Naro slowly inched backwards towards a pillar and slid down without realizing it. She seemed to be experiencing a wave of strong emotions - shock, anger, betrayal and embarrassment. Gogoi, her boyfriend of 5 years and friend of 8 years, had not only betrayed her, he had completely destroyed her. Why? Because she slapped him and broke up with him infront of everyone? Couldn't he see that he had been treating her like garbage?
Some people were whispering nasty things, some were abusing her vehemently, some were unabashedly laughing at her state and only a select few seemed to stand still. Suvreen walked upto her and kept her hand on her shoulder. Naro looked up and saw two tearful eyes staring back into her own. In that moment she realized that she had the support of her two friends, she had someone by her side who would always hold her hand. In that moment, the fleeting desire to slash her wrist or drink poison instantly vanished.
"C'mon Naro, let us go talk to the principal", whispered Annie. Naro could sense that Suvreen and Annie were boiling with rage from inside, but they wouldn't dare show it on their faces. They had a battle to win. Gogoi had started it, they would end it.
Naro got up from the floor, with the help of Suvreen and Annie, and the three of them started making their way towards the Principal's office. Atleast a fifty pair of eyes followed them all the way upto the left curve of the corridor, but their combined conviction was enough to ignore them.
They knocked and entered the principal's office once they had reached. Principal Savitri Singh looked absolutely livid. Clearly she had been informed of this disaster. The moment she saw Naro enter through the door of her office, she got up from her chair and without any delay, started hollering, "WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?! EVERYTHING HAS GONE OUT OF CONTROL! WHO DID THIS? OUR COLLEGE'S REPUTATION HAS GONE TO THE DOGS!"
Naro trembled with fear as they stood glued to their spots. Suvreen nudged her arm and quietly whispered, "Naro, speak up. This is the time to tell her the truth"
Savitri Singh crossed her arms across her chest, and stood on her spot, breathing so heavily that she could have been rescued from the Indian ocean right now. After a long moment's hesitation, Naro shifted in her spot and started talking, "Ma'am, this is not my fault. Gogoi was my boyfriend for the past 8 years. But he was always very possessive and emotionally abusive. When I came to Delhi, he constantly doubted me and accused me of having an affair with someone else..."
She didn't stop until she had completed the whole story. Suvreen and Annie stood by her side throughout and didn't move an inch. By now, some kind of comprehension seemed to have dawned upon Savitri and she was no longer breathing fire like a dragon. She walked back towards her chair and gingerly sat down. After a moment's contemplation, she spoke slowly, "I understand that this was not your fault Naro, but you are not completely guiltless. You should not have gone out to meet him in the night like that. You should be smarter than that"
Naro, who knew this would be coming, was speechless. She was facing the consequences of following her heart.
"This has spiraled way out of control", continued Savitri, "Almost every student in college is now doubting your character and those pictures on facebook have become viral. It will not be long before the media catches the drift" She paused again for a long moment, fiddling with the frame of her glasses, "Knowing that you are not the culprit here, DPSC will support you. But be warned that you will be punished for your foolish behavior later", she added quickly.
Suvreen, Annie and Naro breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Having the college administration on their side was a huge relief.
"First, I will be talking to your parents and explaining to them what has happened, before they get to know it from somewhere else. They will be shattered, yes, but I think they will understand that you are the victim here. Next, I'm going to be calling the police. I need you to give the full account of what happened Naro, every single detail, you understand me?"
Naro nodded vigorously, "Ma'am, I want Gogoi to be punished for what he has done. I'm not going to hold anything back that might prevent that from happening. I'll tell the whole truth". She suddenly lifted her hands to wipe her face off the tears that had been flowing freely until then. It was as though wiping them off had suddenly become worth the effort. There was hope.
Savitri nodded, "Good. Let's catch hold of that moron then"
_________________________________________________
The police came within an hour of the phone call made by Savitri. Suvreen, Annie and Naro were sitting in her office when they came, as it was the only place they felt safe.
