(🚨 Long chapter ahead 🚨)

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I hung my sling bag over my shoulder and took my phone. I checked the time in my watch and it showed 9:07 am. I got out of my room and went downstairs. Mom and dad were sitting on the sofa and were having breakfast while watching a comedy film.

"Bye, mom and dad. I will be back in the evening or maybe in the afternoon," I informed them and they both nodded.

"Take care, kiddo. Call us if you get in any trouble," dad said and I gave him a smile.

"You can take the scooter if you want, I am not taking it anywhere today," he added.

"It's okay, dad. It will be easier if I took the bus as there will be a lot of traffic considering it is Sunday today," I replied. "I should get going or I will be late for the movie."

"Enjoy yourself," mom said and I apologized to her for ditching her today.

I had planned on taking her to the spa and wanted to spend some time with her, but I could't because I was taking Zoya for a movie. Mom told me that we could go some other day and maybe we could ask Nikhil's mom to join us too.

"Thanks, ma. I promise I will take you out later," I said and dad waved me off.

"I am taking her on a date today. Don't worry, we will enjoy ourselves," he said and winked at mom.

She blushed and hit his chest playfully. He gave her a sweet smile and began teasing her more. I laughed at their exchange and left the house after saying goodbye. I reached the bus stop and within seconds, the bus arrived.

I got in and reached my destination after around forty five minutes of driving. I had memorized the route, so I didn't have much trouble finding Faiyaz's house. I rang the bell once I reached there, and a middle-aged woman opened the door.

"Assalamu alaikum, beta. May I know who you are?" she asked in a sweet voice. I assumed she was Faiyaz's mother.

"Walekum assalam, aunty," I returned the greeting. "I am Sandhya, Faiyaz's friend. I came to pick up Zoya for the movie."

She nodded and invited me inside. She called Zoya who was in her room and was getting ready. Aunty told me to sit on the sofa and went in the kitchen to bring me some water.

As I sat in the living room, I observed my surroundings. There was a sofa set on the right side-on which I was currently sitting on, a centre table, and a small LCD TV was hanging on the opposite cream coloured wall. There were some extra chairs which were lying on the left side and a small book shelf occupied the corner.

The house was small but really cozy. I saw some framed pictures on the walls along with some paintings. Everything screamed home and even though I was alone in the room, I didn't feel like it.

Aunty came with a tray in her hands which had a glass of water, apple juice, Pepsi, biscuits, cookies, and kachoris. My mouth watered at the sight. She told me to be comfortable and eat whatever I liked.

"You didn't have to bring all this, aunty. Just water would have been enough," I said politely.

"There is no need to be shy, beta. Think it of as your own home. We are not strangers," she replied. "Faiyaz told me about you and I really wanted to thank you for helping him."

"I don't mind, aunty. He is my friend."

We smiled at each other, and since aunty said that I could eat whatever I wanted, I drank everything and ate most of the cookies and kachoris.

Since I joined the gym, my diet had increased and I got hungry a lot. Fortunately, my weight was increasing too.

"Sandhya didi! How do I look?" Zoya asked as she came in the living room.

She was wearing a long multicolored dress and had left her hair loose. She had done minimal makeup and silver jhumkas (earrings) adorned her ears.

(Zoya's outfit👆)

(Jhumkas👆)

I gave her a thumbs up and she jumped in joy. Her mother shook her head at her and Zoya went back in her room to get her purse.

"I am sorry for the trouble, beta. I tried to talk her out of it, but she is really stubborn," Aunty said.

"It is okay, aunty. It is just a movie and I am sure Faiyaz would have taken her if it wasn't for his job," I replied and she gave me a sad smile.

She didn't say anything else but I could read the unspoken words in her eyes. She knew about Faiyaz and Rashi, and after Rashi's brother found out about their relationship, he must have threatened them to stay away from his sister.

"Let's go!" Zoya said excitedly and I got up from the chair.

After her mom told her to behave herself, we left for the movie. We reached the theatre fifteen minutes before the film started. I showed the tickets to the security guard and after confirming, he let us in. I bought popcorn and tacos for us.

Zoya was really happy and I couldn't help but smile at her. She reminded me of myself. I also loved watching movies and if the movie was of my favourite actor, it had to be the first day, first show.

We took our seats in the theatre room and soon, the movie started. Zoya was smiling like a child and eating popcorn from her tub while I ate tacos and sipped my cold drink.

The movie was a rom-com, and I liked that genre but I preferred action more. In the interval, Zoya clicked some pics on her phone and put it on her social networking sites.

She purposely tagged Faiyaz to annoy him and even sent him the popcorn pictures to show how much she was enjoying herself. Rest of the movie was okayish and we left the theatre when the credits started rolling up.

