Chapter 28

You seem blind to the fact that his heart twists to see the two of you apart. At least, someone is trying to put it back together in a new way.

Vee

8th May 2019, Wednesday
15:00

I played with the beads of the necklace. My forehead thumped with pain and exhaustion. Hardik was right. I needed to start exercising again. My body couldn't even take a fifteen minutes jog easily without pain coursing through my ankles.

"Is that my necklace?"

I tilted my head and saw Shay standing at the entrance of the warehouse. The necklace slipped out of my hands and into my pocket.

"No," I said. "What necklace?"

She walked over to me, her movements better than when I saw her two days back. At the corner of the couch, she stopped and frowned at me.

"Why did you change its position? You're facing the wall," she said.

My eyelids drooped. "I know." I rubbed my forehead. Staring at that wall was not the best idea, I had decided.

The couch creaked a little as she sat down next to me. "You changed the covers."

I did. They were driving me nuts. The black ink that ran down its length had given me shivers when I came here yesterday. "They were dirty."

"Why didn't you come to school yesterday and today?" she asked. "And what happened to your head?"

As soon as her fingers touched the healing scar, I opened one eye and groaned. "What's up with your questions?"

She pulled her hand back and blinked at me. I didn't answer her. It was honestly fine, just a gift from our new groupie. Knowing that now I couldn't just go back to resting, I sat up straight.

"I talked to Kiara," I said. Her cheeks rose a little as her nostrils flared, the apparent distaste clearly on display. This was what I wanted to see, the strength of their abomination for each other and if I could overcome it.

"She played no role in what happened the day before yesterday," I said. "Nothing to do with you or the paintings."

She shrugged. "I don't care. It was just a magazine. Someone put it in, I took it out."

I carefully chose my next words. "She was rather distressed. I'm sure you must've heard what happened in the washrooms."

Her surprised gaze met mine. "She was distressed?"

I raised an eyebrow at the absurdity of her question. "Would you not be?"

"Did she hit you?"

I would have laughed at both her assumption and expression if I wasn't worried at the moment. "Shay, I want you both to finish whatever is going on."

The desperation in my voice should have shown her how badly I wanted them to become friends again. I truly believed they used to be friends no matter how much Ashiamma insisted they weren't.

"You want?" She let out a dry laugh. "What about what I want? Why do I feel that you're saying this because you simply can't bear the thought of her being the bad one here."

I sighed and threw my head back. "There are no bad ones. We all make mistakes. I am not asking you to be friends again, I-"

"Again? Were you sleeping around us? We were never friends to begin with."

"Maybe you weren't but she was," I mumbled under my breath.

"Can I ask you something?" She didn't wait for my response. "You both were friends. What happened to you, then?"

Ash's face flashed in front of me, her mouth filled with black water that dripped down her chin as she waved at me. Her eyes, red and swollen.

"Don't want to tell me, do you?" Shay said. "We have our choices, Vicky. It's my choice to stay away from her."

I shook my head. "Not all of us have choices, Shay. If you want to stay away, then do that. Do you girls have to accuse each other?" I knew she never openly took Kiara's name but had I asked her, it would have been her answer, just like Kiara.

"Why is it bothering you?"

I refused to look at her. It was bothering me because two people I had known for months were at each other's throat.

"I had been too busy crying over petty issues to see what it was costing me," I said. "And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of seeking answers I'm not going to get."

"So the best thing is to let that go?"

I nodded despite her snarling tone. I had my doubts about whether I'd be able to handle the truth even if it was ever told.

Shay sighed. "You know what, let's forget this. I didn't come here to get into an argument or get upset. I wanted to tell you something. It's about Hardik."

I got up from the couch and decided to walk around a little, my back towards her so she couldn't see the necklace.

"I've been meaning to tell you since Monday." She rubbed her eyebrow. "I don't know if you know this but Hardik and...I saw him with Mehak and she didn't look comfortable."

I stopped playing with the beads and cursed under my breath.

"You already know," Shay said. She was about to get up but I stopped her, the shuffling of her shoes now silent.

