Chapter 24

I'm not nice, no. I'm just a kid trying to grow up.

Nolan

3rd May 2019, Friday
18:22

When I opened the door, I didn't expect to see her, of all the people. My eyebrows furrowed and as I took in her attire. Untied mess of hair, fear-stricken eyes, red hands, heavy breaths, dirty shoes, just like the first time. Culprit, her attire had spoken.

"Nolan."

I met her gaze, took a step back and shook my head. This was Kiara.

"Kiara," I breathed. "Come in."

Kiara shifted on her sandals and avoided my gaze. Her fingers moved slightly around the polythene bag clutched to her chest.

"Kiara, come in," I repeated. We hadn't talked since Wednesday. So it hit me with huge surprise and a little hope when she stood here, at my house, in front of me. Still, there was a nagging feeling in my chest.

Then, I blinked. "How did you know where my house is?" Did she found from h-

She shrugged. "School records. I wasn't stalking you. I saw it once while making a list."

She stepped inside and I closed the door, leaning against it. Her back faced me. She looked around the place, turned to me and looked a little more, in what I thought could only be defined as awe. The polythene bag slipped out of her grasp and out of reflex, I jumped to help her. But my hands stopped, her dreadful voice telling me to leave echoed in my head. I cleared my throat and maintained my posture.

"Do you need some help?" I hesitantly asked.

She nodded with a look of desperation in her eyes. "Please."

When I tried to get the bag from her, I realized she did not refer to this but something else. I tugged at it but she shook her head. Heat rose to my cheeks. If this wasn't awkward, Lord help me, I did not ever want to know what truly was.

"I-" "You-" We spoke simultaneously and laughed at our condition.

While her laugh cooled the atmosphere in the room, my shaky laugh like a generator refusing to turn on cracked her up further. She broke into a full belly laughter, doubling over. The bag slipped out of her hands again and I grasped it before it could injure her feet. Although I got hold of it at the right time, I wasn't prepared for the weight.

"What do you have in here?" I asked through clenched teeth. "Dead body?"

She stopped laughing and played with her fingers. "Something like that."

My eyes widened and I stared inside. Frames. Placing the bag lightly on the glass table, I opened its knot and took a good look. Two canvases lay in the middle, each having a frame on its side. I didn't have to ask Kiara what it was, who it belonged to. Everyone at Dandelion Presidency knew these black coloured frames with golden design on them. We saw them on so many occasions, so often.

"I brought them here," Kiara mumbled.

Considering she stood in my house, with Ashiamma's paintings in my hand, of course she brought them here. The annoyance that had been covered by relief on seeing her resurfaced.

"They were supposed to be in the school," I said, not looking at her but the frames, whose corners were designed with a 5.

"I took them," she replied. "Picasso Club is renovating. I saw Shay removing this and brought it from her. Did you know Vee stood there the whole time, letting her remove it?"

Brought it? Why did I feel that she meant snatched? I answered her question. "No. Sit down."

She did.

I placed the frames aside. "Why? Because you saw it in her hands, you snatched it and stole the rest?"

Her nod explained to me that she missed my tone. I sighed. What was she doing?

"You wanted to stay alone so you could master a plan of stealing?" I was disappointed. "What is wrong with you, Kiara? Is this your way of coping with what happened in the washroom?"

She gasped. "Excuse me? I wanted to stay alone because you just got the police involved in a matter that didn't even concern you. I wasn't planning on stealing them, it just happened. Ash was the star and Shay is trying to remove her from her spot. Who the hell is she?"

I said nothing. I wasn't my place to and I honestly had nothing to say. Her sudden outburst startled me for a moment but I collected myself. She removed her glasses and placed them on the table, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Hey," I said and sat next to her. "Don't cry. It's okay." I was feeling like a douche.

"Does it not scare you?" She whispered, staring at the floor. "She's dead. No one knows how." Not to mention, she was sorry but I didn't have to remind Kiara that. "She left behind these and now Shay removed them as well."

"Maybe to add it somewhere better?" I suggested.

"You wish." I winced at her bitter time.

We sat there in silence, her tears almost invisible. Her breaths on the other hand were short and loud. I got up to bring her a glass of water and give her a little space. Here she was in my house and I was feeling guilty for invading her privacy. She stole her friend's works right under Vicky's nose, asked me to leave her alone and yet I felt as if I was guilty. I blew out a shaky breath and gulped down the glass of water, getting another one for her.

My thoughts wandered off to the day I offered her a ride. She had said no. If I hadn't persuaded her, maybe we'd be on different paths, my mind wouldn't go numb and I would feel a little more human. But then again, if that was the case, I would be giving her up. Was I ready to get out of this drama? Yes. Was I ready to get her out of my system? No. I could still feel her warm arms engulfing me when I was sweaty and smelly.

"I'm sorry," Kiara said.

I walked over to her and handed her the glass. When she refused to take it, I said, "I thought you were sorry. This is a very bad way of asking for forgiveness."

She smiled and accepted the glass. "I need you to do me a favour."

I folded my arms. "Anything." Anything to make her feel better.

Her lips shifted in a light, almost invisible smile, the tense posture gone. "I'm really sorry. I was rude."

My gaze fell on her forehead. "You can blame it on the bump."

She shook her head, sighed and covered her face. "This is embarrassing."

