Chapter 5
ARYAN
20 July 2008 (13 years old)
"Again, you didn't have to come."
Tara Maa rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. I should know what's happening at your school."
I shook my head. "I was talking about your husband."
"Shut up, little rascal!" Papa said, continuing to walk beside Tara Maa in the school corridor. Seriously, he did not have to come. He had never come to my Parent Teacher Conferences before. And yet, he had to come today.
We were walking back from my classroom and on our way to the Amphitheater. Something we didn't have to do, but Tara maa wanted to go there. "Why are we going to the Amphitheater again?"
"Because they are exhibiting Shivansh's sculptures today. And we are going there to show our support."
I scoffed. "The Thakur's aren't even here today. So, what's the point? They aren't here to show support to their son. So, why should we?"
"That is exactly why we should be here—to fill in!" Tara Maa said. Her smile and the light in her eyes showed that she was really here to show support.
I didn't say anything and just let her do whatever she wanted. But it was futile. The rest of the school was there to show their appreciation. The school had shown theirs by exhibiting his sculptures, which had won him prizes. His family wasn't here to show their support, however—not his parents and, for sure, not his unnecessarily competitive sister.
The sister who did not show up to the last week of school before summer vacation, and then her whole family was MIA for the entire vacation and did not come for the first month after school opened, as well. She missed her weekly tests, did not submit her holiday reports, wasn't in the class to be a pest, and irritated me with her stupid, sarcastic remarks.
She wasn't here. I did not see her during the summer breaks or at those random dinners our families hosted. 'She wasn't here!'
We walked out of the building, towards the amphitheater nestled between the senior building and junior building. The amphitheater was lined with flowers and plants I didn't bother remembering the names of. Just that they were red, and pink and yellow and white. They smelled good too. The amphitheater was made of red-sandstone. It looked like it really came out of Ancient Rome. That was the beauty of studying in the most expensive schools in India.
I saw the usual faces around. Some smiled, some nodded. I ignored. What was the point? They weren't the faces I wished to see. So, I just walked over to the amphitheatre and was already hating the crowd that had gathered there.
Shivansh was good. Almost a prodigy, if not already considered one. But, this was also his first art piece displayed and exhibited at The Composé, one of the most famous and prestigious art galleries in the world.
"What the actual fuck?" Papa said and paused at the entrance of the amphitheatre.
"What?" I said, looked over to where his gaze was trained and froze myself.
"Is that Jaya?" Tara Maa said, and sure enough, it was, Jaya Thakur standing there in a white and pink dress, with Viraj Thakur, dressed in a blue shirt and black pants and beside him was Shivansh, wearing those black glasses and white shirt and black pants, standing beside his sculpture of a female phoenix.
"Smile a little, Shiv!"
'That voice!' Slowly, my eyes moved over to the girl who stood before the stage, with her phone focused on him, clicking pictures. 'She is here. She is back!'
My legs moved before I could allow them to move. The statue was placed on the centre stage, and Shivansh stood beside it. The stage was circled with platforms in descending order around it, and at the end of them, Kethaki stood in her purple top and black jeans. Her back was to me, and as I moved, so did my parents.
They walked over to the couple while I walked over to the girl who had been the bane of my existence since she had vanished from the face of the Earth three months ago! She was busy clicking pictures, and I was busy looking at her because I did not notice Amir and Rithvik walk over to the centre of my attention.
"Kethaki?" Rithvik said, and immediately lunged forward to hug her. I paused. My hands clenched, and before I could take action, she stepped back.
"What? You always hug me," he said but did not try to hug her again.
The smile on her face had vanished, and she did not look like she wanted their company or anyone else's. Too bad she would have to suffer through mine. I began walking over to her again, but then that fucker, Amir, opened his mouth.
"Oh, live a little, Kay girl. It's been months since we last saw you! Give us a hug," he said, walking forward to her.
I walked towards them, faster and ready to punch him.
Shivansh, Viraj uncle and Papa, all stepped forward to stop him, but they weren't fast enough. Nor was I. As he got closer, Kethaki panicked. "Amir, I said no!" She exclaimed, and in order to stay away from him, she stumbled on the steps, and fell, rolling down five stairs at once.
