Aaruj's POV

I woke up in my bedroom and soon an acute headache greeted me.

I winced in pain as i held onto my head. It felt like someone was hammering a nail inside my brain. I got up and the ground suddenly felt like it was spinning.

What is it? And why do i feel so exhausted?

It took me almost a minute to steady myself.

I looked at my phone but it's brightness made me close my eyes immediately. I tried looking at the device again by squinting my eyes.

50 missed calls. From Rehan.

I was now wide awake.

Why did Rehan call me so many times? I was now totally perplexed. I stressed on what happened last night but couldn't get past a memory of Nia and Kairav dancing together.

Why am i not able to remember anything after that?

I stressed on my memory again and came up with nothing.

My phone started ringing and i looked at the caller ID. It was Rehan.

He didn't even let me say hello and went off."Where the heck have you been? I called you 50 times."

"What happened? I just woke up. I don't remember anything from last night? I don't even remember how i got home."I told him while pinching my forehead.

"Get ready Aaruj and come to college as soon as you can."Rehan ended the call immediately.

I got ready as quickly as possible and sped my bike as the traffic was close to none. I don't usually drive that fast but the confusion around last night was making me anxious.

I parked at my regular spot in parking lot and walked towards the college building.

Everyone was giving me weird looks.

What is their deal?

When I entered the cafeteria i ran into someone.

It was Nia.

She looked upset. I also noticed she had been crying. She averted her eyes and was about to walk past me. I held her by the elbow and she froze in her place.

"Let me go."She said looking at anywhere but my face.

I was about to touch her chin so that she would finally look at me. But what happened next surprised me.

"Don't you dare touch me."She yelled swatting my hand that was touching her face.

Why is she reacting like this?

She looked at me as if i was some stranger that had dared to invade her personal space.

"Have you been crying?"I asked looking at her swollen eyes again.

"Why do you care? Aren't you done with your sick little revenge?"She said bitterly.

I tried holding her hand again but she pushed me back with a force. I was taken aback. I had never imagined her to carry such hatred in those beautiful black eyes of hers.

"Don't you ever touch me again. I am warning you."She yelled at me grabbing everyone's attention.

Soon her whole gang came rushing towards us. The girls scrutinized me with their eyes. While Pranjal was the only one who stepped forward.

Finally someone is willing to talk to me without giving me those death glares.

"I am saying this very nicely and I am not going to repeat myself. Stay away from my best friend."He threatened me, his face void of any expressions.

"Let's go guys. I can't tolerate this jerk's face anymore."Sasha commented pulling Nia closer to her in a protective way. Soon all of them left.

I stood there trying to comprehend the situation. They didn't exactly treat me like best friend before but now they hated me. Especially Pranjal he looked so mad at me.

Soon my phone rang. Rehan had called again.

"I have to talk to you man. Where are you?"He said growing impatient. I told him i was in the cafeteria. He told me to stay where i was.

I waited for him at the table. Few people were again staring at me.

"What?"I asked growing angry with their constant staring. They pretended to look away.

"Finally you are here."Rehan said as he sat on the chair next to me.

"What happened last night Rehan?"I asked waiting with a baited breath.

"A lot."He said shaking his head.

"Like?"I asked holding my breath for what i was going to hear next.

"Let me just show you."He said and fished out his phone from pocket.

Soon a video from prom started playing.

I was baffled as the huge screen in the video was displaying my face.

Why am i on that screen?

I didn't remember recording any video for prom.

I heard Jay's voice in the video first. "Aaruj you will hurt her right. Make her regret her life."

And then there it was. I still couldn't believe those words that had left my mouth. "I hate Nia. I don't love her. I am playing with her heart. I am gonna teach her a lesson for what she did to you. I am going to break her heart to pieces."

I was shocked at first but then i realised Nia and everyone at the prom must have seen this video. She must have been so embarrassed. More than that she would have been so heartbroken.

No wonder she reacted the way she did when i ran into her a while ago. She hated me now and couldn't wrap my head around the very thought.

"From where did you get the video?"I enquired.

"Someone recorded it from their mobile and posted it on Facebook."He replied.

"You know some seniors in computer department right."I asked  recovering from the shock i was in.

He nodded in response. I told him to take their help in taking down the video from social media platform first and send it to me.

"When was the original video played?Was Jay around?"I bombarded him with questions that kept popping in my mind.

"It was before Jay's entry during the introduction round. He didn't show up on the stage so they played the video anyway. I tried looking for Jay after that but he had disappeared. "Rehan informed.

"I thought Jay had changed for good."I was seething in anger.

"I thought so too Aaruj."He said patting my back in sympathy.

"Did you get to talk to Nia?"Rehan asked.

"I ran into her just a while ago. She hates me."I said trying to hide the hurt in my voice.

