Love is forever...

Chapter 4

It had been two weeks since Badal and Amaya started 'dating'. But nothing fell right about it to anyone. To everyone's surprise, Amaya was now a part of the elite group. Rhea had welcomed her open heartedly. Amaya herself was not able to digest it. But she would be lying if she said she did not enjoy being part of the group. It was kind of her first time being part of any group. She had friends now. 
The only person who was believing this charade and torturing himself by overthinking about it was Aditya. He had lost all hopes. He thought Amaya and Badal were going strong.
Badal too did not let anything deter him. He went overboard with gifts and flowers. But Amaya was not impressed even a bit. If anything, it only made her feel embarrassed. She instead loved those little notes she still kept getting. What made her wonder was why Badal refrained her from ever speaking about them and asked that she just cherish the feeling. This one time, when Amaya tried to talk about it, it felt to her as if Badal did not even know what was in the note.

Amaya's joy ride was mostly fun until the results for the surprise Math test were out. She was not even in the top 5. Her hands were shivering holding the paper in her hand. The teacher too remarked about her changed demeanour. Rhea on the other hand was on cloud nine. Her plan to distract Amaya and gain the top spot for hearself was working.
"Oh, come on, Amaya. It is just a test. This, am sure, will not even count in the board exams. You are over reacting. I know you will cover up." Rhea hugged Amaya, consoling her. "Hey, sweetheart. Don't be this way. I cannot see you like this." Badal held Amaya's hand in his. Seeing this, Aditya fled the scene. He avoided all the hand holding. Badal turned towards the remaining of the group, "Guys, let's go out this Saturday. What do you say? A fun filled night at Kingdom? My treat! This will help my lovely Amaya come out of this melancholy." The entire elite group had had enough of the public display of fake affection by Badal but they still went along with it. However, Kingdom seemed like a good idea. They had not been there from a long time and were definitely missing the fun. Kingdom was the only pub in the vicinity of the boarding school where the school going group of brats were allowed to do as they please; Dance, Drink and for a few, Drugs. Ofcourse, behind the school management's back.

Amaya was not feeling right about the party. The plan to go to Kingdom included secretly leaving school premises from an abandoned exit at the back of the school compound where two cars would be waiting to take them to the pub. The guards would obviously be paid off to look the other way. She was never the one to break rules. But she had hardly been herself for the last couple of weeks anyways and got into a lot of her firsts. So, the night before the party, she decided to tell Rhea to proceed without her. Although, Rhea did not make it easy for her.
"I am sorry, Rhea. I have not done this before. And honestly I am scared to break the rules. What if we get caught?" Amaya tried hard to get out of it unbeknownst to what was in store for her there. Rhea had exactly the same planned for Amaya. She was going to ensure Amaya got caught and her image further degraded. Her plan to keep Amaya distracted from the studies was working. "I am not taking no for an answer. You have to come with us. Badal would want you there. This would be your first party together. He is throwing it for you." Rhea made a puppy face, trying to guilt Amaya into going. It made Amaya a little uncomfortable. The grand gestures that Badal was showing were too over the top for Amaya. She believed in little things giving little happiness that stayed forever. Also, she knew she could never do the same in return for Badal which kinda made their relationship unequal. "No. I am sorry. I don't even have a dress. You guys should go." "Wait. You can wear my dress. Come on. We will have fun together." Rhea made a puppy face and Amaya could not refuse any longer.

Next morning, the plan was in place. Amaya was however still lost in her realisation of deviating from her path. She agreed with the plan but wanted to somehow make an excuse and get out of it. For time being, she made an excuse of going to the infirmary after classes. She was more than 10 days late in collecting her reports. Thankfully, Badal did not insist on going with her. It did pinch but it was not what she would have wanted anyways.
Amaya visited the infirmary where she was greeted by the nurse who had been on duty when she was being treated.
"You need to take care of yourself. Your HB is low. You should be eating healthy and on time. Doctor has prescribed a few medicines." The nurse gave the instructions to Amaya which she was too lost to remember. "Sure, ma'am. But I live in the hostel. I will have to eat what is being served there." The nurse smiled.
"I am sure your friend will take care of everything." A clueless Amaya stared at her. She wondered if the nurse meant Badal. But how could she have known about her and Badal? Looking at Amaya's confused face, the nurse continued. "The 'friend' who carried you here! The one who spent the night here by your feet? Ring any bell?" Nurse tried to tease Amaya. There was only one name in Amaya's mind and it made her smile, removing all her inhibitions about Badal. Seeing how Amaya was still silent, Nurse continued teasing the ignorant teen in front of her.
"Your 'friend' who spent an hour here, understanding your report and how he could help you?" This came as a pleasant surprise to Amaya. "Badal was here?" She wondered. The nurse was however a bit irritated."No. I think his name was Aditya." The faint smile on Amaya's face disappeared. She stared at the nurse with wide eyes wondering about the name she just mentioned.
"Are you sure it was ..." For a second there, it all blacked out in front of Amaya. Before the nurse could clarify, she got called into the emergency. Another girl had fainted making Amaya realise how it was such a common occurrence. She picked her reports and left in a puzzled state. On her way to the hostel, her mind replayed the last couple of weeks and her encounters with Aditya. It all started coming back to her. How he silently passed on the carrots towards her. No one ever had brought a lunch box before, let alone one with salads. Everyone had pulled his leg that day. She remembered how one day her sweetlime juice order was switched with his, carrot and beet root juice. It amused her that no one noticed all this, but Aditya had started insisting on having their meals on time. The Elite group was irritated but nonetheless followed him.

