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~ A treasured token, vanished from sight,
A symbol of love, lost in the fight.

We searched far and wide, with anxious hearts,
Unaware of the truth, that would soon depart.

A cost of jealousy, a price to pay,
For a bond so strong, that wouldn't stray.

Lost or stolen, the truth untold,
A secret kept, as hearts grow cold. ~

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15th October 1899
Calcutta, Bengal

KAVITA POV ~

While reading the poetry book, I turn my face to the clock ( Vienna Regulator ) hanging on the wall, seeing it's 1:30 p.m, as the bell rings indicating the end of our educational tour.

"No!!!!! I want to stay here a little longer" Aara whines, putting her head on the table. We chuckle seeing her drama but we too want to stay a little longer.

With a small pout, I glance back at the shelves brimming with countless books, my fingers brushing over the slight roughness of the poetry book's cover resting on the table.

I feel an odd sense of calm and fascination here. Sighing softly, I can't help but agree with Aara's remark.

Glancing at the boys, I express with a smile " Thank you for your guidance today... we all enjoyed it so much.."

" No need to thank us... we enjoyed it too.." the hyper enthusiastic British boy says while grinning.

Collecting our books, which we borrowed to read, we keep them inside our cotton jute blend carpet bags with care. I glance at my friends with a smile.

"Come we should go down the campus... teachers must be waiting" Mehreen states and we all nod our heads.

"yes.." I whisper, feeling less energetic, not wanting to go.

I rise to my feet, and my friends and the boys follow suit.

Walking down to the campus, I look up at the sky with squinting eyes to see the afternoon sun shining brightly, crossing half the sky.

Sir Edward Miller, our principal, raises his hand with a bright smile to have a friendly handshake with the principal of Calcutta University.

"Thank you for these amazing arrangements for the students... I hope to have more tours in future... Now, I would like to take our departure... It was really nice meeting you... Thank you Sir David Harrington!" Principal Edward Miller acknowledges while shaking hands.

"Hehe... what are you saying !!? Who says you all are leaving now...!?" The other principal says, causing our principal to frown and look at him with confusion.

"What does he mean??" I asks no one, confused myself.

"Don't know..." Aara shrugs her shoulders. Well she always does this when she doesn't know the answer.

" Does he want to keep us here?? Well I don't mind at all!!!" Amrita says happily.

Along with us, other students too starts murmuring in confusion. And I glance up to see Darsh and his friends, standing behind their teachers.

"What do you mean? You don't want me to go!!" Our principal laughs, joking with his funny tone.

"Who wants you to be here!! I was talking about the kids... It's past noon, they all must be hungry and tired. Let them have lunch here with their new friends... and you can go if you want" the other principal states with humor, making us chuckle softly hearing their friendly talks.

"Okay okay..." our principal says, turning to us and continuing " you all will enjoy your lunch with your new friends... follow them to the canteen ! And don't push and shout at anyone! Okay? Maintain discipline!" He playfully warns us and we all eagerly nod our heads in excitement.

"YES SIR!!!!!" Our excited voices echoes all around the campus, along with happy giggles and chuckles.

The students of Calcutta University guide us- the students of Bethune college to their canteen, to share a lively lunch together.

I walk along with my friends through the corridors, listening to their conversations.

"Ahh!" I gasp, colliding with someone.

"Are you okay, kavita!" Pakhi asks me, concerned and Mehreen, Amrita and Aara look at me with the same expression as Pakhi.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to!.. did you get hurt" the other person apologizes, asking if I'm okay or not.

"No no.. I'm perfectly fine... it's okay and I'm sorry too" I apologize to her too, with a smile and she returns the smile to me.

I start walking again with my friends to the canteen room.

Entering the canteen, I see the hall full with the sounds of laughter and murmurs between the students.

We turn around to look for empty seats for us. While looking around I hear a familiar voice behind us. "Will you all have lunch with us?"

I turn around, my friends too turn back to see who the person is to see the British boy, the hyper enthusiastic one.

"Are you sure !?? Will you not have any problems ?" Aara asks, both excited yet unsure.

"Yeah! We never mind! Instead, we will be very happy! See they are waiting too" he replies with a comforting smile, pointing at the table on the corner where others are sitting and waving at us to join them.

"Okay !!!!" We happily exclaims, following him to the table, joining the rest.

Once seated, Mehreen says " I think we should introduce ourselves ... We still don't even know each other's names"

I see others nodding their heads, acknowledging her words. I glance up at Darsh, who catches me glancing at him, and I quickly give him a nervous smile to compose myself.

"Ladies first !!~" Says the same enthusiastic British boy again. We girls start to giggle seeing his dramatic pose.

"Gentlemen first !" Pakhi says with the same tone.

" Okay! Why not, Hi I'm Marshall Willott !" The same British boy introduces himself.

"And I'm Matthew Hemmings !" Says the one who bantered with Pakhi earlier.

" I'm Md. Rashid Ali" the calm one says with a respectful smile.

"I'm Aditya Chatterjee... Nice to meet you all, again!!!" He playfully introduces himself with a soft chuckle.

"Hello... I'm Darsh Agarwal" Darsh introduces himself while glancing at me.

"Now ladies, it's your turn !!" Marshall gestures his hands for us to start.

" I'm Aara Sulaiman" Aara introduces herself with a soft yet confident tone.

" Hi... My name is Amrita Roy... it's really nice to know you guys" she too introduces herself with a soft yet nervous tone.

"Hello... I'm Mehreen Amin" Mehreen introduces herself with a soft, polite tone.

