"How dare you slap me?"
Rabina's voice cracked through the room.
Nobody moved.
Rohan. Subin. Shawn. The entire class.
All of them frozen.
Then Rabina moved.
She crossed the room in three steps, grabbed a fistful of Raha's hair, and pulled.
Raha buckled — pain shooting through her — a sharp, involuntary sound—
Rohan was already moving.
He shoved Rabina back — hard — putting himself between them.
"Behave yourself."
Shawn reached Raha in the same moment. "Are you okay?"
Rabina rounded on Rohan. "Did you not see that? She slapped me—"
Rohan opened his mouth.
Subin cut him off.
"You asked for it," Subin said flatly. "You grabbed her collar first."
Rabina went quiet — but her eyes didn't.
Raha looked at her sideways. Cold. Steady. Waiting.
Grace pointed at Rohan. "Why? Is it Raha now? Are you going to ruin her life too?"
Rohan blinked.
Then laughed — short, disbelieving. "What?"
"Bro—" Bella stepped in. "Are you dating Raha? Then why did she go home with Shawn?"
Rohan said nothing.
"Because she's a gold digger," Rabina said.
"SHUT UP."
Subin and Shawn said it at the exact same moment.
The class went silent.
Raha looked at Subin.
Then looked down.
Subin stepped forward.
"Raha." His voice came out careful. Cracked at the edges. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. When you needed me most — I left. That's on me. Completely."
Raha didn't move.
"If I were in your place — I would hate me too. I know that."
Still nothing.
"But Raha—" His voice dropped. "Give me one chance. Please. I love you. I really do."
Raha stood completely still.
Then — slowly — she looked at Rohan.
Rohan looked back at her.
Neither of them spoke.
Shawn couldn't watch anymore.
He took Raha's hand.
Led her out.
Nobody stopped them.
Rohan wanted to.
Couldn't.
Rabina stared at the floor, muttering.
"How did she dare? How did that girl dare to slap me?"
Rohan walked out quietly.
Subin followed — eyes wet, jaw tight.
Rabina kept staring at the floor.
"Everyone is going crazy over a mute girl," she whispered. "Why?"
The empty classroom.
Shawn closed the door behind them.
Turned to Raha.
"Did Rohan—" His voice was shaking. "Did he really kiss you?"
Raha said nothing.
Shawn's eyes filled.
"Why?" he said. "Raha — I was always there. From the beginning. I was always the one who stayed—"
He stopped.
Pressed his hand over his mouth for a second.
"I love you."
The words came out raw and unplanned.
"I love you, Raha. Since the first day I met you. I've always loved you."
Raha stepped back.
One step.
Then another.
"Why—" Shawn reached for her.
She ran.
Out the door.
Down the corridor.
Her heart hammering so hard she could feel it in her throat.
Shawn stood alone in the empty classroom.
And watched her go.
Raha walked alone.
One hand on the railing.
Eyes down.
Meena. Her mother. Everything she had lost and everything she was still losing and everything she didn't know how to carry—
The tears came quietly.
"Hey. Girl."
She looked up.
Two boys she didn't know.
Kevin. Sam.
She stepped away from the railing immediately.
"We feel really bad for you," Sam said.
Something felt wrong.
She moved to leave—
Kevin grabbed her wrist.
"Where? We're right here."
She pulled.
He held tighter.
Sam reached out and touched her face — cupped her cheek like she was something to pick up and examine.
"So soft," he said.
Raha shoved. Hard. Both hands.
They didn't move.
Then — footsteps.
"Raha."
She turned.
Rabina.
Standing at the end of the corridor with her arms crossed and something in her eyes that wasn't concern.
"You slapped me," Rabina said softly. "Didn't you?"
Raha's body went cold.
Rabina looked at the two boys.
"Whatever you want," she said simply. "Go ahead."
And walked away.
Sam pulled out his phone.
"Kevin. Let's start."
Kevin stepped closer.
His hands moved toward her—
Raha fought.
Shoved. Clawed. Twisted.
She couldn't get free.
She turned and slapped Kevin — open palm, everything she had—
Sam grabbed her and threw her.
Into the railing.
Her head hit metal.
The world tilted.
Blood — warm, immediate — running down the side of her face.
She tried to get up.
Her arms wouldn't hold her.
She tried again.
Couldn't.
Sam and Kevin laughed — loud, careless — and started walking toward her again—
"HOW DARE YOU."
They stopped.
Turned.
Rohan.
Standing at the end of the corridor.
His voice hadn't been loud. It hadn't needed to be.
Sam's phone slipped from his fingers.
Clattered to the floor.
"R— Rohan—" Kevin's voice came out shaking.
They ran.
Both of them.
Without looking back.
Raha lay on the ground.
Shirt torn. Skirt torn. Blood on her face.
Rohan crossed the corridor in three seconds and crouched beside her.
He pulled off his school shirt without hesitating.
Wrapped it around her.
Raha grabbed him.
Both hands. Fistfuls of fabric. Holding on like she was drowning.
She cried — silently, violently — pressed against his chest.
Rohan held her.
One hand on her back.
One hand in her hair.
His face was completely still.
But his eyes—
His eyes were burning.
After a long moment—
Raha pulled back.
Raha looked at him.
Then she stood up.
Quietly. Carefully. On shaking legs.
And walked away.
She came down the stairs slowly.
Blood on her temple. Dried now. Still visible.
Rohan's shirt on her shoulders — his name badge on the pocket, clear as anything.
Every student in the corridor went still.
"Isn't that Rohan's shirt?" a girl said. "His badge is right there—"
Rabina. Grace. Bella.
Standing together.
Staring.
Whispering.
Raha walked past all of them.
Looking at no one.
Saying nothing.