[Flashback]

It doesn't rain but it pours. Aarushi had never really thought about this saying until it befell upon her. On one hand, when her family life was degrading day by day; her social life presented no signs of improvement. Ever since the false buzz of her having a crush on Ajay had spread throughout the campus, she hadn't seen a single day without being tattled on behind back or without a girl or two giving her deadly stares for some mysterious hidden reason.

Ajay had cut down interaction with her and she too was satisfied with their current relationship, eventually the gossip would die down once people don't find any more instances to spread false predictions. But still the feeling of uneasiness, frustration and inferiority would build up inside her heart whenever she would hear some baseless gossips.

What she didn't know was that, it wasn't even half of what awaited her. She had two free periods at the end of that day. Aarushi hadn't really thought about how she was going to spend her leisure time. Juhi had her lessons so hanging out with her was out of the list of possible options. Library too was closed down for some repair work. That left her with the only option to hang out in class with others; the only problem left was that her classmates never really accepted her as friend without being judgmental or overly pretentious. As a result, it was quite surprising when one of the girls voluntarily took a seat beside her.

Aarushi had never really got a chance to interact with her; the most she knew was her name and roll count. Divya Raichandani, roll number 13. So her taking a seat beside Aarushi, was nothing less than an uninvited surprise.

'Hello', she said sweetly. Aarushi passed her a smile. Though she was being skeptical of her presence, it would be rude to let her realize that. 'Why are you alone here?', she asked with a perfectly friendly smile.

'It's nothing... I was just reading this book', Aarushi replied. She couldn't explain the strange uneasy feeling enveloping her heart as she talked with this girl. She hadn't done or said anything out of the line, but still Aarushi couldn't shake off the weird feeling.

'You are always reading, aren't you?', she continued. Aarushi wondered if she imagined momentary flicker of something like envy or hostility in her eyes as she eyed her book. Her instincts grew more powerful making her wanting to end this conversation as quickly as possible. Aarushi smiled politely before returning back to reading.

'Why don't you join us for a game?', Divya said. Something was definitely off here or why else would any of them bother inviting her for some game. 'I can't, I have got to complete some work before the school gets over', Aarushi quickly excused herself. Her senses were tingling with an unusual fright but she couldn't understand why.

'C'mon, you can be a topper without even studying, join us for just one game. Don't tell me you don't trust us', Divya pressed upon the topic. Aarushi so wanted to deny but it would damage her already fragile relations with other girls of her batch. She hesitated deliberating over the best answer, at the end she decided to give in to her request. It was just one game, what bad could happen in just a few minutes.

'Fine, I'm in', she said. Divya smiled sweetly before bringing her over to neighboring classroom where her other three friends were already sitting in a round circle. Aarushi got herself a seat and greeted everyone with polite smiles; of course no one here was completely unfamiliar but still somewhere in the back of her head she wished she wasn't here.

'Ok, so it's a game of truth and dare, you know the rules right', Divya said eyeing the other people. All of them nodded in positive. Aarushi had played the game quite a few times with other people; she was relieved when she heard the familiar name.

Divya spun the bottle and it paused between Aarushi and a tall and rather good looking girl with light skin and brown highlighted hair. Aarushi reckoned her to be Vaani Saxena, the outdoorsy beauty who was probably in a relationship with Ajay's best friend Viraj, or that's what Aarushi had heard.

'What a coincidence... so truth or dare?', Vaani asked her with a smile that only powered Aarushi's cryptic feelings. 'Truth', she finally said.

'Ok... so my question is... Since when did you like Ajay?'

At that moment Aarushi hated that silly smile on Vaani's face and even more she hated her for asking the question she had gone tired of answering and explaining for over a hundred times.

'I've already said, I don't like him; not now, not ever', Aarushi shortly answered. 'We all are your friends here right? No need to lie to us', Vaani tried again.

'I have got nothing to lie for, you should probably stop believing those baseless rumors', Aarushi retaliated slightly brash. No matter how badly she wanted to tell them off she couldn't lose her temper and create unnecessary scene, besides gossip would be dissolved eventually so arguing over it would do her no good.

'Drop that façade now, we all knows how close you two are... Tell us did you both really kiss?', one of the other girls interjected.

