Almost all of that week most of the high school population bunked their class and hung out at the hall using practice as an excuse. So the hall had been unusually crowded for the past few days.

But rehearsal got further pushed away as the twelfth graders had their revision tests and it was now scheduled for after school hours. Just great!

I, Zoya and Mishti had skipped lunch and headed straight to the hall. So we were really hungry.

So mom placed an order from the nearby hotel for me and my BFF'S. Krish had to go and get it for me. He was not happy about the arrangement. And I half expected him to not turn up.

But he got us the chicken soup and the three of us totally loved it.

"Tell mom we had the soup and it was good" I told Krish as he was getting ready to leave the school ground. For once, he was leaving before me.

"And what about the fried rice?" Krish asked.

"Nothing by that name ever reached me", I answered suspiciously.

"Of course it didn't" he said, "I ate it up", and just walked away.

OMG! I couldn't believe my brother had eaten up the fried rice ordered for me!
I was going to kill him!

Soon, the rehearsal was about to start and Zoya started to turn pale. She still hadn't asked Varun.

"What happened to you?" Lisa asked Zoya as she came up to us.

"She is in a bit of a confusion", I said quickly.

"About what?" asked Lisa curiously.

"Well.. You know.. Umm.. This whole show thing.."

"What exactly is wrong?"

"I feel its getting to her nerves" I said foolishly.

Lisa frowned and rubbed her chin, "So you are nervous about the performance? But you dance brilliantly."

"It's not that.. " Zoya muttered but Lisa cut her across.

"You don't want to do Kamariya? Do you want to change the song? What about Ghoomar or maybe Ghar More Pardesiya?"

"Hey, what's going on?"

It was VARUN!

I nudged Zoya and Mishti looked at her encouragingly.

"Now!" I hissed at Zoya.

Zoya looked flabbergasted. "Varun will you come to the DJ night with me?" she asked quickly and then covered her mouth like there was a bad stench or something.

Varun looked startled for a minute and then grinned, "Okay".

I sighed in relief.

It was over. But I couldn't help noticing that Varun didn't look genuinely happy

Whatever..!

Lisa was looking baffled. "Can somebody tell me..?"

"It's nothing Lisa" Mishti said quickly, "Zoya is perfectly okay with doing Kamariya. Come lets start the rehearsal."

With Zoya's problem solved the three of us had a blast. Once the rehearsal was over, Omkara and Lisa left the hall after asking me to wrap up. But I had no plans to go home right then.

I called out to Rinky, the girl who was in charge of the sound system, "Babe, turn on the music".

Rinky turned on the system and played Coca Cola Tu from Lukka Chuppi. I removed my ponytail, let my hair down and started grooving with my BFF'S. Everyone started dancing and shouting like crazy.

Rinky dimmed the lights at one point and there was more cheering. All the grooving and cheering went on like forever.. until the side door of the hall flew open and the lights were switched back on by somebody. A dark and plump somebody!

Loukya Khanna had crashed the scene!

"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded.

It was only then, I realised neither Omkara nor Lisa was there with us. Which meant I had to take charge!

Just great!

"Ma'am actually, the rehearsal was over. So we thought.."

"So you thought you can go screaming and jumping, up and down like monkeys! Riya, have you any sense at all?"

"Sorry ma'am" I said not feeling sorry at all.

Hey, there's no rule that says students aren't allowed to dance inside the hall!

"Oh you are sorry!" Loukya snapped. "This is school! Not a mental hospital! I think it's high time I did something. I should have done it long ago. Riya Dixit, remove your Fine Arts Secretary badge and hand it to me"

Huge gasps went all around the hall.

"Uhh..what?"

"You heard me. I am stripping you off your post, this instant. You are not disciplined enough to hold a position of authority. So hand over the badge."

"But ma'am please.."

"Now!"

She walked up to me and held out her hand. I felt like smacking it back to her face but what choice did I have? I removed my badge and placed it on her hand. She smirked, looked around and said, "Is there a TV show going on here? Disperse". Everyone hurriedly started to exit the hall.

I turned around and without looking back, hurriedly picked up my bag and raced to the bathroom. I went into a stall, locked the door and sat on the toilet seat with my hands in my face.

No, I was not going to cry for that wretched woman! She was not worth it. But tears were already rolling down my cheeks.

I couldn't believe Loukya Khanna had robbed me off my post just for dancing with my classmates inside the hall! This was so unfair! Everyone had had fun. But only I was being punished.

Like always.

Great!

Maybe I should take some acting classes next summer, so next year I would be able to act the "good girl".

Just then someone knocked the door of my stall.

"Ri! Open the door! We know you're in there!"..It was Zoya.

"Go away guys" I muttered.

"Just calm down and breathe" said Mishti, "Every SINGLE thing happens for a reason".

"Things are meaningless and unfair!" I shot back at her.

"Things? What things? Nobody told me about any things!" came Zoya's voice.

"Shut up Zoya!" I cried.

I couldn't believe my BFF'S weren't being more sympathetic about the situation. I had just lost my Fine Arts Secretary badge!

Mishti then switched her technique, "Only cowards go and hide inside the toilet Riya. Come out and face the deal. Don't behave like you're new to drama."

"Yes" came Zoya's voice again, "But if you don't want to come out, then it's okay. We'll tell everyone, 'Riya can't deal with this drama. Just leave her alone', is that okay?"

And I have to say, that reverse psychology technique actually worked! I pushed open the door and walked out of the stall.

"Okay guys, you win", I said stiffly "But I can't live like this!"

"You don't have to. Nobody's blaming you.", Zoya said.

Mishti came up with one of her wise sayings, "If you have learnt from defeat you haven't actually lost".

"Thanks Mish" I muttered.

"Come lets go home", Zoya said.
"No I have to lock the storeroom", I said pulling out the keys from my pocket. "I'll see you guys".

Zoya and Mishti left while I went down to the ground floor, to lock the store room. And to my surprise Reyansh was there.

"You haven't left yet?"

"Riya what happened was not fair" he said shaking his head.

I sighed and locked the room. I was about to pocket the keys when I thought of something.

"Reyansh, I can't have the storeroom key anymore. I am no longer Fine Arts Secretary. I don't know if I am even allowed in the club now".

"Come on Riya, of course you're still in the club".

"But I can't have these now", I said looking at the keys dully. "I think I'll hand them over in the office".

"Hey why don't you give them to me. I'll keep them with me for today and give it to Loukya ma'am tomorrow" Reyansh said.

"Okay thanks" I said and handed him the keys.

OMG! Loukya Khanna had created so much drama in a few minutes. The badge which I had been so proud of was no longer mine.

The only thing I could be happy about was that I hadn't been ousted from the club.

Well, at least the show hadn't been affected in any way.

Right?

Wrong!

A/N : So poor Riya has lost her badge. Hope you guys liked this chapter. If you did, grace it with your precious vote and feedback.

Lots of love. Thank you!