Chapter 4

TereNishaan

@dhun.laagi

After that, Prerna had to get proactive. What happened was this: she kept her ears and eyes open for anything that might set Anurag off, and she resolved the problem before it could get back to him. It was better that way, because her dupatta hid bruised knuckles better than the junk from Anjali's makeup bag could cover up a black eye on Anurag's pretty face.Suddenly, there was that hint of good in all the bad she was doing. She was something of a masked vigilante superhero roaming the halls to knockout threats before they could wreak havoc on the foundations her group was united upon. She was protecting her friend from himself. It didn't need to be mentioned that she was also protecting herself because if she could keep Anurag on the other side then she couldn't have him. She could stop hopelessly imagining that he could ever see her in that way too.

She thought she had been mostly discreet about what she was doing behind the scenes. Her stealth was key to her plan working. Like most things in her life, it didn't turn out exactly how she expected. If there was ever time she wished she could have a predictable, ordinary, easy life, it was now.

Somehow, word got around that Prerna had stabbed someone with something stupid and entirely exaggerated. She didn't go around doling out mortal wounds, that wasn't her style. She had only seriously beaten up guys on one occasion when she was trying to help Anurag on the riots. It never took anyone more than a couple minutes to get back on their feet and dust themselves off. if she slapped them. So, she had no idea how the rumour originated, only that it started during second period and by the time lunch rolled around, it was her that everyone was looking at. As she headed to her usual table, people stumbled to clear a path for her, which she thought was overkill. Her pocket knife had been bugging her since it refused to shut no matter how much pressure she put on it. But it didn't stop her from carrying her pocket knife in her hand even when walking, because the looks it got amused her.

The looks on her friends' faces when she sat down were not amusing at all. She quickly stowed the pocketknife away in her bag. If she stayed quiet, she wasn't admitting to anything. That was her plan: silent denial. Only, Anjali was glaring daggers and Anurag wasn't looking at her, so it was hard not to speak up when no one else would say anything.

"What?" Prerna finally relented.

"How could you, Prerna?" Anjali launched in.

"You're not going to even ask me if it's true?" Prerna said."Are we done with giving me the benefit of the doubt?"

"Are you saying you didn't do it?" Sid asked. At least he was looking at her with his usual neutral expression.

"Of course I didn't do it," Prerna said. It technically wasn't a lie.She hadn't actually been in any kind of fight, armed with the pocketknife or not, in more than a week. "Personally, I respect my pocketknife too much to use it as a weapon. I mean, all the blood would ruin them."

"This is serious," Anjali said.

"It wasn't a joke, Angie," Prerna said. "It never happened and I don't know how anyone thought it had. But I'm glad that at least my bestfriends have faith in me."

Anjali sighed, "I have faith in you, Prerna. But this isn't the first time we've heard about something like this lately. This is just the first time everybody was talking about it at the same time."

"Well, geez, imagine if everyone believed all the rumours about you," Prerna said. "You should hear some of the things people will say behind your backs."

Most of those things were no longer being said in fear of bringing down Prerna's wrath, but she couldn't tell them that.

Her eyes fell on the silent Anurag, "You have anything to say about this?"

Anurag looked up to meet her eyes for a second before he returned his gaze to his tray where he was picking at his lunch with a fork. Apparently, he had nothing to add. At least she had been successful on one front, albeit in around about way. She had pushed Anurag away not by raising him up out of her reach, but by lowering herself to a depth that couldn't be spanned. All at once, she regretted everything.

"Thanks a lot," Prerna said and stood up. She was halfway to the exit before she realized she had forgotten her things, but she wasn't going to turn back now.

"Wait, Prerna! Don't go," Anjali yelled after her, but she didn't turn back.

She didn't glance back until a second before the exit. She expected all eyes to be on her, and they were. Except one pair. His fork had still, but Anurag's head was still faced down at the table.

This was not their beginning. There was a good chance it was their ending.