Aarushi's eyes widened with shock and fury. What kind of outrageous question was it? What did they take her for or what did they take him for to put up such insane statements? Aarushi stared at them, too vexed up to speak.

'Can't you be a little braver... refusing your one sided crush while continuously flirting with him, make you nothing but a selfish coquette you know', a girl, probably called Kritika said.

'I said I don't like him. We are just simple classmates', Aarushi spoke through clenched teeth. Flirting? Coquette? Selfish? What were they even thinking? She could feel anger boiling inside her but the panicky feeling was overpowering her frustration. She can feel her throat drying up as she worked through her replies.

'Classmates?', Vaani scoffed. 'His behavior towards you is nothing near to a classmate and your response is nothing less; why can't you just admit your one sided crush? Divya and Kritika too like him, but they aren't as fickle as you.'

'Stop it Vaani, I can see why she is refusing to admit her crush', Divya cut in. Aarushi can feel her chest tighten up and realization of situation slowly sank upon her.

'So that's why she invited me... she likes Ajay, and for her I am like a snag... Oh no! It's not just a game...', Aarushi's brain felt suffocated at the thought. She had only heard about the incidences of being constrained, she never thought she would one day fall victim to one of that, that too because of some stupid rumor.

'She knows her place pretty well, doesn't she?', Divya's eyes were full of malicious envy as she said those words. 'Batch topper, flawless student, teacher's pet... But still a failure at wooing someone... You know what, I pity you... Even after everything you do, you can never get worthy of Ajay. He won't even spare a glance at a stout fiery bookworm like you. No outstanding features, no notable talents what makes you think he'll like you, huh? I like him, can you stop frolicking around him? For him, you are nothing more than a piece he'll cherish as long as it is useful for him; as long as you have your intelligence you have Ajay around you. Lose it and he'll dump you like trash.'

Tears stung Aarushi's eyes. No she won't cry, she won't cry in front of these worthless bitches! She knew she wasn't attractive or perfect, but what gave them the right to judge or comment; what gave them the right to decide what she was to him. It was outrageous, it was immoral, and it was completely heartbreaking!

'She is right, stop your fruitless floundering. It's our wise advice. It would just make you look capricious if you be all over him without even liking him,' cause he for sure will never like you back no matter how many illusions he creates', Vaani said pretentiously. The suffocating feeling tightened Aarushi's throat and chest; she can hear her breathing coming through ragged as her vision was blurred out. She couldn't stay here, not a moment longer. These girls had attacked her most vulnerable and sensitive point.

'I-I should go now', Aarushi ran out of the class without waiting for a reply. She didn't see where she was going, she just wanted go, far away. Away from all this nonsense; her life was already messed up, she cannot deal with this now.

'Aarushi', a familiar voice with power to light up the darkest nights called out to her. Her brain had lost its power of analyzing or thinking, leaving itself completely in the control of heart. She didn't know how or why, but at that moment, her heart instructed her just one thing; with him around she was safe, away from all the evils haunting her, away from all the troubles. If she can trust someone, it would be no one better than Ajay.

'What's the matter?', he took a step closer to her. Aarushi didn't look him in the eye, but concern was evident in his voice. 'Divya... Vaani... they... they...', Aarushi struggled to keep her voice from cracking down.

'First of all take a seat and calm down', Ajay instructed. Aarushi followed his words seating herself on nearest stone bench, she felt him sitting close to her maintaining his respectable distance. 'Now don't panic and tell me what happened', he said as calmly as before.

'Divya... she asked me out for some game, Vaani and her friends were there, they-they...', her voice became croaky, she just couldn't bring herself to repeat what they just said. It was too mean and depressing to even think about it.

'Aarushi... Calm down, nothing will happen now, I am here; just tell me what's exactly wrong', he said in a soothing voice. Can simple words wash over all your fears? Yes they can do, conditioned that they come from the right person. And for Aarushi, they did that job pretty efficiently.

'They were mean, very mean. They said hurtful things, don't ask me what, it hurts me to even think about it. They believe that bloody rumor, I can't deal with all this; I really can't. It's just too... too... depressing', she vented out, never turning to look him in the eye. What followed were minutes of silence.

