Note - Don't confuse between Nikhil Ragini's cousin. And Nikkhil Sood, another character.

Moving on... 💃💃💃

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Chapter 13 - Closer to the Truth

"Ugh! I have to face Sanskar again!"

"Usually, people seek an opportunity to meet Sanskar. But you seem different."

Ragini heard a boy speak. She turned to look at him with a questioning look. "And you are?"

"Hi. I'm Ricky. Ricky Sood."

"Um...hi. I'm Ra-"

"Ragini Gadodia, right?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I've saw you perform that day. You're really good." he praised.

"Thanks." she replied with a smile. "Do you know Sanskar personally?"

Ricky nodded. "I'm a good friend of Mansi. Through her, I became friends with him."

"I see. Could you give this to him please?" she showed him the paper.

"Sorry. Won't be able to do that for you. You see, Sanskar is really secretive about the songs he writes himself. If he finds out that I've seen it before he sang it in public, he might not like it."

"Oh. Then I guess I should go find him."

"Uh...hate to break it to you, but he left some time ago."

"Oh."

Seeing her crestfallen look, he added. "But I could drop you at his home if you want to give it to him."

"Really!?"

Ricky shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"That would be great. Thank you."

#Mount College#

As decided, both Swara and Laksh were practicing together for the fest. Swara was quite impressed by Laksh's dance moves. Laksh too fell further for her listening to her amazing voice.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a voice.

"If you needed an A+ singer for your performance, you should have taken my help Laksh. She can't compete with me."

Laksh glared at the new arrival. "This is none of your business Saara."

"It is my business since I'm offering to be your companion."

"I didn't ask for your help. Besides, you hate Sanskar and I'm his best friend-cum-brother. Why are you offering your help to me?" asked Laksh in curiosity.

Saara smirked, as she already had an excuse ready. "Well, all performances need to be best for my father's reputation. And I don't want you to mess up." She came near him and touched his shoulder "I'm only speaking for what's best for you. She is a low-class material. I can sing far better."

Laksh wanted to argue against it. However, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Swara leave in anger. He gave Saara one last glare and left to catch up to her.

"Swara! Swara, wait!" Laksh grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Leave me Laksh. She's right. For a minute, I forgot my position. She is much better than me." Swara uttered with an angry frown.

Laksh smiled and held both her hands in his. "But I don't want the best to sing for me. I only want it to be you."

Swara looked up to him to see if he was being his usual flirty self. But she saw sincerity in his eyes and smiled. However, her smile disappeared when a thought struck her.

"We decided our performance after the list was prepared. This means our performance is yet to be entered. What if Saara tells her father to put her name with you in the performance? What then?"

Laksh'e eyes widened. "Oh shit! You're right."

"What now?"

"Don't worry. If the spot is already filled, the Principal can't change it. I'll go to Sanskar right away and put our names together in it."

#With Ragini and Ricky#

Ricky stopped the bike before Sanskar's apartment.

Ragini got off the bike and turned to him with a grateful look. "Thanks again. You can leave now. I will be able to go home on my own."

"Okay Ragini. It was nice meeting you."

"Same here."

"Bye." he gave her one last smile and drove off.

Once Ricky left, Ragini moved towards the gate. However, it was only then that she saw that the gate was locked. 'Me and my luck! How do I give him this now?!'

Suddenly, she got an idea. She opened her bag and took out a notebook. She put the paper inside it, with a part of it sticking out so that Sanskar notices it, and pushed it under the gate.

"There! That should do it." She turned around to leave. However, she heard the sound of a bike in the distance. She turned and her eyes widened.

#With Sanskar#

Sanskar had left early from the college with one of his sponsors. They had called him to sign a new deal. After that, he sat in a nearby cafe to practice. However, every time he closed his eyes to concentrate, he saw Ragini's face. He tried to forget her by thinking about other things. Heck, he even narrated the entire '100 bottles of beer' song up until he reached 1! But he just couldn't get her out of his mind. At last, he decided that he needs rest. That was the only way he would be able to concentrate the next day.

Thinking so, Sanskar left for his home on his bike.

Right then, Sanskar was almost near his apartment and just had to turn at the corner. However, once he reached the corner, he abruptly stopped the bike in shock.

Ragini stood there before his apartment.

'Great! Now, I'm even daydreaming about her? Won't this girl let me in peace even in my thoughts?!' in anger, he got off the bike and rubbed his eyes. He closed his eyes, shook his head and looked again. But the scene in front of him didn't change.

It was indeed Ragini who was standing outside his apartment.