"Don't get up. Yes, I knew. But what do you mean by uncomfortable?" I turned back around.

"I don't know. It just looked like she was distressed. Vicky, are you sure you know beca-"

I nodded. She should save her breath. "They like each other. They have liked each other before he dated Ashiamma. I asked him to do that. But I swear I had no idea about them. He should've just told me. I found out later and asked him to keep it low."

Narrating this reminded me of my foolishness. I failed to decipher Mehak's absence when Hardik and Ashiamma were together, the small remarks she made and the little to no conversation between them.

"When I found out, I didn't once realize it was my fault. I blamed Hardik and asked him to stay quiet and continue it with Ashiamma," I admitted.

"Why?"

I shrugged, feeling helpless. "I wanted to help Ashiamma. I wanted her to feel happy."

"By pretence? Till when do you think he would have continued?" Her voice was surprisingly calm.

I answered, "Till she wanted."

Her eyes widened. I knew I was asking too much from him. Had I known what was the real scene, I would have never done this.

"He's not a play toy. Neither is Mehak."

I glanced at her. She stared down at the floor, tapping on her knee. I was relieved to see she wasn't angry, just a listener reliving the tale.

"Was it because of me?" she said after a minute.

I didn't have an answer. Ashiamma was fine when it came to Rishab, we all knew why. "She was a little disturbed. But otherwise, I think no."

"I thought Mehak was my replacement."

A small smile touched my lips. "Nobody could be your replacement for her, Shay. If it was so, I don't think she would've given you the keys of this place. We have a number of friends but each holds a different, unique place. If they were all the same, why would we bother knowing them all?"

"To see which model or edition suits us," she joked.

Despite her light tone, I wondered if that was the case. Was Ashiamma like that, skipping from Kiara to Shay to Mehak, then back to Kiara just to try them on like shoes? We picked up everything after trying except family. I blew out a breath and stared at the painting on the wall. Tell me, Ashiamma, did you try us too?

"Vicky?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to Shay whose gaze was fixed on the necklace in my hand.

"You shouldn't be walking much. You had a doctor's appointment, didn't you?" I asked.

She nodded, still looking at my hand. I cleared my throat. Her hand touched the beads.

"It's the one I gave to Ash," she said in daze.

"It broke. She had kept it here. I-I found out myself just...just yesterday."

Her eyes clouded with confusion. Or was it suspicion? "Oh. Do you mind if I take it?"

I nodded. "Why would I mind?"

"Because as far as I remember, Ash told me she threw it. I had been here once and never saw."

I put the necklace in her hand. "Just take it. I was going to give it to you anyway."

She smiled a little and my frown deepened. "Of course. You couldn't have had it all this time by any chance?"

I scowled. "No."

She nodded. "I'll take your word. But, maybe by mistake-"

My scowl deepened and she shut her mouth.

"She hated me, Vicky. Think of a plausible lie." She wrapped the necklace around her wrist. "I remember once I fell and Mehak came to help me."

She never accepted her help while Ashiamma stood smirking in a corner. Typical of her. I was standing half a ground away from them.

"Mehak is a nice girl. Do one thing, Vicky. Mend them rather than Kiara and I. Tell her it is okay. The girl literally seems so scared."

"What would she be scared of?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. They both deserve an apology."

I frowned.

She laughed. "Collect your ego and talk to both of them."

I rocked back and forth on my feet. "Do you realize you're just like her?"

She stopped playing with those beads and asked, "Who? Ash?"

I shook my head. "Mehak. You're similar in many ways. You're both a little quieter than the rest of us. And I think you're the only two people who would never harm anyone."

Her mouth opened slightly and she shook her head a little. "Putting your eggs in one basket?"

"I'm vegetarian." She moved slightly and adjusted her crutches. "Where were you going when you had the accident?"

She blinked her eyes, a stressful expression marking her face. "I should go now."

I groaned. "Are you seriously running away?"

"You're not the only one who can do that. Plus, I'm not running. I can hardly jog."

The beads around her wrist were the last thing I saw before she turned around the corner and disappeared. I picked up the fallen bead. When I turned back to the couch, I saw a page lying there.