Strings Attached

~Chapter 11~

"I saw you harassing her in the hallways today. You had her books with you, from what I could see. So don't give me the bullsh*t that you don't know her." I raise my eyebrows questioningly at her swearing. The girl's a bomb. But that's the easy part. I know how to deal with bombs. The problem is, I don't really know how to deal with girls like her friend. And that's a nagging thought.

At the end of her short speech, I get up, surprising the girl into backing off a little. "Who said I hit her?" I enquire her threateningly. And she backs off some more, eventually crashing into a chair behind her. Her eyes hold something of fear now. Everyone has their attention pinned onto us now. "Stop saying I hit her, for God's sake!" I growl, kicking off a chair to the ground and she jumps up in fright. I'm tired of everyone blaming me for it. I want to clear everything right here, right now.

"It was a f**king accident!" The girl cringes at my vocabulary. "I was in a hurry. Can you blame me if I don't see that stupid girl huddled at the doorway? Can you blame me for her being such miniature-ish? She shouldn't have been blocking the doorway if she didn't want to have a 'sizable gash' on her forehead," I imitate her expression. Finally, I've vented out my anger, albeit through a different channel, but it feels good. I can't help being cruel.

"I said I was sorry! It was wrong timing, I get it! Can't you just let it go?!" I bark to everyone, conclusively and march out of the room. F**ked up people! Judging me for a small mistake. They'd never let it go, it seems! And I let out an annoyed huff at that thought.

I haven't crossed half of the gallery when I hear hurried footsteps behind me as somebody tries to catch up with my rapid pace. "Daniyal! Please, wait for me," the girl says, panting. She's brave for coming after me right after I blew up at her. I stop in my tracks and wait for her to say something as she tries to catch her breath. "You're so fast, I had to run." I smirk internally.

We walk in silence for a while, as I feel the wheels of her brain turning to think of a way to initiate conversation. Well, she better think, coz I'm not initiating anything. I'm not gonna apologize, if she expects me to. "I don't expect you to apologize," she begins, contrary to what I expected. Good for her.

"I was wrong for judging you. I should've heard both sides of the story before jumping to conclusions." I feel like I should say something to stop her from beating herself about it. "It's alright. Happens to the best of us," I tell her softly, still not looking at her.

"My friend is... she's just scared. She's never been away from home, so coming here has been a bit of a shock for her. And the episode rattled her a little, as you could expect." "Is she okay now?" I feel compelled to ask. It must've been a really bad cut if it began to bleed. I didn't think anything of it, until now. "Yeah, her head's better, if you're asking about that. Though the psychological strain is more than the physical one."

"I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know she was going through so much." I look at her pleadingly. "It's okay. She'll live," the girl says, gracing me with a benevolent smile, becoming her cheery self once again. "Glad to know, Miss...?" "Mukherjee. Poulomi Mukherjee," she completes for me, now full-on grinning. "Hmm. Sexy name." "Eww, no. Don't be so gross, Daniyal!" she says, her face scrunched in disgust, and seeing her expression, I can't help but laugh. "What can I do? I'm charming and gross." And I throw her a wink.