"I loved it! Thank you, didi. I really wanted to watch that movie," Zoya grabbed my right hand and I smiled back at her.

"I am glad you enjoyed your time. Hungry?" I asked and she nodded enthusiastically.

I took her to McDonalds and grabbed a seat for two. I asked her what she wanted to eat and she told me to buy anything. She hadn't come to this place that often, so she didn't remember all the menu items. I noticed she felt embarrassed at the lack of her knowledge but I patted her head.

"It is okay, Zoya. You don't have to be embarrassed around me," I assured her and she gave a small nod.

I went to place our orders while Zoya sat on the table. She was observing everything around her with awe and I could understand how she was feeling. I also felt the same when I first went to watch a movie with my highschool friends and spent time in Cafe Coffee Day, gossiping till evening.

"Namaste, madam. Your order please," the cashier said and I told her what I wanted to eat.

I paid the bill and went back to my table with 315 numbered receipt in my hand. We received our order after ten minutes and we dug in our food. It was delicious and Zoya said that she would come here again as soon as possible.

We chatted for sometime while eating and I got to know a lot of things about her. Her personal choices, her views about current topics, what she wanted to become in the future and how she was studying hard for her 12th board exams which were just a few months away.

I wished her all the best and during our conversation, we realised that we got hungry again. My stomach growled and Zoya chuckled. When she told me that she was hungry too, we began laughing like idiots. None of us were satisfied with just one burger and French fries.

So, I got up to place one more order while she tried to come out of her laughing fit. This time, I ordered some dessert too. I got my order within seconds and they handed me the tray on the counter itself. I took it, and as I turned around, I collided with someone.

My coke float tumbled and before I could catch it, it spilled on the girl I crashed into. She shrieked and stepped back hastily. She started running her hand on her dress and asked for tissue.

"I am sorry, I didn't see you," I apologized.

"It is okay," she replied in irritated voice which sounded rude to me, but I controlled my temper.

"I am sorry if you got hurt. It was not my intention," I replied a bit sternly this time and she looked at me.

She was really good looking with light blue eyes and tan skin. She pushed her waist length dark brown hair behind her shoulder; the movement making her necklace with a cross shake lightly. She adjusted her white V-neckline short dress which now had a big brown blotch right in the centre-thanks to my cold drink.

(Katherine's outfit👆)

"It is okay," she repeated in a lower voice and I nodded my head.

I began walking away but halted when I saw a very familiar figure run past me and stop in front of that girl. I turned around and my eyes widened in shock.

"Are you okay, baby? How did this happen? Tell me which motherfucker did this, I will beat him to a pulp," the guy said as he held her by her waist and roamed his eyes around.

When his eyes met mine, he blinked rapidly. His face became pale, and he looked like he froze in his spot for a minute. The girl beside him glanced between us and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What are you doing here, bhaiyya?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.

I saw him gulp nervously but he quickly masked it. The white dress girl, who I presumed was his girlfriend asked him if he knew me, and why I was calling him 'bhaiyya'.

"It is nothing, Katherine. You go and clean your dress," he said and tore his gaze away from my face.

I felt my blood boiling and I clutched the tray in my hands tightly. I wanted to smash it on his head so hard, but I started counting in my head to calm myself. Katherine left after throwing me a curious glance and her boyfriend-I mean Rashi's elder brother looked at me with a hard expression.

"Don't you dare tell this to anyone," he said in a low threatening voice, as he tried to intimidate me with his six-foot bulky build.

"Tell who exactly, bhaiyya?" I mocked.

He let out a deep breath and glared at me. He puffed up his chest and towered over me. "Tell this to Rashi and I will crush that boy's bones to ashes."

"I will like to see you try," I challenged.

"Sandhya, I am not joking."

"She was your girlfriend, right?" I referred to Katherine. "Does she know her boyfriend likes to threaten girls?"

His face became red with anger and he took a step towards me. "Keep her out of this. She doesn't know anything."

"Then you keep your hands off Faiyaz and his family," I demanded.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Two can play the game, bhaiyya. Choice is yours. I have nothing to lose here. And one more thing. Rashi does not talk to me anymore. Do you know why?" I asked him in a mocking tone but didn't wait for his reply.

"Because she thinks I am the one who told you about her boyfriend. She respects you a lot and that's why she broke up our friendship since she thinks I backstabbed her," I added.

"Ishaan baby, why are you still standing here?" Katherine interrupted our conversation and came to stand beside Rashi's brother.

Her dress now looked fine and the stain had almost vanished. She told her boyfriend that they should leave and he nodded. He took her hand and after throwing a warning glare at me, he left the place with her.

I huffed and went back to my seat. Zoya was busy on her phone and she asked me why I took so long. I told her I bumped into someone and spoiled that person's dress.

