Till The Count Of Five ✓

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

You love her. And that breaks my heart for reasons you won't understand.

Nolan

30th April 2019, Tuesday
10:30

My mind did not stop conjuring their image, one tipsy with excitement and the other happy but grief stricken. Or was it regret that I saw? I could not decide. I was watching people I knew nothing about except they could be labeled as her friends. It was not Hardik bothering me but Mehak, her shivering fingers and hesitant gaze seconds before she allowed her fear to win. And who understood the aftermath of victory better than me?

I did not know why I had to see it all the time, as if things already were not taking a bad turn. Bile rose in my throat and I shook my head. A chair opposite to mine moved and I saw Vicky setting his things on the table. He was quiet, arranging the other chairs before his own but his lips moved in a tiny mumble, as if doing some sort of prayer. Then, they stopped. He opened his notebook and scanned the pages with an unsettling frown. I watched him skim through the words I could hardly read. He shut it and looked up at me.

"Need something?" he asked.

I tried to speak something but nothing came out. Sometimes, I was surprised how casually Kiara talked about him, completely unfazed by his demeanor. He grunted and got back to skimming.

I said then, "Yes."

He looked up again and I wondered if I had made a mistake.

"Yes," I said louder this time. "I know about your friend."

He played with his fingers and smirked. "Junior is not my friend."

I frowned. Junior? Then I realized he was talking about Kiara.

"No, I'm talking about Hardik," I said.

I did not know much about these guys. They were in the Commerce batch while I was in FMM. I vaguely remembered going to their class a few times but there was this group that simply kept distance.

Vicky folded his arms and stared at me expectantly.

"I..." My thoughts faltered. I could not form words to say this in any modest way. He waited for me to continue. Who was I kidding? This was Vicky, modesty could be taken care of later.

"I know about Hardik and Mehak," I said. "I saw them last Thursday, then yesterday evening and today a block away from the school. I don't know if you kn–"

"I do," he said and opened his notebook again. His nonchalant tone did not match with the twitching lip.

"And you don't care?" I asked, placing my arms on the table.

He shut his notebook and I moved back to the sudden movement, almost scared. If it wasn't for the librarian passing him a glare, he might have leapt.

He leaned in and asked, "Do you? It's none of your business what they do and what they don't. We've been strangers all this time. Let us maintain that. "

I would have readily agreed but things were a little different than the usual. "I'm the least interested in any of you but in case you forgot, people still look at Hardik as Ashiamma's boyfriend, Kiara still looks at him like that."

"So this is about Kiara, then." He gave a sweet smile at her name.

I sighed. How did anyone keep up with this dude?

"Ashiamma is dead and her boyfriend is with her friend. Doesn't sound so fine now, does it?" I said.

His smile slipped and he propped his elbows on the table. I sank further into my chair.