One week later

We all have the bad habit of taking something for granted if it is always there. We understand its value only when it's gone. This rule applies to people too. Relationships are really fragile and it takes a lot of work to maintain them. They only become strong if we want them too.

I tried hard to wrap my head around with all the stuff going around me. I was okay with people avoiding me. I was kind of used to it but one thing I couldn't tolerate was my friends getting neglected when they had done nothing wrong.

Parth and Surbhi were doing their best to protect me from other students who never got tired of making remarks on me and from our other friends who felt repulsified even at the thought of being in the same room as me.

Basically, there were two groups of people formed now. Sandhya-phobic and Sandhya-phile. The people who fell under Sandhya-phobic category were Nikhil, Shree, Karthik, Ayush, Mahek, Tanya, Divya and Rashi.

Sandhya-phile had Surbhi, Parth, Shreyas, Rajeev and Mayank. Huge difference but I had nothing to complain about. At least I had them as support or else for all the trouble I had caused, I wouldn't expect anyone to be on my side.

As for Ved, I didn't know where to put that guy. He confused me a lot. Sometimes, he would act like I was the first person he would shoot if he was given a chance and other times, he acted like he was really worried about me.

But from my personal experience, I could easily rule out the second possibility. He wasn't concerned about me. He was just distracting me so that I didn't make any more mess and was only protecting his friends.

Talking about friends, it had been one week and I was not happy with the ongoing situation at all. My best friends, Parth and Surbhi were suffering along with me and it really hurt to see them get maltreated just because of me.

Was there no way to solve this problem? Were Tanya and others planning to ignore us for the rest of our lives?

I sighed and when I looked around me, I noticed that I had come to the old garden behind Dean's office. It was Mayank and Rajeev's spot. I made myself comfortable and sat down on the floor. I took out a Perk from my bag and began eating it.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I couldn't even enjoy the taste of the chocolate bar. No matter how hard I tried to find a solution, I always met with a dead end. I felt so helpless.

I put my head between my knees and controlled myself from getting up and kicking something. I was really mad at myself. Only if I had followed Ved's warning, I wouldn't be sitting here and feeling so down.

"What are you doing here all alone?"

I looked up and saw Ayush staring back at me with a raised eyebrow. When I didn't say anything, he repeated his question and I told him that I was just spending some 'Me time' by myself.

He rolled his eyes and sat beside me, to my left. I was surprised but I didn't show it. He always avoided me so I wondered why he himself was sitting with me. Did he forget who I was?

"Where are your friends?" he asked and kept his bag to the side.

"They are in their classes," I replied.

"I am not talking about Parth and Surbhi," he said.

I tilted my head in confusion but my eyes widened in realisation when I replayed his words in my mind. He was being sarcastic. He smirked at my reaction and I averted my gaze.

"I am happy that you really think about your friends a lot, Sandhya but I doubt if that is really necessary," he said as he picked up a small rock from the ground and examined it.

"I know what you are talking about." I sighed.

"I was absent but I know everything that happened. You really amaze me sometimes."

I looked at him in shock when he said that. Was he complimenting me?

"I really admire your guts," he said slowly and looked at me, "but I hate them too."

No, Sandhya. He is not complimenting you. Not even in your dreams.

"Why do you always create so much trouble? Don't you get tired? In simple words, can't you just mind your own business?" he asked and I was taken aback by his tone.

"I mean, I understand you like to poke your nose everywhere and prove yourself a hero but you know how annoying that is?" He motioned with his hands.

"Why are you telling me all this? Is this some kind of rant session?" I questioned back.

He gave me a dead look. "You can think like that but as your ex-friend, I am just here to clear some of your misconceptions. And no, don't think I am doing this because I care about you or want to help you. I am just here for Parth who is my friend incase you forgot."

I nodded and tried to ignore the part where he said he didn't care about me. I had higher levels of ignorance and I had become immune to all the bad things that were being said about me nowadays but I was never able to ignore Ayush's words. No matter what he said.

"World is a really small space. What were the chances that we would meet again in college? Though I am not happy about it," he confessed.

Okay, now I will cry if he didn't stop.

"Moreover, you are in my class and friends with my friends. What kind of bad luck do I have? You remember the first day we met?" he questioned.

"Yeah. I remember it clearly. I was really happy to see you." I fidgeted with my hands.

"I wasn't."

I pouted at his reply. I knew he wasn't glad to see me but him telling me this himself didn't feel good. I knew Ayush was a quiet and introverted guy but he would say everything without a filter. He was blunt and didn't care what the other person thought about his words. He was a straightforward guy.

And unfortunately, I was not in his good books.

"I hate you Sandhya. I didn't know that in my life, I would hate someone as much as I hate you." He threw the stone he was playing with on the ground and picked another one.

I scooted away a bit from him. "But why do you hate me?"

He clenched his hands tightly and snapped his eyes at me.

"You really want to know?" he asked and I nodded.

"But I am not telling you." He laughed at my baffled reaction.

"Do you regret being friends with me when we were kids?" I asked with caution.

I had the full freedom to leave and carry on with my day but it was like my body was stuck to the spot and I really wanted to know what Ayush thought about me. Even if it was all bad.

"Me regretting being your friend? Do I really need to answer that?" He shook his head.

So, he did regret it.

"Sandhya, do you know the meaning of 'No'?"

"Yes, I do."

