Chapter 10: The Ex best friend
Sagar's eyes widened as he looked at Naveen ,"Oh ! How could I forget? Now tell me , what should I call you? A chic? Or better yet , a fag?"
"Shut up, Sagar", Payal cut in ,glaring at him.
"Aah..It speaks. I was waiting for you to butt in , so that I can tell you to stay out of this",Sagar gritted out glaring right back at her.
"Uh-huh? Guess what? I won't",Payal bit back sassily.
Sagar took a step closer towards her ,causing her to grip Naveen's hand tightly ,and grumbled again," This is none of your business .So once again, Stay. Out .of . this".
Payal held her head high though her insides were shaking, and said in the same tone,"He is MY FRIEND. So technically , this IS my business."
Sagar chuckled proudly and said bending down to her height,"Trust me. You wouldn't want to be his friend after I tell you his little secret".
Payal scrunched her nose at his bullshit and rolled her eyes.Sagar looked at Naveen and said quietly," Should I tell her?"
Payal looked up at her friend to see him looking back at Sagar with wide eyes and shaking his head frantically,"N-No ,please don't".He was sweating profusely as he gulped and looked down at Payal and whispered,"Please go".
Payal looked at him in disbelief and said in exasperation , "Nonsense ,Naveen. You are crazy if you think I'll leave you here with these ...people."
Naveen begged her with his eyes but Payal wasn't having any of it. She held his arm tighter and looked back at Sagar challengingly with her nose high in the air. The resolutions she had made on her first day about staying away from anything that screamed danger, was already broken .
Sagar smirked at Naveen and said to him in a sing song voice,"Guess I've to tell her then".
Naveen shook his head looking up at Sagar as his eyes filled with tears. Payal noticed it and furrowed her eyebrows . She glared back at Sagar waiting for him to spew another load of bull.
Sagar smiling looked at Payal and said in a low voice,"He is GAY".
Payal stilled and so did Naveen.
Sagar sighed contentedly while his friends snickered.
She hadn't expected that. She slowly turned towards Naveen to know if it was true. He had tears running down his face. He turned the other way and wiggled his hand ,trying to get out of her grip .Payal grabbed his hand even tighter causing him to turn around in confusion . Payal blinked at him and whispered,"Stay".
She, then looked at Sagar with a sweet smile . He frowned at her and looked back at his friends who had the same expression on their faces.
What did they think? That she would cringe away from Naveen because he was gay. Aren't they in for a surprise?
"Well, the joke's on you. He is my friend and I don't care if he is an L , G , B ,T or even freaking pansexual." She heard Naveen gasp as she continued pointing her index finger towards Sagar's chest," You know why? Because I'm not a narrow minded ,chauvinistic, homophobic pig like you".
Deep down Payal felt a prick to her heart listening to her own words. Along with Sagar ,she had cussed at someone she loved dearly too.
Naveen looked at her wide-eyed ,tears still falling down his face. While Sagar was enraged. His nostrils flared as he furiously glared at her.
Payal, Payal, Payal. Once again a blunder in the same week. But she didn't regret it. After all she had promised her mother that she would show him who's daughter she was. If it were up to her she would talk calmly without provoking the person before her, but once the water rose above her head ,her mother's genes would start to kick in.
Sagar gripped Naveen's collar and shoved him back at his friends. Payal tried to go to him but Sagar stood in her way. "I will deal with him later. Let me teach you a lesson first",he gritted out.
Now she was alone with no one to hold on to. How would she hide her shaking hands from that monster? His head would get bigger if he knew she feared him.
Payal maintained the eye contact with Sagar and clenched her fists. Naveen's whimpers were heard from the back.
"Let him go", She said calmly.
"First call me Sir", Sagar said haughtily.
Payal looked at him incredulously and said,"Why would I do that?"
"Because I'm your senior and you will respect me."
"You don't deserve it".
"You are going to call me Sir,"he said calmly closing his eyes.
"Dream on".
"This isn't how you talk to your Senior", he raised his voice.
