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Chapter 13 - The Enemy of a friend

Varsha stood a short distance away, her eyes flashing with disbelief and anger. Upon catching Fiza's eye, she spun around on the spot and briskly walked away, her back turned to Alan.

Without a single glance back at Alan, Fiza hurriedly followed her.

Alan couldn't believe he had let his guard down to the point of shedding tears in front of Fiza. The phrase "serotonin depletion" flashed through his mind, momentarily lightening his mood.

Alan made his way to his bike, secured his helmet in place and rode home.

Fiza caught up with Varsha, her breath uneven from the exertion. "It's not what it looked like," she said urgently.

Varsha, still visibly upset, shrugged off Fiza's words. "I don't care," she responded, her tone curt and distant.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

Varsha turned to face Fiza, her expression hardened. "Yeah?" she replied, her anger evident.

As they reached the parking lot, Varsha mounted her scooter. "Move," she stated, her voice lacking warmth.

Fiza stepped aside, watching silently as Varsha rode away.

Fiza returned to the library and dialed Alan's number, only to be greeted by his voicemail. She tried to distract herself by reading from her Anatomy textbook. However, the words on the pages seemed to blur together, making it impossible to focus. With a heavy sigh, she closed the book and decided to head back to the hostel.

Upon entering her room, Fiza was met with incredulous stares from Shahana and Priya, who were already inside.

They exchanged glances before Shahana spoke up. "Were you making out with Alan at the library?" she asked, her tone laced with curiosity.

"No!" Fiza exclaimed, surprised at the accusation.

Shahana arched an eyebrow and showed her a picture on her phone, taken from a distance, of Fiza hugging Alan in the library.

"I hugged him," Fiza explained defensively. "He was upset about something. Why is this such a big deal?"

"Because he broke Varsha's heart. You're supposed to have Varsha's back," Shahana responded, adopting a patronizing tone.

"Alan's is my friend too," Fiza stated simply.

But then she burst into laughter, finding the idea of someone taking pictures of them amusing. "Seriously, are they that jobless?" she exclaimed between laughs. Fiza's laugh was infectious and Shahana joined in.

Even Priya allowed herself to smile. Amidst the laughter, Fiza asked, "So, what have you guys been up to?"

"Oh, just the usual. Trying to survive Anatomy readings," Shahana replied. Then she added, "Hey, I was thinking maybe we could all go for a movie at Inox in the evening, just our group."

Priya nodded in agreement but couldn't resist teasing Fiza. "And just to be clear, no inviting your 'friend' Alan," she said, emphasizing the word friend with air quotes.

"Okay," Fiza smiled, raising her hands in a playful surrendering gesture.

As evening fell, the girls seized the opportunity to get dolled up for their outing. Fiza allowed Priya to work her magic, applying makeup and coordinating her outfit. "Girl, I really need to take you shopping!" Priya remarked, glancing at her outfit.

At Inox, the group rendezvoused with Vineet, Prajit, and Srinivas.

Fiza found herself seated next to Vineet in the theater, while Prajit took a spot close to Shahana.