TaaRey FF - #1. Life At Stake (Stake Triology)

Chapter 6:

"This isn't what I expected from you, Miss. Taani Hathway" Mr. Julian Delphi, d principle of St. Louise paced his office hall. No wonder y Rey is so beautiful. If father is so eye-hurt beautiful, son would have inherited his genes. He looked exactly like Rey except for his character. Have a Lord mercy, he said d same thing like 100 times. My ears have expired, I guess. Leaving d main culprit Kriya to back-burn, he had targeted me. D hell, he didn't even believe my side of justification. Also he accused me of going all physical. When Sharon and Harshad argued, I didn't initiate any trouble he threw them out of d room. Brainless b****! And Wahi, he stood there like a prison mouse, neither supporting me nor Kriya. Coward! I sat itching to slap him across d face and make him speak. Rey sat calmly on leather sofa, watching d whole conversation drama in interest. Wow, only he can be so calm.

After few minutes, d door of d office opened and someone entered. Mary, mother of Jesus..... It's Swayam! He gave me a look which I often receive when things get crazier. "Yes Swayam. I suppose you heard d entire canteen story." Mr. Julian spoke nonchalantly like he was chit-chatting. "Yes sir" Swayam's tone was neutral. "It's just a second day of her at college and she had created such drama........." Julian paused "Tell me, what am I suppose to do with ur sister?" Mr. Julian stared me through his crooked spectacles. Swayam spoke "I don't think it was wise of my sister to attack her fellow student. I wouldn't expect any special treatment for Taani, sir. If she's wrong then you have every right to punish her." Swayam didn't meet my eyes. Look, I really understood y he said that. But it pierced me. Ever in my life thought, I would hear him not defending me. This time I was not at fault. Kriya was d one to provoke me. Automatically, my eyes filled. I bit my lip avoiding it to fall. And expose my vulnerability. Family! It was for him, I was about to fought. But didn't since my freak abilities already did what I thought to do. I caught, Rey glaring at my brother. Weird! And his eyes darted to me. I quickly looked away. "Alright" Mr. Julian turned to me. "Since you physically attacked ur college mate, it costs a severe penalty. But looking d things in ur perspective and hearing out ur friends, a week detention would make-up." Detention.... It's nothing new to me. I was just idled. "During ur detention, ur work is to work in library at mornings and spending d rest of time with ur defense partner to learn ur caliber of defense acts only when needed" That caught me off guard. "Is it ok with u Rey?" Julian raised his thick eyebrow at his son. "Of course....I would love to" Though Rey's face was neutral, I could feel him watching me with 'I'm-so-ready-for-it'. My brother looked in between us and his stance stiffened. At d same time, Rey caught his eyes and clenched his jaw. Both glared each other for long lasting seconds. And then Rey smirked at him. Oh my....What on d earth is going on between them. Anyhow I had more problems. Working at library wasn't in my to-do list, but I can somehow manage it. But training with Rey whole week continuously for hours was a big deal. I felt so exposed. To top d list, Rey stifled a grin but became serious seeing my flushed face.