'So, she's here for real? What the heck! How...how did she know where I live!? Is this girl stalking me or something!?' He was about to shout out to her, when from the corner of his eyes, he saw two bikes stop near him. Sanskar sneaked a glance at them and noticed that each bike had two persons on them. All the men had hockey sticks with them. He immediately recognized them.

'These are the guys whom me and Laksh beat up that time at the pub. I'm sure they're here for revenge. I can hold them off, but...' he looked towards Ragini. 'But what about her?'

Sanskar looked at Ragini with gritted teeth. On one hand, she was his rival. On the other hand, he also felt worried for her. 'She is no one to me. I know that. She knows that. But these thugs don't. They are after me, but they might try to use her as leverage. Damn! I can't let her get hurt because of me. *sigh* Does this girl purposefully seek trouble? Every time she ends up in one trouble or another.'

He put his hands in his pockets and whistled as he walked near her, trying to seem nonchalant.

The men got off their bikes and were following him. Noticing this, he quickened his pace and moved forward towards her. 'I can't even shout to her to tell her about them. These guys might start attacking!'

Ragini, on the other hand, was looking at him wide eyed. 'He looks like he's stressed. But he also looks beyond angry. Why is glaring at me?' Ragini gulped. 'I think he believes I'm spying on him. What to do!? What to do?!' she saw Sanskar walk faster towards her. 'Aaaaa! Run Ragini run!' thinking so, she started running the opposite direction.

'What the-? Why is she running! I'm trying to reach her to save her. Stop, damn it!' Sanskar, having no other option, started chasing her.

Seeing this, the four men also started running after Sanskar.

"Hand over the chip, Sanskar!" Ragini heard someone shout. However, she wasn't looking back to know who it was. She was trying to run as fast as her feet could carry her.

However, Sanskar was faster and finally caught up to her. He grabbed her hand, but didn't stop. Instead, he tried to run faster, pulling her along with him. "Don't slow down!"

"What?! I thought you would want me to stop." Ragini replied. 'After all, he wanted to hit me, didn't he?'

"Why wo-" Sanskar was reminded of his earlier confusion. "Why the heck did you start running in the first place!?"

"Because you looked ready to kill me. I value my life, thank you very much!" Ragini shouted back.

"I wasn't...I didn't....ugh! I wasn't going to do anything like that."

Ragini blinked "Oh. Then I ran unnecessarily I guess."

"You think!"

Ragini chuckled. "That a relief." as she noticed their fast pace, she couldn't help but ask. "By the way, we're still running. Why are we running?"

"Because some people are after me and they might harm you too. That's why I was hurrying towards you, you stupid girl!"

Suddenly a bike came and stopped in front of them. It was Laksh.

"Hey Sanskar. Swara and my name ne-" Laksh looked at the two of them. "Eh? Where are you both off too?"

"To save our lives!"

Laksh looked behind them to see four people chasing them. "Hey! You four again! Do you want to get beaten up once more?"

The men, who were confident till now, looked at each other in uncertainty. Sure they could easily take down Sanskar, but they feared to fight Sanskar and Laksh together. They still remember Laksh's hits from last time. They slowly backed off and ran away as fast as they could.

Ragini sighed in relief. "Thanks Laksh. You saved us. They looked really scared of you."

"You're welcome, Ragini. I guess all the martial arts I learned payed off."

"You're really brave. Unlike someone I know." she remarked, looking at Sanskar.

"I'm a singer, not a boxer! Cut me some slack, will ya?"

#After sometime, at Sanskar's Apartment#

Sanskar handed both Ragini and Laksh two cokes and grabbed one himself.

"So, who were those guys?" asked Ragini.

"Meh...just some thugs who hate Sanskar's music."

"Eh? But I heard one of them shout to hand over some chip."

Laksh looked at her confused and then turned to Sanskar in question. "But Sanskar, you told me they hated you for your songs."

Suddenly, the door burst open and a man and woman rushed in. The woman went and hugged Sanskar. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Ragini looked confused, while Laksh looked shocked.

"Who are they?" she questioned.

Laksh slowly spoke, breaking from his shock. "That Mrs. Maheshwari."

"What?! But...but don't they hate Sanskar?"

"That what I want to know as well!" Laksh exclaimed. "Mr and Mrs. Maheshwari? What's all this?" he turned to his best friend. "Sanskar, what's going on?"

Mr and Mrs Maheshwari looked nervous. It was as if they didn't expect Laksh and Ragini to be there. They looked shocked a first to find them there.

Sanskar sighed. "Everything is out in the open I guess." He got up and took out a tiny box from his desk. He opened the box and took out a chip.

"This chip. This is the reason for everything that's been going on."

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To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