---
Roni had a half-empty packet of drugs in his hand. His swollen, bloodshot eyes and the way he kept rubbing his nose made it obvious — he had just taken something like drugs
He kept staring at me — without blinking.
I was in shock. Frozen. My body refused to move.
He started walking toward me, slowly, step by step.
It was clear from his expression — he had heard everything. He knew what I had found.
'What should I do? What should I do?'
My brain stopped working.
I had to escape. But the only exit was... behind him.
I gathered my courage and tried to rush toward the door —
But he grabbed my arm, twisted it hard, and pulled me close. His breath brushed against my ear as he whispered—
"So now… you're going to tell everyone?"
My heart was pounding. My breath was louder than a bullet train...
---
"So it was you... You were the snake among us,"
Riya's eyes were filled with tears, but burning with rage.
"You really put on a show, Roni. We never had the slightest idea that all this time, you were faking it. Pretending. Playing us."
"We thought you were our friend... no, not just a friend — a true friend, Roni."
Her voice trembled, "Did you ever even consider us your friends?"
Roni suddenly burst out laughing — a loud, maniacal laugh.
Then, without warning, he shoved Riya to the floor.
She fell hard. Her knees scraped. Pain twisted across her face.
"Ha! Friendship? With you?" he said, still laughing.
"Never! You guys never realized I was pretending the whole time. Guess I'd make a pretty damn good actor."
"Listening to your boring conversations, hanging around you losers — I hated every second of it."
"The only thing I ever loved... was drugs. Being high. That was my real happiness."
He started rambling, his voice growing wilder —
"But when my dad found out, he started locking me up, stuffing me with medications. I wanted to kill myself."
"He stopped me from coming to school too."
"They wanted to send me to a rehab center. But then… the swimming pool incident happened — when I actually tried to push you and kill you. But that idiot Akshat jumped in and saved you."
"Later, out of fear, I came to you to apologize... and you — poor you — you forgave me. You pitied me. You even made me feel like I was part of the group again. My dad saw that. He thought I was getting better."
"He cancelled my rehab. That was my chance. So I kept pretending. I kept getting drugs... and he kept thinking I was healing."
Riya stared at him in disbelief —
"I can't believe this is the same Roni..."
"Why, Roni? Why did you do this?" her voice cracked.
"Was killing Khushi really necessary?"
Roni grew quiet for a moment. Fake tears welled up in his eyes.
"I didn't mean to kill her…"
But those fake tears soon turned real.
"You know... I didn't used to be like this. But my parents... their endless fights, their screaming — it broke my mind."
"I kept hoping one day things would get better. Then I found out... my dad was cheating on my mom. And my mom... she cried every day. Watching her fall apart... destroyed me."
"Then came the divorce. That was the last straw."
"I was completely alone."
"That's when I found comfort — in drugs."
"Like I said... drugs were my only joy. But Khushi couldn't accept that."
"She caught me once — just like you caught me today."
"She screamed... threatened to tell everyone."
"I begged her to stay quiet."
"But she wouldn't stop yelling... and I hate loud voices."
"So... I shut her up forever."
He paused... then muttered —
"But it wasn't all my fault."
"Only half of it was mine. The rest... was my dad's."
"He's the one who's been running the international drug trade."
"I just started distributing them in school."
"I mean, why should I enjoy the 'high' alone, right?"
Riya's breathing quickened. She was speechless.
"You know how many lives these drugs have destroyed?" she wanted to scream, but Roni wasn't done.
"Oh, you haven't heard the best part!"
"The day I killed Khushi, my dad saw me."
"We had two problems to solve — save me and protect the school's reputation."
"We were still figuring things out when... boom — we heard a gunshot in the corridor."
"We rushed there and heard everything you guys said — how Chhavi pushed Ritika off the roof... how she shot Tina... and then tried to kill herself with Isha."
"My dad saw the perfect scapegoat — you."
"You had already fought with Khushi over the scholarship. Everyone would believe you had a motive."
"And best of all — you never saw us there."
"Blaming you would also taint the first section — make it look like a first-section girl killed a second-section girl over a scholarship. Perfect."
"And Chhavi? We had her confession on tape."
"If she ever opened her mouth — we'd play it. End of story."
---
I listened in silence. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
The person who pretended to stand by us — was the one who betrayed us the worst.
Every moment — every hug, every word of comfort — was a lie.
Memories flashed — like scenes from a broken film.
He was the first to visit me in jail... the first to hold my hand in the hospital...
All fake.
"Oh come on," Roni smirked. "Are you crying now?"
"Save those tears. I still have more to tell you."
"We thought we'd pinned it all on you — but somehow, you slipped away."
"Then you started digging... trying to find the truth."
