Chapter 1

Two Years Later...

"Three... Two... One..." Jai counted. "You will look at her now."

"Will you stop it?" I hissed at him.

"Please. Will YOU stop it! It's the 257th time you looked at Ayisha." Jai said putting his arm around my shoulder, "That is just too much,"

I did not reply.

Okay so, maybe I did look at Ayisha for the 257th time that day. So what? Jai is supposed to be my best friend. And I guess it's kind of a privilege of the best friend to tease their best friends over a crush on a girl.

I gave an angry look to Jai who was singing the song, "Suno Ayisha..."

"Wow... You are blushing!" Jai said, teasing me.

"Stop it, will you." I hissed at him.

"If not?"

I grabbed him by his neck and knuckled his head.

Jai is my best friend and my roommate for the past two years. Maybe it was a co-incidence. But our name is almost the same as one of the best friends from Indian Cinema, Sholey's Jai-Veeru. So we get called that often.

Jai started punching my stomach, so I let go of him.

"Fighting in the classroom." Happy turned around.

"So?" Jai asked, as if he doesn't really care.

"Well then again, you won't really care. You won't ever be expelled, right? It is nice being the son of a filthy rich family, having all sort of connection with the school board."

"What are you talking about?"

"As if... Rumours are spread throughout the whole school. That you took the back entrance to the school. I mean, come in through connections."Happy said.

"Who the hell spread such evil rumours...? About such an honest and nice boy?" Jai pretended to be astonished. "Ah...mummy...these boys are spreading bad rumours about me..." He pretended to cry. Told you, he is the more fun type among the two of us. But I did look at him with concern. Jai's eyes did fade a bit on this talk. I wanted to kick Happy. Why the hell did he need to mention Jai's family to him?

When Jai looked around, I gave him a concerned look.

He grinned. He can be so playful that even I forget sometimes that Jai is an orphan. It stings me whenever he acts so casually like it's not a big deal. I can totally understand why he wants his family condition to be a secret from other guys. He does not want to get pitied. I hate getting pitied too. So I get that. But sometimes I wish if he need not pretend in front of me as well. I was his best friend. The guy was practically like my brother. I wanted to be there for him, if he is sad or whatever. But he will always be the goofball and just grin.

But I guess, he will be okay. He is a tough one. If it was anyone else in Jai's place they would have been crumbled by now, but Jai... he is strong inside. Mentally strong. So throw anything at him and he bounces back with that grin on his face. So I guess, I need not worry about him that much.

So I turn my eyes away and unintentionally I end up looking at Ayisha again. She was putting her books back in her bag. Her hair fell around covering her face, as she bent down to pick up her bag. Then as she was sitting back up, she drew back her hair with her fingers. That was so damn pretty... My chest felt funny at that.

"Go talk to her." Jai hit my hand.

"Why should I?" I said, turning back to Jai. I mean...is he mental? What was I supposed to talk with her? I was not even that close with her. And...I get too nervous at even the thought of talking with Ayisha.

"Don't look at me that way," I added to Jai, as he was giving me a 'oh come on' look.

"Veeru..." He grunted angrily.

I picked up my bag and walked out. The class had ended that day. Jai followed me after some time. "Shall I talk to her then? Get her phone number for you?" He asked.

"I will kill you if you do. I mean it." I said. That will be so damn embarrassing.

"Oye, Jai-Veeru, wait for me...!" Happy said running to us. "I am damn hungry. Hey, rich boy...buy me some food okay..."

Happy fling his hand over my and Jai's shoulders. Yeah, 'Happy' is his real name. His name is Happy Singh. As his name indicates, he is always Happy. A to-the-core Punjabi boy with a turban, and young beard. He lives in the room next to ours. His roommate is another intolerable study freak. So he mostly hangs out with us. Happy and another guy named Varun are like the closest friends to me and Jai.

"Buy me some food, rich boy..." Happy chanted again. "Ask your dad for some extra cash to feed the poor or something."

I flipped at the mention of the word 'dad'. I turned around and pushed Happy off from us. A bit too forcefully. He looked at me bewildered. "Go buy your own food." I snapped at Happy.

"Why are you yelling?" He asked. "And so much of miser. What is this???" He walked off angry and hurt. From his point of view, I overreacted. When I turned around Jai was giving me this stern look. He ran off after Happy, "Happy, wait... I will buy you food." He called after him. I followed the guys. Varun was now running to us to join us as well.

I watched Jai as he was giving the order at the cafeteria. He looked unaffected. I sometimes wonder how he hides it so well. He even hid it from me for like six months or so. Only after we became really really close friends that he told me about his dad. I still remember that night.

I had come back from a basketball game with some other guys, and Jai had gone straight back to the hostel. He had seemed to be in a bad mood the whole day. When I walked into the room, he was curled up on the bed, with all lights switched off. Something felt off. So I walked up to him.

"Buddy, you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said. "Just leave me alone."

We had been getting along fine for all this while. So I felt I could not just leave him alone. He was clearly not okay. So I sat on the bed beside him. "Is something wrong? Back at home or something?"

