Continuing from when Sanyukta awakes with a splitting headache in Randhir's room, completely oblivious of the events of the night before in their welcome party to St. Peter's, in lieu of their annual interschool competition. This chapter ensues from when Sanyukta tries to remember what went on last night.

*Flashback*

Sanyukta's POV

The party was in full swing.

I was pulled to a corner by a girl—the same 'purple-haired' girl who had abducted me that afternoon and taken me to Rehan—just as I entered the party with Randhir. Unfortunately, Randhir was too occupied with the scene to notice that I was being dragged away from him. Perplexity arose within me as I gazed upon her anxious face.

"What the hell do you want now?" I seethed, pulling my forearm out of her hold.

"I need to tell you something.." She spoke through the blasting music making me frown at her.

The only thought that popped in my mind was 'Was the whole school bipolar or something?'. At first Rehan behaving so weirdly and then her completely different demeanor made me utterly puzzled.

"The only thing that you should be telling me is an apology for what you did this afternoon.." I gritted my teeth at her as she passed me an uncanny smile.

"Yeah that.. Well I apologize for our behavior then. That wasn't a good welcome on my part but you see, Rehan wanted to talk to you but you wouldn't come with us if you knew.. So we had to.." She had the audacity to grin at that!

"Besides, you should also apologize for your friend who almost broke Sammy's nose!" She yelled at me over the bass as we both tried to move away from the humongous speaker which made it impossible to communicate. Though I wasn't at all on the part of talking but I couldn't be that rude to anyone; all thanks to my helpless forgiving nature. Argh!

"Well their reaction was justified!" I scoffed and bobbed my head above the crowd to catch a glimpse of my team. I was least interested in chit-chatting with her.

"I am Raka by the way." She calmly extended her palm towards me which I didn't pay attention to. Yeah she was bad news.

She sighed, retracting her palm.

"Listen, I know what we did before was bad and I am not trying to make you feel uncomfortable now but there's this thing that I need to get off my chest and it's about Rehan.."

Right then, all I wanted to do was get out of this absurd situation as soon as possible because one more mention of Rehan would have flipped me out. And the girl wanted to speak with me about Rehan?! Uh. Not happening.

"Look.. You can tell by my expression and behavior that I am totally NOT interested in discussing about Rehan with you.. So if you'd excuse me.." I pressed a fake smile at her and turned to move away when she blocked my path.

"Rehan has leukemia.."

Her words snapped like a lightening bolt at me making me swivel right back at her with eyes as wide as saucers.

Ah, what?

"That day after your boyfriend spilled the beans about his deadly prank on you in front of Rehan's grandmother, she was so disappointed in him that she almost disowned him.." I looked back at her, dumbfounded and didn't even retort to that 'boyfriend' remark of her. That was the extent of my shock.

I wasn't that cruel to go to the extent of extracting revenge for that stupid prank of his in that way that would spoil his relationship with his Grandma.

But..who er.. 'avenged' me?

My mind just took up the task of producing a list of the guys who hated me like anything to do something like that—probably to enrage Rehan to bully me more?

Randhir? He was the one who fought with Rehan after his prank on me and he hated me too.

Aryan? But that guy wasn't even there in the school when the incident happened.

Randhir then? Could he do that for me? But he hated me then! And even if he did so, I couldn't see anything good coming out of it.

But a silent voice in the corner of my heart was screaming that Randhir wouldn't stoop so low for something that was probably worthless to him back then.

Right then, I could barely believe my ears. My mind had already shut off for thinking too much. So many possibilities, so many puzzles, so many faces!

"Who boyfriend?" I croaked looking between her expressions to catch any sort of play in them but their was none. She wasn't playing me. Her face was in dead serious.

She squinted at me first, possibly judging me by my question.

If only she knew that Randhir and I WEREN'T an item!

"That guy over there—your partner in the task probably?" She pointed towards the barely visible silhouette of Randhir and I couldn't help but smack my head in disapproval.

Who was I kidding? He created this mess!

"Of course Rehan had to stay with his Grandma till eighteen but it surely did mar  his relation with her. They stay in the same house but there was this cold vibe between them for three years. And the fact that his grandma needed help every hour didn't help at all.." I would have been lying if I said that I wasn't a little interested (out of guilt) in her talks then.

And I had already perceived that my life was hard!

"Three months ago, Rehan was diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately he returned to remission just after the first induction of chemo and can do stuffs normally but there's still some chances of him falling back.. But.." She sighed and she could be clearly seen welling up.

Oh no.

"But?" I didn't know why but I felt extremely guilty for whatever he was going through.

