It's 2016. You are making your way to your school, speeding across the roads riding your new cycle, thinking about the girl you saw sitting on the adjacent bench the other day.
But just as you think this would turn to be another normal day as you en...
I woke up in my bed and checked myself, I was alright. Aditya's misdeeds haunted me, but I knew there wasn't time to waste. I jumped out and opened the portal. I hurried to Vedant's house again.
But my legs froze as a horrific sight welcomed me. I couldn't believe what I saw - Vedant was crying on Aditya's shoulders.. but..
Aditya was dead. He had a positive infinity blade thrusted in his neck. "Vedant..", words couldn't escape my mouth.
"This was the only way", he said as he signalled me to go away. "Go away Mayuri. And please stay away from all this.."
I stepped back as I couldn't think of anything else. I closed the portal and sat on my bed. My mind.. was just blank.
Mahesh dada and my parents came in and asked me if I was okay. They told me about Vedant being arrested for something. I spent the next 4-5 days in my room waiting for Vedant to show up. I even visited his house once. But his mother told me that he was in REDZ for some therapy.
I even went to REDZ but couldn't spot him anywhere. I spent my evenings waiting for him at the beach. "Just once come and show me your stupid face !", I used to scream. "Just once, tell me you're okay!"
I cried myself to sleep every night. I had nighmares about the torture Aditya subjected me to but it was the worry about Vedant that kept me awake all night. In a few days, Aditya was declared as dead, in a terrorist attack by Manohar Joshi's new Haiwan-e-aatank organisation. But I knew the truth..
Snigdha tried to uplift my mood but even she was disturbed due to Aditya's death.
After a few months, I saw Vedant again as he entered our class. I rushed to him and hugged him, but he didn't respond. Instead, he moved me away and sat on the first bench.
I tried reading his thoughts. But they were blank. What did they do with him ??
Mahesh dada was equally shocked to see Vedant's new avatar. He missed him as much as I did, it seemed. They both became friends in a matter of time. Both even started to study eventually.
Dada often invited Vedant to our home. But Vedant would avoid me everytime I tried to establish a conversation. One day, I pulled him inside my room and tried to kiss him.
But he just pushed me away saying it was wrong. "I'll complain to Mahesh if you do this again ! Stay away from me !", he warned. "Don't you remember anything ? This room ? The bond we shared..", I asked. "I don't know what you are talking about. I just know you as Mahesh's younger sister", he said as he exited.
My heart was broken. I couldn't focus on my 10th board studies. I would open my books and just stare blankly at them for an hours thinking about where I had gone wrong. The girls of my class continued teasing me again for different reasons. But I didn't care about these bitches this time. I'd messed up enough due to taking their trash talks seriously.
The rest of my school life turned out to be a disaster. Especially with all of my teachers who I thought as supportive all along, now blaming me for distraction. They literally convinced me how I had destroyed my bright future for some petty reasons. I managed to score 78% though in the boards. Whereas Mahesh dada got 96% to everyone's surprise.
Talking about Vedant, he somehow managed to get 100%, due to the extra 3% of drawing. I and Mahesh dada took Science stream. Mahesh dada told me that Vedant was going to Navi Mumbai to get better coaching facilities as he aspired to become a doctor.
I decided to stay back at Alibag and keep dwelling in the sweet memories I once had with the old Vedant. I put away the piece of paper I'd written for him into my diary and trashed into the corner of my bookshelf. It only reminded me of how stupid I was :
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I was out of the fairy tale stage of my life. I'd hit the reality. I'd grown up like I always wanted to. Never imagined it would so tough though. I decided to focus more on my studies. I agreed to attend weekend coaching classes at Nerul. I thought it would make me happy and help me be normal. . . . . But it seems our lives were never meant to be normal again - I realised when I saw Vedant a year later in the same coaching class I had applied for.
Except that this time, he remembered me.
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A/n : I've added 'Dil Ibadat' song to this chapter (at the top), do listen it after this. It's one of the songs that I really like ! And it really suits the narrative of this whole chapter.
