~Her Truth~

"What are you guys talking about? What did Manik do?" I ask, staring right at the
both of them.

Nandini—" Karan starts but I hold a hand up at him.

"No. Tell me. Tell me now. What did Manik do that you hate him so much, Navya?" I put my palm over my forehead and then run my fingers along my hair, still staring at Navya.

"When did you wake up?" Navya asks, baffled.

"Just when you two started screaming at the top of your lungs."

Karan steps forward, "Hey, I didn't scream."

I glare at him and that shuts him up. He takes back his position next to Navya.

"You were eavesdropping?" She looks at me with an accusing look.

It angers me even more. What right does she have to look at me with that look? All they've ever done is lied to me. I am sick of being in the dark about every damn thing now. I don't know why but since the day I have returned, everyone I know has been keeping secrets that somehow link us all at one point or another. First Manik, now Navya. How can I trust any of them when I know they are hiding something from me while they claim to care for me? I can't be okay with this. I am not okay with this. And for far too long I have kept patience but now, now I'm losing it.

"What is it, Navya? Why don't you tell me? Why doesn't anyone ever tells me a single thing?!" I move my eyes to Karan, "You." I point at him. "You didn't tell me what kind of a freaking ghost got into you yesterday." I then look at Navya, "You don't tell me why the hell do you hate Manik?! What did he do to you?" And then I look at nobody in particular, "And Manik!" I throw my hands up. "He doesn't tell me ANYTHING AT ALL!"

"Nandini, he's just—"

"No, Navya. I don't want to hear what a jerk Manik is, I think I already know that! I want to know why you guys won't tell me anything but before that I want to know WHAT you guys won't tell me ever." I look at them one by one, each looking back at me like I'm asking for their kidneys.

"Actually, it's not my story to tell." Karan says. "It's hers." He points at Navya.

"Well, then. Get out." I tell him and look at Navya, "And you, tell me. Tell me whatever you're not telling me about Manik. I want to know what reason do you have to make me hate him."

"You already have enough reasons, Nandini. Any girl in her right state of mind would have left him to rot in a dump."

"Well, then. It's established that I am not in my right state of mind so you might as well tell me why you hate him and put me in my right mind." I say. "So tell me. Tell me now." I pester.

Navya starts, "Nandini, it's something personal to—"

"Oh well, you know what else is personal, Navya? My love life. My private life in which you've poked your nose and traveled all around for quite a while now. I think I wouldn't mind evading yours for this information." I cross my arms across my chest and glare at her.

From the corner of my eye I notice Karan slide backwards.

"Hey!" Navya grabs his arm before he can take another step back, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Getting out?" He shrugs. "She said." he points at me.

"No way am I doing this alone!" Navya's cries.

"You were the one who started this, okay? So you deal with this. She asked me to get out and that is what I will do." Karan looks at me for one second before turning back to Navya, "She looks so damn angry. I don't know what happens when she gets angry but I know what happens when you do—you kill me and she's your sister. So forgive me if I say that I'm too scared to stay back and wait on how this turns out."

Navya glares at him.

Karan turns back to me, "I came here to tell you I'm sorry but I think it can wait."

"You traitor. You're a fake cookie." She growls.

"Yeah. Okay. I don't want to become cookie crumbs, I'm sorry."

"Get out of here!" She tells him and he walks away feeling no regret in leaving at all.

"Is he even sorry?" I stare at Navya, incredulously.

"Oh, yes he is. He is just scared of the look on your face." She says. "You look so angry."

I put my hand on hips, "Oh, so you think I'm angry?" I lift an eyebrow up.

"Well, considering you look a lot less scary usually, I would like to guess, Yeah." She says.

I ignore her comment, "What did Manik do?"

She hesitates a bit. "At least now I know you aren't feverish anymore."

I close my eyes and suck a sharp breath in. "What did Manik do, Navya? Why do you hate him? Why are there so many secrets all around me? Why don't you just tell me what he did—"

"He didn't do anything, Nandini!" She bursts.

"Then why? Why do you hate him." I ask.

"That's exactly why. He didn't do anything. Nothing to stop them. None of them did except one." She stares at me but the look in her eyes is distant. She walks up to me and stands in front of me. "You really wanna know what happened?"

"I just don't want to feel like the pieces to something important are missing." I say.

She looks at me, "Okay then. But you need to calm your ass down. You've shouted so much right now, your vocal cords will tear apart.

To my surprise I smile, "You were shouting too."

"Yeah, but that's okay with me because where it ends for you, it starts for me. My vocal cords are pretty much used to this. And you also want to sit now. This can take a while."