"His grandma.. She passed away a year ago and Rehan has retired to depression since then. He rarely talks with us and mostly blames himself for his loss.. He himself is going through so much and above all, he has been punishing himself for what he had done to you three years ago.. And his guilt reached it's pinnacle just after his gran's death. That is why when he heard that you are coming to our school, he got triggered. He got into that fight with your boyfriend just after you guys arrived when he asked him to meet you. He so badly wanted to apologize to you that he even went to the extent of visiting your house once. That guy Aryan or something.." She scratched her eyesbrow with a frown before continuing.

Of course! Aryan HAD to have a part in all these!

He was the one who probably mentioned about our arrival to Rehan in the morning which led to fists flying in the air between Rehan and Randhir. And that jerk was enjoying it! Argh!

"He gave Rehan your address a month ago but when he actually visited, he met a man who said that there was no one named Sanyukta there.." I immediately halted her in her speech.

"He went to my house? And he met.. He m..met..a..man?" I stammered thinking about the possibility of Rehan meeting my father. He already hated the idea of any schoolmate visiting our house and that was probably the reason why he thrashed me one day for giving my address to random schoolboys. I was clueless then and thought that he was making up silly reasons just to scream at me but then that I thought of the likelihood, it surely added up to that.

"Listen.. Sanyukta.. I am not supposed to tell you all these as Rehan would be so mad if he hears us convincing you.. But.. But I just can't see that boy suffering so much.. His life is already at stake and his inner guilt is gnawing him from the inside. Surely he doesn't wanna show that but we know. I really wish you could forgive him just this time." She all of a sudden grasped my hand, squeezing it and passed me a pleading gaze—those type of pleading gaze to which it is very hard not to accept whatever the other person is saying. I was thrown into such a jumbled up situation then and my usually active brain decided to go on a mini vacation.

"Um.."

"Please.. Please consider it once.. I beg of you.."

Rehan was surely going through a lot.

But he tried to poison you!

But he lost his grandmom because of all that chaos!

But he broke Randhir's wrist!

But Randhir did play such a cheap trick!

But I had to go through the same depression for a year!

But he did pay for his part. Karma worked.

My mind and heart were again at it—fighting like cats and dogs which kept me dangling on the edge.

The girl was literally on the verge of crying. Woah. That much of deep care for Rehan?

"I know what you're thinking.. And yeah.. I can do anything for that guy. I love him so much, if only he could see.." She spoke out, darting her eyes towards her group among whom Rehan was one. Her gaze stared lovingly at his frame for few seconds before returning to me.

"Will you?" She exclaimed, when I sighed.

Well, fuck.

I took a deep breathe, looking down at my heels and started feeling extremely squeamish in my stomach.

I had to. If Randhir had caused so much drama, I had to be the one to unwind it.

"Yes.. I'll consider it.." I looked up to see her smiling hugely at me. I tried to reciprocate her smile but failed terribly. How could I? There was a tsunami going on inside me.

"Thanks.. You're such an understanding girl! I am so sorry for being rude to you this afternoon..." She patted my shoulder with that bright smile on her fact.

Yay I made her smile at least, my inner sense facepalmed.

"Just.. Just don't tell Rehan that I told you all these things..and please do enjoy the party and the rest of your stay. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask.. Okay?" I nodded at her before she turned on her heels and walked back towards her group.

I wiped my sweaty hands on my dress before taking a deep breath.

This is going to be tough. My mind poked out as I quickly bolted towards my own group who were probably searching for me.

****////*****

I was so damn angry with Randhir that I could barely hide my fury around him. He tried to talk to me when I rejoined the team but I behaved rudely with him and simply brushed him off. We had a huge mess to clean and I wasn't letting him off hook so easily.

How could he do that? He didn't even like me back then. And I was so damn sure that he didn't like me right then also. A part of my mind was chanting that Randhir did all those things to feed his mountain-sized ego. He just wanted to come out as some big hero or something.
And that infuriated me strongly.

Rehan walked upto me and Raka's words immediately came back and hit me again. I looked closely and noticed that he did look a lot weaker than before which I hadn't noticed earlier that afternoon. Maybe the chemo broke his spirit. He surely didn't look scary like he did three years ago but maybe that was just my bullied mind's perception. His expressions were unusually calm and just as he smiled at me, I felt a strong pang of guilt erupt from the pit of my stomach.

Urgh I was done for.

"May I have this dance Sanyukta?" He proposed softly before giving me a pleading look; like he wanted to tell me something. How could I even deny him after knowing his truth?

I contemplated for a bit, measuring the pros and cons. I was sure that Randhir was going to be pissed for what I was going to do. But he was the one who had messed up big time and he had no right to influence my opinions.

