She was cut off by our very own Ananya.
“Oh just shut up, bimbo.”
That was it for Alya. She burst into tears from frustration of being called such a thing, by that “weird” Ananya girl nonetheless, and ran away from the scene. The students were really, really enjoying today’s university day.
Whereas Maira froze in her place. She had a priceless expression, Ananya was furious, because she wasn’t so angry at, well, everyone in her sight, just mostly on that weird Harshad guy, who dared to lay his dirty fingers on her without her approval. Maira noticed this and, seeing that her rage as well hasn’t toned down in one bit, didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or get angry.
Ananya tried clearing her head a little from the anger, but everyone knew she was still, extremely, pissed off. So, she just held Naina's hand who held Ishaani’s hand and dragged her from the room. There were too many preying eyes, which had nothing better to do than judge and gossip. She really couldn’t stand this place.
After walking out from the canteen and into the building where the classes were being held, Ananya finally found an empty classroom where she could catch her breath and talk to Naina and Ishaani. Naina and Ishaani were still crying though, having sobbed all the way through the school and showed no signs of calming down.
Our girl, Ananya was good at everything she did, except one thing. Comforting people. But she still had to try, right? “Listen… just… stop! OK? It’s over now, you can relax. Shh! Quiet now!” She would never admit it out loud, but she was very, very bad at this.
Eventually, in her own way, Ananya managed to make Naina and Ishaani feel comfortable enough that they stopped sobbing. It was hard for Ananya to show any kind of emotional vulnerability, so she didn’t have much experience with comforting herself, now imagine comforting others! She did the best she could.
Naina and Ishaani stopped crying by now.
Then a sudden flash of fury flashed in Ananya’s eyes. Not knowing what overcame her, right after Naina and Ishaani just calmed down from their sobs. Ananya tried her best to keep her fury in hand, but she just couldn’t. She had to let it out. “What the bloody hell were you doing there?! You can’t even stand for yourself? Are you that damn weak?!”
She didn’t know if the anger was directed at Naina and Ishaani, or the younger version of herself. A beat of silence passed. Naina and Ishaani’s expressions looked unreadable.
“Answer me, damn it!”
She shouted this at the top of her voice, scaring the shit out of Naina and Ishaani. This didn’t stop Ananya from feeling even more frustrated. She knew she has no right to act like this. She still couldn’t stop. She shouted again. “What, now, you can't stand for yourself, after all?! Huh?! Listen, tears don't help. They never do! If you want something, anything in this world, you always need to fight for it! There's nothing.” Ananya’s voice broke. Her voice never breaks.“Nothing in this world that you can get for free. Remember that.” Her voice trailed off. “Think about it.”
After saying that, she stormed out of the room even more angered than before. She shut the doors with so much force, that the loud “thud” echoed for a long time after her leave. Left all alone, Naina and Ishaani burst into tears again, not understanding the true intentions behind Ananya’s speech and her attitude. Maybe soon enough she will.
On the other side on the campus, Karan was sitting with an ice pack pressed against jaw and right cheek, looking formidably tired. Whoever said college life was fun, must’ve been a drop out social reject with no experience and too much freedom. Alya was still sobbing and uttering curses to the point it’d be comical if it wasn’t so pathetic. Poor Maira was left handling her all alone. She was the one who probably had the worst fate at the end of this whole ordeal.
Druv was helping out with Karan’s wound, handing him more ice packs. The state of him made him terrified of that girl’s power. He would definitely hate getting on her bad side. And about our very own Greek God, Karthik’s state, Well, he couldn't register anything. It was all just too shocking. A girl...rejecting his friend? And punching him right after?! He would soon come up with the conclusion that what had transpired was just a dream. Such a thing, it could never be real!
That would never happen to them. Never!
They were all sitting in a classroom, together with some other nameless students.
There was a pin drop silence. Everyone was too shocked (or scared) to say anything. Not even the buzz of a fly could be heard in a mile’s radius. It was as if Ananya scared the hell out of all the living beings in this world, this afternoon.
Then, suddenly, the door of the classroom burst open. All the innocent students were too terrified, to scared and too tired of this.
Her sudden appearance stunned the class, resulting in a pin-drop quiet in which no one dared to move or speak a word. As the last and second-to-last benches were filled, the Fab 5 were stunned to their core.
An individual surged into the classroom just as the class was reeling from the rapid turn of events, and the door burst wide open. Karthik, Maira, and Karan all jumped to their feet when they saw the person in question. The trio is brought down by Alya and Yash when they notice this.