Parul and Mr. Banerjee's routine was exactly the same as every other day but Bhargavi and Prabir had an important task in hand.

Cleaning up the kitchen after Mr. Banerjee left, Prabir perched on the sofa quietly in the living room, fiddling with his phone, dressed in casuals as always - a black shirt and deep blue jeans. There was not just one feature that made him so remarkably handsome. His gemstone green eyes reflected honesty and gentleness. He was slim, tall and muscular with an almost perfectly symmetrical face.

Taking her time to get dressed, Bhargavi put on her best outfit, a magenta salwar suit and she had pulled up her hair into a loose French braid. She came and plonked beside him on the sofa complaining,
" Prabu...you are to blame for Paru gaining weight with every passing day."

Looking away from her, he replied softly, " I don't allow her to have junk food, try to use as minimum amount of oil as possible for cooking ..."

Yeah! I know you have taken up it as your responsibility to play the role of her mother, she thought to herself.

She said merrily," If you allow her to eat the food I prepare, I can assure you that she is bound to lose 20kilograms in merely 2 days.

Prabu...you always cook such mouth-watering delicacies...surely you are to blame."

He smiled at her, happily taking the compliment.

Placing a warm hand on his,she  asked in a serious tone, " Prabu...What has Paru been dealing with? I need to know the extent to which she is being bullied".

Prabir briefed her and then they noticed it was almost time when they should leave for the school.

********

They sat in the Principal's office, and he enquired ," May I know the reason for your visit?"

Calmly, Prabir replied, " Sir, my sister Parul Banerjee is in class 9, section A.
She is being bullied every day for being obese."

"Well, I'll request you to discuss the matter with her class teacher Mrs. Murthy,"he replied carelessly.

"Sir, I already had taken up this issue with her, a month ago. No steps have been taken yet, in this regard to resolve the issue," he said annoyed.

Mr. Verma returned spitefully, " Keep your voice down!

This is my office. I'll ensure that Mrs. Murthy takes action. Now you may leave."

" Sir , do you even understand the relevance of this sensitive issue?
A 15 years old teenager, is scared to come to school, is having sleepless nights. She is always sad and depressed and even after being informed, the school authority does nothing to protect her?

If you really are worried about your students and this school, you should not be sitting here and lecturing us, instead you should be visiting class 9 with us now, explaining to the students that ... what they are doing is wrong and anyone doing this again will be severely punished," Bhargavi burst out angrily.

" Now, you will teach me what I should do?" he demanded angrily.

She tapped her phone saying, "Ah! Where was it?" and played the audio recording

Keep your voice down! This is my office.

Now...you will teach me what I should do?...

"I wish I could teach you.

My bad!

You are old enough to know what may happen if I make this audio public on social media or maybe I could hand it over to some journalists to make it seem even more authentic.

You may think that no one will believe me, but mind you Sir, I am doing masters in Journalism and Mass Communication.

I know an ample number of senior journalists and some of my seniors, who will believe me with anything," she sputtered viciously.

Mr. Verma rubbed his face with a handkerchief, as his face was covered with sweat.

He then pleaded politely, " Please come with me."

"Good! Now we're talking,"she said in a razor sharp tone.

As they strolled past the classrooms in the direction of class 9, she said with characteristic arrogance, " Call up her class teacher, Mrs. Murthy. I have some scores to settle."

The Principal entered class 9 section A, followed by Bhargavi and Prabir. Everyone stood up in silence.

Mr. Verma sternly said, " I have received complaints that many of you have abused Parul for her obesity. I have the names of everyone involved and if I receive one...just one more complaint, I won't merely call up your parents for a discussion related to your suspension, but directly you will be handed over your transfer certificate ( TC) and thrown out of this school. Is that clear?"

" Sir, Sarvesh Dasgupta in addition to verbally accusing her, made her trip and fall in class,"Bhargavi added.

" Who is Sarvesh?"Mr. Verma screamed.

Sarvesh stood up silently in his seat. Marching upto him, Bhargavi held his right ear firmly and pulled it hard, yanking it even harder till he shrieked.

" You feel so proud of yourself making others feel, treated like a laughingstock, right?" She yelled.

Everyone, in the room stood awe-struck at the brutality with which she was treating him.

