"He walked away without telling me the truth… huh?" Ayushi muttered softly.
His words from earlier kept replaying in her mind.
What did he actually mean by that?
Was Hriday really connected to that incident somehow?
She stayed silent for a few seconds before looking away.
For the first time, she felt like there was a side of Hriday nobody really knew about.
Who exactly is Hriday?
I need to know the whole truth.
But… how?
She followed him to the corridor and noticed him talking to Aarav.
After Hriday left, Ayushi quickly stepped in front of Aarav.
"I have a few questions to ask you," she said.
Aarav looked at her for a moment.
"Who are you? And why should I answer your questions?"
"It's about your friend… Hriday."
Aarav looked slightly confused.
"What do you want to know?"
"I already tried asking Hriday," Ayushi said quietly, "but he's not telling me the full truth."
Aarav crossed his arms.
"And what exactly did you ask him?"
"I just wanted to know why people criticize Section D students so much."
Aarav's expression changed slightly.
"That's none of your business."
Ayushi frowned immediately.
"Huh? You call yourself his friend, yet you don't even know what he's going through?"
Aarav looked directly at her.
"And you don't know what he has gone through."
Ayushi stayed quiet for a moment.
Then she softly asked,
"Is it true…?"
"Did he really kill someone?"
The atmosphere between them suddenly felt heavier.
"What exactly happened that day?" she asked again.
"Please tell me."
For a few seconds, Aarav said nothing.
"Maybe I can help him," Ayushi continued quietly.
"I want to change the way people see him in our class.
But for that… I need to know the truth."
Aarav looked away for a moment, thinking silently.
Then he finally spoke.
"Before I tell you the truth…"
"…you need to know about a few more people first."
Aarav started telling her about Hriday.
"Carrier."
"That's the name of the tuition center we go to," Aarav said.
"It's pretty famous in our area, so students from different schools come there."
He leaned against the corridor wall before continuing.
"We're from Government School Sector 17.
Some students there are from Sector 13 and Sector 16 too."
After a short pause, he added,
"But not everyone there is from government schools.
Even students from private schools attend that tuition."
"So it's natural for Hriday to know students from different schools."
"And as for Sector 16…" Aarav sighed lightly.
"That school is pretty infamous for its troublesome students."
"There's one guy named Vicky. He's Arjun's cousin."
"He first joined the tuition in 7th class. Back then Hriday had already left Carrier, but when Hriday came back in 10th class, they met again."
"They weren't really close, but Hriday still talked to him occasionally because he was Arjun's cousin."
Aarav paused briefly before continuing.
"And honestly… one reason Hriday avoided him was because Vicky was the one who helped Jatin date Nikita."
Ayushi looked confused.
"Nikita?"
Aarav looked at her for a second.
"Hriday's girlfriend. You didn't know?"
"I did," Ayushi replied quietly.
"I just didn't know her name."
Aarav nodded slightly.
"Vicky was completely different from Hriday.
Unlike Hriday, he always wanted attention."
"He had a habit of picking fights with people for no reason."
After a short silence, Aarav added,
"But even then… he could never overpower Hriday."
Ayushi stayed quiet and listened carefully.
"Hriday is infamous for fights too," Aarav continued,
"but the difference between him and Vicky is simple."
"If you get into a fight with Vicky, you'll definitely end up beaten."
"But Hriday is unpredictable.
Sometimes he tries to solve things peacefully… and sometimes he fights without hesitation."
"That's exactly why people at Carrier fear him."
Aarav looked toward the classroom for a moment before speaking again.
"If you ask students at Carrier to rank the most feared guys there…"
"They'd probably say Hriday, Vicky… and Nakul."
After a brief pause, he smirked slightly.
"And these days, there's another idiot trying to get on that list."
"He's from your class."
"Yaman."
"So I'm going to tell you what actually happened that day."
"It was 27 March 2022. Saturday."
Aarav looked away for a moment, trying to remember everything clearly.
"It felt like a normal school day at first."
"Then one of Hriday's friends came to him and said there was going to be a fight at Sector 16 school."
"Between who?" Hriday had asked.
"A guy named Vicky… and someone else. I don't remember who exactly."
Before the conversation could continue, his friend's phone suddenly rang.
"He picked up the call… then handed the phone to Hriday."
"It's Vicky," he said.
"He wants to talk to you."
Aarav paused briefly.
"Hriday talked to him for a few seconds."
"Vicky asked him to come after school."
"And Hriday agreed."
Present
"You don't need to tell her about that incident."
Aarav immediately turned around after hearing Hriday's voice behind him.
"But she wants to help you," Aarav replied quietly.
Hriday's expression darkened.
"I don't need anyone's help."
Aarav stayed silent.
Ayushi looked directly at Hriday.
"Then why won't you tell me what actually happened that day?"
Hriday looked at her coldly.
"Why are you so obsessed with it?"
Ayushi hesitated for a second before speaking.
"What if those things are actually true?"
"What if everything people say about you is true?"
She lowered her voice slightly.
"I don't want people to hate me the same way they hate you."
"And most importantly…"
"I don't want to be friends with someone who committed crimes in the past."
For a few seconds, Hriday said nothing.
So this is what you're actually afraid of…
Criticism.
Then he laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Maybe because he had already expected that answer.
"Fine," he said calmly.
"I'll tell you the truth."
"But I have one condition."
Ayushi looked confused.
"Condition?"
Hriday looked directly into her eyes.
"After knowing the whole truth…"
"…you'll cut off all ties with me."