'Don't worry, I'll deal with it', Ajay finally said. Aarushi's head snapped towards him. When she said she can't deal with everything that didn't mean she wanted him to entangle himself in this mess. He already has false strings attached with his name; reacting towards any gossip would only mean he would invite a couple more of them. It was tough on her, it would be way tougher on him and she wasn't completely oblivious to that fact.

'You are not getting it, are you? You would only end up damaging yourself if you intentionally play with fire. There are numerous gossips airing around which involve your name; you have never acted to them before, doing it now would tarnish you, don't do stupid things', Aarushi said.

'What if I want to?', Ajay retorted with a crooked smile.

'Are you crazy? Divya... she likes you! If you do anything stupid, she'll come at me, like she did this time. Besides, you never know what foul methods they might employ to make you look like defaulter in front of teachers', Aarushi slated without realizing the high pitch her voice had acquired.

'Shh... it's a public place, do you really want everyone to know?', Ajay told her.

'Sorry, but still my statement remains same, you'll get hurt unnecessarily', Aarushi said in a lower volume.

'First thing; it's not unnecessary. Second thing; when I said I'll deal with everything, I'll deal with it, don't worry. You just try and stay out of all this trouble, ignore it as much as possible', the tenacity of his words did convince Aarushi. She was still skeptical, but not as much as before, if he is saying something, he won't say it unless he means it. This once she'll choose to trust his words.

The week following her tragic encounter was a lot quieter, maybe because Aarushi had taken Ajay's advice and successfully tuned out every worthless talk and people. She wasn't exactly over it, but sulking over redundant episodes wasn't what she was planning to do.

That day too, was normal like any other day in her life. As usual, she was absorbed in some fantasy world of her novel when a boy named Darsh came over. Aarushi was on pretty good terms with him owing to the fact that he had his name registered in teacher's good books and could more or less be considered as friendly classmate.

'Can I sit here?', Darsh asked her courteously. Aarushi welcomed him with a broad smile. 'Umm... Aarushi, I have got something to share with you', he continued grabbing the empty bench beside her.

'I am all ears', Aarushi replied carelessly without looking up from her book. If this was again something about some idiotic gossip, she wasn't really interested to waste her time. 'It's about Ajay', Darsh added. The words were enough to catch her full attention. She closed the novel and looked up, careful to hide her eagerness.

'I heard him talking about you... and...'

'And?', Aarushi prompted him to say whatever he was hesitating about. 'Well... It wasn't exactly a pleasant one', Darsh finally finished his sentence. Aarushi stared back wordlessly, had she heard correct? Ajay was talking about her and that was not pleasant, well it was kind of impossibly weird.

'If he said that he is envious of me because of grades and all, I know that', Aarushi said as perplexity housed itself in her mind. What else could he have to talk about her?

'No, it wasn't that simple... I don't know how to tell you... It was just too vile', Darsh said with a sigh.

'Just spill it out; I also wish to see how far he can go', Aarushi said with slight agitation. 'If you say so then I'll say it... I accidentally heard him talking to Viraj and others a few days back; they were discussing something when I heard him say... "Aarushi, she is just a super weird chump; getting top grades doesn't make you likable does it? As for me, isn't it obvious that I approach her for the sake of remaining in her good books; she is a topper after all; you see everyone believes her words without a second thought, besides I can get an easy access to perfect study material without putting in too much effort; so it's wise to have good students in your favor. Other than that, she is a just a fubsy teacher's hog, who would even like to be friends with her, let alone like her"... these were the exact words I heard him say', Darsh concluded without daring to look her in eye.

Icy glaciers froze in her heart. It cannot be true, can it? Ajay... he wasn't someone like that; he couldn't be someone like that! Maybe this was just another made up story, just like many other incidences. Yeah, it must be some misunderstanding, there was no chance this all could be true.

'Y-you must be kidding right? There's no way he'll ever say that', Aarushi said more to herself than to Darsh. 'I swear I am not making up stuff. These are the exact words that I heard him speak', Darsh sounded more cogent than he should. Aarushi didn't want to accept the confidence she was hearing in his voice; the confidence, which was more breaking, more damaging than anything else.

'Aarushi', Juhi's sound came as a savior. Juhi wasn't someone who'll believe in stories without verifying, she'll definitely help her uncover the whole true situation.