"No." He said. I felt like he was crying again. He cried on the first night when he was here. But then he has never cried ever again. This was the only time he was crying again. I did not want to push him to talk. Guys like to deal with things like that on their own. But I wished I could help though... I liked Jai. He was really a good friend.

So I just sat there. Contemplating what to do.

"It's my dad's birthday today." Jai finally said.

I looked at him.

"Okay," I said. Why is he crying about that?? "Did you forget to wish him or something?"

Jai sat up and looked at me. He was clearly crying. He looked so much like a girl when he was crying. "My dad is dead, Veer." He said, softly.

What???

"He died." He looked away.

I did not know what to do. I mean, my mind went kind of blank for a second. I wanted to console him. But I could not think of what to say to make him feel better. "I am so sorry," I said after a while.

He shook his head and looked away.

"When?" I asked. "When did your dad...?"

"Just a month before I came to this school." He said. So that's why he cried on that first night? I always thought that he cried because he felt home sick. His tears made so much more sense now. I felt a tinge of pain inside me.

"Jai, I am really sorry," I told him. "I...I had no idea and..." How could I not know this for six months?? "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He just shrugged. "Did you think I would want to talk about it?"

I guess it might not have been that easy to talk about.

"Were you really close with your dad?" I asked. I was never close with my parents. So maybe I can't imagine Jai's pain if he was close with his dad.

"Yeah," Jai said. "Really. He was the best dad in the world. I never had a mom. She died when I was 3. So it was just my dad and me all this while. We were like really really close, dad and me. He was like my whole world."

I felt even sicker inside. So Jai did not have a mom or dad?? He was an orphan?

Jai wiped his eyes. It was that day when I decided that I was going to be there for him. I was going to be there for my best friend in all situations.

So I looked at Jai now. All happy and smiling and acting as if nothing is wrong in his world. I did kind of feel proud of him and amazed by him sometimes. I mean, literally, his life is at risk.

Jai had explained the situation where he had to come to this school. His life was in danger.

"Your dad was murdered?" I asked, totally horrified. I thought things like that happen only in movies.

"It's not proven. It was a car accident. But... yeah, murdered." Jai said.

"Do you know who did that?" I asked appalled.

"We have our theory." He said.

"We?"

"Yeah, my dad's closest circle of trusted employees and me." He said. "You see, my dad was rich, like really rich. He built a company from scratch and made it one of the most successful companies in India. And well, if he dies, then the property would have gone to a certain person."

"Certain person?"

"By dad's brother. Younger brother. Because he is the only living blood relative, who is an adult."

"Your dad's brother murdered him?" I asked, horrified again. How could someone???

"Yeah, it's total Mahabarthata story. Brothers fighting and killing each other." Jai looked really strong as he said it. He did not even shake. "But my uncle's plans went wrong."

"Why?"

"Dad had written a will before he died." He said. "And according to the will..."

"The company and property go to you?" I asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Jai shrugged. "Since I am his only child, so... basically...."

"It's good then, right?" I asked him.

"We are dealing with a guy who murdered his own brother to attain what he wants. Do you think he will let a 15-year-old stand in the way?" Jai asked.

I hesitated. I was getting what he was saying now.

"I can't write a will before I am 18." Jai continued "Nor do I have any authority over the property. The legal team and other officials are currently managing the company. But uncle became the CEO."

"WHAT?" I snapped.

"We can't do anything about it," Jai said. "The company is in my name. But I am not legally an adult. And he is sort of my legal guardian now. Which gives him authority to manage my property. But...it's just 3 years. If I can survive 3 years, I can do something about that."

"What do you mean by' survive'?" I asked.

"Veer, if I die, before I turn 18, the company and all my properties go to my uncle forever," Jai said. "That's what he wants."

"You think he will kill you to get the company?" I asked, again horrified.

"You think he won't. He killed his own brother." I said. "What if I get in some car accident next?"

I could not say anything. I was just so...

"Once I turn 18, I will have the power to write a will of my own where I can change conditions like even if I die, the property will go to some charity or something and uncle can have none of it," Jai said. "I need to safely reach till my 18 birthday for me to have any sort of power to do anything. So yeah... I need to hide out here until then."

I have noticed how Jai seldom gets any phone calls or visitors. The only visitor he ever gets is a young lady. They meet up secretly mostly.

"You are hiding out here?" I asked him.

"Yeah. My uncle has no idea where I am." He said.

"But isn't he like your legal guardian?" I asked.

"Yeah. But he has no idea where I am." He said confidently. "My dad's friends and employees helped me out from there. I came to this school, and my uncle does not know. He can search the whole country or world. We have tipped him off about things like maybe I am abroad. So well...I guess he is searching in some High Schools in USA or Canada or London"

I nodded. I guess it's kind of difficult to find a person in the whole wide world. And he can perfectly hide out here for 3 years.

I flung my hand around Jai's shoulder as he was cracking some joke to Happy.

He was going to make it. I knew that. There is only one more year left. Or more like a few months. We were already 17. I was not going to let my best friend die.