I laughed. "No, it's not." Once I sobered up, I continued, "That was, whatever that was in the washroom, was clearly a violation of school rules, bullying and waste of paper. I'm amazed at your capability to handle it well." I rubbed my neck. "I told you because Roy wanted to hear it from you. You refused, so he had to drop it. But he says he can talk to the school-"

"No need for that," she said. "Besides, I know who did this."

My eyebrows furrowed. She pointed at the paintings. Ashiamma? I shook my head and took a better guess. "Shay?"

"My sweet friend, Sheereen," Kiara answered. "Yes. All by herself."

She must have been mistaken. Shay, who was injured, managed to get into both the washrooms and create mayhem. Yes, that sounded unrealistic.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Kiara asked. She took out an envelope from her pocket. I sat next to her and took the envelope. "Do you remember what you saw?"

I gazed at her and back at the envelope. Inside, there was a picture of Ashiamma, smiling at me. A chill ran down my spine.

"Inter State Gold Medalist," Kiara whispered. "She got that last year, every year. Isn't that..."

"Amazing," I finished her.

She shook her head. "Something to flaunt or have next to your name?"

I put the pictures back in the envelope and turned to Kiara. "Are you implying Shay didn't like Ashiamma?"

"She's messing up with my mind. I found that in her bag." She pointed at the envelope. "I just snatched one painting. The rest, I brought back from the Art Room. Nolan, I'm not going to sit here and try to justify myself. I did this because I don't want to see her hands on anything that belongs to Ash. Vee has lost his mind. I had my suspicions then only but I really don't want to involve the police into this."

I remembered her expression back in the hospital, the sudden outburst that scared me, the wish to be left alone, these paintings, it all felt wrong. Her actions felt wrong. I watched her face hold the victory, the smugness of being a truthful person but I did not want her to know that all I saw was awful actions. The giddiness, warm exhale of breath filled with hope, it all vanished. She did not look like Kiara.

"What is your purpose?" I asked.

"Just keep Shay away from Ash. That's what I need you to do for me."

My eyes widened. A strange, choking noise rose from my throat. "M-me? Why me? Ho-"

"Nolan, stop freaking out. Keep these paintings with you. She'll come to me but I won't have it. I sounded dramatic but all you have to do is keep this with you."

I needed water. I picked up her half empty glass and gulped it all down. If anyone found it, I was dead. If Vicky found, I was more than just dead.

"If I die, the blame is on you," I said.

She grinned.

That menacingly beautiful smile, I couldn't choose to fall for it or push it. I knew I would fall for it. I already had.

18:35

I had been in the market when they fought for the first time. It was always her who started it, he just listened to it. I blamed him for not trying to work things out. I didn't say that, I didn't have to, he saw it on my face. So when the divorce happened, I thought she'd fight for me, her own son. She didn't.

"He's not mine," she had said to Dad. "It was your idea."

No one had to argue if I simply went with Dad. So I did. We left her, brought an apartment and Dad prepared to come to India. I avoided him at first, annoyed by his sympathetic look. Later, I realized that to make it vanish, I needed him to stop giving me those stares. After that day, he was Mum and he was Dad. Sure, I was Mumma's boy once but now I was my own ruler. It didn't break my heart when I saw her three months later with another guy with a kid of his own. That kid called her 'Mum'. It didn't break my heart.

"Nolan." Dad's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Hurry up," Kiara said, staring out of the door.

I dropped Mum's picture and covered the bag with my coats. Locking the closet, I opened the door and let Kiara walk out first.

"No-" Dad stopped at Kiara's sight. I looked over her shoulder.

"Good Evening, Mr. Adams," Kiara said with a smile. "I'm Kiara."

Dad smiled back. "Nice to meet you, Kiara. I didn't know you invited friends, Nolan. This boy rarely brings anyone home. Only Pankaj comes sometimes, very rarely, like, once every three months. I see him even less, if he makes it past the main gate."

I stared at the two getting into a conversation and sat on the sofa. Let them talk. I needed some peace of mind. While they both chatted, I made up my mind. Kiara didn't have to know about Hardik and Mehak. Vicky did not have to know about the paintings. And Shay, I did not want to know anything about her.

"Nolan, are you not going to accompany her?" Dad asked.

Kiara shook her head and I responded, "She can go, I'm sure."

Her smile reassured him and she walked out.

I was so indecisive. I could not hate her but it was getting difficult to see past her actions. Everything could not be brushed off by saying it was because of Ashiamma's death. She needed to get over it. There was a difference between getting over her and getting over it.

"Close your eyes and count till five."

Five, ten or hundred. I could not keep my eyes closed any longer, no matter how much I trusted darkness or how much it helped me.

"You okay, buddy?" Dad asked.

I nodded. His eyes were clouded with tension.

"You tell me," I said. "Someone looks very happy today."

He laughed and brushed his beard. I narrowed my eyes to confirm if his cheeks were actually tainted pink.

"Oh my God," I dramatically added with a squeal but ended up laughing hard.

"Haha," he muttered, sitting next to me. "I met someone."

I stilled. He looked even more flustered. My laugh began again.

"She has a daughter too, of five years."

I smiled and pinched his cheeks, irritating him further. "Kids are cute." And they were.

He had a skeptical look on his face. Maybe he expected me to freak out but I didn't really mind having a little sibling to pamper. But it was sudden, I'd give him that.

"She wants to meet you."

I stopped laughing. Maybe I just needed to close my eyes.