Once we both settle down on my bed, face to face, Navya starts talking.

"Okay so, you need to know, you can't judge me after hearing all this." She says.

"Navya, trust me. I do not judge you for a lot of things that everyone else might judge you for."

She studies me for a while and then shrugs, "Yeah. You're right. Okay so. Last year, when we were all freshers, I met this boy. Arrogant, disastrous, obnoxious but as it always is with bad boys, extremely good-fuckin-lookin. He was all that what a boy is but with good looks and a charming smile. It would have gotten to me straight in the heart if he hadn't tried being a pervert and tried to throw himself on me at the night of freshers party. All those good looks with a personality of a gutter, it can turn anyone with a brain off. So it did to me too and I printed something on his cheek that night." She wiggles her fingers in the air.

"What?" I hiss.

"Yeah, I'm pretty kickass. Got me famous among the lads." She winks.

"Navya—"

"Asbsksy2js, moving on.... So you know how they say, it's fate and shit? Yeah, I believed in that. I mean, I still do but that time it was different. I kept seeing that guy everywhere. He just kept showing up wherever I went. He even got transfered to my class! It was the most frustrating thing ever but what was more infuriating was that he kept apologising to me everytime we met. It was irritating in the beginning but soon it started getting cute. He made it so hard to hate him when he was being the sweetest guy in the whole world. So, eventually, I did forgive him and we.. we started talking. A lot. A hell lot, actually. He would leave his friends, despite my many protests, and sit with me during the breaks. He'd make me laugh with his stupid jokes and being the idiot that I am, I always fell for them."

"So you were love-struck?" I ask, interrupting. "With whom? Was it.. Ma—"

"Ew! NO!" She flaps her hands in the air. "Not him. It was.. It was someone else. Well, it was... It was Aarav." She says and my jaw drops.

Aarav?

AARAV?

WHAT.

"Yeah, I know." Navya says.

I blink, "But I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to. The jaw drop and your facial expressions did the talking all right."

I close my mouth immediately. "I'm sorry.. it's just... he transferred to your class?"

"Well, there's not a lot of rules for you when you're the production of the Principal. Yeah, the evil twins are half his sperms."

"Oh, I didn't know.. But you hate them all so much, Navya.."

"I don't hate them all. In fact, I like Sam. And Ray." She says and I think I see a hint of red on her cheeks. "But the rest of them I hate. Detest." She grinds her teeth.

Looking at her expression I tell her to relax. "Okay, continue."

"Okay, so. Aarav really and truly is a jerk and has always been, but a year ago he was the sweetest guy to me. I mean, I know he was in Manik's little group and all that, but that time I was over my childhood dislike towards Manik. We just never talked but I didn't hate on him like this, ever. Even though that twin bitch of his was mean to me, I still liked Aarav. We started hanging out a lot and you know, a little make out and stuff—God, I want to puke on my last year self. What the hell were you thinking, Navya? But... ugh, we did. I thought, you know, things were great between us and everything was chocolates and roses, Nandini. Not literally but yeah. And as opposed to his current self, Aarav was something else that time. He was, what I thought, a nice guy." Navya laughs, "Ha. That theory went deep down in the drain very soon."

I haven't had much encounters with Aarav but I think I know he's a pervert. Not that he has ever come up to me with any pervy thing, but his look says it all. I wonder why Manik hangs out with a guy that sick.

"What happened next? I don't like Aarav either but Navya, I don't know how Manik is related to this?" I express my confusion.

"Oh, he is. They all are." She looks away from me into the dark sky outside. It's still raining. I can hear the pitter-patter of the tiny droplets. "Well, at least he, his evil twin and Manik are. Sam is a good guy, though I don't know why he sides with that evil Ken with dark hair, that bitchy barbie and her nutjob twin."

"The evil Ken with—who?" I ask, almost laughing.

"Manik. The Evil Ken. Now, who am I kidding? He looks damn fine. I can't deny that. On the outside he's like chocolate truffle. You know you want it, it looks so fuckin good, you can't take your eyes off it, but on the inside, you know it's your death, with CALORIES. And forgive me Nandini, I don't want you to be the barbie to Manik's chocolate truffle evil Ken."

"Navya," I laugh. "Only you can think of such names."

"Yeah, well. It's a talent. Okay shushsush! Do you want to hear the rest of it or not?" I look at her and nod.