"Oh, so it was you who did that?" She laughed.

"What do you mean?" I asked her confusedly.

"After a few minutes you left to place our orders, I went to the washroom. When I was coming out, I saw a girl struggling to clean her dress. I helped her, and she told me that a girl had spilled her cold drink on her," she explained.

Oh, it was Zoya who helped Katherine.

I didn't go into much detail and changed the topic. After filling our stomachs, we roamed around aimlessly; doing window shopping and buying cosmetics. I dropped her home around 4:30 pm and as I waited for my bus at the bus stop, I received a call from Faiyaz.

I picked it up and he sounded really happy. He thanked me for taking Zoya to the movie and suddenly, I remembered the earlier incident. I wanted to tell him but decided not to. We talked a bit, and then hung up the call.

I pinched my nose bridge as I felt a headache building up. I drank some water and after doing a mini breathing exercise, I crossed my arms across my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the pole behind me.

What kind of bullshit was going on? Ishaan bhaiyya has a girlfriend but he won't allow Rashi to be in a relationship? He was against Faiyaz just because he was a Muslim, but he had no problem with having a Christian girlfriend? Like seriously?

The way he reacted meant that neither Rashi knew about Katherine nor Katherine was aware of her boyfriend's threat. How could he do that? Wasn't he being really selfish and wrong towards his sister?

I gripped my arms tightly and told myself to not get involved in that matter. As long as Faiyaz was safe, I didn't need to worry. I wanted to tell Rashi but judging by my earlier actions' repercussions, I felt it best to keep my mouth shut.

It was their personal matter and had nothing to do with me. I had my own life and my share of problems to deal with.

And as it is, they didn't need me or my help, so why should I worry unnecessarily?

As I was thinking about today's events, my phone buzzed. I checked it and saw the notification of a message from an unknown number. The number which even though wasn't saved in my phone, was efficiently etched in my mind.

I opened the message and read it.

"Waiting for your boyfriend, Sandy Pandy?"

I rolled my eyes but suddenly popped up my head. Was he here? I looked around me and raised my eyebrows when I saw Ved waving at me from the other side of the road.

He was leaning on the side of his car which was an Audi A3. He was clad in a black t-shirt and light grey jeans as his jacket hung around his waist.

How could he look good even in a simple t-shirt? That's unfair.

He typed on his phone and I received another message.

"Got ditched by your boyfriend?"

"Fuck off!" I wanted to reply but instead I typed 'Whatever' and saw him chuckle.

Before I could type another reply, Ved had crossed the road and was sauntering towards me while swirling his car keys around his index finger. He winked when he saw my annoyed expression. I hoped for my bus to arrive soon, but Ved caught me before I could escape.

He sat down beside me and I saw some girls checking him out. I shifted away, but he put his left arm behind my shoulders. My body got stiff but I didn't react. I avoided looking at him and tried to move away.

"Move an inch, and I will hit you," he said and I looked at him in shock.

He was not joking.

Some girls approached him and two of them even recognised him as Ved Rajput. He smiled back at them and when they asked him for a selfie, he politely refused.

Look at him, being so nice to them. He only bullied me though.

The girls glanced at me and I looked at them in confusion. They requested Ved a few more times, but he told them that he didn't like getting his pictures clicked. He gave them his 100 watt smile, and they nodded in understanding.

I narrowed my eyes at him when he lied but looked away before he saw that. Those girls were shooting daggers at me.

Why were they glaring at me? What did I do to them?

They left while mumbling among themselves and shot me scowls. What the hell?

Ved shifted closer and pushed me. I almost fell down. I regained my balance but didn't hit him back. When I didn't react, he nudged me with his elbow. I ignored him. I knew he was trying my patience, but I was prepared too. He just wanted an excuse to drive me mad and hit me later when I would blow off.

He pulled my cheeks and I moved his hands away without using much force. I saw him getting irritated due to my lack of reaction, and I totally enjoyed it. I turned away from him, but I could sense him burning holes in my head.

In my peripheral vision, I saw him moving his hand to hit me on the head but I sprang up from my seat. The bus had arrived and before he could grab me, I ran and jumped in the bus. I stood in the door and looked at him as the bus moved.

He looked so pissed off and I controlled myself from sticking my tongue out at him. I didn't even do anything and still managed to ruin his mood. Well, I didn't need to worry because even if I annoyed him, I actually didn't react to anything. He had nothing against me.

I went inside the bus and took an empty seat. I laughed throughout my ride while remembering Ved's expressions. I didn't understand why he had to always tease me himself and then tell me to stay
away from him and his friends.

He was such an idiot. But not more than Rashi and my other friends who didn't believe me.