Let's Meet After School

CHAPTER 18: RUMORS

Life isn't a joy ride... yes it could be called a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. There are days in our lives that can be classified into a good day category... and days that can be perceived into a bad day category. There are ups and downs, there is good... and then there is bad, it can't be a road full of flowers... there will be mud, and dirt as well. Life will throw obstacles at us, it will surprise us, there will be opportunities and second chances as well. The call is ours... we must make decisions and act on it... that's all.

There will be some moments that will make you feel totally worthless, it can make you feel sad or bad for yourself. These moments can be considered as a low in your life. Just like when the rumors in the school started spreading like wildfire. Aarav was the victim of this wildfire and it seems that he's running away from it.

9th November 2015

We see Ankita waiting for Aarav near the school gate exit for quite some time now. After some time, Shreya approaches her.

"Did you hear about it?" Shreya says in an unusual way.

"Hear about what?"

"Aarav... he..."

"What happened to him?" says Ankita in a worried tone.

"Let's walk ahead and let me tell you everything that happened today... okay?"

"Just tell me what happened yaar... tell me quick!"

"... (sighs)... During recess, I heard some girls talking about a rumor about him... about Aarav. The rumor was that he's the reason that his parents fight every day and now they are getting a divorce... abandoning their son."

"What! Who spread this kind of nonsense?"

"I don't know about that for now, but I have asked some of my other friends to inquire about it."

"But why would someone do this to him... what will anyone get by spreading rumors about Aarav?"

"Apparently, Aarav is the guy who doesn't belong to any group and is considered an outsider. There are few friends who did take his side but the majority are against him and all they want is gossip."

"What the—"

"Calm down Ankita!"

"How could I possibly calm down myself at this moment? Someone's out there spreading rumors about my man and I can't take this crap from anyone." Ankita replies in a furious way.

"We will find the rumor guy as soon as possible... let's see for tomorrow... after we find him, let's take him to the principal and ask for a punishment."

The next day,

We see Ankita and Shreya getting out of the principal office in the school.

"Finally, we found him yaar," Shreya says.

"But I don't think the one-week suspension is enough for that guy."

"What do you mean?"

"He's the one who made this ugly, who spread rumors about an innocent guy and all our authorities can do is give him a weekly break from school?"

"Such is life... I think we should move our focus from this guy to your guy."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Aarav is absent today... my friend told me that he saw him crying yesterday before leaving for home early. The thing is that he left school in between recess and no one saw him after that. It will be almost 24 hours after what happened yesterday with him."

"I don't know what should I do ahead now... should we wait for him?"

"That would be a better option for now at least."

"Hmm..."

"Ankita?"

"Yes?"

"What if he doesn't come to school after this?"

"What makes you think like that?"

"This is a big issue and he's staying back already. I understand that he needs his time to face this but I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

"Shreya... I know him... he will be back."

"I hope that happens soon."