" umm.. hello.. My name is Kavita Goswami.."I introduce myself in a respectable tone with a small smile, and glance at darsh's way for a few seconds to see him smiling.

" My name is Pakhi Mukherjee... nice to meet you all..." Pakhi introduced herself with a polite yet confident tone.

The aroma of delicious food wafts through the air, and we glances at the counters in anticipation.

The teachers and principals mingle with the students, enjoying the warm atmosphere. Rashid, Aditya, Matthew, Pakhi, Aara and Mehreen go to take our lunch plates.

They come after a few minutes with 10 plates of lunch with even side dishes and small mud pots filled with sharbat (sweet floral beverage).

Placing all the plates, they took their previous seats. We all smile as the delightful aroma of mixed dishes fills our nostrils.

The clinking of cutlery and the hum of happy chatter fill the bustling canteen, creating a warm, lively atmosphere.

"I'm so glad that we get to spend lunch together. We all are happy to be friends with you all" Darsh says with a smile, while tearing a morsel of chapati and dipping it in the curry.

"Yeah !!! It's really an enriching experience for us too!!" Marshall says happily, pointing at himself and Matthew.

"Same for us! We can never forget today's moments" I express with a calm smile, picking the mud pot to drink sharbat.

"And how can we forget the legendary synchronization~~!!" Rashid laughs, playfully winking at Aditya and Matthew, making them exchange glances then groaning in embarrassment.

"Yeah yeah !!!! Love birds showing their love through synchronizing with each other!!!!" Marshall teases with a mischievous smile.

"You guys are not going to leave us.... Are you?" Matthew groans, palming his face in embarrassment. We girls giggle seeing their reaction.

" Shaitan ki Nani ho tum sab !!" Aditya mutters, shaking his head.

[ YOU ALL ARE DEVIL'S MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER ]

"Haww!!! What did you call me!!???" Marshall quickly asks him, confused yet curious to know what he called him. And looks at us so that we can translate the words for him.

But before any of us can say anything, "He called you the maternal grandmother of devil" Darsh translates his words to Marshall, grinning.

"What!!!" Marshall snaps his face to Aditya in disbelief, feigning offense. "You ba------ah-ah-ah-ah-umm!!" He was about to say something to Aditya but abruptly cuts himself off, with an exaggerated cough, sneaking a quick glance at us.

"Well your gender recognising is very very bad !!! I'm a man ! How can I be a grandmother?" Marshall asks while crossing his arms.

"Just like how you give expressions like girls!! Those expressions only suit girls... and look ghostly on you!" Matthew says with such a calm tone that even we girls couldn't help but cover our mouths to stifle our laughter.

"I can't believe you guys are my friends!!... If there are friends like you all, then who even needs enemies !!" Marshall remarks while glaring at them. Then he focuses on his lunch.

"But, we're really thankful to Amrita, if she didn't help us back then to navigate the area, we could have spent our night in that ghostly forest... all because of this idiot because he said that he knows the map!!" Matthew acknowledges, thanking Amrita at first and then playfully smacking Marshall's head, making us chuckle seeing them.

"Yes... we remember her telling us about helping two British boys, but we didn't know they were you guys !" I say with a small smile, looking at Amrita.

Our group laughs, and the lunch continues with lively chatter and new friendships being forged.

While eating, my gaze falls on my bare wrist... Panic grips me as I quickly check my wrist properly, feeling my heart racing with worry.

I frantically glance around- down at my legs and across the floor- searching for my lost bracelet.

My fingers tremble, and my palms feel clammy with sweat.

"What happened, kavita?" Pakhi asks, sensing my distress.

"What happened, are you Okay?" Darsh quickly asks, standing up and coming to my side.

My friends also stood up, sharing my concern.

I dart my eyes around the canteen hall, brows furrowing in panic.

"My bracelet ! I.. I think I lost my bracelet..." I say, stammering, my voice barely audible.

"It was my grandmother's, and it's very precious to me" I stammer again, as my eyes turn moist.

"Where did you last have it? What does it look like?" Rashid asks with concern, meanwhile others start looking around the hall.

"Last..? When I was in the library, that's the last time I saw my bracelet on my wrist and it's a Ruby bracelet.." I say, while my eyes starts welling up with tears.

"Don't worry, kavita. We'll find it !" Aara says while standing up as she was looking inside the tables.

"Yes... don't worry, it must be in the library, corridors or in the campus only, we will go check the campus!" Marshall reassures, and then Aditya and he walks off to the campus.

"we will find it, Kikku!! Don't worry" Mehreen pats my shoulders to give me support.

"Thank you... thank you all" I smile weakly at them.

As Marshall and Aditya start their search on the campus, we all start walking towards the library while checking the corridors too.

After reaching the library, everyone starts looking around in hope to find the bracelet.

Minutes tick by but it feels hopeless... with each second, my heart starts sinking in regret and grief.

My anxiety grows with each passing moment, my eyes welling up with tears.

"It's gone..." I whisper, my voice trembling. "I'll never see it again"

"Don't give up hope, kavita. We all are searching" Amrita says, wiping my tears.

"Yes, we will find it..." Darsh says with determination, searching around the sections.

Even after searching all around the library, and not finding the bracelet back, we start walking out of the library towards the corridors and the campus.

"Where's Rashid ?" Matthew mutters, looking around and we all look back, seeing Rashid standing on the window and looking down.

Suddenly he turns back and silently singles us to come closer, placing his index finger on his lips to not make any sound.

I exchange confused glances with my friends and then back at him. We all slowly tiptoes closer to him without making any sound, confused and curious.

~ Your tears are my treasure, which I never want to be waste.

჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻.✾.჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻჻

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