"I don't know what to do now! We're in a complete mess!" I told Zoya the next day at school. We had skipped lunch and now we were sitting on a stone bench near the lawn, waiting for 2:00 pm when a rehearsal for the show was due to begin.
The rented costumes and props had arrived at the school that morning. They had none of the brilliance of the originals but they were fine.
Mishti and Reyansh had decided to act like the whole Fine Arts Club was non existant. They hadn't spoken to us all day. I and Zoya still remained baffled about the whole thing. Why was Mishti siding with Reyansh? Meanwhile the story of Reyansh's guilt had spread across the school like wildfire. Now, Reyansh and Mishti were forced to avoid almost everybody.
"When two people have love for each other, they need nothing else" said Zoya nonchalantly as we saw Mishti and Reyansh walk into the lawn area hand in hand.
"Who said that?" I asked dully.
"Me"
I forced a laugh and said darkly, "Where have we landed ourselves?".
Zoya looked at me gravely "It's always best to do what your gut asks you to Ri. My gut tells me to go with the show. Maybe we shouldn't worry about Mishti for now".
I did not reply.
My gut had been wrong before.
Many times.
It had told me, Mishti would never give up on us. It had told me Reyansh was innocent. It had told me this was going to be a tremendous success. And it had also told me, my parents' would save their marriage somehow. But the previous night, after coming back from Mishti's flat, I had walked into my house to see my dad's lawyer walking out.
"And maybe.." Zoya continued, "We'll find that we can actually survive high school. And still be normal".
Somehow I couldn't see it happening. My life was more messier than ever, right now.
The rehearsal that followed was duller than ever. Nobody seemed to have the zest to perform.
The long day was finally over and I went back home. It was raining so, Krish came home soon too.
I couldn't believe my luck!
Along with all the drama at school, I had to handle Krish's drama at home too.
He had thrown a tantrum and Mom got totally worked up. Our cook was on leave and so she asked him cut the vegetables for dinner as punishment!
This made Krish even more irritable.
He decided to vent his anger on me and pestered me about the show as he chopped the tomates.
"But I saw Mishti di and Reyansh sitting alone today. Why aren't you talking to them?"
"Small people don't concern themselves with big things", I snapped at him harshly.
"Why can't you help me with this?" he asked indicating the tomatoes.
"It's your punishment Krish. And it's mandatory that you do it yourself. This is character building".
Krish glared at me, grabbed an onion and chucked it me.
"Moooom, tell him not to do this!" I screeched.
"Krish don't do this", said mom tonelessly from the dining room.
I huffed and walked out of the kitchen, went to my bed and collapsed on it.
As usual.
I was feeling totally depressed about all the drama. Our show hadn't been called off but it was just as worse.
And I couldn't believe how Zoya had felt that we'd survive high school. I had one and a half years of schooling left and I had already lost half of my sanity!
For a moment I thought what it would have been like if we hadn't found out it was Reyansh. If Varun hadn't figured out anything at all.
It was Varun who had told Zoya in the first place.
That's when I realised...
OMG!
How didn't any of us see it before?
A/N : Hey guys! What has Riya found out? Do check it out in the next chapter :)
I hope you're enjoying this. Please do leave your precious vote if you did. Lots of love!