Chapter 54

I've planted you and watched you grow. I don't believe your roots wanted more water than they could absorb.

Vee

16th May 2019, Thursday
7:00

I stared at the wall and turned slightly when Rishab and Roy came. When he had said early, I did not know this early. Roy nodded at me and Papa got up to shake hands with him.

"I hope you're fine meeting here," he said to them.

Roy shrugged and Rishab looked more than relieved. They sat down opposite to me and Papa sat next to me. I looked at Rishab, silently asking if he was okay with Papa here or if he wanted him to leave.

He simply stared at me and blurted out, "I helped Kiara."

"In what?" Roy asked.

I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees. "In lying to Shay and promising her entry into a competition. Why?"

"You know? Wait, how much do you know?" He looked at me in surprise.

I raised an eyebrow. "Less than your involvement."

Embarrassed, he looked away. "She knew about me since March 2018, not Sameer's part but just who I am. At that party you threw, there, she saw. And–" He looked up.

"She blackmailed you?" I asked, unsure of my own words.

He shook his head. "There was this guy there, a waiter and she saw and–"

"A waiter?" Papa asked suddenly. I could see the chains in his mind moving, planning to talk to the staff. He'd handle it, I knew.

"What role did you play?" I asked.

Rishab sighed. "Vicky, please try to understand things first and then react. I did not know what she actually meant. That doesn't make me any less responsible but I thought she was doing the right thing. Ash had–"

"–copied Shay's painting and asked her to not participate, I know." My eyes slid to the clock. There was enough time.

"Ash was wrong. I've seen her do things wrong so many times. I just thought one interview done anonymously won't hurt. People don't even read the magazine. It'll give Ash a warning and out of caution, she'll stop."

"The article was never going to be printed," I remarked.

"We were talking to Shay on the phone when Ash came to her. She cut the call and as far as Kiara told me, she never heard from Shay until after things had already messed up."

Now that he had said this, I had to acknowledge Shay was equally wrong, if not more. Kiara wanted a fake interview but Shay just took it to another level. My own words echoed in my ears when I had told Ashiamma No one will remember. I didn't know about others but I remembered. I was not forgetting this any soon.

"That's why I ran," he said. "She had jumped and I began to freak out that the blame would land on me."

I narrowed my eyes. "Did you guys have contact after all of this happened?"

He looked guilty. "She blamed me just as much as she blamed Kiara for lying, and Ash of course for, well, everything. She was the one who added my photo to the school's system."

Roy's mouth fell. Papa muttered something under his breath and I was thankful when his phone rang and he left the room to take it. I, on the other hand, wanted to laugh. I really was friends with revenge seekers.

"What happened to Hardik and Mehak?" Rishab asked.

I leaned back. "Something." Roy frowned at my time but I spoke up quickly, "Why was Ashiamma sorry?"

Roy paused and turned to Rishab.

He bit his lip and said, "I met her on her birthday, after the party. I came to meet Sameer when I found her outside her house with a head injury. It wasn't bad but she wasn't fully conscious and she kept murmuring about how her head hurt. I called Sameer out and we took her in. Then, some issue came up at the hotel where she had her party and Sameer left to see."

"Her parents?" Roy asked.

"They were already there," Rishab asked. "She woke up later and we got into an argument. She was saying something about some motorcycle and the lights and that I was following her. I don't even have a bike now, never had since this January when she vandalized my previous bike."

I blew out a breath, trying not to think that she went full crazy.

"I tried to talk her to rest and that I'd help her carry the gifts. She said she needed no one because now she wasn't alone. I made a mistake of calling her talks gibberish. She pushed me down the stairs. We were standing halfway to her room, so it didn't do much damage. I hit my head and–"

"Why did you not tell anyone?" Roy asked.

"Because I was scared. After I fell, the doorbell rang. I don't remember exactly. It did hurt and I heard someone else. I couldn't make out who it was. There was someone. Then, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was lying in Sameer's bed and I called Ash's name. She wasn't responding. I left then, calling Sameer and letting him know."

"When did that happen? The time?" Roy asked.

"Around ten thirty. It was pretty late."

I shook my head. "Her mother found her after an hour. Who was the person that came to her?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry. But I saw the person's shoes, white sneakers."

"That doesn't help," I said.

"Or maybe it does," Roy said. "What if the person involved here is involved in Hardik and Mehak's case? The only lead we have is shoes."

I thought back to the hospital and the silhouette of someone leaving Hardik's room. "You should go home," I said. "Thanks for your help."

"I still haven't told you how I knew she was sorry."

I shut my eyes and cursed. How could I forget? I gestured at him to continue. "When I woke up, just outside the house, a torn page lay. It was a letter, I think, that had been shredded to pieces. The pieces that lay outside had Kiara's name, the word understand and sorry."

