#EXPOSED

CHAPTER - 10

Blame game.

Maira

I stab my fork against the meatball and push a fork full of noodles into my mouth. "Where were you last night?" I inquire after I swallow my food and Ella frowns at me. "You weren't there when Vaanya and I left."

"Oh Daddy summoned me," she says and I nod silently. I mentally debate upon raising the subject of what Vaanya and I witnessed last night. I look at Vaanya and I can tell she knows what I'm pondering upon. She shakes her head ever so slightly in denial and I purse my lips.

"What are you doing?" I look at Sam to change the subject and she shuts her phone quickly.

"Nothing just looking for a book online," she says nonchalantly and Vaanya chuckles.

"A book with villains?" Vaanya raises her brows and Sam rubs her upper arm sheepishly.

"It's for Mayank," she says and Vaanya and I gape at each other in silent suspicion.

"Wait, dial it back," Vaanya shakes her head furiously. "You mean Saxena Sir is the person who likes villains?" Her voice waivers and Sam's brows knit to a frown.

Sam nods. "I mean theoretically, in the books, yeah." Fuck!

"That's...cool," Vaanya mumbles, her eyes meeting mine again and my lips twitch in amazement. Ella looks back and forth between us and jerks her chin up in silent query but before I could convey anything, Ranveer saunters by our table, talking indistinctively over his phone and I sigh audibly.

Vaanya pushes to her feet instantly to stop him but he just stalks away as though we don't fucking exist. She looks in his direction longingly, her eyes brimming with fresh tears and I just want to knock on that dude's head and shove some sense into him.

"I think I should go," Vaanya mumbles, fetching her tray from the table and I finish my soda. "Are you guys coming?"

"Of course sweetie," Ella chirps, pushing to her feet after she fetches her belongings.

"I'm ditching the rest of the day," Sam announces as I rise to my feet to dump the trash in the bin. "You guys continue."

"Are you okay?" I ask, feeling queasy about her. She is getting too close to that bloody counselor too fast and that's bad news. She nods quickly and grabs her bag before she walks to the bin and trashes her tray.

"See you guys around!" And then, she's gone. The three of us gawk at each other confounded for a beat.

"Guess she has more plans than we do," I mutter, dumping shit from the tray, and my phone buzzes in the back pocket of my denim. I pull it out to check the notification. A bitter fear niggles along the edges and I tear my gaze away from the screen of my phone only to find both of them gawking back at me. "It's nothing, some stupid chat request from a random dude online."

"Oh thank god!" Vaanya's hand lands on her chest and she heaves a sigh. "I honestly thought it was another gossip alert." Quite frankly, I did too and that's exactly why I bothered to check.

Vaanya and Ella begin to head back to the classes as I fetch my bag from the table but freeze to my stance as I spot the bloody counselor strolling towards the exit. He tosses a can of soda into the bin and draws out his phone from his pocket, dropping something on the floor in the process. What a moron!

I sling my bag over my shoulder and skate towards him to stop him but halt as it rustles under my feet. I crouch down to pick it up and open my mouth to call him but my voice never leaves as my gaze wanders on the piece of paper.