"Kethaki!" Viraj uncle said, and rushed to her. I was only five steps away from them, and saw her scraped knee, and the jerk responsible for it standing in front of me.
I punched Amir hard enough to break his nose. There were not a lot of people around, and the amphitheatre was huge, and yet, you could hear the sound of his nose breaking when my fist collided with his face with a sickening thud. That one punch did not feel good enough and so, I landed another. And then, another. And another. I kept punching him until the sight of her bleeding was not replaced by his bleeding face. "She said 'no', didn't she?" I said and landed the seventh punch.
Someone pulled me away from him, and I let them. "That's enough, Aryan!" Papa said and pulled me away. I didn't spare another glance at Amir and turned to help Kethaki when another scene was unfolding before me. Rithvik was helping her stand, and she was letting him. Within seconds, her family reached her. Shivansh and Viraj uncle, upon looking at her wound, turned their hate-filled gaze to Amir, who was half unconscious, and his parents frantically took him away.
They knew better than to cross us.
I ignored everything, and made my way to Kethaki, ignoring how willingly she accepted Rithvik's help. I walked over to her, pushed Rithvik out of the way and crouched in front of her. She was busy inspecting her wound, and Jaya aunty was busy cleaning it with water.
Very slowly, I gently held her chin and made her look up. Somehow, they had missed the small wound on her forehead, which she got when she hit her head against the stairs. I had no idea what had come over me. The adrenaline that rushed in me when I saw Kethaki hurt was slowly dissipating from my blood, and I could finally think clearly. And yet, no guilt, no regrets came. Only concern. Concern for her.
This was why I ignored how everyone had paused in doing what they were doing when they saw me push Rithvik out of my way and take control in my hands. They could keep wondering why I was helping my rival. It wasn't that I hated her; I could not stand her when she bested me in something. So, yes, if she was hurt, I would get concerned. If she vanished off the face of the Earth for three months, and none of my investigators could find her, I would be worried.
She slowly raised her eyes to look at me, and froze. I brought my handkerchief over to her forehead, and before I could clean her wound, it happened. She pushed me away. I was expecting it. It wasn't everyday that your rival steps in to take care of you, But what I wasn't expecting was what I saw in her eyes.
Kethaki's eyes were filled with unadulterated hatred. She looked at me with such hatred that I didn't understand it. Her eyes roamed over my face and the hand holding the handkerchief. Then, her nose scrunched in disgust, and the hatred that was restricted in her eyes slowly bled into her face, and she looked at me as though I had hit her and was the cause of her pain.
"Take me away," she whispered, which seemed to have snapped her parents from their stupor. The one I had created when I decided to be gentle and be there for someone other than my family.
"Take me away from him, papa!" She screamed, and then, tears gathered in her eyes. The hatred for me in her eyes, on her face and in her body language just kept on increasing. "Take me away from him, please!" She sobbed.
I sat there in the same crouch I got in to help her, frozen. What was happening was beyond me.
I thought her return was the only surprise I would get today, yet here I was, being hated by her. She hated me and did not thank me for defending her and beating a 13-year-old boy to almost death for hurting her. She hated me instead of giving me those sassy smirks and cutting insults. She hated me rather than being happy to see me, as I did her.
She hated me for some reason only the devil knew. But I knew one thing for sure.
She started a stupid competition between us when we were kids, and I made sure to continue until our teen years. Now that she had started hating me when we were teens, I will continue it to our death.
'You think you know hate, Kethaki? By hating me, you've done more than cross a line—you've ignited a fire, a tale of hate so strong that the heat of hellfire would be but a flicker in comparison. You have no idea what you've unleashed.'
I watch as her father gathers her in his arms, and teachers storm towards us. I saw as he took the crying girl away, who clings to her father, as though someone would snatch her away if she didn't hold on. I watch as Kethaki doesn't spare me another glance, as though my wait for her these past months meant nothing to her.
'I promise you this. I will hate you, Kethaki, not for a moment, not for a year, but forever. My hate will be your shadow, your nightmare, your eternal torment. It will consume you until the end of time itself. I promise you, Kethaki. I promise to hate you forever.'
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