DESTINED TO CROSS

Chapter 10: Learning By Your Side

Mayra's POV

This morning, I woke up with a positive feeling that today would be a normal day without any disasters. With that in mind, I got up early, got ready, and headed to college before Ayaan even woke up. Now, I’m hoping this feeling proves to be true. We all decided to meet at the canteen to discuss our plan. When I say "all," I mean even Imaad, Siddharth, and Aurav were there, which was new. It feels like I've been seeing Imaad a lot more often lately. I’m not complaining, though—it seems like we're becoming good friends. “Hey,” Shanaya said as I reached the table where she and the others were sitting. “Hi,” I replied, and the others greeted me as well. "So, Imaad and I went to talk to Shekhar and confronted him with the video that Shanaya took on my phone. And He said something unusual," Aurav finished saying. "What did he say?" Shanaya asked.

"Well, the first thing is that he's not the culprit. How do we know that? Because if he were guilty, he wouldn’t have bought the papers himself, which indicates he’s not involved. Also, he got really scared when we showed him the video. He claimed he went to that abandoned building to look for a gold ring he had dropped there. However, the unusual thing he said was that when we asked him how he knew the culprit was in the second year, despite no one having seen the culprit, he told us he never informed the staff that the culprit was from the second year," Aurav explained, leaving everyone looking confused. "But Ashok sir said he was the one who informed the staff about this," Samaira said. "That's why this is so unusual," Imaad replied, tapping his fingers on the table. "So you’re saying… Ashok sir lied to us?" Shanaya asked. "Maybe, but we don’t know anything for sure yet," Aurav answered. "Should we ask Ashok sir?" I suggested. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. I don’t think we should trust him anymore, in fact, we shouldn't trust any of the staff members," Imaad replied. "I agree. We don’t know who the culprit is, it could even be Ashok sir," Siddharth added.
"That's not possible. The email was sent exactly ten minutes after we used the computer, and at that time, Ashok sir was in class teaching us. We were there too," Shanaya recalled. "But he knows something or he might know the culprit and is trying to hide it. For now, we need to keep a close watch on him," Aurav explained, and we all agreed.

After our small meeting, we all went to attend our lectures. For some reason, time passed quickly today. When our last lecture ended, Samaira had to go attend her college newspaper meeting with the football team, while Shanaya decided to study at the library for our upcoming exams. She offered to let me study with her, but I told her I had some important work to do and that I would join her later. I lied, I didn’t have any important work, but I needed to meet someone before he headed home. That someone was Imaad. I wanted to show him the list I had created after researching for about three hours of all the prestigious universities that offered degrees in fine arts. I don’t know why, but after our conversation yesterday, I felt a strong desire for him to pursue his dreams. I wanted him to have the confidence to ask his parents for permission. So, I made this list, hoping it would inspire him to talk to his parents about any of these universities.

I found him in the arts room, just as I had hoped. He was painting, looking so peaceful as he gracefully moved his hands over the canvas. He was so focused that he didn’t even notice me until I was standing right beside him. When he looked up, his expression quickly changed from confusion to a smile as he realised it was me.
"Hey," he said, grinning."Hi," I replied, returning his smile."Sorry if I disturbed you," I said, feeling a bit self-conscious. "No, no! Come sit. It’s always nice to have company while painting… especially yours," he whispered the last part to himself, and my heartbeat began to race. Get a grip, Mayra. "Actually, I wanted to show you something," I said as I took a seat. "Really? What?" he asked, stopping his painting and turning to face me.I took out the paper with the list written on it and handed it to him.
"What is this?" he asked, examining it. "It's a list of all the top universities in Delhi that offer degrees in fine arts. Many students who graduated from these universities are now really good artists. They provide excellent education related to the arts, especially the first university. It’s really famous for its programs," I replied, feeling proud of my research. He stared at me with an expressionless face. After a few seconds, he finally spoke, "You didn’t have to do this." "Are you mad at me?" I asked, feeling nervous. Did I do something wrong? "No, I'm not mad. It's just that I don’t think it’s possible for me to go to any of these universities, especially now that I’m already in my third year of BBA. I don’t think considering this is an option in my life right now," he said, turning back to his painting. I realized he was painting the sunset we had watched together yesterday, and it was beautiful. His eyes looked sad as he stroked his brush on the canvas. I really wanted to comfort him but didn’t know what to say. "You can study this even after graduation. I just don’t think you should give up on your dreams so easily," I said, looking at him. He looked at me and smiled. "Thanks for making this list. I’ll think about it." "You're welcome," I replied.