I will post an update most probably today (I am in North America, so my day is still not over). I had some issues with laptop previously. Otherwise I would have given the update two days ago.
Chapter 6 – The Eclosion
Two weeks passed since the Pack’s inclusion into the ETF team. Riya, Tisha and Karan became fast friends with everyone on the team except Sakshi and Liza. Sharing a secret together would do that to people.
In these two weeks, Riya became very close friends with Arjun. Ofcourse the entire team was now aware about Arjun’s affection for Riya, so it was funny to see his reaction in her presence. Riya too was aware about this and yet she never discouraged Arjun’s advance resulting in the speculation that she too had feelings for him. She neither accepted or denied this accusation. And as for Arjun, he was just happy being with her. Their friendship took a further leap couple of days ago due to an incident.
One fine day, Arjun and Riya were coming back from a case. He asked her to stop the vehicle so that he can get chai from the street vendor. While he went to get the chai, she waited in the SUV. Suddenly she heard a knocking on the window. When she looked at the direction of the knock, she saw a teenager standing there with a bouquet of red roses. She rolled down the window.
“Mam, I have fresh roses. Please buy mam. Only Rs. 10 per rose.”
Riya looked at the teenager and back at the roses. Atleast he is trying to make a living honestly, thought Riya.
“Give me the entire bouquet. You can keep the change.”, said Riya after handing him four Rs. 500 notes.
The teenager let out a gasp of happiness at her generosity. After giving her the flowers, he skipped away happily.
Arjun who drank his cutting chai came back to the SUV only to be greeted with a big bouquet of red roses thrust in his direction. He looked over the flowers at Riya in wonder.
“It is for you. Take it.”, said Riya.
Arjun’s eyes moistened at this gesture. With a beaming smile he took the flowers and settled into his seat. She looked at him with affection seeing the childlike wonder in his face.
“You know Riya, I am very happy today. You are the first person to gift me flowers. I love flowers even though our society sees them too girly for a man…”, said an emotional Arjun.
Riya kept her hand over his as if to show him that she understood. Their eyes locked as he intertwined his fingers with her. Her breath hitched at this sudden movement from him. Arjun mistook it for her disapproval and withdrew his hand as if he was burned.
“I am so sorry Riya. I don’t know what came over me. Please forgive me.”, he pleaded with her.
Riya couldn’t help but to chuckle at his nervousness. She leaned forward and gave a peck on his cheek effectively ending his blabbing. Leaving Arjun in a stupefied stated, she started the SUV with a smile on her lips.
From that day onwards, Arjun and Riya became closer. There was no confession of love or unresolved sexual tensions, but everyone could see that an easy camaraderie settled between them. Arjun’s steps became lighter as if all the weights have been lifted from his shoulders. These days one could see Arjun occasionally humming while working.
Sameer was very happy for his best friend. He was glad that Arjun was slowly coming out of the shell he had built around himself due to those unforeseen circumstances years ago. Looking back on the last two weeks, Sameer knew that even he himself had changed. Gone was his constant worry about his and Arjun’s safety. Gone was his anxiety about their future. Before it was just Arjun and him against the whole world, now he felt like he got his tribe. Riya’s mere presence was very calming. He knew that he could depend on her. Was she the guiding light they were waiting for her? Only time would tell…
It was a beautiful day. Sun shone brightly in the sky, yet the temperature was only mild. Flowers were in full bloom and there was a lightness in the atmosphere. However, in the ETF SUV, the atmosphere was anything but pleasant. Everyone looked dead tired as they were working non-stop for the last two days to solve a case. Now that the case was solved, they were going back to their office. Riya was driving the vehicle with Arjun on the passenger seat. Karan and Shree were in the backseat. Rest of the ETF members were in another SUV ahead of them. Suddenly Riya’s phone rang. Startled out of their tired state, everyone looked at her phone. Riya indicated Arjun to pickup the phone and put it on speaker which he promptly did.
“Hello. Can I speak to Ms. Riya Mukherjee?”, asked from the other side.