"They are bad bad people, Nandini. You just can't see it like I couldn't. You know, the first time Manik talked to me it was because he asked to me to go to the auditorium where he said Aarav was waiting for me. It had been about two months since Aarav and I had been going around in circles. So, at first it felt weird that why wouldn't he just drop me a simple text, you know? But then I.. I got excited thinking that maybe he's got a suprise for me. Ah, I was such a girl then." She rolls her eyes. "But, anyway, I went to the auditorium and the first thing I saw was that there were a bunch of people in there, not a lot, fifteen I think. There was Karan too, I remember I had waved at him. We weren't great friends back then but he was nice to me, always.

"Seeing that crowd there, I got very confused for a second but then, at that exact moment, I saw Aarav get up on the stage. I smiled at him and he smiled back at me. He pointed at the screen behind him and gestured me to watch and just as I started to find a seat for myself the screen lit up and started playing a video. A video of a girl and a boy making out in a shady washroom." I gasp. "And I knew exactly where that shady washroom was and who that guy was because I was girl in the video. It was Aarav."

"Oh, my God. Navya..." I struggle to find words but those are the only syllables that get through my mouth. I don't even know what to say. I never knew this. Oh, poor Navya. I look at her, dumbfound.

"Okay now don't get all that sad and cry face here, I'm over it now." Navya says. "That bastard taped us. He planned this all along and I was stupid not to see it then."

"Navya—" I start but Navya interrupts again.

"Yeah so, that was what happened and I had all eyes on me. Okay, not all but half the eyes of the people in the audience on me. Their one eye was on the screen which was showcasing how fast my clothes get undone. Then suddenly the screen went blank before anything other than kissing could happen. That lot in that room starting booing. Now, I am over it but in that moment, I was pretty shaken to even move. It was like I wanted to run away but my feet won't start. I just kept staring at the blank screen, crying silently when I felt a hand over my shoulders and I turned to find Karan there. He wrapped his arms around me and I just melted in his arms, crying all the way without a sound.

Aarav, who was still on the stage shouted out loud, "PARTY'S OVER! GET OUT EVERYONE!" It was a loud roar and then the people started dismissing. You can't really ignore the orders of the princy's son. But I just stood there, frozen, tears falling down from my eyes. The only thing that kept me from crashing to the ground were Karan's arms around me. And then came Reyaan and Sam. They ran on the stage from the far corner of the room. While Sam just blasted off on Aarav, Ray literally had him by the collar, asking him why he did what he did. But that one cocky bastard, he kept smiling at his friends. I saw him smile, I heard him laugh and the blood in my veins went cold, ice. Karan too started to go to him but I held onto his jacket so tight that he couldn't move an inch. I couldn't have let him, I would have collapsed right there. I don't know why I didn't though. I mean, even after what I saw, and that bone-chilling wicked smile of Aarav, it made me want to crumble on the ground, or wake up from whatever nightmare I was trapped in.

"Now you know what you get when you mess with the owner of this college, Navya." He said, standing three feet away from me. Ray and Sam had held him back when Karan told them to keep him away from me. "You punched me that night, remember?" He was talking about the freshers night. "So this is my gift to you. Consider us even now, bitch." He spat and then a hard blow from Ray had him on the ground. And then in no time those guys started blowing punches and kicks at each other. And for once, no one stopped Ray when he beat the hell out of that son of a bitch. And then when that asshole was done having gotten himself beaten to a pulp, you know who stepped up to stop Ray?"

I stare at her in utter silence, not being able to speak even a single word. How? How could someone be this cruel? How can someone do this to a person? A girl?

"Okay, Nandini. If you're gonna take that long to guess.. It was Manik." She smiles a wicked, sarcastic smile when my eyes bulge wide. "Yes, your dear beloved Manik Malhotra. You want to know why I hate him so much? This is why. The entire time this was happening, Nandini, that bastard was standing there, in a corner, doing nothing! He even stopped Ray and when Sam protested, he shut him up too! He took that sick scum by the collar and helped him out of the auditorium. He did all that when I was humiliated by the person who he was taking care of. Your best friend, the guy I have known for over a decade of my life even though we weren't on good terms, the guy who you've held onto, Nandini.

Manik is this.

He is that kind of a guy.

He doesn't care or respect any damn person in this entire world. I don't know where you guys stand right now or if you talk or not but I know that you are lying when you say you are over him. I can read it in your eyes. You.. You love him, Nandini. You always have. And maybe the person you fell in love with was someone good and with a clean heart but this guy, this guy is not the same. He isn't the same, Nandini. You have to know this. He was the one who sent me to the auditorium. He was the one who kept standing in a corner when all this was happening to me. Until then I never thought I had any expectations out of him but in that moment, I wish he had done something. I felt so vulnerable at that time that I even wished Manik, the guy who I have been at a tiff since second grade, did something. But he didn't. Instead he took his friend and left."

