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The Next Day – Assembly
"Say no to drugs. It can save lives."
Everyone is assigned to make a poster on the same theme.
"What happened was tragic… but now we must focus on our future," the teacher's voice echoes.
Riya stands silently, holding her poster.
A group of girls giggles and mocks—
"That girl died and left us with a project!"
"She deserved to die—what a drama queen!"
Isha hears everything but remains silent.
Suddenly, Riya stands up in fury… and kicks one of the girls straight in the stomach.
"Shut up!" she yells.
"Who are you to decide who deserves to live or die?"
"If you can't do anything worthwhile, you have no right to laugh at someone's death!"
Everyone goes silent.
Riya steps back and sits on the corridor stairs.
Memories of her friend come rushing in… she can't hold back her tears.
Just then, her phone rings.
It's her sister.
"Didi..." comes the voice from the other end.
"Yes… tell me…" Riya says while wiping her tears.
---
"Are you at school, Didi?"
"Yeah… why?"
"I'll be a little late today… not feeling well. Can you come pick me up?"
"Of course, silly! I'll come."
The call ends.
---
A while later...
One girl says, "What you did was amazing!"
Riya says nothing.
"She won't say anything to us now… after all that humiliation, she won't even complain to the teacher."
Suddenly, a boy approaches, "Were you looking for me?"
"No..."
"Don't act smart. Just get to the point."
Riya turns away, but a girl in a police-style uniform shoves her hard.
Riya falls straight into the deep water.
She can't swim. And she's terrified of water...
"Mummy… don't let go of my hand..." she murmurs.
Her breath begins to slow...
But just then—a hand grabs her from above.
It's Roni.
He dives into the water and pulls Riya out.
She's unconscious.
Roni silently picks her up in his arms and takes her to the medical room...
Behind them, some girls are still laughing.
But the boy is quiet now.
Because...
Now nothing makes sense anymore.
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(Next Chapter Begins)
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Riya's eyes slowly open. She's in the school medical room. Her eyes are swollen and red, but she feels a little better. The silence around her is deep. The last thing she remembers is Roni pushing her... and then a boy—Akshit—lifting her up and bringing her here.
She's lost in these thoughts when Roni walks into the room. In a tired tone, Riya says, "What more do you want? How much more will you hurt me? Why do you want to make me cry? What have I done to you?" She falls silent again.
Roni speaks in a low voice, "It's not what you think… I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought you were teasing me jokingly, so I just gave a light push in return. I assumed you could swim… but then everything went wrong." Unable to stop himself, he adds, "Akshit came, and then this happened… Yes, it was my fault. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."
Riya remains silent. After a long pause, she finally says, softly, "I was seven when I lost my mother in a train accident. The train fell into water… and her hand slipped from mine. I lost her forever. Since then, I've been afraid of water… terribly afraid. I knew how to swim, but after that day, I never had the courage again. And today, you all pushed me right back in front of that same fear. It hurt… a lot. But I'm okay now..."
"Normally, I never admit my mistakes... but this time... I'm really sorry. I didn't know it would go this far," Roni says sincerely.
Meanwhile, Isha, who was unaware of all this, was sitting on a nearby bench. Hearing the commotion, she becomes alarmed and rushes toward the medical room. She stumbles and slips on the stairs but manages to reach. The moment she sees Riya, she runs to her and hugs her tightly. Tears won't stop flowing from her eyes, and she blames herself for everything.
"You're not okay… this is all because of me. Look at your eyes, they're so swollen. Forgive me… I said so much to you… If I were with you, none of this would've happened!" she says angrily.
"Don't say that… it's not like that... In fact, when you hugged me just now, it reminded me of someone from the past. It felt exactly the same. To be honest, you remind me of her," Riya says through teary eyes.
Roni, listening from behind, doesn't understand everything but hears enough. He steps forward, and the girls turn to look at him.
"I didn't know… that she was your friend too," Roni says.
Riya smiles gently, "Not just a friend… she's my true friend."
Roni smiles back, "That's good to know."
Isha asks, "But what are you doing here with her?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why are you here at all? You hurt her so badly, I should—"
"He came to apologize," Riya interrupts.
"But—"
"Let it go… I have to go pick up my sister. I'm feeling much better now." — Riya says.
"Wait, take my jacket… it's really cold outside." — Roni hesitates as he offers his jacket.
---
Riya reaches the school and asks, "Where's my sister?"
Someone replies, "Oh, she left a while ago, with some boy… she's probably home by now."
Riya is shocked, "With who? Who was that guy?"
Someone says, "Some handsome guy came with a fancy car… looked super rich."
Worry creeps into Riya's face, "What if she went the wrong way…?"
She rushes toward home, lost in thought.
As she nears her house, she sees a long car parked outside. Standing by it are none other than Akshit and her little sister. They're both laughing, eating candy plus.
"So here you two are!" Riya says.
"Your phone had a message… and the nurse said you were feeling better, so I left," Akshit explains.
"How are you feeling now?" he asks, noticing the jacket.
"Much better. Thank you… I was really worried."
"Worried? Why?"
He then turns to Anshu, "So, how was it meeting me for the first time?"
She smiles, "Nice… really nice!"
Here's what actually happened:
That long car pulled up outside the school. All the students stared.
Anshu too wondered — "Who's this car for?" Then Akshit opened the door and called her.
"Me? Am I supposed to sit in that?"
"Yes. Your sister sent me."
She blushed slightly but got in, smiling as she looked around.
"You look very educated..."
"Oh? So you recognized me?"
"Yes… but it's our little secret!" she said mischievously.
They ate at a restaurant together, talked a lot.