"And this isn't how you treat your junior",Payal retorted pointing back to where Naveen was being held to the wall by the two older boys.
"You are testing my patience, girl,"Sagar said breathing heavily stepping forward. Payal couldn't step back anymore unless she could move through the walls.
"And you are one step away from invading my personal space,"Payal said warily, looking him up and down . She didn't like being in a close proximity with any male and Sagar was standing at a distance of less than two feet.
She squirmed uncomfortably, which Sagar noticed and smirked.
"Oh really ? Thanks for informing", saying this he moved really close causing her to act on her instincts. Payal lifted her right palm to his face and shoved it so hard that he stumbled back.
His friends who were holding Naveen ,let him go to help Sagar. Taking the opportunity, Payal ran to Naveen , grabbed his hand and dragged him away through the hallways.
Payal was never a good runner . She couldn't run fast to save her life . And right now she had to drag another body along with her .
Sagar reached them not long after and gripped Payal's forearm before tugging her back making her stumbled a little . When she looked up she saw his fist in the air ,moving her way.
He was going to punch her in the face.
She closed her eyes and dug her nails into Naveen's skin.
Rashi could fix a doctor's appointm....
She waited for the hit but it never came . Cliché ,much? All she heard was a fist meeting flesh followed by a loud cry. She opened her eyes at the sight which made her question her own vision. There, laid on the floor was Sagar who was holding his palm again his left cheek and looking up at Siddharth with hurt on his face.
Wha...?Siddharth had punched Sagar? Why would he punch his own friend?
Siddharth bent down and held Sagar by his collar ,pulling him on his feet.
Sagar still had that hurt look as he whispered,"Sid?" His face looked devoid of all other emotions except for hurt. The hate ,fury and scorn were gone like they weren't there in the first place, as he stared into his friend's eyes.
Where as ,Siddharth was nothing but angry. His eyes were on Sagar's with a glare of disgust as he pushed him up against the wall harshly.
"How dare you?" He gritted out at Sagar.
But Sagar looked down guiltily and gulped . He didn't try to fight Siddharth's grip and stayed there like a timid prisoner.
"How dare you, Sagar? How dare you even think you can raise your hand on a woman? ,"he shouted making Payal jump .
She and Naveen looked at each other . Naveen was as terrified as Payal, if not more. The other two older guy ,who were with Sagar, were long gone. It was just the four of them in the hallway.
Sagar graced Siddharth with another silence which seemed to drive him over the edge. He pushed Sagar further into the wall making him look back up .
"I'm sorry, Sid. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do it. She was provoking me", Sagar said in a low voice while looking into Siddharth's eyes, as if calculating his friend's reaction.
"Don't you give me that shit". Siddharth let go off Sagar with another shove .
"You are not my bestfriend anymore. YOU ...",he poked a finger at Sagar's chest ,"are just another one of his dogs, who lick his feet and kiss his ass. That's all I see right now. I don't see my best friend of years in you. I just see a psychopath who is hungry for power .That's all I see."
Siddharth turned away breathing heavily and ran his fingers through his hair ,trying to calm himself down. Payal and Naveen hadn't moved from their place. They were just too shocked at how the events had turned out.
Siddharth looked at Payal and his wild eyes softened. He walked to them and looked Payal in the eye,"I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened. I should have made sure of it in the beginning itself. But rest assured, I'll see to it that this never happens again in my watch".
Payal nodded with a smile . Siddharth's eyes fell on her lips but he quickly moved his gaze and gave Naveen a nod.
He then looked back at Sagar ,who looked defeated as ever and said,"Consider yourself suspended for a month. I don't want to see you on the campus from tomorrow."
Sagar shook his head and stepped towards his ex-bestfriend and begged , "Siddharth ,I'm so..". He was cut off by a stern voice.
"That's President to you", Siddharth said looking straight ahead at the wall and walked away without so much as a glance at Sagar .
Naveen looked at Payal with his mouth agape. "Let's go" ,Payal whispered in Naveen's ear and they both were running downstairs in the next second.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone