Waiting for the Sun ☀️

Chapter 6 - Payback

Akshara turned to Karan and Mishti just outside the gym and took a steady breath. "Don't get involved," she insisted, glancing toward the gym doors where Abhimanyu was waiting, perched on the edge of his self-made throne of superiority. Students sat silently in the bleachers, curious and tense, waiting to see what would unfold.

As she entered the gym, Abhimanyu straightened, his lips curling in a smirk. "What do you want from me?" Akshara asked coolly, glancing around. "You've gathered the whole school like an inquisition just for me?"

Abhimanyu's eyes narrowed, his smile sharpening. "Are you new here?" he asked.

"Obviously," she replied, undeterred.

"Then why are you poking your nose where it doesn't belong?" he continued, irritation flashing in his gaze.

Akshara lifted an eyebrow. "Are you going to get to the point?"

Murmurs echoed across the room as students watched in shock—no one had ever dared to speak back to Abhimanyu like this.

"Come closer," he ordered. Meher and Abir clamped down on Akshara's arms, but she shoved them off. "Let go!" she snapped, striding confidently toward Abhimanyu.

"Apologize," Abhimanyu commanded, his voice firm.

"What?" Akshara's eyes flashed with defiance.

"If you apologize, I'll overlook what you've done," he continued, his voice icy.

Akshara let out a laugh, completely unfazed. "Are you out of your mind? You were ready to crush Raghav. And I'm the one who needs to apologize?"

Abhimanyu's gaze darkened. "Cut it out, and do as I say."

She tilted her head and smiled. "Let me make it clear for you: N-E-V-E-R. I will never apologize."

Abhimanyu broke into a laugh that echoed through the gym. "You know, I can see the future."

"Oh, really?" Akshara's voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Yeah." His smirk deepened as he stepped closer, his gaze piercing. "You'll be running from this school with your tail between your legs in two days."

"We'll see about that." Akshara didn't waver, her tone unshaken.

"Yes, we will," he said, his eyes locked with hers, standing close enough that neither would back down.

Without another word, she brushed past him, head held high, while Abhimanyu watched her leave, an amused smirk lingering on his face. As the gym doors closed behind her, Meher stepped forward, smiling smugly.

"That new girl is in our class. I can teach her a lesson for you, if you'd like," Meher offered, her gaze lingering a bit too long on Abhimanyu, hopeful.

But Abhimanyu was still staring at the doors where Akshara had just left, his eyes fixed, almost thoughtful. "You don't need to get involved," he said finally, his voice dismissive.

"But what if I want to?" Meher purred, her smile tightening. "She might get on my nerves."

Abhimanyu sighed, half-smiling as if indulging her. "Fine. Do what you want."

The rest of the day seemed to fly by, though for Akshara, it was anything but smooth. During gym class, Meher and her group of friends targeted her repeatedly in a basketball game, "accidentally" slamming the ball into her back, elbowing her, and nearly knocking her over. Akshara stumbled but kept getting up, refusing to let them see her weakness.

Afterward, as she went to the changing room, Meher and her friends ambushed her, dumping buckets of ice-cold water over her, laughing as Akshara gasped in shock and rage.