A small note. I feel like there are many silent readers who are reading the story but are neither voting nor commenting. I know I cannot force you to vote against your wish because, at times I don't vote for other's work too(am feeling ashamed confessing this). But I have one request. Please don't leave the book in middle. Continue reading till the end. Then come to a conclusion whether you liked or not and post me your opinion. Thankyou.

Writer's POV:

Tanvi was all alone in her room, lying on her bed, feeling nothing. All the emotions she experienced in the morning were suddenly gone, only to be replaced with a strange emptiness, a numbness. She was unable to fathom what she should do next. The call she had placed to Rohan(her crush) was still playing in her mind.

A Few hours before

Why did Sam call Rohan? This question crossed her mind along with so many other doubts.

"Let's call him and ask him," she muttered to herself.

But was terrified. What would she ask him? What he would ask her, and what would she say to him? Why did she call him? So many things had already gone wrong. What could be worse than this? 

She took a deep sigh and dialed his number anyway.

"Hello" the voice from other side greeted her after a few rings. 

All her courage fell behind as soon as she heard his voice. It was not the same voice that she had been listening to and talking to all these days. Tears filled in her eyes, which were ready to leak any moment, but she controlled them very hardly and tried to speak.

"Hello, Rohan. Tanvi here," she said with great difficulty as a huge lump formed in her throat. She was prepared to say all this and introduce herself to the unknown person in yesterday's video call, but look at the fate!

"Hi, Tanvi. How are you?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Good. By the way, Happy birthday," she mumbled, not letting him know about her sniffles.

"Thank you," he said.

"I want to ask you something, Rohan," she said firmly wanting to know what happened. Why she was in this situation? 

"Yeah. Ask me," he said sounding a bit perplexed.

"Did Samyuktha, my friend, talk to you anytime lately?" Now she was no longer crying. Rather she was very intrigued, and there was a grim intonation in her reflection.

"Your friend...that racer?" 

"Yes." she said.

"Yeah, she talked to me. Somewhat like a month before or so ago," he said, remembering the strange call.

"What did she say?" Tanvi asked him. At that time, she and Samyuktha were not talking to each other, so what did she talk to him.

"Well, Tanvi, the conversation was very strange. She asked me whether you were talking to me or did any girl call me saying 'she likes me' and all that." 

What was he saying? Did Sam really say all this to him? How could she? The only person with whom she shared everything had taken advantage of her blind trust in Sam.

"What did you say to her?" she merely whispered. Nothing was coming out from mouth.

"I said I didn't get any such call, and you didn't call me. Then she asked me to inform her if I ever get any such calls or messages, but nothing as such happened. Actually, I wanted to ask you about her, but I forgot. Do you know why she told me all those things?" he asked her.

Tanvi chuckled ruefully when he asked her if she knows anything. Even she was not sure what all happened behind her back. She said, "I don't know, Rohan. Actually, I am unable to understand anything." After gasping audibly, she continued, "I am sorry for everything, Rohan. Bye."

Without waiting for his response, she ended the call. She felt empty. No tears, no anger, no fear and nothing. Only hollowness.

Present.

Tanvi was lying on her bed, doing nothing but staring at the ceiling and pondering over how her life changed within a month.

One month back, she had everything- best friend, crush, enjoyment, happiness, but now she felt like she was deprived of everything.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. At first, she ignored it, but when it rang again. she glanced at her phone and it showed 'Sam'. 

She shut her eyes momentarily to control herself from breaking down and didn't answer the call. What was there left to talk to now? Then she received a message from Samyuktha, asking whether she was at home or not, and she was waiting at her house's entrance.

She didn't know what force drove her, but Tanvi got up from her bed and went to the main door. She felt weak as she hadn't eaten anything since morning. Finally, she opened the door, and there stood Samyuktha, a gold medal around her neck, with full of happiness in her eyes.

She hugged Tanvi the same way she did on the day of farewell, but Tanvi just stood there without any expression, remaining calm, not hugging her back.

"I missed you so much, Tan. Sorry for not talking to you properly," Samyuktha said, still hugging her. 

Tanvi only thought how nice it would have been had she told her everything, at least, instead of going behind her back.

Samyuktha released Tanvi from her embrace and looked at her pale face. She got worried seeing her friend like this and immediately asked, "What happened? You look weak? Are you alright?"

How could I be? Tanvi thought and went inside the house without inviting Sam to come in. 

'Strange,' Samyuktha thought. She could comprehend that something bad had happened that had spoiled her friend's mood. She decided to cheer her up, and followed her, closing the door. She went inside and saw her friend walk into her bedroom. She thought of going behind her but didn't as she saw her coming out, holding her phone.