I smiled awkwardly at him before taking his hand and I was so sure that I heard Sanaya and other teammates gasp at my action. They didn't even have the slightest idea of what was going on with me.

As if on cue, Rehan squeezed my hand in reassurance and walked me towards the dance floor. From the corner of my eyes, I could see the tall girl—probably Sammy—trying so hard to flirt with Randhir. I would have been lying if I said that I didn't feel a pang of jealousy at that but that wasn't important at that moment; I made up my mind.

While dancing with Rehan—though the ambience was anything but romantic for me then— I noticed that Rehan was looking intently at me. I tried to lighten the atmosphere by smiling at him while swaying with him at the soft tunes.

"You look beautiful Sanyukta.." Involuntarily, blush creeped out of my neck at his compliment. It isn't everyday that you get genuinely complimented by your former bully, now do you?

I looked up to see him looking at me with eyes full of guilt as I tried to brush away the blush that made it's way upto my cheeks, tainting them with a hue of pink.

"Rehan look..." I stammered, choosing my words carefully.

"Shh.." He tugged at our bodies, almost making me tumble over him as the music took to a high beat. My heart was thumping on my chest in a great speed.

"I know it wouldn't easy for you to forgive my blunders. But if it helps, I am going through the exact pains  you had to go through back then. Karma is surely true Sanyukta. I am dying Sanyukta.." With the beats of the music, his words muffled were muffled against my ear as we were packed together in the crowd. His face leaned against my right cheek so  that his words could be heard better by me.

"Rehan, See.. I forgive you..." I noticed him stiffen at my remark, kind of surprised at my statement. Yeah I was surprised at that too. I forgave my tormentor. He exhaled hugely. We were almost squished together due to the crowd.

He looked upto me with blurry eyes.

"You don't know how much that means to me Sanyukta.." He trailed off as soon as he saw my attention waver. I couldn't help but view Randhir's back among the crowd, walking away, rather furiously, from the hall.

Almost in an instant, I turned my gaze back to the curious soul who had his arms around me. I shouldn't think of Randhir now. I didn't care if he was angry at my proximity with Rehan. I could do anything I want. He didn't own me.

Even though I kept on chanting that in my head, I couldn't help but feel uneasy at the thought of Randhir being jealous of Rehan.

"Uh.. Do you want to go?" Rehan asked me in a soft voice, stealing a glimpse at the door. I gulped the lump forming in my throat and smiled at him.

"No it's okay.. I am comfortable here.." The bright smile on Rehan's face indicated that he felt happy that for once, I rejected being with Randhir over him.

"I am hungry though.." I added and he chuckled.

What? Can't a girl be hungry after having her heart stumped for like a thousand times in a day? Besides Rehan was the one who needed my attention then. He was suffering for God's sake!

"Certainly. I assume you didn't have anything after breakfast?" I nodded my head at his query and he chuckled again.

"Come on. No one stays hungry at St.Peter's .. Especially not a beautiful girl.. Let us show our hospitality." He tugged at my wrist and pulled me out of the crowd.

I shrugged off his corny comment. I was doing it for Raka. The girl who loves him and nothing should be between love. Even though he had tormented me for ages, I wasn't that heartless to break his heart after knowing that he had been through a hell lot of stress.

He walked me to a dimly lit room right beside the main hall which had tables lined with delicious delicacies. Everything was so extravagant in St. Peter's. I remarked in my mind, awed at the arrangement.

As soon as my eyes laid on my group, I waved at them with Rehan by my side. Sanaya was the only one who waved back but the others looked...mad at me? Why should they be mad at me? For Randhir? Was I responsible for every mood swing that guy went through?

Randhir. He was probably sulking outside. I couldn't help but feel a cringe in my heart at the mention for his name. Should I go, meet him? Is he okay?

A small nudge on my arm brought me out of my reverie. I noticed a plate of sandwiches in front of me and Rehan giving me a particularly concerned look.

"Erm. I know I am not in the place to ask you that.. But is there something..wrong between you and Randhir?" His lips were pursed and I took in the fact that he stammered on 'something'. Almost scared to say something 'relationshipish'. Yeah now that's a new word going right in Sanyukta dictionary.

I almost snorted at Rehan's query.

"Yeah.. Weird enmity" I rolled my eyes and grabbed two sandwiches from the plate Rehan had offered me.

"Well given the fact that he almost broke my face after coming down the bus, it is totally enmity between you guys.." Rehan rolled his eyes at me making me scrunch my nose in confusion.

"That.. Can you tell me why were you guys fighting in the first place?" I nudged him as he appeared to have been preoccupied by thoughts.

