Back with another chapter! Hope you like! ❤❤❤
"Words in double quotes" - Talking
'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts
Chapter 16 - New Teacher
#Auditorium#
"That was perfect Swara. You sang so beautifully."
"Thanks Laksh. You were quite amazing yourself."
"Thanks. Shall we practice our next song?"
Swara nodded and was about to sing, when she started coughing. Seeing this, Laksh went and got her his water bottle. Once she was alright, she thanked him and handed him the bottle. However, when he grabbed it, he accidentally placed his hand on hers. Both looked at each other and got lost in each other's eyes. Time didn't matter to them, neither did the rest of the world. Only the other existed for them.
That was how Saara found them when she came into the auditorium. She gripped the door harder in anger.
"Such a frown doesn't look good on such a beautiful face." remarked someone from behind her. She turned to find a boy carrying some electric equipment and was dressed as a technician. She was already angry, and he only served to piss her off further.
"Shut up! You're a technician, aren't you? Mind your own business and scram. Don't dare interfere in other's matters!" she stormed away from there in anger.
He looked at her go, wide-eyed. Someone came and patted him on his back "Want to flirt some more little bro?" he joked.
"What an attitude that girl has! I had only complimented her."
"Anyone with two eyes could see that she was pissed off Nikhil. You foolishly walked in front of an angry lioness. What did you expect?"
"So what?! Shouldn't she blush at my compliment and forget her anger?"
"Nikhil, you're an idiot. You may be an expert in computers, but you'll score zero in making a girl fall for you."
"Shut up Samay. Its because of your plan about us pretending to be technicians. That's the reason we're not being able to get any girls!" he replied with a pout.
Samay smirked. "Not we, only you. I already got a few fan-girls here. Part of my charm little brother." he turned around and walked towards the corridor. "Now lets go check the pool. Maybe we can find some clues on the person who tried to harm Ragini."
Nikhil looked at him in irritation. He could never understand how his brother did that. ‘Samay always gets the girls. How come he always gets the girls, even when he doesn't try hard?! This is so unfair!’ he sighed and followed Samay.
#With Ragini#
Ragini was looking around for Sanskar. She needed to tell him what Kriti had told her about Ansh and Karan. With everything that happened the previous day, she forgot to tell Sanskar that Ansh and Karan were trying to dig into his personal life in order to unravel the truth. ‘They can’t know about the reasons behind Sanskar leaving the family. If they do, they’ll find out everything! Sanskar worked so hard to keep them away from these. I can’t let his efforts go in vain.’
She didn't find him in the auditorium earlier and so, she decided to look in all the classes nearby. As she peeped into another classroom, she accidentally collided into someone and fell back.
"I'm really sorry! Are you alright miss?"
"No no. Its okay. I was the one who wasn't looking where I was going." She stood up and dusted her clothes "I'm kind of new here. So, I still have problems finding the right class." she spoke with a smile.
"I see. I'm new here as well. This is my first day here."
Ragini put forward her hand "Hi. I'm Ragini. Ragini Gadodia."
The guy smiled and shook her hand "I'm Akash. Akash Pratap. The new Biology teacher.”
At once Ragini's eyes widened. 'He's a teacher!? And I crashed into him on his first day! Not to mention the fact that I'm talking to him like he is my buddy! Oh no! I should withdraw my hand. But....But what if he thinks I’m being rude? Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!'
Akash laughed looking at Ragini's panicked face. "Dont worry, I won't make any complaints against you."
"Thank you Akash.” Ragini mentally smacked herself. “I mean teacher! Thank you teacher." Ragini stuttered out.
Akash laughed at her nervousness and excused himself as he moved past her.
Ragini sighed in relief. "Thank goodness I didn't embarrass myself anymore in fro-" suddenly, her eyes widened and she looked back abruptly. 'Pratap? He said his title was Pratap! Could he...could he be the lost son!? I need to find Sanskar and Laksh. Fast!'
#Auditorium#
"Hey Swara! How's practice going on?"
Swara looked up from the paper she was reading. "Hi Kriti." She folded the page and kept it aside. "Practice is going well. Laksh is an amazing partner. He performs his steps so elegantly. And when he did a back flip, it wa-“
"Oh ho! There you go singing praises of your boyfriend again." Kriti interrupted with a roll of her eyes. “Laksh this, Laksh that! You’ll make me fat if you go on speaking about your boy.”
Swara pouted "I wish he was my boyfriend. But he still hasn't proposed yet."
"But why not? You know he likes you. You've also given him signs that you like him. So what's the problem?"
"I don't know Kriti. These boys show great courage when they have to fight with their fists. But when it comes to proposing a girl, they become like mice on the alley ways, hiding away from sight." Swara replied with an unladylike snort.
Kriti laughed at Swara's statement. “True that!”
"By the way, what are you doing here?" asked Swara.
"Aww...can't I visit my best friend?"
"Of course you can my bestie." Swara gave her an one arm hug.