'Juhi, did you hear what Darsh just said? He is lying right? Ajay... how can he...', Aarushi lost her words at the look on Juhi's face. Her worst fear shaded her insides.

'I won't tell you to believe what Darsh said... But... Ajay isn't as simple or innocent as you think him to be. This isn't the first time I am hearing such thing about him; besides after knowing him all these years, I can tell you he is someone who might say something like that. I won't accuse him or anything; it's just that he is a two faced hypocrite guy who might be just too selfish at times. I have always been wary of him, I have even tried to tell you multiple times, but you never really pay heed to it, always putting too much trust in him', Juhi's candid response fell like a bucket of ice cold splinters over Aarushi.

First Divya, then Darsh and now Juhi... Can this all just be a nightmare? She desperately hoped that her alarm would go off now, waking her from this torment.

'My words maybe harsh, but believe me, he isn't someone worth your trust. I don't like to play with words, but after what Divya said and what Darsh confessed just now plus the other times I have been with him, I can for sure say that he is a highly pretentious guy and right now, nothing points to the fact that he is completely innocent. I would suggest... stay away from him for the time being, let the things cool down', Juhi wisely said. Her words though fell upon deaf ears.

'Is it really what they all say it is? Is this really how you've always been? Am I just a use and throw object for you? I don't want to believe their words; I don't want to let these words gnaw me... But what if it is true, what if you... you... really turn out to be the double faced loathsome creature they had described to me', Aarushi's thoughts were helpless under the evidence before her. She trusted him, she trusted him more than she trusted her own thoughts, but still she needed his words, his denial, to kill that little skeptical voice inside her head.

'Why did you falsely say that Aarushi likes you, what's the use of even starting this rumor?', Aarushi's head shot up at the sound of her name. A group of three or four boys was crossing a few feet away and one of them was the person she so desperately wanted to see.

Ajay was laughing at the other guy's words. A laugh which made Aarushi's insides goes numb and cold. A laugh which gave a green signal to all the worst assumptions she had miserably desired to deny. A laugh which dropped like a stone on her feelings, her trust, shattering it in million pieces and leaving those broken pieces behind to mock her bleeding wounds etched in the heart of an innocent fifteen year old soul.

'He can still laugh... he can still smile... after all those things he had said... he had done... he was the one who aired these rumors, he was the one who made my life a hell at school... And... and even after everything he did... he had that nerve to fake his humane façade in front of me that day... I can't forgive him, I won't forgive him... I trusted him, I believed him... and that's what I get for my trust, for my belief', the nerve in her temple throbbed dangerously. Furious tears streaked down her cheeks. She won't sit back any longer, he has to answer; he has to pay for every damage his words caused.

Without a second thought, Aarushi charged up to him. He was about to say something to his friend, but the words never got a chance to be heard.

'Ajay Sanghvi', Aarushi thundered, loud enough to make chills run down someone's spine. Ajay turned around, baffled and utterly shocked at the sudden uproar. A crowd had collected around them, but Aarushi couldn't care less about who was listening or who was speculating the scene.

'Who do you think you are? Making up rumors, slandering people! Listen here, I, would never; not in my wildest dream, like someone like you! I trusted you, I cared for you, I denied the whole world just to believe in you; but at the end, what did I get? Freaking betrayal! You called me names, fine. You sprouted rubbish behind my back, fine. You gave air to indecent shams, fine. But why did you break my faith? Why the fucking hell did you play with me? Why did you pretend to care, when you never wanted to? I hate you; I freaking hate you! Don't you ever dare to spit a word about me or I'll let you know what it actually means to malign someone!'

Aarushi stomped away without sparing another glance at him. Tear drops drenched the floor below as she ran back. Somewhere in her mind she heard Juhi's screams following her. But what was the reason for stopping now? She had thought she had found a soul who'll be the source of her never ending delight, never did she realize, he would be the one to thrust her alone in some damp, despairing midnight.

[Flashback ends]

The delirium of New Year eve at NUMS had been extinguished under the peril of ongoing examinations. Every student was confined to their room, wrapped in a cozy quilt as their eyes scanned the thick books of bio chemicals and human body, devouring every bit of those tiny texts.

