, will you do the honour of popping the campfire balloon?" Rajat asked to bring the balloon and needle to her.

Ms m chuckled, taking the needle and popping the balloon. The batch clapped and took their positions with the respective houses around the fire.

Shikar held up his glow stick. "Let's start this properly with our..."

"Campfire cheer!" the members of the camp yelled back.

Rajat cleared his throat to start. "Campfire's burning down."

"Campfire's burning down!"

"Campfire's burning down."

"Campfire's burning down!"

"burning down"

"Burn!Burn!burn!"

"Burning down."

"Brun!Brun!Brun!"

"Campfire's burning in the dark dark night, you go o ye, yippie yippie yeah!" The campers cheered, swaying along with the tune of it.

"Damn, you guys actually remember." Shikar clapped, impressed by the batch's memory.

They shared a hearty laugh before a few students took over to give some energetic performances to keep everyone entertained. The lack of pressure on them left the campers to

openly display their talents and engage the crowd. It wasn't long before the famous attack game started with the houses.

"Oak bomb, oak bomb, oak bomb to saga bomb!" The oak house started.

"Saga bomb, saga bomb, saga bomb to willow bomb!"

The willow house being their ever notorious selves decided to end the match here in their own style. "Reject bomb, defusive bomb, only losers play with bombs!" They laughed. While the two other groups sulked at their burn, the willow house decided to raise the temperature further.

"Do you guys smell something?" gloated Divya.

"I do. I think it's fear. Right guys?" Sahil replied with a lobe sided smirk. Picking up on the hint Rajat began their cheer.

"Who rules the house?!"

"I say willow rules the house"

"and when willow rules the house you go..."

Rubbing their hands together it started with a soft whisper. "explosive, explosive, explosive."

"Boom!" Rajat and Sahil yelled, stomping their feet at the same time startling the maple house that was sitting nearby. "You scared? Boom! You mad? Boom! You what? Boom boom you shhhh." they ended with a finger on their lips. The night carried on with many more cheer battles, singing sessions and performances until everyone retired to their tents.

The whole time Drishti was sitting and enjoying this atmosphere. She had been part of different schools and camps throughout her short career but never has she seen such...intriguing students or settings. In her old school, camps were usually all planned by the teachers and each activity had a strict timeline. The teachers who carried out the activities were monotonous and stuck to a script. The games and energy felt forced.

In S.P.A.C.E. the simple fact that the students were given freedom and power to decide how their camp turned out created a different kind of aura. It was a warm feeling.

It also brought out a different side to the students. Otherwise, scandalous students were mature and sensitive to each other's feelings. They looked out for each other and helped where they could. The 'house' system put in place appeared to have worked its magic in bonding the class and batch. Yes, they were competing against each other but it was a friendly competition.

The best part was the infamous music band were also behaving like adults. They came out of their little bubble and are aware of the world around them. It felt weird but a good kind to see them interacting with people other than themselves. Despite the apology that needed to be made to the group or especially the female lead, they saved her from Harshad and administered first aid.

She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she felt safe from him when Divya acted as a shield. Not because of obvious reasons because it was the guitarist in front of her. She was so sure he wouldn't be able to do anything to her. For a split second there she thought and dare she say it, was her shining star, divi.

She quickly shrugged off the thought. This girl who went around terrorizing people and occasionally showing a better side could not be her sister. she fixed her eyes at the stars while seeking warmth from the extinguished campfire. Everyone including the teachers had called it a night but she wanted to stargaze in this rare atmosphere. She hugged herself tighter being careful about her sprained wrist.

She was just getting lost in the bright dots when the cracking of leaves caught her attention. Turning to her right where the sound came from she saw a figure walking further into the forest. Even though the suspicious character had her back turned, Drishti was able to identify a female who had gone into the trees.

She frowned seeing as none of the students was allowed to wander off especially at this hour. She debated calling someone and going after the person herself. If she went to call for help the person might get lost and make it harder for the rescue team to find her. Unnecessary panic would be set in if nothing much was actually happening other than that person needing some air. On the contrary, if she went after that person, she would be able to catch up with her and bring her back to camp without any problems. Touchwood, if they got lost, there would be a responsible adult with that student.

Relying on her instinct as a teacher she chose the latter option. Picking up her torchlight, she quietly followed the figure into the woods. 

A/N: Don't forget to R&R and vote if you like the story!

PS. the cheers and lingos have actually been used in schools. you can PM if you wanna find out more!