"Haan ji toh bataiye, kya kaand hua hai?", asked of them as they unceremoniously settled themselves in the chairs infront of Savirti's desk. She interlaced her hands and placed them on her desk and spoke curtly, "Inspector, humare college ki ek student ko molest kiya gaya hai aur use badnaam karne ke liye fake pictures net par upload ki gayi hain". She then showed him the pictures on facebook. Expecting him to be appalled at the sight of them, Suvreen was shocked when he casually leaned back in his chair and said, "Isme kaunsi badi baat hai? Pehle apne college ki laundiyon ko toh kaabu mein rakhiye"
"Matlab kya hai aapka?", asked Savitri, who was now beginning to show signs of anger again.
"Matalb to saaf hai ji. Yeh sab modern ladkiyan pehle ladkon ko khud uksaati hain, aur phir izzat ke naam pe dhindora peetti hain. Jaisi karni, waisi bharni", He finished with a laid-back smirk.
An unexplained ball of fury was swelling up inside Suvreen, and she wanted nothing more than to whack his head with his own lathi and wipe that smirk off his face. Instead, she opened her mouth and said, "Aap aisa bol bhi kaise sakte hain? Yahaan ek ladki molest hui hai, uski itni badnaami hui hai, aur aap itni ghatiya baatein kar rahein hain?"
Savitri instantly raised a hand to silence her, "Suvreen, let me talk to hi-"
But the damage had already been done. The inspector got up from his seat and walked towards her, the smirk now replaced by a deep frown. If nothing else, Suvreen was glad she could knock that smirk off his face.
"Kya bola tune?", he asked slowly. He was staring right into her face, and Suvreen stared back into his. "Aapne suna maine kya kaha. Aapki soch ghatiya hai. Aap chup chaap Naro ka statement lekar apna kaam kyun nahi karte? Ya dilli sarkaar ne aapko free mein faisle sunane ka license bhi diya hai?", she said menacingly.
The inspector was now clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly, clearly trying to control himself from shouting abuses into her face. Savitri quickly got up from her seat and started ushering Suvreen out of her room, "Suvreen, please, let me handle this. Leave right now", she said while slowly pushing her out of her room. Suvreen, who wasn't budging at first, realized that she might make things worse by angering the inspector more than he already was. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, with Annie following in her footsteps.
Once they were out, they angrily started dissing the inspector among each other, "What the hell? Who does he think he is? Supreme court?", hissed Annie. Suvreen gritted her teeth and said, "I can't believe he just said that. I'm very sure that he's not going to do anything. Hume hi kuch karna padega"
"Par hum karenge kya?"
Suvreen was quiet for a minute. She really had no idea what she was going to do. The only thing in her mind right now was to somehow catch hold of Gogoi and prove him guilty.
"We need to find the computer from which the pictures had been uploaded. I'm sure once we know that, we'll know where that a**hole Gogoi is hiding too"
"But how will we do that?"
"I already did that", said a deep voice from behind them. Suvreen and Annie turned to see Yuvraaj standing behind them. "There is only one cyber cafe in this area that doesn't monitor it's users, and since the pictures have been uploaded at 12 am, I'm absolutely sure that's where Gogoi uploaded them from"
Suvreen looked at him and wondered whether she would ever be able to figure this guy out. One moment he was downright nasty towards her, and the very next moment he was a source of unwavering support. A midst the thousand or so students in DPSC, he was the only one standing here, offering to help them catch the culprit. Despite herself, she felt a strong rush of gratitude towards him.
"What are we waiting for? Should we go to the cafe now?", he asked. Suvreen gave him a small smile and nodded. They were not alone afterall.
________________________________________
Sorry for the late update guys. Had some stuff to do. As you can see, my fic is not going to be as dramatic as the show, and will eventually branch out completely in terms of storyline aswell.
Looking forward to your response!
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