"You do? Wow. That's great. Start applying that in your life too. You always want to be friends with everyone but you don't realise that they don't share the same definition of friendship as you. You can't force someone to be with you and then label them as your friend."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I saw Ayush get angry and vexed. All because of me. I couldn't help but compare his carefree face to the one he was making right now.

He had so much frustration bottled up inside him, that it was scary. He was sharing his personal thoughts with me and I didn't want to disturb him. I felt more tears coming out and Ayush noticed that.

"Aw. Did I make you cry?" He chuckled. "Well, can't help it. Someone has to speak the truth."

"I am sorry, Ayush."

"What are you sorry for? It is no use when the damage is already done. But whatever, let's talk about you. I have realised that in order to help my friend, I would need to make you understand some basic things. Are you ready?"

"Go ahead," I replied and wiped my tears. I was prepared for whatever he had to say.

"You can't take people for granted because they are people. Human beings who have their own thoughts and views. So, you should let people go who don't want to stay but sometimes, you need to leave first.

"You are not a hero, Sandhya, you never were and stop acting like one for goodness' sake. Your help has never turned out useful and the care you show towards others looks nothing but fake and unnecessary. You know how overbearing you are? Always trying to be the leader and acting like you know everything."

He paused and examined my face. I was staring at him blankly and my face was wet with fresh streams of tears which were falling like there was no tomorrow.

Ayush didn't hate me. He loathed me.

He stared at me for a few seconds and then continued after he adjusted his specs.

"As a result of your nonsensical actions, your friends are suffering. I believe Ved had already warned you but I knew you wouldn't listen. And bingo! You proved me right. But what to do now? Someone has to clear the mess, right? Who do you think has to do that?

"You are right. It is Ved. Everytime you make a fucking mistake, he has to correct it. He had just asked you a simple thing but he forgot how fucking stupid you are. Do you remember what he had asked you for?"

I nodded. "To stay aw-away from his frie-friends."

"Did you do that?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Why didn't you?"

I had no reply for his question. I just looked down at my hands and felt like I was the worst person alive.

"Sandhya, listen to me carefully. I am not saying this just for the sake of making you feel bad about yourself. It is the truth. You want to be friends with others but others don't want to. You still force your friendship on them and when they had finally accepted it-which is against their wishes to be honest-you create a blunder.

"And who gets hurt in the whole process? Those friends. So, it is high time you understood where you stand and what others think about you. As for your best friend Surbhi, I am sure she is just stuck with babysitting you and now Parth also has to do it.

"So for once instead of just thinking about yourself, think about your friends too. They are suffering because of you and it is clearly visible that they are caught up with you. Do you think Surbhi and Parth feel good when they fight with others for you and get ignored in the end? They are doing that because they have no choice. They are stuck with you."

I knew my eyes were red by now. I felt really bad for taking my friends for granted. I was really glad for their support but I never realised that they wouldn't have to do it if they were not my friends in the first place.

Basically, anyone who was affiliated with me would suffer no matter where I went. I was nothing but a walking omen who would ruin everything I came in contact with.

"By your expressions, I realise that my words are making sense to you. Do you understand what I am trying to say?" Ayush asked and I nodded.

"Good. I believe you will think about your actions properly. If not for yourself atleast think about your friends. And one more thing before I forget. You can solve this matter easily and avoid more problem in the future," he suggested.

"What can I do?"

"Just apologize to the people you hurt," he stated plainly.

"What?! You are telling me to say sorry to them when I haven't done anything wrong?" I asked in bewilderment.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. He drank some water and after staring at the ground in front of him for few minutes, he spoke up.

"I knew you would react like that. I know how much of a big ego you have but it is not always about you, Sandhya. Look at the bigger picture. If you will apologise for your mistakes, your friends won't have to bear your load anymore.

"But do that only if you really care about them. Which you do, right? Or were you just acting all this time?"

I absorbed his words like a sponge and replayed them on loop. I would never apologize for something I didn't do but what Ayush said wasn't wrong either. If I was indeed right all the time, then all of this ruckus would not have happened.

Moreover, was I that selfish and egoistic to just ignore my friends' misery just because I could not owe up to my mistakes?

"Oh look at the time! I didn't realise it was time for my lecture," Ayush exclaimed and got up from his spot.

"Bye Sandhya. Hope you remember what I said." He threw me a last glance and left for his class without waiting for my reply.

I just sat there and stared at his retreating form. He never spared me a glance and today, he himself talked to me for over an hour. I didn't know why but I felt a little good that he talked to me.

I know I am so weird. I was crying and smiling too.

Crying because I finally got to know how much he hated me and smiling because he helped me to know why I always messed up things. The main problem was me. It had always been like that. I was the only one who could not see it.

I wiped away my tears but when they wouldn't stop, I just let them flow freely. I sat there and took my time to dissect every incident that had happened since I joined this college and some from my childhood.

I always thought that I was the hero and Ved was the villain of my story. But it wasn't so and I was stupid enough to believe that whatever I did was right. I wasn't the wisest as I had made myself believe since I was a kid.

Ayush gave me a harsh reality check and I didn't blame him; he had a very good personal experience. I wondered if he had so many things to say about me, then Ved would have a whole castle filled of complaints against me.

My ex-best friend decided to spend some time with me and helped me to understand where I was going wrong and he expected me to make everything alright by myself this time. I would not disappoint him.

I would keep my ego aside for a while and finally do something valuable for my friends. It was time to return my favour to Parth and Surbhi for always being there for me and having my back everytime.

And yes, I will not take anyone for granted from now on. I will leave first before anyone else.