Amaya's mind swirled, she was lost and instead of going to the hostel, her feet dragged her to her safe Haven. She had not been there since Rhea stopped making her life miserable. Afterall, she did not need to hide from anyone anymore. Haven was as she had left it. Strangely, it still gave her the feeling of safety. All the attention, the staring eyes, gossiping groups made her feel uncomfortable and out of place. But this was her place, a home, where she could be herself. She felt relaxed after days, sitting in the shade. With her knees pulled together, she breathed freely and rested her head on her knees. Suddenly the familiar stench of cigarette smoke filled her nostrils and without a second thought she blabbered, "Are you still smoking, Aditya?" Her attention was now captured by the boy sitting on the other side of the wall.
"Why are you sitting here? Why aren't you with your new friends?" Aditya was taken by surprise. A pleasant one, nonetheless. He finally found some alone time with the girl he  could no longer stop thinking about.
"Yeah. I wanted some space. And no. Don't you change the topic. You promised to quit smoking." After initial hesitation, the chirpy side of Amaya was back. She cared for her friend, who she recently found out cared for her too.
On the other side of the wall, Aditya was brought back to the realisation that Amaya was seeing someone else. "Why do you care now? You shouldn't even be here. Your friends must be looking for you."
"Come on, don't be like this. I thought we were friends. You shouldn't be smoking. Please stop, for me, will you? For your friend?" Looking at the ground, she made a puppy face. Had he seen that face, he would have instantly agreed. But his mind wandered around the thoughts of Amaya being with Badal. He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, he let go of the feeling of frustration that he had harboured for the past couple of weeks. "Yes. Ofcourse. I am sorry. I was just a little caught up in my thoughts. But promise, this time I will not start again." This brought a smile to Amaya's face. Remembering what the nurse told her, she murmurred, "You are a good friend, Aditya." Although it was feeble, he heard it and it brought a smile to his face too. They both now rested their head against the wall.
"Hey. Now your turn. Tell me why are you here? Isn't Rhea behaving well now?" Aditya wondered. On the other side, Amaya closed her eyes in confusion. "I don't know. I just needed some space. This somehow doesn't feel real." She finally put her thought into words. Her rational side made her wonder. Everything had happened so fast. How Aditya would have wanted all that to not be true. But it all seemed so real to him. "You know, out of all of us, Badal has always been a grade one A-hole. I am sorry. I mean he is your boyfriend and everything but he is such a miser. Yet, just to make you feel better, he has thrown this party. It should mean something right."
Mention of the party made Amaya restless. "That is what. I don't like all this. Him spending on gifts and flowers. That is not me. I prefer those little notes over anything in this whole darn world. They are pure. They are words straight from the heart. But he wouldn't even talk to me about it. Only if he took a little time to know me. You know, we don't even talk like this. Like how we are talking now. Forget it. Honestly, I don't want to go to the party." It was in years that Amaya had expressed herself so freely. He made her feel so comfortable.
"Everyone has a different way of expressing their feelings. And if you do not go, Badal will feel bad. You should go." Amaya knew that. She just needed someone to say that out loud.
"Will you be there?" The question stumped Aditya. "Eh.. I don't know. I am not sure. It's your party. You should enjoy." He fumbled.
"Then I am not going either." She was now sure about her decision. "Wait. No. You cannot decide based on my decision. "
"Well. I just did." Unwillingly, seeing Amaya missing the fun because of him, he agreed. "Alright. I will come. Happy?" She smiled at her little triumph.
"Thank you. Now I will have atleast one friendly face there." She thought about what the nurse had said and smiled to herself. She really did have a friend now, a true friend. Without even realising she did.
"By the way, you just come to my Haven to smoke or is there another reason?" Now the two friends were immersed in the conversation. "Oh, well.. I decided to study and found this to be the best possible place to study. But all this physics non sense is bouncing off my head."
"I can help you. And it would be perfect.  I was about to start my revisions. So, instead, I will teach you, which will help me revise. And Haven would be our classroom. What do you say?" She chirped in excitement.
"You lost me after starting revision. Are you already done with it once?" Aditya was a little creeped out but nonetheless impressed. "Of course. I finish the lesson within the first week. People call me a geek for a reason." She giggled at her own joke. "While at it, let me tell you, I am a strict teacher. I will also give home work." Now it was time for him to let out a chuckle. "Yes, Ma'am. Looking forward to it."
The two friends sat there chit chatting. Amaya was excited about her new found trust and Aditya was happy to have a conversation with his special friend. They both got lost in each other.