Here's the 38th chapter.
Enjoy reading.
It was the the next day at college.
Anokhi had spent the previous day entirely at home, beside Mimi. She didn't even blink for a second.
She'd use the cold patches on occasion, and Mimi was back to normal after so many attempts. Her fever had gone down, and she was now fine.
Anokhi was scared to death witnessing Mimi's such state. First and foremost, she blamed herself for her daughter's condition, and the fact that Mimi's temperature wasn't dropping had added to her anxiety.
But now, she was relieved and incredibly thankful to Matarani for quickly healing her daughter, and she was able to return to college.
Though she was in no mood to leave her daughter behind, but she had no choice given the circumstances.
So, after a tight hug and a long kiss on her daughter's forehead, and a lovely good-bye, Anokhi was now here at college.
She knew exactly what lay ahead in the day. She was well aware that she would have to face Shaurya Sir's wrath for failing to appear at college on the day of an important test. But she can bear it without objection just for her munchkin.
"Anokhi...", Reema, who was also walking towards the class, called out.
She approached her.
"Anokhi..."
"Mimi kaisi hai yaar..."
"Kal tune mujhe phone par btaaya tha na ki use bohot tez bukhaar hain... Main toh darr hi gayi thi..."
"Btaana... Ab theek haina meri Mimi...", she asked restlessly.
"Haan Reema...", Anokhi said, a faint smile on her friend's protective nature for her daughter.
"Vo ab bilkul theek hai..."
"Hushhh...", Reema exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Mujhe toh tension ho gayi thi yaar tujhe pta hai...", Reema blabbered.
"Achcha Reema..."
"Kal ka test kaisa hua tera ?... Kal toh phone par poochne ka time hi nhi mila..."
"Time kaise milega aapko...", a voice from behind said.
The voice startled both of them, and they turned to see Shaurya Sir standing there.
Anokhi knew what awaited next.
"Time kaise milega aapko Miss Bhalla... Aap itni busy personality jo hai... Poore din aapko bohot important kaam rehte honge naa... Isiliye toh kal ka test miss kar diya..."
"Isn't it ???...", he smirked angrily.
"Shaurya Sir... Maine jaanboojhkar test miss nhi kiya... Mujhe ek emergency thi isiliye-..."
"Ohhhhhh !!...", Shauyra cut in.
"What a coincidence Miss Bhalla..."
"Aapki emergency ko kal ka hi din mila tha...", he taunted.
"Dekhiye Miss Bhalla...", he said in a serious tone.
"Yeh koi school nhi hain... Aur naa hi aap koi chhoti bachchi hai jo aap aise lame excuses deke bach jaayengi..."
Anokhi stared at him with tears stung eyes.
He had no idea what the "real reason" for her absence was, and here he was accusing her of making up lame excuses. This escalated her anguish on him.
Reema, who had witnessed her friend's scolding session, decided to take the initiative and reveal the truth.
"Sir... Vo actually-...", Reema was about to spill the beans when Anokhi grabbed her hand and stopped her. She told her not to say anything by nodding her head.
Shaurya, who had noticed this, quickly dismissed it.
"I'm really very very sorry Sir...", Anokhi finally spoke up.
"Main kal ka test dene ke liye bilkul ready hoon..."
"Aap aaj mujhse vo test le sakte hain... Chaahe toh usse mushkil questions daal dena Sir... Lekin main taiyaar hoon...", she said with fire in her eyes.
Shaurya became even more enraged when he saw her bravado.
"Aapko kya lagta hai Miss Bhalla..."
"Hume aapka test lene ke alaava koi aur kaam nhi hai ?..."
"Aap koi VIP hain jo main aapke liye specially alag se test conduct karvaaunga...", he glared at her.
Anokhi was still in no mood to back down.
"Toh fir aap mujhse kya chaahte hain Sir ?..."
"Main sach mein ek emergency ke vajah se kal absent thi..."
"Kal se pehle bhi toh kitni baar tests ho chuke haina Sir... Kabhi aapne mujhe dekha hain aaj tak absent hote hue ?... "
"Aur Sir..."
"Aap hi btaaiye..."
"Abhi tak jitney bhi tests hue hain... Usme mera score kabhi low gaya hain Sir ??..."
"Toh fir mera test ko intentionally skip karne ka toh koi matlab hi nhi banta Sir...", she showed him the mirror.
Shaurya was taken aback by her candor, as if she had simply given him a reality check.
He averted his gaze because he couldn't find the words to respond to her.
"Ab aap hi mujhe bta deejiye Sir... Mujhe kis tarah se iski bharpaayi karni padhegi ?...", she asked, her voice broken.
"Aapko kuch bhi karne ki koi zaroorat nhi hai !...", he exclaimed.
"Bas ek baat kaan khol ke sun leejiye aap Miss Bhalla..."
"Yeh ek college hain..."
"Aapko agar apni marzi se test aur exams mein absent hona hai... Toh apni scholarship ke baare mein bhool hi jaaiyega..."
"Got it ?!!!...", he gave her an intense stare before storming out of there with an angry face.
Anohi was dumbfounded as she stared at his vanishing figure.
He warned her that her hard - earned scholarship would be revoked, just because she failed to appear in a test.
Who was he to tell her this ?
Even though, from the beginning of the day, she had known something like this was on the way, but the way he spoke to her about her scholarship being withdrawn left her heartbroken.
Why did he hate her so much ?
Reema was annoyed that Anokhi didn't let her speak and listened to Shaurya Sir's false accusations for no obvious reason.
"Anokhi !!..."
"Tune mujhe kuch bolne kyu nhi diya ???..."
"Tune Shaurya Sir ko asli vajah btaayi kyun hi ?!!..."
"Aur bina kisi galti ke itni saari baatein bhi kyun suni tune ?!...", she was enraged that her friend had to hear false allegations from someone.
Anokhi wiped her teary eyes saying, "Reema... Tu chod... yeh sab..."
"Chal... Class mein chalte hain..."
"Nhi !..."
"Main kahi nhi jaaungi...", she grumbled.
"Pehle tu mujhe bta ki tune mujhe chup kyu karva diya ?..."
"Agar mujhe bolne deti toh itna sab kuch toh nhi sunna padta naa..."
"Mujhe unhe koi bhi explanation dene ki koi zaroorat nhi hai Reema..."
"Unki toh aadat hi hain humesha poori baat jaane bina hi mujhe blame karna..."
"Dekha nhi tune... Un... Unhone... Kaise Me... Meri scholarship ke baare mein bolakar gaye vo...", her voice cracked.
She was deeply hurt at his this statement. He was claiming to snatch her desired scholarship.
"Isiliye toh main bol rhi hoon Anokhi...", Reema said calmly, holding her shoulders firmly.
"Tu jaa... Abhi jaakar Shaurya Sir se firse baat karle... Aur unhe asli reason bta ke aaja... Kam se kam vo tujhe galat toh nhi samjhenge...", she tried to make her understand.
"Nhi Reema...", Anokhi bluntly denied.
"Main unse koi baat nhi karne vaali..."
"Unhe jo samajhna hain samjhne de..."
"Mujhe abhi bass class mein jaana hain... Tu aa rhi hain ke nhi ?!...", she said.
Reema stared at her in disbelief, knowing she wouldn't return to Shaurya Sir to uncover the truth.
She gave up and walked with Anokhi to the class, where they both sat down to listen to the first lecture.
How was it ?
Do tell me in comments 😊