“Yes, I am Riya Mukherjee. May I know who is this?”, asked Riya.
“Hello. Ms. Mukherjee. I am Aditya Singh, principal of Vrindavan Private School. I am calling to inform you about an incident regarding Aryan and Nila, your wards”.
Riya’s face suddenly changed into a grim expression hearing the serious tone in the principal’s voice. Only her life experiences stopped her from panicking and stopping the vehicle then and there. She took a deep breath as her fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
“What sort of incident? Are they okay?”, asked Riya.
“They are physically fine. They beat up a fellow student, so there needs to be a disciplinary hearing. As such, we need you here as soon a possible”, explained the principal.
Riya’s fingers unclenched from the death grip on the steering wheel as she heard these words.
“I will be there in 20minutes”, answered Riya.
Once the call was disconnected, she looked at Arjun.
“Its okay Riya. Let’s go to the school.”, said Arjun.
Riya nodded her head in denial. “I can’t ask all of you to come with me. I will be fine. I will take a cab and you guys can go back to the office.”
Arjun chuckled at the stubbornness in her voice. “Then isn’t it a good thing that you are not asking? We all want to be there. End of discussion. Let’s go.”
Riya gave a small smile in return. She was grateful that they want to come with her. In these kinds of situations, a tribe was all she wanted.
As promised to the principal, Riya and team reached the office in 20 minutes. After parking the SUV, they all sprinted towards the principal’s office. She halted for a second outside the principal’s door unsure of what was expecting them inside. Arjun squeezed her hand in comfort. She gave him a small smile and stepped up to open the door.
As soon as she opened the door, two small bodies collided with her. Arjun had to catch her so as to not let her fall on the floor with this sudden collision. She could hear Nila and Aryan’s sobs. After letting them cry for a minute or so, she slowly disengaged herself from them. As she took stock of their appearances, she noticed some bruise on their face. Nila’s hair was askew and so was Aryan’s. Aryan’s uniform was in disarray with couple of top buttons missing. They both had mud on their uniforms as well as shoes. She took a deep breath and examined the surroundings. Principal was sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. To the left of the table stood a boy similar to Aryan and Nila’s age with a woman whom she assumed to be the mother. The boy also had multiple bruises and mud on his body. Additionally, there was something written in ink on his face which was obscured by mud. In the right side of the room stood 5 men and a boy slightly older than her kids. The men were all on a larger side. If it was any other person, they would have been intimidated by the very sight of them. The boy had split lip with dried blood surrounding it. He had a black eye and multiple bruises all over his body. His uniform was torn in places. Out of the four students, his condition was the worst.
“Ms. Mukherjee. Your wards, Aryan and Nila, beat up Akshay, a senior student”, principal pointed out to the boy on his right, “In this school, we absolutely do not condone violence. Your wards are facing disciplinary action. They are going to be suspended.”, finished the principal.
Riya took a deep breath and looked at Nila and Aryan.
“Nila, Aryan, what happened?”, asked Riya.
“Your kids beat up my poor son. That’s what happened.”, bellowed Akshay’s father.
Karan stepped forward. “Please calm down. We need to hear their version also.”
The man sneered at Karan. “Who are you?”
“We are their family.”, answered Shree bravely.
For a moment, Karan, Riya and the kids looked at Shree as if they were seeing him for the first time. He blushed a little with the gazes on him, but he stood steadfast. He was not known to be very courageous in the ETF team, but he compensated for that with his unwavering loyalty.
Riya looked back at her kids urging them to speak up.
“Maasi, its true that we beat up Akshay, but we didn’t do it for the fun of it. There is a solid reason behind that”, started Aryan.
“Yes. Maasi, this is Neeraj”, Nila pointed out the other kid. “Akshay is 5 years older than us and has been bullying Neeraj for the past couple of months. We asked him several times to stop, but he didn’t. He regularly beats up Neeraj and steal his lunch money. He crossed his limits today so we had no choice but to defend Neeraj.”
