Jealous Much, Rudy? [RumYa SS] Part 3 pg 5 - Page 3

After that, Saumya had to get proactive. What happened was this: she kept her ears and eyes open for anything that might set Rudra off, and she resolved the problem before it could get back to him. It was better that way, because long sleeves hid bruised knuckles better than the junk from Romi's makeup bag could cover up a black eye on Rudra's pretty face. Suddenly, there was that hint of good in all the bad she was doing. She was something of a masked vigilante superhero roaming the halls to knockout threats before they could wreak havoc on the foundations her group was united upon. She was protecting her friend from himself. It didn't need to be mentioned that she was also protecting herself because if she could keep Rudra on the right side of good then she couldn't have him. She could stop hopelessly imagining that he could ever see her in that way too.

She thought she had been mostly discreet about what she was doing behind the scenes. Her stealth was key to her plan working. Like most things in her life, it didn't turn out exactly how she expected. If there was ever time she wished she could have a predictable, ordinary, easy life, it was now.

Somehow, word got around that Saumya had hit someone with a microphone or something equally stupid and entirely exaggerated. She didn't go around doling out mortal wounds, that wasn't her style. She might kick a few shins, or if they were especially vile, maybe she would go for their noses"or on a rare occasion where the vile got crude, she might add a knee to the groin if she was feeling particularly offended. It never took anyone more than a couple minutes to get back on their feet and dust themselves off. So, she had no idea how the rumor originated, only that it started during second period and by the time lunch rolled around, it was her that everyone was looking at. As she headed to her usual table, people stumbled to clear a path for her, which she thought was overkill. It didn't stop her from carrying a pencil tucked behind her ear, because the looks it got amused her. And if said pencil was stained red from its last contact with paint from the newly painted walls that she accidently bumped against, then that was just a hilarious coincidence.

The looks on her friends' faces when she sat down were not amusing at all. She plucked the pencil from its perch and stowed it away in a pocket of her backpack. If she stayed quiet, she wasn't admitting to anything. That was her plan: silent denial. Only, Romi was glaring daggers and Rudra wasn't looking at her, so it was hard not to speak up when no one else would say anything.

"What?" Saumya finally relented.

"How could you, Saumya?" Romi launched in.

"You're not going to even ask me if it's true?" Saumya said. "Are we done with giving Saumya the benefit of the doubt?"

"Are you saying you didn't do it?" Chubby asked. At least he was looking at her with his usual neutral expression.

"Of course I didn't do it, you doughnuts," Saumya said. It technically wasn't a lie. She hadn't actually been in any kind of fight, armed with supplies or not, in more than a week. "Personally, I respect my radio station equipment too much to use it as a weapon. I mean, all the blood would ruin it."

"This is serious," Romi said.

"It wasn't a joke, Devi Madame," Saumya said. "It never happened and I don't know how anyone thought it had. But I'm glad that at least my best friends have faith in me."

Romi sighed, "I have faith in you, Saumya. But this isn't the first time we've heard about something like this lately. This is just the first time everybody was talking about it at the same time."

"Well, geez, imagine if everyone believed all the rumors about you," Saumya said. "You should hear some of the things people will say behind your backs."

Most of those things were no longer being said in fear of bringing down Saumya's wrath, but she couldn't tell them that.

Her eyes fell on the silent Rudra, "You have anything to say about this?"

Rudra looked up to meet her eyes for a second before he returned his gaze to his tray where he was picking at his lunch with a fork. Apparently, he had nothing to add. At least she had been successful on one front, albeit in a roundabout way. She had pushed Rudra away, not by raising him up out of her reach, but by lowering herself to a depth that couldn't be spanned. All at once, she regretted everything.

"Thanks a lot," Saumya said and stood up. She was halfway to the exit before she realized she had forgotten her things, but she wasn't going to turn back now.

"Wait, Saumya! Don't go," Romi yelled after her, but she didn't turn back.

She didn't glance back until a second before the exit. She expected all eyes to be on her, and they were. Except one pair. His fork had still, but Rudra's head was still faced down at the table.

This was not their beginning. There was a good chance it was their ending.