It wasn't that they weren't aware of the occasion, but apparently, the foreboding of term exams had outweighed the fever of New Year. Inside Aarushi's dorm room, something similar could be seen. Harshita had apparently forgotten about the special night while cramming up all the mind boggling terminologies, and subsequently she jumped a million miles when fireworks suddenly went off at midnight.

'Who the hell is crazy enough to set off crackers at midnight?! Are they summoning devil or what?!', she raved aiming a pillow shot towards their closed balcony.

'Books have climbed into your head right? Did you forget what day it is today?', Aarushi snickered at her million times amplified response. Harshita's nonplussed expression didn't require words to explain, it was obvious she had no idea, but before Aarushi can say something, the door into their room burst open with a loud bang revealing a widely grinning Anjali followed by an equally enthusiastic Suhani.

'Happy New Year!', Anjali's fanatical yell echoed through the corridor as she threw herself on Aarushi wrapping her in a bear sized hug. Aarushi was slightly taken aback at the sudden launch but was quick to regain her composure. She saw Harshita being greeted by Suhani in a much more sophisticated manner.

'You know what; I've been excited for New Year for past whole week, finally it's here!', Anjali gushed, settling herself on the foot of Aarushi's bed.

'Drop it now, we know that Pratyush will be coming over to Delhi for a few days for meeting some client, so it's not the New Year you are excited for right?', Suhani said with a teasing smile. Anjali rubbed the back of her neck turning red.

'So have you wished Garvit?', Harshita cut in wriggling her eyebrows eagerly. 'Yeah yeah, tell them, how you had jumped out into balcony with your phone as soon as the clock struck twelve', Anjali added with a playful snide making Suhani go a shade of magenta.

'If I may interrupt... Why did you ask about Garvit?', Aarushi said. Anjali raised her brow and Harshita dramatically gasped pretending to be horrorstruck by her question. Suhani rolled her eyes at Harshita and Anjali. 'It's believed that, couples who are together on New Year's day will experience electrifying and blooming love for years and years. I cannot be with Garvit but that doesn't mean I cannot be the first person to greet him', she answered. Aarushi nodded musing something.

'Oh... Check out that drawer, Jenny gave me some treats for today I still have a box full for all of you; I'll be right back, there's an urgent message I need to send', saying so she quickly picked her phone and stepped out in balcony closing the door behind her.

If Suhani was right, she ought to wish Ajay before anyone else. But when she opened the chat an unread message was already waiting for her.

Happy New Year

Aarushi smiled as she read the simple text multiple times, her smile only grew wider when she read the time receipt under it; 12 AM. He couldn't be her first wish but maybe she became his first New Year wish. Aarushi typed back her reply deliberating over whether to ask him out for something like a non official casual date.

'If you don't find an opportunity create one', Harshita's previous words echoed in her mind. Aarushi inhaled deeply before implementing her decision.

Are you free this fifth of Jan?

She bit her lower lip, anxiously anticipating the reply. Was it too obvious? Was she being too tenacious? Will he answer it or just ignore it like some random mistakenly sent message?

I think I can spare a few hours. What's up?

Aarushi breathed a relieved sigh. It wasn't a complete refusal at least.

I was planning to pick out a few study materials from bookstore in market, would you like to join in? We can look up some things concerning smart band.

Ok, inform me the timing I'll be there.

Aarushi nearly whooped up in joy. Barely managing to disguise her elation she sent him an ok. What a genius way to ask him out without making him realize. She gave herself an appraising pat on head.

'I have tocompliment my smartness for always giving such infallible ideas. Picking outbooks with my crush, what else could be a more special birthday treat for me',Aarushi thought to herself breaking into a dreamy delightful grin.

A/N:

Sorry for being missing for a long long time! Here comes another update. Writing flashback scene of this update was slightly stressful and difficult. 

Events of bullying are pretty common in high schools. Bullying doesn't only include physical abuse but anything which affects mental or emotional health of a person is also categorized under same category. Most of the times we fail to see the emotional sufferings a person goes through, especially when it comes to teens. 

Such events, leave a deep impact on young victim which could even last for a lifetime. In this chapter, I have tried to highlight such facts. I don't know if correct emotion was efficiently delivered from my words, it would be great if you could leave some feedback!

Happy Reading!