Kriti smiled at her, although she felt guilty for lying. She was actually there to find Sanskar's things. She knew that Sanskar kept his backpack and things on the back stage in the auditorium during practice. He was confident that no one would dare steal from him. Indeed nothing has ever been stolen from him. However, today she plans to spy on him. 'First, I need to get Swara out of here.'
"Swara, I think you should try harder to show him that you like him. Otherwise, he won't propose you."
"I guess you're right. What should I do?"
"You can start by spending more time with him. I think I saw Laksh going into the canteen." said Vivek, as he came near them. Swara nodded and headed for the exit.
"What are you doing here, coward? I thought you wouldn't show your face to me after you decided to expose us to Ansh and Karan."
Vivek rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I'm a science geek. This fighting and all? This isn't my area. That's why I got scared when Ansh was about to hit me."
"Ansh isn't like that. He would never hit anyone without a good cause. You should have known that."
"I'm new here, remember?"
Kriti huffed and opened her mouth to speak.
However, Vivek interrupted. "Lets just forget about it, alright? I promise I won't do it again. Let me help you find clues on whatever Sanskar's secret is. Please Kriti?" he gave her a pleading look.
Kriti looked at him sternly. Vivek held his breath in anticipation.
Finally, after a moment, she nodded "Alright. Keep watch and make sure no one comes towards the backstage. Got it?" when he nodded, she turned around and headed towards the back stage.
#With Ragini#
Ragini looked everywhere for Sanskar. 'Where could he be? I searched almost everywhere!' a thought struck her. 'The only place I haven't checked is the Indoor Pool area. But...but should I go there after what happened?' she thought with a shudder.
She contemplated for a moment, but finally decided to go there. 'I'll just stay away from the pool. I can just look around the place though.’
#Indoor Pool#
Sanskar had come to college early to practice in peace, as he knew once everyone arrived, there wouldn't a moment of relief. However, the summer heat, combined with the suffocating auditorium, made him all sweaty and uncomfortable. Which is what brought him to the pool. He changed into his swimming shorts and had headed towards the pool. That was when he saw two individuals at the edge of the pool on the other side. They looked like they were peering into the water for something.
'Why are they looking at the water as if it will swallow them up? What a couple of weirdos!' He shook his head at their antics and came near the pool. However, before he could get into the water, he heard someone call his name.
"Sanskar! Sanskar, I need to tell you something." Ragini spoke in one breath. She was huffing and puffing from running all the way there.
"Tell me what?" Sanskar asked her with little interest. 'She probably has something useless to say.'
"There's a new teacher in college and his name is Akash Pratap."
This gained her Sanskar's full attention. He looked at her in shock. "Are...are you sure?"
"Yep. I'm more capable than you think."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
Ragini nodded. “200%!”
"Great! Let me go to the changing room to ga-“
"What! We don't have time to waste! Lets go." Ragini chided.
"What the heck?! You want me to go out half naked, just in my shorts!"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pool, the two persons heard their argument.
One of them looked up and nudged the other. "Oi, Samay. Look there! Isn't that Ragini?"
Samay looked up. He squinted to get a better look. Indeed he saw it was Ragini, chatting with some random guy in swim shorts.
"The heck! How dare that guy talk to her in that state?"
"Bhai, I think he is trying to pollute out Ragini's mind and then take advantage of her innocent nature." spoke Nikhil, behaving like an overprotective brother.
"Then we should go introduce him with our fists." Samay cracked his knuckles and stood up, equally pissed off.
Ragini, on the other hand, stared at Sanskar, wide-eyed. She was so stressed about finding the truth about the teacher, that she didn't pay any attention to Sanskar's half-dressed state.
'Wow! He's got the body of a model.' She quickly realized her train of thoughts and mentally smacked herself. She closed her eyes and covered them with her hands.
Sanskar laughed at her childish act. "Hahaha...! You’re such a prude. Are you a ten year old?"
"Whatever! Go change quickly!"
"Ragini, what's going on here?" She turned around to find Samay and Nikhil there.
Sanskar noted that these guys were same ones that were near the pool.
"Samay? Nikhil? What are both of you doing here?" Ragini asked in curiosity.
"Someone named Laksh gave an add in the college website, looking for technicians. We agreed for the job." Samay explained, without taking his glare off Sanskar. "Is this your boyfriend?"
Ragini blushed "What!? No! Of course not."
Nikhil grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. "Then why are you standing with her in only your swim shorts?" he asked, glaring at Sanskar. “You…you mind-polluter you!”
"What? You're misunderstanding the entire thing. I was just talking with her ab-"
"You mean to say you were trying to seduce her by flaunting your body at her while making the excuse of chatting to her? How dare you try to pollute her mind!?" accused Samay. "Don't piss me off."
Sanskar took a step back and laughed nervously "H-hey, look! I wasn't doing anything like that, alright! Tell them Ragini."
