Song of the chapter is Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Lorde

-57-
-Veronica D'Rosario-
-Past-

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Delmore High
1 November, 2019
5:12 am

After what felt like forever, my eyes fluttered open.

My vision was still blurry, and I had a massive headache. As things slowly started to get clearer, I realised where I was.

The detention room.

I jerked up in a swift and looked around. Everyone was fast asleep on the floor next to me. Everyone except Alishka.

I pulled out my phone in a hurry and checked the time. It was 5:12 am. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that school hadn't started yet.

Everyone else was starting to gain consciousness too. I helped Himanshu sit up as he slowly and unwillingly opened his eyes. He looked back at me questioningly.

" Where are we?"

" The detention room, Moose."

" What?"

"I said the detention room-"

" No...what did you call me?"

I realised. "Oh. Uh....I called you a nickname."

"You have a nickname for me?"

I panicked. "Uh...no...no...I mean...I give everyone nicknames cause I often forget their actual names."

"Oh." His face brightened up. "Okay."

" Guys, what's going on?"

Kartik's voice interrupted our conversation. The rest of them looked equally confused.

" How much did we have to drink last night?" Avinash asked, grotesquely rubbing his eyes.

" I don't know....but my head feels like it would blow up any second." Zoya said, clutching her hair.

" I think we got tired and somehow fell asleep." Siya said, a nervous tone in her voice.

"That's not possible." Saina said, looking at her. " We didn't have that much to drink-"

" Guys," Ahaan chimed in, looking around. "Where's Alishka?"

I had the same question. The others looked around themselves for any sign of hers, but to no avail.

" It seems like she woke up early and left." Kartik said.

"Are you sure?" Himanshu asked, looking doubtful.

" What do you mean?" Kartik asked.

" Nothing... I just think it's weird that all of us were here passed out and she just woke up and left? Why wouldn't she wake us up too when she left?"

From my peripheral vision I could swear I saw Siya gulp.

" Well she's a bitch, what do you expect from her?" Zoya asked, shrugging.

" Zoya," Kartik warned.

" What?" Zoya decided to play dumb. " Come on, Kartik, who are you kidding? Alishka wouldn't tell you if your hair was on fire."

Kartik rolled his eyes in annoyance.

" Uh....guys, we can have this discussion later. I think we ought to get out of here first...cause school starts in hour." Avinash informed, getting up. He forwarded his hands towards Saina and helped her get up too. She looked at him shyly.

We all agreed with him and decided that it was best to get out of there before school started. We all feared that if anyone saw us together , there would have been a shit ton of questions.

We were a group of misfits after all.

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Delmore High
7 November, 2019
10:45 am

It had been a week and there was still no sign of Alishka anywhere.

It's like she had disappeared in thin air. No one knew where she was. No one had a clue.

As much as I told myself not to think about it, there was something off about the whole situation. How was it possible for a town where everyone knew something about everyone else, not know anything about her whereabouts. People don't just disappear. Not people like Alishka Malhotra.

It was all anyone could talk about in town nowadays. People made conspiracy theories, gossiped about possible circumstances or places she could be in. Her teachers, supposed "friends" and foes.... everyone was invested in knowing where she could be.

Alishka had that charm. To be gone, but still be everywhere.

I wasn't worried for her to be specific; she had always been brutal towards me.... ripping me off every bit of my dignity every time she saw or walk passed me. She didn't even have to do or say anything. It was just the way she would look at me, the way she'd stare into my soul and rip me apart in pieces. It was like she knew the monster within me. She wanted to provoke it. She wanted a reaction out of me.

Thankfully, she never got one.

I was used to channeling my inner demon quite effectively. I had been doing it for eight freaking years, so I had gotten good at it eventually.

Because god forbid if it ever came out, I would be left in ruins. Again.

I wasn't worried about Alishka. I was worried of the possibility of the cops finding out that we were with Alishka the night she went missing.

As I stood in front of the mirror in the girl's washroom, my reflection stared back at me. Her eyes were sinister and dark; but numb. It was as though sometimes my brain just forgot to feel emotions. I didn't really feel anything these days.

For the past eight years.

My phone chimed in my pocket and I took it out. It was a new text from Himanshu. I clicked on it. It read, 'Meet me in the detention room.'

I was confused but decided to go anyways. Himanshu was the only person other than Ahaan with whom I really talked. It was not like I liked him. Well....that would be a lie. I did like him....not that much though. Or atleast that's what I wanted myself to believe. He was a great guy, sweet, innocent and different than the rest of the people at school. He had this weird habit of talking too much sometimes, but other than that, he was pretty cool.

