As Roshni dragged me, everything went into slow motion and I was moving reluctantly amongst the raging crowds.

All except Sidd.

He was slinking down the stairs with a can glued to his lips, leaning on the stair case rail for support.

"Reeeem...." he cried, in his drunk, broke voice.

I didn't dare to answer. Instead I just faced my head forwards and continued running to the emergency field.

There was pin-drop silence as we all lined up on the field in utter quietness.

"NOT A WORD!" Professor Smith cried.

"SHUT UP!" Another professor screamed.

Sidd was no where to be seen.

Although there wasn't an emergency, why was I caring so much about him? And even if there was, why would it bother me?

My mind was playing tricks and the cold air seeped through the stitches in my clothes and a chill shivered up my spine.

"Roshni, I don't th....."

"QUIET YOUNG LADY!" A teacher glared into my eyes.

I shut my mouth in embarrassment as I realized my voice had been loud enough for the next row of students to hear.

The safety bell went and the signal to go back into the class had been shown.

"Phew, that was close!" Roshni sighed with a smile on her face.

I smiled reluctantly.

"Are you sure we won't get into trouble for this?"

"Naaa, don't worry!"

"Everyone's been called to the board room." A girl walked past and told us.

"Look, I....."

We went into the board room in strict silence and lowered our gaze from the furious looking teachers.

"Whatever has happened today is really very shameful...." The head professor spoke.

"Students have created a false alarm on purpose for a reason we don't know, but these students will certainly get a severe punishment for which we have already applied."

Me and Roshni exchange equally nervous glances as this meant they had found out it was a false alarm.

I gulped.

"This is a very serious case, so we have contacted the police's investigation department."

I felt heat flushing around my face.

"Finger print detection will be used to expel the pupil who is found guilty of this event." Gossiping rose amongst the crowd.

"QUIET! The investigation department will be here at 4:35pm, accurately. Please arrive promptly."

The crowd was let out into usual classes and the same discussion went on till lunchtime.

Me and Roshni got our books out of our lockers and didn't speak because of fright.

"What if they find out it was you who broke the alarm Roshni?"

Roshni sighed but covered it up with a smile.

"Don't worry, they won't."

"Police, Roshni....they're much more powerful than us."

"We can't change the past. No use worrying about it now." She clasped my hand in hers.

I wasn't convinced.

We went to our dorms and sat in silence for a while, but realized it wasn't doing us any good.

"Why don't you eat something?" Roshni offered a bite of a sandwich she made.

"I'm good."

I shook my head with a faint smile.

"Roshni it's 4:30! We should get going to the board room for the investigators."

"Can't we just make up some excuse or something?" She seemed slightly reluctant now.

"They have a register." I said, running out of breath to complete the sentence.

She sighed. "Let's go, I mean - it can't be that bad."

I looked at her.

"Can it?" She shrugged.

❤

Queues and queues of students flowed till right outside the doors of the large board rooms, all waiting to apply their finger prints on the machine.

We slipped into the middle quickly and hoped it would be over soon.

Roshni put a plaster on her hand, pretending to have cut it.

"Good idea!" I whispered to her.

Maybe it wasn't that bad after all.

I stood vertically against the small machine and looked at it nervously?

"What's the matter young lady? Come on! Chop chop! We don't have all day!" An investigator sitting at the desk awoke me from my trance.

I carefully placed my finger on the scanner and blinked.

The green light showed up and made my nausea vanish.

I sighed in relief as I walked away and waited nearby for Roshni's to finish.

Roshni casually placed her finger on the scanner, chewing gum and there was a sudden beep and chaos started forming in the room.

"FOUND HER! SHE IS THE CULPRIT!" The investigator stood up and brought the headmaster quickly.

I sprinted towards Roshni but the professor blocked my way.

Roshni stood like a little girl in the center, flushing a dark red in her cheeks.

"Miss Walia, I did not expect this from you." The shaky voice said.

Roshni's eyes couldn't meet mine as she was being told off and I was helpless.

The urge to go up to the professor and admit we were both involved really did spark in me, but what could I do?

"You shall not be graduated in this university. You are expelled from today; we no longer take responsibility for your education."

My ears went deaf and the sides of my vision blurred out like rain drops settling themselves around an opaque glisten in my eyes.

My legs went shaky, and I found myself shivering.

I saw Roshni's hesitant face stiffen up in embarrassment as the whole crowd whispered amongst themselves and I almost pictured Jannat giggling with Vishal.

"What's wrong Professor?" Tunisha came up in surprise. She was his favorite.

"Your friend has broken the obligations."

"She's not my friend." Roshni blurted out.

Roshni this is not the time to deal with your enmity with her! Gosh when will she understand?

I rolled my eyes and felt like smacking someone, preferably someone near me.....

I felt my world collapsing; life without Roshni, in this uni - aka hell.