Riya turned her attention to the kid in question. Neeraj had his head hung with tears streaming his face. His mom had a death grip on his son. Looking at his mom, she could clearly see that they were not very well off financially. She was brought out of her thoughts by Arjun’s voice directed towards the principal.
“You said that your school do not condone violence. What do you have to say about this bullying issue?”
Principal gave his answer arrogantly, “We are not aware about any kind of bullying in school. This is a prestigious school and we take much care about such incidents.”
“You are lying. We reported these incidents multiple times to the teachers. We even came to you last time”, cried out Nila.
The ETF team members eyes narrowed at this. All their eyes zeroed on the principal. He started sweating a bit.
“Oh yeah… I investigated those incidents…but those were not as serious as you claimed… It was just boys being boys… not bullying… Isn’t that correct Neeraj?”, asked the principal in an effort to salvage the situation.
“Stop scaring him. It was serious. Akshay was physically and mentally harassing him”, screamed Aryan.
Nila went to Neeraj who had tears running in his cheeks. She slowly tugged him towards Riya and the ETF team.
“Maasi, today we were having lunch when we overheard Akshay’s friends talking about Akshay teaching Neeraj a lesson. So we searched for him and found that he was surrounded by Akshay and his friends. They were calling him all sorts of names and trying to physically abuse him. Look at his forehead Maasi, what they wrote with permanent ink.”, said a crying Nila.
The ETF team crowded around Neeraj as Riya slowly lifted his chin and wiped away the mud. What they saw shocked them to the core. Riya hugged him while the poor boy burst out in ugly sobs. Rage filled through their veins and Shree was first one to burst out.
“How dare you?”, billowed Shree while lunging at Akshay. Karan and Arjun had to physically hold him back, even they were surprised with his strength. Neeraj’s mother also burst out crying seeing her son whereas Akshay was surrounded by his father and family, no regrets in their face. Principal stood up shaken seeing this turn of events.
“Please calm down everyone. Let’s discuss this like civilized persons.”, said the principal trying to placate everyone.
Unfortunately, that was the wrong thing to say…
Shree’s ire turned towards the principal.
“Calm down? You are seriously asking us to calm down? Are you effin nuts? Don’t you see what this shit stain wrote on Neeraj’s forehead? He wrote faggot… A homophobic slur... On a kid who is 5years younger than him… On top of that he was trying to physically abuse him…and you are asking us to calm down???”
Riya transferred Neeraj to his mom and stepped upto Shree. She tapped on his shoulder and he took a step back while Karan held his shaking hand.
With a barely restrained anger Riya turned to the principal.
“This is not a situation of my kids beating up an innocent student as you try to portray before. This is retaliation to physical and mental bullying of their friend. While it is true that Aryan and Nila attacked the other student, they were defending their friend from the brutal bully. I want to know what the school is going to do about this criminal.”
While principal continue to sweat, an enraged Akshay’s father started running his mouth.
“How dare you call my son a criminal! He didn’t do anything wrong. These kinds of unnatural freaks deserve what they get. They should have been culled at birth. They are a shame on humanity.”
Next moment, he was lifted off his feet and slammed to the principal’s table, rattling everyone. He looked at Riya fearfully as his ego and arrogance deflated like a balloon. He was always the strong one in a crowd and no one opposed him till now. He enjoyed bullying and preying on people. But now looking back at the woman infront of him, he felt that he was the prey and she the predator.
“One more word out of your foul mouth, you would be permanently saying bye to your family, and trust me, you would be begging for your death when that happens… Nod your heard if you understand…”
He was no fool and knew that she meant what she said. So, he frantically nodded. Riya released him and stepped back while he scrambled back to his son hurriedly. Riya turned to the principal.
“This is no longer a school matter. This is a criminal offence and we will be lodging case against Akshay, his friends as well as the school.”
The principal floundered like a fish at this revelation.
“But mam, can’t we just resolve this between us? Please mam, school’s reputation is at stake.”
