Nidhi's POV

I sunk down in bed, remembering all the good memories I had with Randhir. I couldn't believe he would do such a thing with me. I knew Naina would be capable of doing this. But I didn't know Randhir would fall for it.

Meera walked in and took one look at me. "What happened honey?"

I told her everything and then collapsed in a fit of tears just when I thought I couldn't cry anymore. She hugged me, telling me that everything will be ok.

"Shh...I am sure it must be that witch who planned all of this." Meera said. Then there was a knock on my door. Meera went and answered it.

"Oh Nidz!" Naina walked, no sauntered in.

"What are you doing here Naina?" I asked her, barely containing myself.

"I am here to tell you, you have a very hot friend. But guess what? He's mine now." she said, pointing at herself.

"Get out." Meera said.

"Who is this wannabe Alia Bhatt? Ugh, her clothes are so last year!" she said, surveying Meera from top to bottom.

"Honey, I may look like a wannabe Alia Bhatt but you look like a bad makeup version of Aishwarya Rai. Shame on you. At-least my make-up is good." Meera said. Naina scoffed.

"Naina, please leave to the apartment that was mine, but is now yours." I said. "Vaise, tumhare liye maine sub kuch chhoddhiya par (I left everything for you) you will never be satisfied right? You just need to take every single thing that is mine?"

"That's cause you deserve nothing!" Naina said. "You are nothing but a lowlife who happens to carry the same status of me but you will never be high class like me."

"I don't care about being high class! Look at what it has done to you! You have turned into a person with an ugly personality!" I said. Meera finally threw her out and sat in bed with me. We spent the night just talking about things and I told her about my childhood. She was shocked at the way I have been treated. We finally fell asleep late because there were no lectures the next day for both of us.

I woke up to Neel's phone call. "Hey Nidhi." he said as I picked up his call.

"Hey Neel." I said quietly, unsure of what Randhir told him.

"I heard about yesterday. And let me tell-"

"I don't want to hear it Neel." I said, cutting him off.

"But It wasn't Ran-"

"Please Neel. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"We need to have rehearsals today and tomorrow after the Aspire meeting because the Culture fest in coming up in three days." Neel said, guiltily. I knew I couldn't face Randhir after what had happened but I didn't have a choice.

"Is it ok Nidhi?" he asked again, breaking the silence.

"Yes. I will be at the auditorium at 2:00." I said and cut the call. What was I going to do? Meera slowly woke up and sat up next to me.

"Who was that?" she asked, yawning.

"Neel. We have to practice for the culture fest." I said, simply. Meera widened her eyes in shock.

"Nidz, are you sure it will be ok?" she asked.

"I can't back out now Meera. I will just have to do the dance and the song without talking to him in between." I said. Then I realized how absurd that statement was.

"You realize, that's going to be a difficult task right?" she asked.

"I know." I said. Then my phone buzzed. It was a group message from Derek Sir.

'Aspire Meeting from 11-2'

"Meera, we have to be at the meeting in an hour! Chalo!" I said, dragging her up. I quickly showered and put my hair in a French braid with some simple makeup. After dressing in an old oversized shirt and leggings, Meera and I walked out. I surveyed her outfit.

"Meers, you can't work in that outfit!" I said. After pushing her into the room and throwing some leggings and a random Varun Dhawan shirt, she got ready and left. We quickly grabbed a sandwich and drink at the café, ate and then made our way to Derek sir's office. I kept telling myself to maintain my composure but all of that broke when I saw him.

His eyes were bloodshot red, dark circles lining his eyes. His outfit was wrinkled and he looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept for days. It took all my willpower to not let those tears that welled up in my eyes escape. His eyes met mine and instantly brightened. He approached me but before he could say anything, Derek sir arrived.

"Today we will be doing some experiments in the engineering lab. Please walk there and I will meet you in five minutes." he said. He surveyed Kate and Nina.

"And for God's sake, please wear some appropriate clothing!" he said and walked away. Kate and Nina huffed and Joyce helped them find a lab coat. I clung close to Meera, because I didn't want him to talk to him. Neel pulled Randhir back when he tried to talk to me.

We were making electric circuits for the school that was more efficient. I worked alongside Meera and ignored the glances Randhir gave me. Derek sir supervised us but often stepped out of the room to take calls and sign documents.

