Beneath the Golden Chain (BtGC)

AFFECTION

Days passed. We did not get any news regarding him. Mom enquired about it every day but they seemed distracted from this case. That worried us. I saw that my phone was ringing. But I was not in the mood to pick up. Reyansh, Reshma and Ashna kept on calling. I assumed that they were worried about me since I did not go to college. But I had no idea how to explain this. So I thought of escaping instead.

I started going back to college once I felt that my mom was doing fine. She still missed him. But she digested the fact that he's gone. I missed my bus. I was gloomy. I failed to notice the bus. Reshma came that way. Her father was dropping her like the other day. But they usually took a different route. They asked me to get in. To my surprise, Reyansh was sitting in the back seat. I felt nervous to share the seat with him. I assumed that he was angry for not picking up his calls and not cheering him during his competition. I knew that I did wrong. I dared not to look at his face. His father asked me how I was doing. I pretended to be fine. Reshma and Reyansh was not talking to me. I doubted that she was also angry at me for not responding to her calls. On reaching the campus, I thanked uncle and I was trying to run away as soon as possible. But he held my hand. My heart skipped a beat. That was sudden. He was just trying to stop me from running away. But somehow, I felt uneasy. I scratched his hand. But still he did not let it go. I thought I could escape during that time when he opens his door. But Reshma stood in front, blocking the way. Soon, Ashna too joined. I felt like they were teaming up against me. We kept on staring. Another round. 'What?' I asked. 'So you know how to talk. Why did you keep silent during these days?' Reyansh asked. 'I had my reasons,' I said. 'What are those stupid reasons?' he asked. 'Hey, mind your words,' I said. 'What the hell? You did this and you are asking me to mind my words?' he asked. 'Rad, don't you have anything to explain?' Ashna asked. 'Hey, don't pressure her. It's okay if she isn't ready. Look at her face. She's becoming uncomfortable. Let's go for now,' Reshma said. 'I... I am sorry. I am really sorry,' I dared to apologize. 'So you realize now? Do you know how worried we were? Look at your phone. I have called you thousand times,' Reyansh said. 'I know. Please don't ask me anything now. Just know that I had something big going on. I am not ready to talk with you guys. I know what I did is wrong. But I had my reasons,' I told them.

Ashna did not speak a word to me. 'Show me your book. There's a lot to complete, right?' I asked on seeing her notebook. She didn't reply. I understood that she was in a sweet revenge mode. Marion talked to me. Thankfully, she did not ask me anything. She talked a lot about her tour. I tried to calm down. I tried to come back to senses. I tried to be normal.

Lakshmi enquired about my leave and I said 'some family issues dear.' 'Oh. What happened?' she asked. I didn't know what to explain. I doubted that she'd be mad if I decided to hide it. 'Lax, Sweetie Ma'am is asking for you,' Adwaith came over and said. 'Oh never mind. I am going, okay?' she said to me. I felt strange on hearing that. She was just curious to know the story. She was not worried at all, I realised.

I stood there for a while looking at the ground. I could see the basketball court. Reyansh was there. Abraham was there too. I watched them practising. I wondered how this guy could manage his time, trying everything. He plays cricket, basketball, volleyball...and I don't know what not. Meanwhile I heard the 'shoo shoo' sound from the opposite side. Oh. That's the first time I saw that there was a classroom opposite ours. 'Their windows were closed earlier, maybe. That's why I did not notice this,' I thought. They waved at me. They were throwing comments and all. I felt uncomfortable and moved away from there.

Classroom was empty. Soon, my mentor came in. 'Radhika, are you okay?' she asked. 'I am fine Ma'am. Just a small headache,' I said. 'Oh. You were sick during the previous week, right? Did you take your medicine well?' she asked. I just nodded. 'I have a migraine and I get a headache once in a while. It will be gone soon,' I said. 'Ok. Lie down for a while then,' she said.