Arjun scoffed at this, “Let me tell you what is at stake, its Neeraj’s self-respect and safety, his future…”
“Sir, please sir. We made a mistake; we guarantee you that this kind of situation won’t be repeated again. In fact, I am going to expel Akshay and whoever else participated in this. No action would be taken against Nila and Aryan and we will make sure that we compensate Neeraj for any trauma caused due to this incident…”, pleaded the principal. When hes aw that the ETF members’ facial expression didn’t change, he went to Neeraj’s mom.
“Mam, please. I beg you to not lodge complaint against the school. Please don’t punish the other students for mine and the faculty’s mistakes. Please give me a chance to correct our mistakes…”, pleaded the principal earnestly.
Neerja’s mom looked at her son perplexed. Neeraj seemed to be in deep thought. Wiping his tears away, for the first time since they were summoned to the room, he looked at his bully. Akshay looked scared and resigned to his fate seeing his strong father beaten down by a woman. He looked out of depth. Neeraj then looked at his friends and the adults who supported him. Finally, he turned to his mom and said.
“Ma, let’s give the school one more chance…”
Even though ETF team was disappointed, ultimately, they knew that it was Neeraj’s choice and his alone to whether to punish his bully. May be getting expelled with a permanent record was the best punishment for the bully.
Principal sighed in relief and started the process to expel Akshay while ETF team walked out with the other kids. Shree turned towards Neeraj.
“Neeraj, I can understand what you are going through. Don’t take their words into your heart. You are not a freak. You are as normal as one can get. Everyone has a bit of masculinity and femininity in them. It doesn’t matter if a person is attracted to male or female, what matter is the goodness in them. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise… If you ever want to talk, you can call me… Here is my number…”
ETF team looked on while Shree bonded with the poor kid. After bidding him and his mother goodbyes, ETF team plus Aryan and Nila walked towards the SUV.
“Waise Aryan and Nila. How did you beat up Akshay? He is bigger than you and he looked worse than you both”, asked a confused Arjun.
“That’s because they have been taught martial arts since they were small kids”, answered Karan while Nila and Aryan giggled at Arjun’s dumbfounded expression.
Riya looked at this scene fondly. Her gaze shifted to Shree, who looked lost in thoughts.
“Shree…”, she softly called him remembering his outburst. “Is everything alright?”
Broken out of his thoughts, he looked at them and saw them looking at him with worry. He took a deep breath and decided that he would share his secret with them.
“I… It brought back some memories. I was Neeraj once upon a time… But I didn’t have anyone to protect me back then. Even my parents washed their hands off me and called me a freak after I came out of the closet. I was homeless for three years and then I came across Chotu’s mom. I wouldn’t have lived this long if I hadn’t met Chotu’s mom that day. I was too close to take my own life… She took me in without any prejudice. She became my mom while Chotu became my brother and best friend. But it still hurts you know… To think about those days of being bullied and call names while no one, not even your family, there to support you…”
After this revelation he looked at his teammates fearfully. Even though deep down he knew that they would accept them, his experiences made him doubt. What he didn’t expect was two human missiles to launch on him squeezing him tight.
“Don’t me sad Shree uncle. We will always support you. If someone bullies you or hurts you, you can let us know and we will beat them”, said an enthusiastic Aryan.
Nila frantically nodded her head in agreement, “Yes. We will hurt them if they hurt you. You will never be alone from now on. We are your family along with Chotu uncle… Don’t be sad okay.”
Shree’s heart swelled with emotion as he choked on tears. He returned the hug weeping silently over their head. Karan moved to hug the trio, his eyes looking at Shree tenderly. Shree kept his head on Karan’s shoulder and wept for his lost childhood. Riya and Arjun joined the group hug making Shree realize that he was accepted unconditionally. He finally felt free sharing the darkest time of his life with them. With this revelation, like a butterfly with its eclosion time completed, he shed his chrysalis and spread his wings. He was no longer shackled; he was free to soar…
Awesome... Loved the way Riya and ETF handle school and shree situation...☺️☺️😊😊😊😊🙂🙂🙂👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉👍👍
And those 2 little missiles 😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰
Loved the whole update....