"Sorry" I apologized to Rey when we were on d way outside. He looked like I had gone crazy. "Sorry because you have to stick with me all afternoons for rest of d week." "Hey, didn't u hear me saying I would love to" He cocked an eyebrow. He threw me a half-grin. I seriously should get a grip of my fluttering butterflies. I smiled myself. Outside d office, Swayam was waiting for me. As soon as I got out, he rushed towards me along with Harshad and Sharon. "Taani....I didn't mean to..." I didn't let him complete. "It's ok, Swayam. You don't need to justify ur actions." I acted to be calm. Wahi and Kriya were nowhere to be seen. "But.....I really didn't wanted u to get into detention" He tried to make-up. "Really...." Someone interrupted. It's Rey. Even without turning back, I recognized him. His honeysuckle voice and his tingling presence cautioned me. "If u had supported her a little, probably she wouldn't have faced d punishment." He spat. It caught me off guard. He was defending me. But at d same time not. I have never seen someone speaking to my brother so harshly. Not even on a serious issue. Still, my problem was small compared. But Rey presented it as d whole mess created by my brother. Maybe, I'm crushing over this arrogant hot boy. That doesn't mean he have d right to insult my brother. "Rey" I glared him. He didn't even notice me or my warning. He was looking at my brother with so much hate. I could feel d nerve cracking in his muscles. Swayam's face was flushed. His features paling even more. He looked tired. Tired of what? I'm not sure. "Taani.... It's ok" He gestured me to quit it. "You are always d same, Swayam, Selfish" Rey spoke disdainfully, like sputtering vengeance on him. "Rey, just for once stop blaming me." Swayam closed his eyes in exasperation. "This is my sister, for God sake. You know very well how much I love her" He was trying to justify. Also he apologized for doing nothing wrong. What was wrong with Rey? Y is he targeting Swayam? Most important, they both knew each other so personally. I know they are in senior class and sharing d same class but how come they became so vengeful in a single day or one n half day? "Don't. Don't swear in ur shitty mouth. You can't love anybody. Because when you love, u should be capable of protecting the one you love.... Which isn't in ur nerves" Their argument had become personal n private. Rey had moved slightly closer to him, angrily. He gritted his teeth. "Rey..." Swayam kept his hand on Rey's shoulder, only to be swatted roughly by him. "Don't... Don't you dare to 'Rey' me...." He sputtered. Swayam flinched. My heart went out to Swayam. I have always admired him for his outspoken attitude. But today, he didn't let me fail to notice, he behaved so ordinary in front of Rey. On d other hand, something was chewing away Rey's heart. He was in pain. I wanted to console him and also my brother. Suddenly, something happened. Harshad stood in between these fighting cats, throwing up his hands. "Both of you, it's not d place for ur personal fights." He paced daggers on both. They looked taken aback. So as me and Shar! But instantly, they stopped. Not before Rey reacting "Keep ur claws out of it, fox boy". Gosh, he was being bully-ass. It hurt me when he insulted my BFF like something obnoxious.... Harshad didn't bulge. "I sure know my place, Mr. Delphi" He said honestly. Rey gave one scathing look to Harshad and a piercing glare to Swayam and left. Swayam didn't relax. He watched retracing figure of him. To my surprise, Sharon moved beside Swayam n held his hand giving a tight squeeze "I didn't know Rey could be such a jerk." She frowned. Mama.... D girl who had hots-like-crazy for Rey was turning his behavior down for my brother. He looked astonished at her gesture of comfort and little uncomfortable too but didn't retrieve his hand back. Then Swayam spoke "He sure can be a jerk sometimes. But I kind of deserve it....." He rubbed his knuckles on forehead. Deserved it? "I don't d history of u both..... And it's even weird to know that u guys knew each other.....But don't stress....He'll come around...After all he's not a bad guy...." Sharon smiled sweetly at Swayam. He blinked startled by her. Then he added "That....he's..." Then he relaxed. I'm not sure what kind of magic flew from Sharon, I was thankful for making him to calm down. "I guess u need some piece of mind" Sharon suggested him. Whoa whoa.... "Huh..." He stumbled, little. Then realizing "yeah......." He looked astound by her reading of his mind. He looked skeptically at me. "Go....Her company is natural rejoice centre" I teased. He looked embarrassed. Nevertheless, he followed her. Wait a second! How could I miss it, until now? Sharon cared for Swayam. Not because, he was my brother or her defense partner. Her eyes shone different feeling. Though her emotions were at bay, it was still little surprising that I missed seeing her likeliness towards my brother. Then what about Harshad? I thought they were being little 2 cozy. Thinking of Harshad, when I turned at him, what I saw made my heart hurt. Was I so caught up in seeing Sharon-Swayam, I had forgot Harshad's equation with her. He was watching them with a blank face. He didn't give away any emotions but my guts said otherwise. When he caught me looking at him, his casual humorous smile returned. "I'm sorry that I couldn't help with d detention, Taani bear..." He put a hand on my shoulder. Oh... Wasn't he going to tell me anything about Sharon? It hurt me. Nevertheless, I didn't drag d matter. There was always 'Later'. I put my hand on his waist "Come on, buddy....It's ok....At least I'll be out of boring classes" I chuckled. "Lucky u" He joined my chuckle-fest. "By d way, what was that?" I raised both eyebrows. He gave me a lopsided look like which-one. "Shutting my brother and Rey...." I narrowed my eyes. Apart from shooing off them, he hadn't spoken a word. The thing I didn't understood is how come both did shut up d moment he ordered them somewhat dramatically serious. They were our seniors, for lord sake. "What?" He mimicked my innocence. I glared. "Well, they were fighting like kids in front of everyone. Being seniors, it's a shame. So someone should have stopped them, before creating any more drama in today's headlines" He shrugged. I still didn't believe him. I'm sure he was hiding something from me. "Areeee Taani bear, stop over reacting, k. Come on I'm hungry. Because of ur thrilling f8, I haven't ate anything in d lunch"