He sucked less than most people so....I guess...yeah....he was cool.

I pushed open the door to the detention room and got in and closed the door behind me. Everyone was there.

Kartik sat in a far corner, his head resting on his hands on the desk. Zoya sat on top of the teacher's table, chewing her gum. Saina and Avinash stood on either side of Kartik, their faces solemn and scared. Siya stood against the wall near the teacher's desk, her eyes frenzied and fear-induced. Ahaan and Himanshu both looked at me as I entered.

" What's going on?" I asked, clearly unaware of the tension in the room.

" Well for starters, Alishka has gone missing for a week-" Zoya began.

" Zoya , please this is serious." Avinash warned.

" What? I was just telling her what was going on...as she asked." Zoya answered nonchalantly, chewing her gum.

"Would you stop being a bitch for a second? My best friend is missing!" Saina said, raising her voice a bit. Zoya rolled her eyes.

" Okay guys... now's not the time-" Himanshu said, looking between both of them.

" Well tell her that!" Saina said, pointing at Zoya.

" Oh stop being dramatic! This is probably a hoax of hers to stay relevant. It's not like best friend hasn't done stuff like this before. She'll turn up sooner or later." Zoya said, annoyance evident in her tone.

" I agree , Zoya. She has done stuff like this. But not for this long. It's been a week. Everyone's worried about her. What if she's in some kind of danger-" Avinash said.

" Yeah...and the police has already started questioning possible suspects. Thankfully,they still think that she disappeared from her house and not from the school." Ahaan said, his voice shaky and nervous.

" What's that supposed to mean?" Kartik asked, looking up for the first time. His eyes, I could see, were red and he had bags underneath them.

" Well, you don't want anyone to know that we were the last people who ever saw her , right?' Ahaan asked, gulping.

" That's all you care about? Saving yourselves?" Kartik asked.

" I'm sorry, Kartik... but not everyone one of us have rich and influential parents like you. If the cops found out we just happened to be knocked out and trespassing the same night that she went missing, they would lock us up in a swift." Zoya said.

Kartik scoffed and looked away.

" Look it's better for all of us to just....forget about that night and move on like it never happened." Himanshu reasoned.

" What about Alishka?" Saina asked, looking bewildered.

" Well, the cops are doing their jobs , aren't they? I'm sure they'll find her soon." I assured.

" Yeah...but what if they don't?" Kartik asked, looking worried.

" What do you mean, Kartik?" I asked.

" What if..." He grew quiet. "What if something bad happened to her?"

" Well, that would be karma-" Zoya began.

" Shut up, Zoya." Kartik warned. She rolled her eyes.

" What if....." Saina looked at each of us. " What if.... someone who is present in this room....did something to her?"

Zoya raised her brows in shock. Himanshu and Ahaan looked bewildered. Siya looked frightened.

I scoffed, " Why are you so quick to jump to that conclusion, Saina?"

She threw her hands up in frustration, " I'm just saying.... it's not really a hidden fact that everyone of us in this room despised Alishka for some reason."

" Well, with that logic, you could've killed her too." Zoya said , nonchalantly.

" She was my best friend, why would I kill her?" Saina looked at her , feigning accusation.

" You just said-"

" Yeah well I clearly wasn't talking about me!"

" Oh so you're pointing fingers at us now?! "

" That's not what I-"

" Oh shut up, Saina. You clearly meant that!"

" I'm just saying you guys weren't that close to her and we've only ever interacted with you for a day-"

" We have been in the same class since kindergarten! It's not our fault you can't overcome your elite complex-"

" Enough!" Himanshu shouted and the room grew silent. I almost resisted the urge to laugh.

" It is very clear from this pleasant discussion that we don't belong together. We are a group of misfits.... there's no way this was ever going to work." Himanshu said, sarcastically.

After a moment of unpleasant silence, Himanshu said,
"Everyone gather around."

Everyone did as he said. It looked like Himanshu was someone who shouldn't be messed with when he was mad.

" We're making a pact." He said as he proceeded to extend his hand forward and looked at us. "From today onwards, we'll never speak of the night that she went missing or even that we were friends. The truth about that night would never leave this room."

We all clasped our hands on top of each other's while simultaneously looking at each other.

" We take this one to the grave, clear?"

Everyone nodded.

" Because if one of us goes down, we all go down with them."

Everyone nodded again.

And on that day, we all assumed that we would probably go back to how it was before, when we didn't quite deign a look at each other when we passed each other in the hallways, when we were unaware of each other's deepest darkest secrets, when we were just mere strangers.

Only if we knew how wrong we were.