"Wait, wait," I said, my mind still hung on what I saw last night. I turned to Roy. "I need you to do something. We'll have help. Kiara's father will help us."

14:25

I followed Roy inside the hospital, pushing the people aside, muttering apologies. My heart was speeding and my hands had turned cold. A tremble ran through my body and my legs shook. Roy walked to the elevator that was going up. I cursed and ran to the stairs. I could hear his steps following me, thinking I was crazy to climb up the four floors. By the end, my chest heaved and I gasped for air, but I did not stop. I could feel my heart pounding against my skull. I pushed open the door and stopped in front of the bed. Mahi Uncle raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey," she said.

"Are you crazy?" Roy entered the room, breathing heavily.

"She's not going anywhere. Breathe and then talk," Mahi Uncle said. As he moved past me, he whispered, "I did what you said. I think you were right."

I had been hoping I was not. Last night, I was sure there was someone. The sadness in Uncle's eyes broke my heart. I gave him a helpless shrug.

Roy cleared his throat and stepped away from us, letting Uncle walk out while the two exchanged glances. I frowned at them but they shook their heads. Weird.

"How are you?" I asked, turning to her.

"Fine."

"Mehak," Roy started, "I don't want to pressurize you but can you tell me–"

"I fell," she said, "but it was Kiara."

My mouth fell open. I looked back out in the corridor where Mahi Uncle had gone, now understanding why he was sad. "But I thought–"

"I told him. I'm sorry, I should not have but I did." She looked at me. "Shay wrote a note. It was about Ash, her and Kiara."

I was still staring outside. Her words made me whip my head in her direction and a guttural sound escaped my lips as retaliation. Then, I turned to Roy who stood there with a rather impassive face. "You know."

"Kiara came to me before I got a call from the hospital. She admitted knowing Ash's condition–"

"What condition?" Mehak asked.

"She also gave me the note." He dug into his pocket and gave me the piece of paper.

I did not open it. "This is fake. Are you sure, Mehak? Was it her only?"

She nodded. "I saw the surprised look on her face when I fell. I know it's difficult to believe me but–"

"Someone pushed Hardik from the window," Roy said. "Are you sure it was her?"

My heart broke.

"Hardik? Is...Is he okay? Is he hurt? Of course he would be. That's a stupid question. Ho-how is he?"

Roy looked at me. I dismissed his question. "It cannot be her."

It simply couldn't be her. She was my Junior, my little sister. I knew her. I blinked away my tears and stepped out of the room, walking far away from Mehak and her words. It could not be her. I searched for my phone, then I remembered it was in the car. My legs did not hold the power they held before and I sluggishly took the stairs, each step a jerk of reminder, a force that wanted me to acknowledge it. I couldn't.

I opened the paper hesitantly.

I'm sorry if my friendship ever hurt you, Kiara but I was just a shadow. All I wanted was a chance that both of you stole from me. All I wanted was a friend but I let him go too because Ash needed him. She needed a sane true friend by her side. I wish I could tell him but I can't ruin the image of a dead girl who I once swore to love.

My heart broke when I read the last night.

"No, Shay, what were you thinking?" I mumbled.

I shook my head and handed the paper back to Roy. My eyelids felt hot and heavy. I hurried out of the hospital.

Shay needed to wake up so I can tell her that I'd never pick one friend over another, never again. She would have to explain me this herself.

I walked over to my car and picked up my phone.

Raj turned to me. "It was ringing continuously."

I stopped when the messages by Kiara caught my eye.

I went to Ash's last night.

I opened the next one.

Go to her room. There's a drawer placed under her bed. I kept it there.

I got into the car. "Drive to Ash's."

I called her. The ring did not even reach. I called Nolan.

"Hello, Nolan," I said as soon as he picked up. Pankaj had said she was with him. He could prove all of them wrong. "Where's Kiara?"

He said nothing.

I checked the phone's signal and saw there was another message by Kiara that I hadn't noticed before. Putting the phone on speaker, I opened the message. It didn't load. Shaking my head, I put it back next to my ear.

"Nolan?"

"I don't know," he finally answered.

I paused and frowned at his voice. "Nolan, are you okay?"

"Ye-yes. Max told me about Hardik's condition. I'm sorry."

"Max?" I asked.

"My driver," he answered. "I saw Kiara with Roy the last time, around two."

"I need your help. Mehak woke up an–"

"Vicky?" Raj called.

I turned to him. He showed me his phone. "Kiara sent me this. Is this a sketch?"

"Hello?" Nolan said. "Is Mehak fine? Vicky?"

I removed my phone from my ear and checked the message she had sent to me.