"Manik did that?" I barely know what to believe and what not to believe. I know Navya wouldn't ever lie about such a thing but what I don't know is would Manik?

Would Manik lie about all those things he said? Would the Manik I know ever breathe a lie to me?

But, what if he isn't the Manik I know.

I am not the same person, Nandini.

He said it himself. He said he wasn't the same person anymore. That he changed. That he wasn't sure if I would ever accept this change if I knew what it was.

"Nandini, he did that. I wouldn't lie—"

"No. No, Navya. I know you wouldn't lie. I just—" I am not the same person, Nandini. Manik's words keep colliding with my brain walls. "—I can't believe all this had happened to you and you never breathed a word. Navya, I am so so sorry." I say, keeping the thoughts related to Manik at bay.

"Nandini, I don't need a sorry. I don't even need sympathy. I've had loads back then and I didn't want it then either. Somehow this news didn't spread like I thought it would and I thank whatever incredible force was behind this but it just seemed weird. No one breathed a word about what happened in that room to anyone. You know, I was prepared to be called a slut, a whore or whatever names people had for me when I walked down the corridors of the college after this incident but no one said a thing to me. Sure I did catch a couple eyes on me but the minute I saw them, they looked away. It was like nothing ever happened.

"I wasn't always this cool, Nandini. I was a scaredy cat when I first came to this college. Like everyone else I was expecting some fun, something exciting, something new. And I did get something new, but just not quite exciting. It was rather depressing. So I decided to change, to become stronger than being a wuss. I changed completely. I became open, rather than closing in on myself and others. It took some time but Karan was there with me. He helped me change, become stronger. And now I can stand in front of those bastards without getting scared."

"But Navya—"

"No, Nandini. I truly have moved passed this. No rumours in the corridors helped a lot to let this thing slide. Although whenever I crossed paths with those shits, I did feel giddy and sick but like I said, I had Karan. That's the reason I keep on insisting you to leave that jackass and just.. Focus on something that is actually good. Karan is good, Nandini. He is smart, funny, supportive, caring, and mamma mia he has the looks too." She winks at me.

Wow. Navya really is strong. She's so strong that she can take anyone who tries to clip her wings, down and come out a winner. I have this new found respect for Navya.

"You're amazing. You should know that." I say.

"Duh. I know that." She shrugs. "So now that you know everything, I'm sure you won't mind me slipping out of here and going back to finish my assignments. Karan dropped another group assignment for me to do alone. Yeah, well. He isn't that smart after all." Navya laughs.

"Yeah, you can go if you want." I say.

"Okay." Navya stands up from her place and gets down on the floor. She slips her feet in her slippers and turns to face the door.

"Uh, Navya." I say and she stops walking. She turns around to face me when I walk to her and without her knowledge, I grab her shoulders, pressing herself to me and wrap my arms around her.

"You really are strong, Navya."

"Can... not... breathe.. Need.. air... Nandini." Navya says as I hug her tight.

"Oh," I back away, "I'm sorry. I just... You're amazing, Navya. The way you've held yourself up after all this, I—"

"Nandini," Navya places both her hands on my shoulders, "I don't want you to tell me how amazing I am, I know that already. I just want you to see what I'm trying to show you. I told you all of this but only because it helps you make a decision about Manik. Think, Nandini. Think."

I look at her not knowing what to say. Navya removes her hands from my shoulders, gives me a warm smile before leaving my room. She closes the door behind her quietly and leaves me alone with my thoughts.

Manik.

I can't believe Manik would let that happen to Navya, or any girl for that matter. Manik was always the one to come to my rescue when I needed him and I always thought he'd be a great guy when he grows up, even better than he was at eight. I always thought he'd be the knight in shining armour for the damsels in distress but I never expected this out of him.

-----

EARLY UPDATEEEE! YIPPE.

I know, I know. Two chapters down and no Manik. But don't ya worry. Next chapter is MaNan!

Stay glued people!

{IMPORTANT 👇}

An amazing idea is swirling in brain for a new story but you've gotta tell me do you still want it to be MaNan? I am not going to include Navya or any other characters if it's MaNan and I really want a new image for Nandini.. I could keep the names but I want different faces, at least for Nandini. Or do you want me to take new names? I'll be getting on it in a bit. So help me out on this.

Please ignore the typos.

Do like and comment.

XOXO 💋