With uneasy mind and heavy hearted, I gathered up my courage. I more time I took, the more restless Ridhi got.
I gulped my uneasiness and spoke, "I called her that morning to meet her but she got engaged in some work. Later Ravi called me to go with him and bring the decorations and also meet the caterers for the event. In the evening I called her to go to the party with me so that we two could spend some time and sort out things. But it didn't work out well. I really didn't knew what suddenly happened to her. In the party, Avu tried to kill Shagun. She was so different from the usual days. She..."
"KILL??" She asked in astonishment.
"Yes and that day itself I told Avu not to mess up with Shagun..."
"Why?" She cut my words again.
"I told Avu not to mess up with Shagun and never come between us because…"
Ridhi cut my words "Because what?"
Impatient human being!! I rolled my eyes and continued.
"Because she might hurt her again the way she did it before."
"She did what?"
"She tried to harm Shagun. Not ones not twice but many times."
She was all confused "What? I don't believe you. And why would she do that?"
I replied, "Because of me!"
"What?"
I explained to her "She felt jealous whenever Shagun used to talk to me. Do you remember during the cultural night, Shagun had to be hospitalized due to food poisoning? It was Avika who spiked her drink"
Her eyes got suspicious. Of course she couldn't believe me.
She asked, "And how did you know that?"
"Shagun told me when I visited her in the hospital. She told me that Avika made a drink for her that night."
"But she might lie…she might want to create misunderstandings between you two. She very well knew how you two loved each other."
What Ridhi analysed could have been correct about that incident but she didn't knew everything. Of course I won't tell her.
I spoke, "Not only this, one day Avika locked her in the library until next day just because that day Shagun sat with me during the economics class and after that we both went to canteen together."
I continued, "Moreover one day I went up to Shagun and asked for her help in my field reports and guess what? (I sighed) Avika burnt her assignments when she went to the washroom."
"But how come you know all this?"
"Shagun told me." I replied.
"But how did she knew all this?"
"Suparna, our classmate saw Avu burning the assignments and went to inform Shagun. Suparna suggested Shagun to inform to the Head of the Department but she refused to do so because I pleaded her not to complain."
"You love Shagun right?" she asked something I wasn't ready to answer. I rolled my eyes left and right to think of something that she would believe and not that thing that actually happened.
I figured out something that she would love to hear, "I don't love Shagun and I never did. I just wanted to protect her from Avu. She got jealous everytime she saw me with Shagun. I gave every proof and explanations , but Avu was all set to destroy SHagun. I thought that if I said Avu that I loved Shagun, she might not harm her and leave her. But I misunderstood her."
"But why didn't you say the truth that you never loved Shagun?" Ridhi asked.
"Don't you think I tried to do so? I tried several times to explain her and cut the misunderstandings but as days passed by, she became more aggressive. One day she slapped Shagun infront of all just because she helped me to choose a name for my music band. Not only that, she forced me to back off from my band. You were present there too, right?"
"Yes, but Avu told me that Shagun was flirting with you and both of you were having an intimate scene."
I shouted at the top of my voice "What?? But That's not true. And if she told you the truth, just imagine how can anyone have intimate scene inside the canteen especially when it's break time and people are near you."
Ridhi stood there like a stone. Perhaps she got a very big shock.