The Matchmaker

13. SK

October, Wednesday, 12th

"I don't know what really happened. They just told me that some classmate pushed her off the rooftop," I sobbed on my phone. "He's currently in police custody, but my parents said that all the kids were intoxicated or something..."

"So they were drunk?" Navneet asked from the other end.

"It seems so. I don't know... She wasn't that sort of a person, but she was always kinda unpredictable, so maybe. I just, I can't believe that something like this could happen. I'm just so scared... I don't know what to do. I don't know what to feel."

My face was completely drowned in tears. I collapsed into my bed, sinking my face into the pillow.

"Just let it all out. You're allowed to feel whatever you're feeling. It's... Okay."

"I... I will call you later," I hung up.

I did contact Navneet to feel better, but his consolation didn't seem to be working as expected. I was constantly searching for a way to escape this, but I couldn't. This was the harsh reality. Aruna was dead. They said her whole body was splattered all across the ground. I couldn't bear it anymore and puked right there on the bed.

××××××

It had been several days since her funeral. Her body was in such a gruesome state, that the image will be forever scarred into my mind. The center would have some unusual silence than earlier, or maybe it was all in my head. But the classes didn't feel exactly as exciting as before. At times, I would stupidly wait for Aruna to come and take her seat beside me, before I would suddenly snap back to reality.

"I've never seen Lalit since that day," I remarked.

"Yeah, me too. I've heard rumors that he is confined in some mental institution or juvenile detention center," Mahi asserted.

"I always told that idiot to not fool around too much. But Aruna was Aruna. And look where it got her..."

"Shhh... it's enough now. Let's not talk about it anymore. Anyway, have you heard the new BTS album?"

"Of course. What else do I have to keep myself sane? Lately, I just sit in the balcony in the peace of night, and listen to..."

Suddenly, my mobile started to ring. It was Navneet. I had just texted him this morning before class. And we had agreed to keep the recess as the girls time.

Nevertheless, I picked it up, "I'm at the class right now."

"Yeah, I know. Just tell me your Insta password. It says you changed it."

"Why do you want it now?"

"Just... To keep it logged on my mobile. I thought we agreed on this?"

"But can't this wait? I'm busy right now, so I'll call you later."

I just hung up his call. Didn't even listen to his reply. I was in no mood to deal with this.

"You guys share Insta?" Mahi weirdly reflected.

"Yeah... does it seem odd? Don't you and Varun do such things?"

"No... well, we know some of each other's passwords, but we don't actively keep logged into each other's. But hey, I don't mean it's odd. You're both totally free to do things your way."

I gave a shrug. Just then, Kshitija patted my arm.

"Hey, I think that's your mother. She's gesturing at you," she pointed towards a lady standing in the doorway of our classroom.