"But lucky me — I was your friend, remember? So I knew your every move."
"Because I was the one you shared everything with."
"You remember your 'Queen and Protector'?"
I froze.
He was that person?
The one I trusted with everything?
Roni laughed —
"Yeah. I tricked you. You trusted me blindly."
"Remember when I said I'd get a second DNA test?"
"You all believed me."
"We needed a new scapegoat — and Gupta Uncle was perfect."
"He was poor... but loved his daughter."
"When we offered him money and a university spot for her — he agreed."
"And we made the world believe... he was the killer."
---
"My dad sold drugs to others… and I became his first addict."
"I found a supplier through the school stationery guy — for buying and selling."
---
"Why did Chhavi kill herself?"
"Because she was crazier than you," Roni said coldly.
"That day, we told her we'd frame her for everything — for killing Tina, Khushi, and Ritika."
"But then I switched the bodies — moved Khushi to Tina's location."
"Chhavi lost it."
"She thought we'd betray her too…"
I asked, trembling, "Why did you swap the bodies?"
He smiled —
"Because… I liked Ritika."
"She stole her from me."
My mouth hung open —
"You liked Ritika?"
"Wow. I didn't know animals could fall in love."
"Good thing she's not alive to hear this — she'd vomit."
"Guess she wasn't only admired by me and Isha after all."
Roni lowered his eyes, then spat venom —
"I had to get revenge. So I blackmailed Tina... and planned to frame Chhavi."
"I knew she wasn't loyal to anyone. I scared her... it gave me a rush."
"She couldn't even fight back — no proof, no connection to me."
"If she spoke out — I'd frame her as a drug addict. No one would believe her."
"Then Dad wanted to stop the school drug ring."
"But how could I or Chhavi accept that?"
"We fought... Dad wanted to send me to rehab. Chhavi — she went mad."
"Without drugs... she broke. She got desperate. She threatened us — said she'd expose everything."
"But before she could... I played her confession tape in the auditorium."
"She heard her own voice — admitting she killed Tina and Ritika."
"That destroyed her."
"And when we dumped Tina's body on her..."
"She lost it completely — and finally, chose to end her life."
---
"That's why... that day on the terrace… when you came up there…"
"She panicked. She slipped and fell."
Roni smiled, without an ounce of regret.
"Yeah. But I didn't push her. She chose to fall. Her decision."
I glared at him, eyes full of hate and pain —
"But you pushed her to the edge! You made her believe death was the only way out."
Roni shrugged, completely unfazed.
"Oh please. She used to act like some moral compass — your little preacher."
"You think you get to decide who lives or dies?"
---
"You remember that day I visited you in jail?"
"I said I was going to see Isha... but a few minutes later, you ran away — went to Chhavi's house."
"And then... the police showed up."
I looked at him in shock, "But... it was just Chhavi and me. Who called the police?"
He smiled wickedly —
"Now you get it. It was me."
"I was there. Not with Isha — with Chhavi."
Everything went blank. I could barely breathe.
Flashbacks rushed in like a tidal wave…
---
The moment I said it, Roni went quiet.
Then, slowly, he raised his head… and started walking toward the gun lying in the corner.
Not toward me — but toward the gun.
I knew it — he was going to shoot me. He had confessed everything. There was no way he'd let me live.
I tried to get up — but he grabbed the gun first.
We struggled.
I clutched the gun tightly. He couldn't fire.
In rage, he slammed me against the wall. My head hit hard. Blood trickled down. My grip loosened. The gun slipped away.
He yanked my hair and slammed my head again. I was barely conscious.
Then he grabbed my throat — choking me.
I couldn't breathe.
I flailed my arms… my fingers brushed against a key hanging on the wall.
I grabbed it — and stabbed it into his eye.
He screamed and let go.
I snatched the gun — but he lunged again.
I didn't know how to fire. I ran.
As I reached the door — he smashed something heavy on my skull.
I fell. Blood poured onto the floor. I kept crawling.
He pulled me back by my hair — again.
But I stabbed him with the key — again in the same eye.
Somehow, I dragged myself toward that cursed corridor…
Where Ritika fell… where Tina died… where Chhavi jumped…
Where Isha tried to end it all.
It felt like… this corridor wanted me next.
Roni groaned behind me.
But he wasn't done.
I had no strength left. I heard the sound — of a gun being loaded.
I didn't turn around.
I just stared ahead… and closed my eyes.
Remembering better days.
And then…
BANG!
A shot.
"Ahhh!"
But…
The bullet didn't hit me.
No…
It hit someone else.
Someone who had come between us — shielding me with their body.
They twisted themselves around so the bullet hit them…
And wrapped their arms around me.
"No… no…"
Those hands…
I knew those hands.