"Complications.." He sighed, rubbing his neck. He appeared to be avoiding the question. But I already knew most of the reasons why those two boys were cold towards each other.

"Come on.. Tell me." I glared at him playfully to which he bobbed his head in exasperation.

"Wait.. Now that I ponder over it, Randhir started acting weird since he read a text message in his phone. Rehan.. Did you have something to do with it?" The reality hit me in the face as I realized that Randhir's behavior was not at all unjustified.
But that didn't mean his silly act with Rehan's grandma was anywhere near good.

Rehan's lips were pursed and he looked kind of torn.

"Tell me Rehan.." I sighed, not wanting to create a scene. God was I tired of these tricks!

He sighed, looking straight at me. He knew well that I wanted answers. No more games.

"Yes. It was I who sent Randhir that text. I wanted him to know that he, in no way, is going to get off hook for doing what he did three years ago. I wanted to hurt him and that's why I said those mean things to you on your arrival. I didn't mean to hurt you Sanyukta. After all these years, I can't think of hurting you again. I knew that once you come here, I could apologize to you but Randhir.. He did something beyond limits."

"Rehan.. Look, I came to know today what Randhir did and in no way, I support that. I am really sorry for what you and your grandma had to go through. Nothing can suffice what you had to lose.." In reflex, I grabbed his wrist, entwining our fingers. He looked down at our tangled hands and sighed.

"You have no idea what I had to go through after I did that to you Sanyukta. That guilt in me was killing me and the only person I was close to was not willing to talk to me. I felt like living dead." His eyes were gave away his surprise at the revelation and I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in my heart. I didn't even have anything to do with that yet I was feeling so guilty. His expression resembled how broken he was. Truly, I couldn't decipher what he had to go through.

"I am so sorry on Randhir's behalf. He doesn't even know what he does half the times. Always driven by bad impulse, he is. Nothing I say now can return you your years but I really hope that you can cope with things for good. Also, my forgivance rarely matters here. Randhir did his part and you suffered. Now I did my part by forgiving you because you have changed into a good human being.." I squeezed his palm in reassurance and he smiled at me.

"Thank you.." I patted his arm once before pulling away.

"But that abduction in the afternoon was really bad." I frowned at him, albeit playfully but in the inside I wasn't kidding at all. Hell, that had scared my brains out!

"Bet you wouldn't have talked to me if I approached you. Always a tone of surprise. I am still Rehan right?" He sniggered and I swatted his hand, glaring at him.

In the blink of an eye, a sudden awkward aura covered us. I took a bite of the sandwich and gulped it, looking around me. Students were laughing and having fun in their respective groups while I stood their awkwardly, munching on my sandwich and my thoughts darting over to Randhir now and then. The uneasy feeling in my stomach was still there and I knew it wouldn't go away until and unless I confront him. I coughed to gain Rehan's attention who was also gazing at the happy crowd.

"I think I should check over Randhir once. We are partners in the competition and I really don't want him to get into any trouble.." I trailed away, looking down at my heels. I felt Rehan, shuffling beside me, as if tensed as I brought Randhir up again.

"Yeah absolutely." There was a slight notion of defeat in his tone that I couldn't ignore.

"Do you want my help in searching for him?" I pondered over the fact for a second or two. The crowd was huge and I had zilch idea about the pathways of St.Peter's. Rehan helping me wouldn't have been that bad.

"Yeah thanks." With that being said, Rehan turned and started walking towards the hall door. I didn't know why but I quickly grabbed a tissue and stuffed two pieces of the delicious cheese sandwich in it before following Rehan. It wasn't even for me but there was a single name on the back of my head. Randhir. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. How did I know that? Yeah, he had probably spent the whole day looking out for me. I was concerned about that jerk even when he was the one put me in this place in the first place but when it came to crushing on people, I never knew why people acted all saint like towards that one person even when he might be the biggest doofus in the whole damned world. I got it then. I liked him even when he was such a arrogant asshole and I couldn't help it.

Urg! Why me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TBC

I was going to drop this book for a lot has changed since my mind was weaving this story but I had already written a few drafts which were yet to be published. I wanted to close it on a positive note and provide, even if a bit of a consolation towards my faithful readers, who still manage to text me up, asking me my whereabouts. Life hasn't been an angel to me lately and I often find myself looking back at those times when my immature mind was overshadowed with  superimposed ideas of love and romance. But I still don't want to leave the story off like this. So here it is... I don't know when I will update it again, neither am I sure about the next step. The few chapters that will follow this will be the ones already drafted two years ago. So I guess you'll find even if a bit of my apology woven in the chapters I write from now on.

Love,
Phoenix