|the naive rebel|
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x| say, i do
^^^^^^^

word count- 1297

Ah! I am confused about the chapter. Tell me how you find it?

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INAAYAT
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I squint my eyes trying to see something amidst the darkness. The cool wind hits my bare arms and the back of my neck-causing goosebumps to arise all over the skin.

The flashlight of my phone illuminating small patches of the terrace where I am trying to find some evidence that would help me in the case.

Dad and I had discussed the last Saturday about how I should start taking things seriously and investigate the suicides. Therefore, here I am at 3 AM strolling around the abandoned terrace of the hostel like a hooligan dressed carelessly in a tank top and sweatpants.

Worst decision of my life.

What?

Coming here, or to be here?

Good question.

I would choose the latter.

I have traced the entire path thrice before deciding that there is nothing on the terrace that can be classified as suspicious. Dad had told me to start from the terrace and then check the floors one by one.

I turn off the flashlight and push my phone deep inside my pocket. Trying to adjust and find my way towards the door, my feet leap and I am kissing the dirty ground a second later.

'Shit.'

I curse, getting up on my feet again I rub my elbows trying to remove dirt from it. Wiping my face with the back of my hand. I pat my pocket searching for my phone. Once the light is on, I try knowing who exactly is my enemy-who cannot see me standing vertically on the ground, for once.

I flinch with the sudden radiance while I see around finding many brown cardboard boxes lying carelessly. They are all accumulated and placed with the worn-out furniture. The old wooden desks, torn mattresses and the broken cupboards are piled around. The boxes are taped and kept almost neatly with them while the other waste is thrown almost recklessly.

I had ignored the old trash earlier thinking them to be garbage, but now taking a closer look at these boxes I realise how strategically they are placed here.

Bending towards one of the boxes I remove its tape and open the box. The box is empty but it still carries a vague foul smell.

Before I think over it too much, my phone blazes loudly. I quickly answer the call before anyone hears me.

"Hello," I softly answer the call.

"Where are you girl?" Mishti's voice sounds breathless and sharp.

"I am coming," I reply disconnecting the call instantly.

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"Where were you?"

Mishti bombards me with the question that I was expecting her to ask. It is past 3 AM, on a Wednesday morning and I went on a merry saunter there.

My eyes are paining due to the infection from the lenses. I am putting eye drops regularly and I hope that it doesn't infect further or else I'll have to drop using them.

"I had gone to the washroom," I lie, squeezing myself into the room.

"What are you doing up so late?" I ask sitting on my bed and she follows soon. Sitting on her bed, she keeps a pillow on her legs and answers me.

"My fiancé called."

"Woah. Wait- fiancé? You are engaged?" I am boggled at her revelation.

"You can call it betrothing. Parents were friends, made a promise to each other and here I am with this," she nibbles with the silver chain that is hanging from her neck and shows me the diamond ring that is acting as a pendant.

"I keep it hidden, most of the days."

"Dude you are 19-" she corrects me, " I am 20, started late."

"Oh...Mishti, isn't too early for this? Do you love him?"

"I don't. I have learnt to accept fate, that's it."

"And what if one day you fall in love with some else?"

"That's not an option. If I do, that would be cheating and I don't have the heart to betray a relationship."

I smile at her warmly but have a scepticism settle down in the pit of my stomach. She should have gotten a chance to select her suitor herself, and not be forced into a relationship.

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"Is your packing done?" Garima questions. Over the two weeks of my stay here, I have managed to enter into Mishti's friend circle.

Yeah.

A small gang of me and my potential suspects- cute.

We all say yes, except Shaan who whispers a no. Sameer and Nikhil hit their forehead while they look at Shaan in utter dissatisfaction.

"Ah. It-think I won't g...g...go." He confesses.

"Don't worry about him, I'll pack his bags as soon as we reach the room." Nikhil's confidence shakes Shaan and he looks at him horridly.

"B-but.."

"Shush! You are coming and that's final. You are the only person I can trust with-" he stops his sentence abruptly.

"Trust in?" I ask.

Nikhil bends a little forward on the table as if his words are a confidential enigma."Trust with my pranks. He unknowingly deviates the teachers from the topic, making them not doubt me."

"How?" Garima's eyebrows raise at his disclosure.

"This guy doesn't lie, so I just ask him to ask his doubts to the teachers and they usually forget the prank while they explain to him his answer."

"Noice." Sameer chuckles and the table dissolves into an airy and setting of normal gossips and conversations.

During the conversation, I notice how Shaan doesn't even an utter a single word and let others assume his answers and replies. He listens to everything but never voices out his own opinions.

Nikhil and Shaan are roommates. I am pretty unsure about the bond they share, they are poles apart and yet when they share such a friendly relation it gives me a sense of qualm.

And the fact that Shaan is ready to tutor me instead of Nikhil doesn't add up. If they are so tight why did he agree to leave his roommate and teach me?

I have to keep an eye on Shaan, for sure. I don't think he is as innocent as he depicts himself to be. There's something so strange that forces me to think and rethink about him. Maybe, he is the one who I am in search of.

After all, nerds can be killers who aren't caught, yet.

To think of, not every student can be my suspect. The suicides have been taking place since years now and the batches change every year which means there's no student in the building who has seen all the suicides.

Shaan might not be the person behind those murders but he can be involved in something devious. It's not an easy path, now that I am here everything leads to a new boulevard. The college is not as promising as it portrays, the walls are hiding mysteries and they aren't just of homicides.

And who knows, a student can be the mastermind behind everything, too.

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"Hello?" I whisper as soon as I enter the ladies' washroom's cubicle.

"Inaayat, make sure you use this trip to find about the suicides. Do not get driven away in fun or excitement. The trip isn't for you. Remember."

"Yes, Dad."

"Take Care." I miss you.

"Miss you too, Dad. Take Care. Goodnight," I say while the other end goes silent.

"Goodnight, Inu."

I hope this trip goes well.

I do.

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So? What do you think about the chapter?

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