An Act Of Jealousy

Chapter 5

Mira was restless. Her friends seemed to have given up! Now it was completely absurd for her, Mira, to ever give up on anything! Also, there was the deal she had struck with Kabeer... She would rather die than lose to that skulking bloody idiot. There, she smiled to herself, that felt nice. Damn, she was getting side-tracked. Concentrate on business, Mira!

She surveyed the situation. Kiran was brooding, Kamal was already lost in a book. However, Pavan on the other hand, was lost like a little lamb in a forest. She went over to him in complete business mode and got straight to the point.

"If you want to spend a completely useless amount of time here, then you don't have to help me. But I intend to solve the mystery. Are you coming?"

Pavan was not a complete baboon and he was quite restless as well. He agreed immediately. Under the pretence of going to the bathroom they escaped from their friends' clutches. Once outside a deluge of observations and deductions took place.

"We know that two trophies are stolen. Since, they were both going to different teams. We can hopefully say it did not have to do with either team. Nonetheless, if a team was trying to steal the trophies, they wouldn't just steal the one that was going to the other team. It would seem too obvious. So we should go ask the coaches about this. The thieves won't own up, but we might be able to deduce who it is...."

"Why can't we ask the captains? Gaurav is sure to tell us everything and I can ask Navneet, the Football captain..."

"Navneet might agree to talk, but Gaurav ..."

"Why not! We didn't want the trophy to get lost and we are making an attempt to find it. So he should help us right??"

Mira sighed. Deep within her fiery heart she was slightly afraid of the strong and determined basketball captain. She would never admit to herself, but confronting Gaurav again after they had made a grave mistake was suicidal, in her opinion.

"So, you're saying that we should ask the coaches?" Pavan pressed on, slightly put out by Mira. "Who says they'll talk to us? And they don't have to tell the truth...."

"I meant that it's worth a try..... Because we don't know who else might have stolen the trophy."

"Vidyaniketan or Green-wood High??"

"I say Green-wood High, maybe its prejudice, but I feel there is a higher possibility that they stole them...."

So, these whispered plans were carried out. They started searching for the Green-wood High coach.

~~~~~

Kiran started out of his slumber. For a minute he wasn't sure where he was before the recognizing the inside of the library. He had closed his eyes out of weariness for a moment and had fallen asleep. His limbs ached after the match but it was worth it! They had won! The stolen trophies were a very Minor problem. He chuckled to himself.

Kamal was sitting nearby, lost in a book. Kiran smiled. It was really funny how Kamal forgot all about the current time, place, and situation when there was a book to read. He couldn't forget the situation though. Their embarrassing conversation with Gaurav came back to him. He felt as if he could kill himself.

Gaurav was his captain. He was the only person, who had believed in his basketball skills. He had allowed him to play for the school team. Kiran knew that there were many other players who could have been chosen in his place. He pursed his lips when Kabeer's face came to his mind.

He and Kabeer had been best of friends for many years. They had both studied in Vidyaniketan since first. A quarrel over the place in the basketball team was all it took to break that friendship. Kiran sighed. Kabeer had turned into a very different person after that. Kiran barely knew him now. Pavan, Kamal and Mira were there for him though.....