On the other hand, Tanvi ignored her. She only opened the door and let her in to find out why she did such things to her. She brought her phone and sat on the chair without even sparing a glance at her. 

Samyuktha felt uncomfortable with the situation. So, she changed the topic. "See, Tan I won the tournament," she said with so much excitement, hoping her friend would react. But Tanvi didn't even flinch. She kept digging something on her phone. Samyuktha again continued, "You asked for a party, right? Let's go. Actually, I directly went to school, thinking you would be there, but you weren't. So, I came here. C'mon let's go."

Samyuktha went to grab Tanvi hand, but she pulled her hand back and showed Samyuktha her morning chat with Rohan(the hero Rohan Sarthak, not the crush). 

Samyuktha didn't understood why Tanvi pulled her hand away, and she noticed that Tanvi was giving her the phone. So, she took it and read the conversation.

As soon as she finished perusing through it, she began perspiring out of fear. 'Did she know the truth now? What was she thinking of me? Samyuktha thought. 

Tanvi looked at her, expecting her to open her mouth and say something. Perhaps another lie.

Finally, gathering some courage, Samyuktha spoke up, "Ta...Tan, I can explain. Please hear me out." She told this one sentence with great difficulty as her throat already gone dry. 

Before she could say anything, Tanvi took her phone from her hand and showed her the birthday wish she sent to Rohan, her crush, on Instagram.

No words were coming out of Samyuktha's mouth. Never in her life did she imagine such a situation where she would be standing in front of best friend with guilt. She understood that Tanvi got to know everything. 

Meanwhile, Tanvi was watching her friend without any expressions on her face. Though she could understand that Sam was hell scared because of the current situation, she had no intention of going easy on her.

"Why?" Tanvi asked slowly after taking her phone back. Now, she was not looking at her. She was just waiting for her answer. Samyuktha began sobbing, losing control over herself. She wanted to say everything to Tanvi a few days ago, but many obstacles and misunderstandings aroused between them, and now the situation was not in her hands.

"Tanvi, I will tell everything to you," she said and kneeled in front of Tanvi, so that she could see her friend's pale face. "That day, when we fought, I was so furious on you. Everyone likes you, praises you, even my mom likes you more than me. So, I thought of telling everyone how you are talking anonymously to Rohan. At that moment, I want to slander your character."

"I immediately took his number from our senior. I called Rohan and asked him about you and if he had received any call from a girl saying 'I like you'. He said he didn't receive any such call from you. At first, I didn't understand what was happening. You had said you were talking to someone, while Rohan was saying he hadn't talked to anyone. That meant you got a wrong number. You were talking with some other person with same name."

Tanvi kept looking at Samyuktha with rage filled eyes. 'To slander your character' That line was swirling in her mind. 

Samyuktha was still crying with her head held low. Then she continued again, "When I understood what had happened, I didn't want to tell you. I was blinded by my anger. Later, when I felt myself calm down, I felt scared. So, I kept on delaying telling you the truth, but on day of the farewell, when I got to know that you spoke to my mother in my favor, guilt engulfed me. I realised how big a mistake I had committed by not telling you this. I promised myself to tell you everything soon, but you got to know everything before only."

"So, are you happy that you slandered me?" Tanvi asked her with a sarcastic smile. She was no longer crying.

"I am sorry Tanvi........ I really am sorry," Samyuktha uttered while sobbing hard. She is very guilty of her deeds. She tried to reach Tanvi's hands, but she pulled her hands back.

Before she could say anything Tanvi' phone started ringing. It's from Rohan Sarthak. Both of them looked at it, and Tanvi could no longer control her rage. She immediately stood up, holding the phone and shouted, "WILL YOUR SORRY CHANGE THIS? WILL YOUR SET EVERYTHING RIGHT? WILL YOUR SORRY BE ENOUGH FOR THIS PERSON TOO?"

Tanvi shouted at top of her voice. Samyuktha understood that her friend had lost her temper. When the phone began ringing again, Tanvi throwed it on the floor, and the screen guard shattered before it got automatically switched off. Samyuktha got too scared watching her like this. She too, got up on her feet and tried to calm her. As she tried to approach Tanvi, she backed away and said, "Leave the place now, Samyuktha."

It's been ages since Tanvi had called her by full name. Samyuktha kept chanting sorries to her, which didn't create any impact on Tanvi. She again shouted at her to 'Get Out' and literally pushed Samyuktha out of her house.

Samyuktha stood outside her house, crying for some more time, and finally left the place, thinking even Tanvi needs some space. But no space can ease the inner turmoil Tanvi is battling inside her.

Even though it was fully not her fault, she kept blaming herself for whatever happened. She wished all this was a dream and everything would be over once she wakes up, but it was not the reality.

There was even more reality for her to face.

Hope you like the chapter.

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