"She wanted to meet you after the video incident. I tried looking for you but you had vanished too. That factor backed up the revenge aspect."He informed sadly.

"You believe me right?I wouldn't do anything like that to her. I love her you know that right?"I asked trying to be hopeful.

"I wouldn't be talking to you if i didn't believe you Aaruj. But you have to make Nia believe in you too. She was so heartbroken last night."He said in all seriousness.

"I want to talk to her but her bodyguards won't let me."I replied half-heartedly.

"Hey babe! I thought you wouldn't come to college today."Vishakha said wrapping her arms around me.
I removed myself from her grasp while Rehan shot me a questioning look that conveyed what the heck is going on.

"Vishakha what are you doing?"I hissed at her.

"What did i do?"She asked innocently.

"Why are you behaving like this all of a sudden?"I demanded.

"No the question is why are you behaving like this after last night?"She said looking frustrated.

"What do you mean after last night?"I asked.

What else could happen beside that stupid video?

"We kissed."She revealed.

I was speechless while Rehan looked like he have had enough of it and left without even saying goodbye.

"Vishakha are you delusional?"I asked raising my voice a bit.

"Why are you talking to me like this Aaruj?"She asked looking on the verge of crying.

"I am sure nothing happened between us last night."I said with confidence.

"You confessed your feelings for me and we kissed."She repeated the same story.

"I don't remember any of it."I said matter-of -factly.

"Because you have had one too many drinks."She said touching my shoulder but i jerked away.

"What rubbish? I don't drink and you know that."I said  shooting her a glare.

"But you were sad after watching Nia and Kairav together. So we headed upstairs and you wanted to relax so you asked the waiter for a drink."She revealed.

"I don't believe you."I said firmly.

"So you were just playing with my emotions. How could you Aaruj?I trusted you so much. I thought we were good friends but our kiss made me believe you wanted to be more than friends."She said all misty eyed.

"I love Nia. We would never be anything more than friends Vishakha."I told her.

She got up and left the cafeteria wiping her tears.

She was hurt by my words but the thought of kissing someone beside Nia made me so uncomfortable.

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Nia's POV

Everyone in the group did their best to cheer me up. But I couldn't stop all the memories that kept popping in my mind from last night.

Our time together played like a reel in front of my eyes. Every little and big moment that had made our relationship grow stronger.

But it was all just an illusion. How could you fake feelings for someone?How could someone be so heartless?

All those tiny surprises that once brought smile on my face now only summed up to a game strategy of his.

How could he do this to me?

What we had wasn't real and i still couldn't wrap my head around this thought.

"Nia i want your help in biology."Pranjal said bringing me back to the present time.

"What?"I asked.

"I want your help in biology."He repeated.

"Since when you need my help?"I asked giving him a weak smile.

"Biology is your territory. I claim my thrown in other subjects."He bragged.

"Fine."I agreed and we got busy in studying modification of adventitious roots.

I wanted to be alone for a while so I excused myself and went to the restroom.

As i stood in the mirror i glanced at my reflection. I had cried all night resulting into swelling of my eyes. My face looked so pale devoid of any eye makeup. I hadn't bothered to apply any.

I washed my face and was wiping it with a tissue when I heard a familiar squeaky voice behind me.

"Plain jane you have lots of guts to show up after what happened last night. How does it feel to see your dreams being shattered in front of your eyes? I hope now you understand how i felt when Aaruj was pretending to be in love with you. But thank god it was just a revenge plan. Now we are finally together. I saw you loitering in the lounge area upstairs I am sure you witnessed our little display of affection."She said with a cunning smile.

My heart sank a little deeper as she spoke further.

"Get used to seeing us together now. I would advice you stack up boxes of tissues honey. You are so going to need them."She said coming face to face with me.

"Stay away from her. I swear i will beat you if i see you  anywhere near her again."Sasha spoke barging inside the restroom.

"Look loser. I am not interested in you or your friend here. Just reminding her where she stands after yesterday."She said with an attitude.

"Do you want to know where you stand?"Sasha asked her.

Vishakha only rose her eyebrow in question.

Before I could understand what was happening Sasha reached for soap dispenser bottle near the basin sink and poured it all over Vishakha's head.

She screamed in horror as she felt the soap dripping from her face to the top she was wearing.

"You idiot."She yelled at Sasha wiping her eyes as the soap was about to enter them.

"Currently you stand at very filthy level of humankind. And your soul needed some cleansing. I doubt the soap would be able to wash out all the malice you store in that dumb head of yours."She said pulling me away and  walking out of the washroom.

We could hear Vishakha cursing her but Sasha decided to ignore them.

"What was that witch talking about?"She asked.

"They kissed."I said and hugged Sasha letting some fresh tears down my cheek.

"You poor baby. Can i just kill him?"She said rubbing my back to comfort me.

"No."I said in between the crying.

"You still love him don't you?"She said figuring it out.