When the pain was too much to bear, Sarvesh tried to push her hands away vehemently, and then he tried to push her away but he failed miserably each time, she stood there like a stone and did not budge by even an inch.

Pacing her way back to stand beside Mr. Verma, she shrieked, " Where is Mrs. Murthy?"

Mr. Verma immediately gestured someone to call her.

"Don't even think of calling the police, much before the police reaches here, media will and I assure you that I will leave no stone unturned till I damage your school's entire reputation,"she warned him whispering in his ears.

Mrs. Murthy came towards them panting and breathing heavily. Bhargavi waited for sometime till Mrs. Murthy had calmed down and then calmly but in a stern voice said,
" This way please Ma'am."

Walking till they were in an enclosed classroom, a small dingy one, laying vacant, Bhargavi paused. They were closely followed by Prabir and Mr. Verma.

"So Mrs. Murthy...you claimed that Parul was overthinking, well I would like to inform you that there is a hell lot of a difference between being bullied and overthinking.

Have you even been called an ugly fat b**** or a grotesque elephant in the room ?"She started with her interrogation.

"Look at me when I am talking to you,"she yelled at her fiercely as Mrs. Murthy tried to catch a glimpse of Mr. Verma for some help.

" If you cannot intervene to resolve a sensitive issue like bullying , you don't have any right to lecture the victim being bullied to aggravate the situation.

Do you even know what kind of an emotional toll your words have taken on that child?

If I ever again see Parul being treated like trash and you trying to cover it up, the way you did last time, by lecturing her instead of letting the other students know that they ...are WRONG and that...they should never ever speak to someone like that..

You will spent the rest of your life regretting your decision for telling that crap to Parul,"Bhargavi continued fiercely.

*****
They walked out of the school campus and Bhargavi pleaded, " Prabu...please take me somewhere nice."

"Where do you want to go?" he asked elegantly.

"Anywhere! Take me anywhere! I just need to calm down. My blood is still boiling,"she said abruptly.

Sometime later they stood before a 'Kali Temple'.

" When I feel very upset about something, I land up here to find some solace," Prabir said dismounting from his bike.

They slowly climbed up the stairs and visited the holy shrine in the temple. Both of them offered prayers in silence. Since, it was almost noon, there were no other visitors.

Walking down the stairs, Prabir sat down on one of the stairs in the shade of a tree and Bhargavi followed.

"Bhargu...do you really know some senior journalists?"He asked curious.

"Puh! I don't even bother to know the names of my classmates. But Princy doesn't need to know that.

It ain't my fault they had to deal with me.

I wasn't completely blabbering gibberish though.....As of now I know two senior journalists but am not sure if they will help me," She informed languidly.

"School has always been a miserable place to deal with. Till class 2, on almost every alternate day something or the other of my belongings got stolen - pencils, erasers, sharpeners.

When I had only one pencil and that too was stolen, I had to borrow from someone during classes.

One day Maa hit me saying I did not know to take care of my belongings.

I was not angry with Maa, she worked real hard for both of us. Bhawani was still very small and it was hard for her to raise us by only stitching and mending clothes.

But I was determined to find the person who stole my belongings. Till I caught hold of Vinod red-handed, I did not eat anything for three days even though Maa apologized, pleaded and made my favourite dishes.

When I saw Vinod, opening my pencil box and taking out my eraser, I threw him on the floor, sat up on his belly and punched him in the face, venting out all my anger on him and knocked him down unconscious.

I was only suspended for a week because Maa wept, pleaded and begged, trying to convince the principal that I won't do it again and I was beaten up by Maa again...but this time severely. I have always been a trouble maker since childhood,"she reflected lazily.

Prabir draped his right arm around her shoulders and she pushed his hands away hissing," Don't ! I don't want to get used to being comforted by someone".

"Okay! Then let's leave," Prabir said briefly after sometime and started to pace down the steps.

Bhargavi saw someone climb up the stairs to the temple and stood impasse.

"What is it Bhargu?" Prabir asked anxiously.

"M..my father," she replied hesitantly.

A/N: Hi guys!!

Hope you are enjoying the bumpy ride!!

Keep reading!!

Please let me know if you like the story by commenting.

Please feel free to share your opinions .

Thank you all!!