Meera and I were almost done with ours when Randhir had just finished his. He would normally work faster but he was mentally not focused on the task. To add to our finishing touch, Meera went and got an extra wire to hold everything together. I was testing the wires and before I could even react, the wrong set of wires touched and created a spark which resulted in an explosion. I jumped back, in fear of what would happen but I was safe in Randhir's arms. My shirt caught on fire!

"Randhir!" I screamed and he somehow managed to put out the fire. He pulled me into his arms as I shook in fear. Derek sir walked in immediately.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"Sir, the blue wire and the yellow wire touched on accident." I said, after I left Randhir's warm hold.

"Nidhi, there is no such thing as an accident! You were not paying attention which is probably why it caught on fire!" Derek sir said, in anger.

"I, I am sorry sir." I said, softly.

"You will rebuild the entire thing by two-o-clock today." he said. What? I only had an hour then! It took me from 11:00 to 1:00 to build this and now I had to make the same circuit machine in half the time?

"Sir, it was also my fault." Randhir piped in. I looked at him in confusion.

"And why is that Randhir?" Derek sir asked.

"I was in the lab station next to theirs and I was using their screwdriver and when I went to take it, I slightly moved their machine which could have caused the shift in the wires sir." Randhir said. This was not true! I saw Neel using another screwdriver, then why?

"Then the two of you will have to rebuild this and have it working by two." Derek sir said. "And no-one else will help them. So everyone please leave this room with your machines."

One hour alone with Randhir in the same room? Oh no!

Randhir's POV

I saw the question and confusion in Nidhi's eyes. She knew that I lied for her but she didn't know why. I couldn't leave her there alone, building the entire thing from scratch especially after she had just been in an explosion.

"Can we start?" she asked, after she recovered. We quickly worked, making the machine as efficient as possible. My brain was on full alert because I was with Nidhi, and I could even convince her! We were done with 15 minutes to spare.

"We should probably test this." Nidhi said.

"The last time you did that, we had an explosion." I said, smiling.

"Well, that was an error." she said, attempting to justify herself. For a second, it felt like old times, where we would argue for the smallest things. Then she regained her composure and spoke in a stiff, formal voice.

"You should probably test it." she said.

"I will." I said and began to join the wires. A slight spark caused my hand to burn slightly but Nidhi became worried and took my hand.

"Are you ok? You didn't get hurt right?" she asked, blowing on the affected area. I couldn't help but look at her as she looked at my hand in concern. I smiled, knowing that she was still worried for me. Then she dropped my hand and awkwardly apologized. After we finished testing, Derek sir came in sharply at 2:00 and took our design. After he left, Nidhi turned to leave but I took her hand to stop her.

"Nidhi, can we please talk about what happened yesterday?" I asked her, desperately.

"Randhir, kal raat jo kuch bhi hua tumhe justify karne ki zaroorat nahi. (Whatever happened last night, you don't need to justify it) I know what happened and I don't want to talk about it. You betrayed me by making me believe that I could actually be worthy of a person like you. But you just turned out to be like the others Randhir. I don't want to talk about this." she said.

"How could you even think of me like that?" I asked her.

"Because Randhir, no matter what I thought of you, no matter what I thought of your change from a male chauvinist to a kind and caring gentleman and no matter what feelings I had towards you, you will always remain the same. You will always only associate with people like my sister." she concluded.

Did she still think of me that way? Even after I changed so much, for her, for everyone? I was no longer the egoistic person everyone knew. I cared, I had feelings and Nidhi was the only reason for that. And she is not believing me now?

A/N: A full smashing drama filled chapter for you all? How did you like it?

1) Naina needs a knife cannon like @dancelover_7564 aka the nice and awesome Naina suggested! Let's invest in one, shall we?

2) Nidhi's ignorance for Randhir! What's going to happen next?

3) I have school tomorrow after a long spring break! *insert crying emoji* I technically had school today but that was only for 4 hours to take a practice exam. Tomorrow's the real thing! :( I should be finishing all the homework I procrastinated for but I'd rather give you guys a nice long chapter instead! Enjoy!

Please vote and comment and if you guys haven't already checked out my new book Shattered Desires, then please do! The link is here below. I am sure if you like this book, you will like the other one also :D

https://www.wattpad.com/story/65030240