Endgame | ✓

9. Knight In Distress.

° FLASHBACK °

IT WAS ONLY DURING THE SOPHOMORE YEAR, that Virat realized how much of a rubbish his school Royal High was. Entertainment was in the form of humiliation for some students. And the ones who humiliated never paid back.

Virat's eyes glossed over the group of seniors who sat in the cafeteria - a constant smile flashing on their faces resembling the famous Cheshire cat's. He was with his friend Rohan; the constant friend he had since kindergarten.

Together they walked over to the corner spot in the cafeteria to go unnoticed. The sororities didn't care; they had much amusing things to do than troubling students for now. Virat saw the muscular figure of Gaurav slapping the shoulder of Amay, his best friend. Rohan suffered a lot last week; from disgusted looks to taunts on how he was too lean and fair to look manly enough. The seniors troubled the sophomore guys with no ends; beat them till they bled, made them wear trunks and dance at nights, forced them to drink. A rumour also floated that some rebels were forcefully made to snort crack to teach them a lesson.

On the other hand, for girls it wasn't easy either. They were called bitch, whore, troubled by the guys, taunted by the girls. Everyone had high expectations off girls; they were supposed to worship the sororities. Stare at them with adoration, and try to be like them. 

For Virat, staying in Royal High was hell. He could hardly stay away from the drama - and it was because of his abilities. The sororities were aware of his agility and his talent in sports - especially cricket. It was an absolute shame for them to lose against the tenth graders. And it was always because of one guy - Virat Kohli, who's one flick would make the ball soar high.

So to make his life difficult, the seniors started hurting him where it would hurt the most. Rohan. Every time Virat would play well, it was Rohanwho would pay back. And Rohan would go through everything because he truly considered Virat as his best friend. He knew playing well was important - especially when he was in the elite school on a scholarship.

On the contrary, Anushka's life was made easier in the school because of her friendship with Nikita. Nikita wasn't like the other girls. She was one of them, in spite of being in sophomore. She was unknowingly the part of the elite circles, and people around her admired her. She was beautiful, natural and most importantly, she was under the spotlight. A picture perfect model of charisma, grace and boldness.

Anushka, on the other hand, was the quiet one. Mostly invisible; she was too low to be noticed and too high to suffer like others. She was in the safest spot being Nikita's best friend. So it was good for her, staying away from the drama of high school. She had enough drama in her life after her parents' divorce, so the last thing she wanted in her life was a drama of her own. 

Virat saw Nikita and Anushka taking the table diagonally opposite to theirs. He knew Anushka because they were partners in Physics lab in the seventh grade. They had spent hours together, finding the Newton's rings and noting the readings of Photoelectric effect. It was rather amusing that the Physics lab was a dark room where all the experiments were conducted. For the first week, Virat and Anushka wouldn't even bother talking. But slowly, they started talking - well, mostly fighting. 

Virat was the only person to whom Anushka had opened up. Not really opened up, but she would find herself often smiling around him. For her, after Abeer and Nikita - it was Virat who was the closest. Abeer was Anushka's best friend, and the school believed that they were a thing, and if not, they were going to be a thing soon. Typical best friends to lovers kind of story was imprinted in their minds when they would see Abeer and Anushka together.

"That was the girl who helped me that day," Rohan pointed towards Nikita's table. "She gave me the t-shirt and trousers when I was almost naked and outside my locked dorm." Virat recollected the incident which Rohan narrated earlier; Rohan was forced to strip and was merely left in short elephant printed yellow trunks last night.