Keep continuing...
Please update next part soon... Preety please
Wonderful update dear 🙂
Just loved it 🤗
Well I really appreciate that Riya and Arjun understand each other & I won't call it love from Riya side but more of a trust that she has on him
Well Arjun too is in no hurry of confession but there was an silent support of each other here which is really good & rare 💖
Kids are super & finally ETF people tought principal a good lesson & that bully Akshay is expelled from the school 🏫
Shree compassion & his backstory was really heart touching & he could relate to the pain of small neeraj there & that hug was amazing 🤩
Waiting for more
Thanks for the Tag ☺️
Keep writing
Wow!!! Totally amazing chapter it was. I Loved it very very very much.....❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👌👌👌👌👌👌👌
Bullying is absolutely a serious offence & an unacceptable crime, which, nowadays has become a very common issue at the academic premises, hostels, workplaces and even one can face it in any and every other places & situations in our day to day life. Many people still don’t want to realize & accept bullying as a serious offence & crime and thus, keep doing this repeatedly with anyone & everyone, in the name of serving their so called entertainment purpose.
One can't even imagine the intensity of the mental & physical pain, agony & trauma one has to go through, while being bullied by anyone. Besides, if the victim gets no proper emotional help, support & stand from his/her loved ones, it worsens more. The intense pain & trauma of bullying, the lack of enough emotional support & help from the closest family members and friends as well as the loneliness, gradually turn the victims of bullying towards severe depression, isolation, the constant fear of getting judged, rejected & abandoned by everyone, the feeling of self-loathing considering themselves as valueless & worthless in this world and finally, having the self-harming & suicidal thoughts in their minds as well as the tendencies of pulling out dangerous stunts, or, races, taking up suicidal & self-harming challenges, or, actions in their life.
I really loved the way you have addressed this issue of bullying in your story by showing Aryan & Neela fearlessly taking a firm stand infront of everyone for their friend Neeraj, Neeraj's silent cries & helpless situation, Shree's painful backstory, his & other ETF members' outburst seeing the condition of Neeraj, Shree's compassion towards Neeraj and Aryan-Neela's compassion towards Shree after hearing his side of story, the group hug giving Shree a complete emotional support like a family in the last - everything just touched my heart.
I also adore the portrayal of the beautiful & healthy relationship, that is growing gradually among the Pack & ETF members due to them nurturing a bond of mutual trust & understanding, silent care & support, friendship, affection, love & kinship - which is, in fact, strengthening their relationship all the more, to consider & declare their team as one big family infront of anyone & everyone.
A very especial mention to the scene - when Riya gifted Arjun that huge rose bouquet in their car & Arjun's eyes moistened confessing that she is first one who gifted him flowers & how much he loves flowers although the society consider loving flowers as a girly nature, so men can't be gifted flowers. It just took my heart away.
Ufff....A huge comment, wasn’t it? Thank you, if you have read it patiently.
Tnx a lot for the pm. Keep writing just like this only...✍️.
You absolutely made my day with your comment… Thank you soooo much…
To be honest, I was very apprehensive while writing this chapter, I was worried that I won’t be able to do justice to these topics. I didn’t want it sound like a propaganda, rather I wanted it to be as raw as possible which may resonate with some of the readers. I am glad that you liked it.
Rather than directly jumping into the portrayal of romantic relationships among the characters, I want it to be slow. None of my characters are hormonal driven teenagers, they are very matured adults weighed down by real world problems, so I am trying to write their stories in such a way that it would seem natural. I may or may not succeed in this, but it’s better to try than do nothing at all.
Regarding the scene you mentioned, I always feel that real men are those who are not afraid to show their vulnerable sides. So it’s my tribute to those men who are not defined by toxic masculinity.
Once again, thank you for your comment.
Thank you dear. I am glad that you liked the chapter.
Riya and Arjun are slowly getting to know each other. Slow and steady wins the race, correct
I will try to post the next update soon
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