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Arnav's words were still ringing in her ears. She was unable to remove the words which had malice lining them from her mind and could feel her mind playing them on a continuous loop. She mentally prepared herself for the impending disaster as she wondered if there was anything which Arnav Singh Raizada could use against her but came up with the conclusion that there was nothing he knew about her, which could be used as a weapon against her.
Her mind had not relaxed after she reached the conclusion. It had only increased the turbulence of her senses. There was no limit to the lies one can spread and she did not want to imagine the kind of lies which Arnav and his gang would want to spread.
She took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself and told herself that she was right and hence could not break down and let the ones who are on the wrong side win.
She signed to Payal to continue walking as walked ahead of her. The stares continued and so did the whispers behind the back. It took immense self-control to not start running at the fatest pace she could manage and hide in a corner like a child would do. She sought new friends, new experiences but she could feel her dreams of enjoyable college days breaking into shards and piercing her.
A grip on her hand pulled her sidewards, onto to the owner of the grip. She was about to burst, assuming that the person who had pulled her and the person who had warned her earlier were same, but much to her surprise she was wrong.
"I heard that you are quite the opposite of what meets the eye, darling. Feisty girls are just my type. Name your price. I heard about your passion for multiple men ravishing your beauty. So how many guys can you take? I have four friends who are interested," said the person who pulled her on himself.
A fiery mixture of shock, hurt, embarrassment and disgust filled her senses and hot tears filled her doe-like eyes. Price? He asked her price and the number of men she can take?
The dreams which she felt were breaking down had shattered and had shattered and torn her. She felt violated and humiliated as his gaze traveled down to her cleavage and his grip was strong enough to leave marks on her.
She would not lose, she told herself. She would fight, no matter what it takes, she vowed.
"Price, right? You cannot pay my price because it is paid in something which cheap people like you won't understand. My dignity is invaluable and the only thing which can buy it is respect, which I am sure you don't even know. And how many men? True man is the one who knows how to respect others and earn respect, not idiots and scumbags like you. And for me, one such man is enough. Not even 100 guys like you can come close to one such guy," she spat angrily, the sheer intensity of her tone and the blazing fire of her eyes compelling her culprit to loosen his grip on her, which she exploited by moving away from him.
"How dare you?" he said, his expressions revealing his anger at her words.
"Exactly! How dare you? You don't even know my name and you ask my price? You would surely have a female at home, who is close to your heart right? Give me her number! Let me enlighten them about your sacred deeds at college," she warned, her form shaking with anger and tears which she was concealing under the cover of anger.
"Why do you want to pull my family into this? Yes, I don't know you but every single person in this campus has heard about you. While everyone was whispering about it and staring at you, I acted on my thoughts. That's all. Stop with your attention-seeking drama. I don't want you anymore. Good bye," he said, pushing her to the side as he left for his destination.
Even though the insinuator had left the premises, the audience they had gathered with their tussle continued to watch her for reactions. Keeping her head high and ignoring every face, Khushi made her way towards the washroom where no one would be present. She needed to cry. She needed to vent. She had a right to and no one could snatch that from her.
She dumped her bag onto a stool placed in the washroom as she finally let tears flow from her eyes which had turned with all the emotional turmoil she bore.
"I can't..I can't believe someone can stoop to this level," Khushi sobbed, her kneees giving away and making her slide down the wall. Payal dropped down to her knees, to her best friend's level, gently cupping her shoulder in an attempt to console her.
"Khushi, love, calm down. You cannot lose yourself like this. You cannot let him win," said Payal. She had known a Khushi who seldom broken down, irrespective of the situation she faces and was oblivious to a Khushi who was so broken. The very sight of a sobbing Khushi threatened to break Payal's self-control and urged her to punish the man behind the tears of her sister-like friend.
"There is a bloody limit for everything. How can that sham of a person insinuate that I was acting 'hard-to-get' to get the attention of maximum people? How can he say that my reluctance is a facade and I want multiple men? How can he accuse me of being a sl*t?" she complained, her brain imagining Arnav Singh Raizada to be smirking at her the next time he would meet her.
How did she wish to wipe that smirk off his face? She just prayed to one to whom she tied Rakhi every year to show her the way out of the mess - Krishna.
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College Grounds,
"So what's the progress? Is she crying yet?" asked Arnav, leaning against his bike.
"Yeah, she is. Shiv played his role really well. He said.." Rakesh's statement was cut in half as Arnav signed at him to stop.
"I honestly don't care what you guys do. I just want her to taste Arnav Singh Raizada's medicine so that she knows how wrong she was to fight me," he said, arrogance lacing every word of his.
"She is a tough one to break, dude. I mean she did not lose control on her even after listening to what Shiv said and retorted in a way which would make even you admire her," said Aniket, a naughty smile gracing his lips.
"Really? Maybe I missed on a bit of entertainment. I should go and compensate for the loss by taking care of my share of troubling her." Arnav straightened himself up and began moving when a hand made him stop mid-way.
"Don't do this, Arnav. You will regret it greatly in future and if you continue doing this, even regretting would be futile," said Akash, his cousin and confidante.
"Akash, when would you learn to have fun? And are you taking her side against mine? You are some brother," teased Arnav as he pushed Akash's hand down and moved towards the campus to look at the results of his plan.
Akash sighed in disappointment as he stared at Arnav's retreating back, wondering what else would be in store for Khushi to bear and prayed for strength to bear Arnav's actions.
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Okay, so Khushi's character is inspired from me and so is the story in bits and parts. The hard-to-get and attention-seeking s*ut part actually happened with me but thank goodness, no one ever asked as cheap question as price.
Anupamaa
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Bollywood
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