"I don't know how not to. Even after what he did to me there is part of me that still pines for him. Does it make me a push over?"I asked holding her in a tight hug.

"No. It only makes you human darling."She replied rubbing my back in comfort.

**************************

Aaruj's POV

I waited outside Jay's hostel room as it was locked. He hadn't shown up to college today. It was 10 am in the morning.

I headed here right after my conversation with Vishakha in college.

The video was shot in my room in Delhi. I had figured that out by now. It must have been shot during last diwali when Warren and Jay had given me a surprise visit. It was from the night they got drunk and Jay was getting on my nerves with all the pestering about getting back at Nia. I had said those words just to stop his drunken slur. Little did i know my words would come to bite me back one day like that.

It was definitely edited here and there. But that wasn't going to change anything. I had lost Nia forever.

I heard footsteps and looked up. It was Jay. He was still in his clothes from last night. The sight of him aggravated me. I reached him in two long strides and threw a punch at his face.

He hadn't noticed me so he toppled on the floor hitting his bottom.

"What the heck?"He said looking up.

"Aaruj it's you. Why did you punch me bro?"

He was still asking me this question.

Jay you are unbelievable!

"Seriously?you dare to ask me this question Jay?After what you did last night."I was breathing heavily due to the anger that was rising inside me.

"I don't remember anything Aaruj."He said finally getting up and holding his head as if my screaming was annoying him more than it should.

Why does it look like he is going through the same experience i did after waking up this morning?

"Where were you when the video was played at the prom?"I asked.

"What video?"He looked as surprised as i was a few hours ago or he was faking it. I needed to know the truth anyway.

I showed him the video Rehan's friend had sent me after taking it down from some guy's profile.

He saw the video and turned speechless.

"You know that wasn't my introduction video. I shot mine in front of you in the library."He said and then stopped suddenly looking at me.

"Warren."we both concluded in unison.

"You were right about him. Shouldn't have trusted that loser in the first place. That bast**d locked me inside the bathroom. He offered me a drink last night before my round and he must have spiked it. When i opened my eyes i was inside the bathroom of the hall. Someone from the cleaning staff woke me up a while ago."He narrated.

"I am so gonna kill him Aaruj."Jay said holding his head in his both hands.

"You need to rest first."I said patting his shoulder.

"Nia must be so hurt."He realised all of a sudden.

"She hates me."I informed as something heavy settled in my heart.

"Talk to her."He advised.

"She doesn't even want to see my face. Plus her friends are not letting me anywhere near her."I said feeling more sad than i was before.

"Go to her house then. But clear this out as soon as possible."He advised.

I nodded in response.

When i rang the bell of Nia's apartment on that evening my heart was racing. I didn't know if she would welcome me with open arms but i needed to talk to her at any cost.

The door was opened by Veena Aunty.

"Hi Aunty can i talk to Nia please?"I asked politely.

"Come inside. Let me inform her first."She said with a small smile.

She went to Nia's room and i could hear their conversation faintly.

"He is here."Veena Aunty told her.

"I don't want to see him."She refused straight away.

"Just talk to him once."She coaxed her but Nia was adamant on not seeing my face.

I stood their awkwardly when someone entered the main door.

"Mom I am home."Mayank informed still unaware of my presence in the living room.

But then i heard frantic footsteps behind me.

I braced myself for a blow but Veena Aunty's voice rang in the living room.
"Mayank don't even think about it."

She warned him and walked towards us.

I turned around meeting his eyes.

"Tula mahitiye yane kai kelay?Tari tu tyala defend krtes?.(You know what he did still you are defending him?)"He shot her a look of disbelief.

He looked at me trying to contain his anger.

"Mahitiye mla(I know).

But don't act so irrationally. I don't want any fights inside my house.  And you are not laying even a finger on him again. Be it anywhere. It's between them. Mayank i know you care for her but it's not our place to get even with him. They will sort it out themselves. I know Nia. She is stronger than you think. She just needs some time."She spoke to him and I wished i had my mom by my side right now.

She would have comforted me just like this. She would have made me look at things differently.

"I am not letting him get away with this."Mayank threatened stepping closer to me.

"Mayank go to your room right now."Veena Aunty ordered on top of her voice and he obliged.

Then she turned to me."I don't know what exactly happened between you two but she is really hurting right now. She needs some time Aaruj. Your finals are coming up. She needs to concentrate on her studies if she doesn't score good marks her father might call her back to Pune. You wouldn't want that to happen, do you?"She asked so gently that i had no choice but to agree.

"You concentrate on your studies too."She said patting me on my head.

And it felt nice to be treated so gently after going through what i have been all day.

I decided to approach Nia after the exams. I wouldn't let her father take her away from me.

Never not ever.

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A/N: Vote and comment.

How was the chapter guys?

-daydreamero9