Ragini nodded. “Yes guys, he wasn't do-"
"Rags, you’re too innocent to realize the truth about these type of guys. Let us handle this." Nikhil spoke, balling his hands into fists.
Sanskar raised his hands in a peace sign "Easy now. Calm down."
'Oh my! These guys will make a pancake out of me if they start hitting me.' Sanskar tried to look for an escape route.
Ragini was embarrassed and irritated. Sanskar wasn't assaulting her. Also, it was not as if she was a little child that didn't understand things. 'Why must these two embarrass me and treat me like I'm 5 yrs old!? I know whom I shouldn’t talk to, and talk to!' she grabbed their hands and pulled them aside. "What the heck? Why are you behaving like raging bulls!?"
"He's trying to trap you in his game. He just wants to use you Ragini. You can't fall for him." Nikhil lulled her into a hug and patted her head like a child’s. “But don’t yo worry. Your cousins are here for you.”
Ragini pouted and pushed him away in irritation. “Nikhil, you idiot! He wasn't doing anything like that. In fact, it was me who came to talk to him and take him with me."
"Eh? So you mean you are the one who likes him?” Nikhil reasoned. “I see."
Before Ragini could correct Nikhil, Samay piped in."In that case, he better not reject you. Because if he breaks your heart, I'll break him into pieces!"
“I’ll join you bhai!”
"Don't you think you two are over doing it?"
"Whatever. Why are you here in the first place? Don't you remember what happened to you in the pool?"
"I know but-" from the corner of her eyes, she saw Sanskar come out, fully dressed, and move out of the auditorium. "I’ll…I’ll see you later guys!" without waiting for their reply, she ran away towards Sanskar, grabbed his hand and took him away with her.
"You're brothers sure are over-protective of you." remarked Sanskar as they came out of there.
"Not brothers, but cousins. And they didn't mean any harm. They were just looking out for me."
'Didn't mean any harm? They were about to pulverize my face!' however,, Sanskar let the topic go. "I see. Anyways, forget that. Lets go to the auditorium. I've texted Laksh to meet us there."
#Auditorium#
Kriti thought it would be easy. However, she didn't expect every participant's bag to be backstage. She searched through every bag there to get the right one. Finally, she recognized Sanskar's bag and found a diary in it.
"Let's see what you're hiding Sanskar." Kriti began to flip the front page.
Just then, Vivek came rushing towards the her. "Kriti quick! Sanskar and Ragini are heading towards this place! Lets go!"
Kriti's eyes widened and she dropped the diary in shock. She quickly picked it up, put it back in the bag and zipped it close.
Both of them tried to escape through the other exit behind the stage. However, they noticed Laksh and Swara talking outside.
"Shit! We can't go out. Laksh will no doubt catch us." Kriti panicked. Suddenly, she saw the shelves there and pulled Vivek towards them. They hid behind the shelves.
Swara stopped and smiled at him. “Okay then Lucky. I have a duet performance for the fest with Ria. I need to go find her to practice for it. See you later. Bye."
"Bye Swara." Laksh smiled and waved at her. He had a great time chatting with her in the canteen. Too bad they needed to part, as she had to practice. Moreover, Sanskar texted him to meet him backstage.
Laksh walked over there. Just then, both Sanskar and Ragini arrived as well. "So? Why did you call me here Sanky?”
"Ragini found out that the new Biology teacher, Akash, writes Pratap as his title."
Laksh looked shocked at first, which soon turned into a grin. "That's great news. What are we doing standing here for? Lets go meet him! I can't believe we found them.”
"Because there can be anyone with that title. We don't know if he is one of the Pratap sons we are looking for. We need to be sure."
“Hmm…right! But how do we find out more about him?"
"Shouldn't your father know about it before us?” Ragini questioned. “I mean, he is the Principal after all. Doesn't he check the resume of every new teacher?”
"No. Dad doesn't deal with any of the recruitments in the college. Sure he is the Principal, but the appointment and selection is done by the Vice-Principal."
"Then let's go ask Mr. Maheshwari to take the resume of that teacher from the Vice-Principal." Laksh suggested. The other two nodded and the three of them moved out.
Vivek watched them go and sighed in relief. "Whew! I'm glad they didn't see us. Right, Kriti?" hearing no response, he looked towards her. He found her frozen in shock. “Um…earth to Kriti?”
Kriti was confused by their discussion about the new teacher and the title Pratap. She was more confused as to why Ragini Di was helping Sanskar and Laksh. However, what shocked her to the core was that Sanskar had called his father, “Dad”. And he was also talking about Mr. Maheshwari as if... as if they were on good terms. 'But..but he hates his father and his father hates him. Then what is this? What is going on here!? What's this new twist? I must tell Karan and Ansh.'
Before Vivek could ask her anything, she ran away from there. He looked at her go and sighed in misery. “There is no way I'm running in this heat. I'll just go grab a coke!”
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
If you liked the chapter, consider giving a vote.
~ 🌹 Mona🌹