An Act Of Jealousy

Chapter 4

They quickly discussed a simple plan of action and soon Kiran was leading the way, Kamal behind him, Pavan following her and Mira at the back. The four of them made their way stealthily towards the 'trophy thief'.

"That was very fast" Kamal whispered into Kiran's ears.

"It's called skill" he replied with a satisfied smile. Then, after observing the person ahead of him, he added "It's a boy and a student from our school. He's wearing our uniform. Tell the others and let's go catch him."

Kamal relayed the information. She supposed that the boy was very intent on the conversation, because he didn't hear their whispers, let alone the sound of their muffled feet. Kamal then suddenly realized that the room seemed deserted. That was odd. Why would the 'Trophy thief' stand outside a deserted room and risk his identity

Kiran jumped the last few feet and while the boy was astonished by his sudden appearance, Kiran he managed to get him to the floor, with his face against the ground.

Even as Kiran was trying to hold the boy down, Kamal could see that he was struggling. She supposed that the boy must be stronger than him and that he wouldn't last very long on his own. She hurried to assist him. Mira and Pavan were right behind. Even though the boy struggled with all his might, they successfully pinned him down to the floor and covered his mouth so that he couldn't speak.

Then all of them got a real look at who they had tackled and were quite shocked.

"Gaurav?!" They all choked out startled and quite unsure what to do about this new situation. After a minute of stunned silence Mira spoke up.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected. I really want to hear the story behind why you, of all people stole the trophies. You were getting one of them, you're the captain, of a winning team. You also seem to be listening into the principal's conversations for some reason."

At this Gaurav let out what seemed to be a very exasperated sigh then tried to lift his hand to point at something but Mira quickly held his hand back. Gaurav rolled his eyes, said something that sounded like 'mhu mheh mhee' and then stared at Kiran for some help. Kamal realized what the problem was.

"If you are covering his mouth and not even letting him point at things, how is he supposed to answer your question" Kamal asked Mira.

"Oh right...." Mira said embarrassed and then removed her hand. Gaurav then spoke up.

"I stole the trophies? Which trophies?" Gaurav asked them. When none of them answered he deigned the answer from their expressions.

"They're stolen? The principal informed us that the ceremony was postponed. Where did you guys hear that they were stolen?" He asked

"Then why are you outside the Principal's office?" Mira asked.

"I'm here because I thought I saw someone go into the Principal's office. I know that they don't have any right to do so but because I was curious, I came to investigate."

"Then why are you hidden behind a clump of trees. It's a place where no one can find you." Pavan spoke up but then crumpled under the glare that Gaurav was giving him.

"I did not want prying eyes like you lot not to disturb me. It just so happened that these trees were here. Is there something wrong about this?"

Kiran got off Gaurav. Kamal understood what he must be feeling. Gaurav was his captain and he had been sitting on him and had tackled him to the ground. Kiran had always been proud to say that Gaurav let him into the team.... And he always worked hard.

Kiran got off Gaurav and moved to the side, Pavan and Kamal moved away as well, and Mira after a moment moved away too. They all stood to the side, quite unsure what to do as Gaurav got up and dusted himself.

Gaurav turned towards the room behind them and franticly searched it through the window.

"He's escaped." Gaurav declared with finality.

After a minute of strained silence, Gaurav informed them tersely that he was going to eat an early lunch and he walked away, dragging his feet behind him.

Pavan, Kamal, Kiran and Mira, stood where Gaurav had left them. Their conversation had made them all feel quite dejected.

~~~~~

The lunch bell rang. Since matches were to be held in the evening as well, many students of Green-Wood High and many parents had stayed back after the morning matches. Thus, the Lunch halls were crowded and the staff had organized a Buffet. For once, Pavan was thankful that it was a Saturday, because the junior students were not there. How crowded the Lunch halls would have been if they were there! Another plus point about this arrangement was that Kamal, Mira, Kiran and Pavan, could sit together. On a daily basis, this was impossible.

All around them, people were reminiscing tall tales about the Football and the Basketball matches, with exaggerations that were laughable. There were many speculations about the upcoming Volleyball and Throw ball matches and some were even talking about the Athletics that was scheduled for tomorrow. Few wondered about the delay in the Awards ceremony, but this was brushed away, as many had previously thought that, giving the trophies after the completion of all the matches was a better idea. People just believed that the original plan had been changed for no other reason but this.

Unfortunately for these four friends who were sitting together in a corner of the Lunch hall, such fantasies were not possible. The information, once overheard could not be removed from their minds. Their half-heartedly started conversations soon died out. So they had quite a gloomy Lunch, which seemed to take hours to get over, despite the chattering and laughter around them.

In their silence they overheard the conversation that the Green-wood High captain, Ishaan and some of his team members were were having.

"All set right?" Ishaan asked the group.

They nodded their assent in a manner that Ishaan did not seem convinced.

"Are you guys up to this or not? This is the only chance we will get. You all know this right? We DO NOT have the space to mess up. Everything must be perfect. Are all of you clear about his?"

Ishaan spoke more forcefully this time and they replied in a more energetic way. Then they dispersed and only Ishaan and Aniketan were left. But as Lunch got over, they couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. They all aimlessly walked around, lost in thought until Mira suggested that they could go to the roof or their place.

No one gave an assent, but the feeling of resentment towards their place, at that moment was mutual. So they gave up the idea.

"What about the Library. It'll be silent there...." Kamal ventured.

"Yes, let's go there" Mira agreed and after a minute everyone said yes.

Pavan internally groaned at this decision but followed anyway. He never understood what Kamal found in books filled with made-up worlds and made-up characters. Mira read to some extent and even Kiran liked books. Pavan was always the odd one out during their reading fits.

A/N: If you've read the Author's Note posted before this, then you would be a little surprised.... but as I wanted to leave you guys with something sufficient, I've posted this chapter. As I requested before, please do not leave my story and I will be back as soon as I possibly can!

I also wanna give a shout out to @squigmo who has this totally awesome trilogy-in-the-making up on watpad.... Give it a read cause its truly great!! [P.s: the first book is "fearless".]

Right, i'm going to sign out for a while, Kindly DO NOT ditch me.... and please tell me what you think :)

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