Oblivious of the additional content in her school bag, Richa was despondently walking towards her home. It wasn’t that Richa was an ignoramus person, she realized that her tendency of loudly putting across her point was often perceived aggressive by other people However valid her arguments may have been, they usually found deaf ears because people didn’t like the way she communicated. This aggravated her further. And once she was angry, the logic took back seat and any chance of real communication was lost. As a result, she earned a reputation of being an ill-tempered person, even scary perhaps. She did not have any close friends. Her relationship with her closest friend, who not only tolerated her, but even enjoyed her company had gone sour too. ‘Thanks to my temper, I chased Priti away too’, she use to murmur exasperatedly.
Not long ago, Richa and Priti were inseparable. But after that incidence, Priti did not want to do anything with Richa. Richa was so angry, but as always, after her anger had given way to reason, she realized how her behavior had hurt Priti. All she could do after that was apologize. But that was not enough for Priti and so they stopped talking. Unlike Richa, Priti was a popular girl, she seemed to do just fine, while Richa suffered in silence. Till today, Richa had not attempted to reconcile, but unlike Tarun, Richa didn’t miss Priti’s unusual demeanor from the last few days. So after long deliberation, she had attempted to talk to Priti during the lunch break. All she had asked Priti was if she is doing ok and it was met with a harsh rebuttal. “What does it matter to you if I am doing well or not? I wish I had a friend when I needed the most.” Richa was so taken back. It wasn’t easy for her to approach Priti and now this. It infuriated her into hurling even more scathing words back to Priti, which she regretted immediately after. But it was too late by then. Once again! How her heart sank when she came back to her desk after that encounter. It had broken her spirits and while she walked towards her home, all she wanted to do was cry. Which she did, later that evening
After finishing her dinner, still occupied with unsettled thoughts, she opened one of her notebook with the intention of doing her homework. What caught her eyes puzzled her. She read the letter, read it again. And again. Richa was furious. What’s going on? Who the hell is threatening me? But the letter also meant that Priti is being blackmailed. The moment this thought entered her mind, it calmed her a bit. Anger was replaced by grave concern. Tears rolled down her cheek while she remembered Priti’s remarks from earlier “I wish I had a friend when I needed the most”. She felt desolated and guilty. After recomposing herself, she thought who could have written this? Since she had noticed it herself, it was not hard to believe that Priti was in trouble. Clearly, Priti has not confided in the writer of this letter. Whoever has written this letter must know of Priti’s troubles through some means, but is unaware of the person responsible. Richa knew what she needed to do. She had to find out who wrote this letter and then confront them to find out what they know. By the contents of the letter, it was clear to Richa that the writer of this letter doesn’t know everything as well, but certainly, more than Richa knows. But how will she find out the architect of this letter?
Writer’s attempt at concealing their identity by writing the letter using newspaper cuttings was not lost on her. The letters were neither cut nicely nor pasted properly. Either someone with very shaky hands had created this letter or someone in a rush. When she felt the letters with her fingers, she realized that glue was not even completely dry yet. “It must have been done in the school”, she thought. Is it possible that someone saw her shouting at Priti during the lunch break that led to their suspicion of her? This too seemed reasonable to her. So, the letter was written after lunch, probably during the game period. Who was not out in the field during the game period? Voila! Her eyes sparkled. Impressed by her own sleuthing skills she mumbled, “All that time spent reading Sherlock Holmes is coming to fruition”.
She was restless for the remainder of the night. Just like Tarun was restless, unaware of how little time it took for Richa to pin him down. Both of them wanted to find out more. The night stood in their way and preoccupied in their thoughts, they eagerly waited for the dawn to break.
Not long ago, Richa and Priti were inseparable. But after that incidence, Priti did not want to do anything with Richa. Richa was so angry, but as always, after her anger had given way to reason, she realized how her behavior had hurt Priti. All she could do after that was apologize. But that was not enough for Priti and so they stopped talking. Unlike Richa, Priti was a popular girl, she seemed to do just fine, while Richa suffered in silence. Till today, Richa had not attempted to reconcile, but unlike Tarun, Richa didn’t miss Priti’s unusual demeanor from the last few days. So after long deliberation, she had attempted to talk to Priti during the lunch break. All she had asked Priti was if she is doing ok and it was met with a harsh rebuttal. “What does it matter to you if I am doing well or not? I wish I had a friend when I needed the most.” Richa was so taken back. It wasn’t easy for her to approach Priti and now this. It infuriated her into hurling even more scathing words back to Priti, which she regretted immediately after. But it was too late by then. Once again! How her heart sank when she came back to her desk after that encounter. It had broken her spirits and while she walked towards her home, all she wanted to do was cry. Which she did, later that evening
After finishing her dinner, still occupied with unsettled thoughts, she opened one of her notebook with the intention of doing her homework. What caught her eyes puzzled her. She read the letter, read it again. And again. Richa was furious. What’s going on? Who the hell is threatening me? But the letter also meant that Priti is being blackmailed. The moment this thought entered her mind, it calmed her a bit. Anger was replaced by grave concern. Tears rolled down her cheek while she remembered Priti’s remarks from earlier “I wish I had a friend when I needed the most”. She felt desolated and guilty. After recomposing herself, she thought who could have written this? Since she had noticed it herself, it was not hard to believe that Priti was in trouble. Clearly, Priti has not confided in the writer of this letter. Whoever has written this letter must know of Priti’s troubles through some means, but is unaware of the person responsible. Richa knew what she needed to do. She had to find out who wrote this letter and then confront them to find out what they know. By the contents of the letter, it was clear to Richa that the writer of this letter doesn’t know everything as well, but certainly, more than Richa knows. But how will she find out the architect of this letter?
Writer’s attempt at concealing their identity by writing the letter using newspaper cuttings was not lost on her. The letters were neither cut nicely nor pasted properly. Either someone with very shaky hands had created this letter or someone in a rush. When she felt the letters with her fingers, she realized that glue was not even completely dry yet. “It must have been done in the school”, she thought. Is it possible that someone saw her shouting at Priti during the lunch break that led to their suspicion of her? This too seemed reasonable to her. So, the letter was written after lunch, probably during the game period. Who was not out in the field during the game period? Voila! Her eyes sparkled. Impressed by her own sleuthing skills she mumbled, “All that time spent reading Sherlock Holmes is coming to fruition”.
She was restless for the remainder of the night. Just like Tarun was restless, unaware of how little time it took for Richa to pin him down. Both of them wanted to find out more. The night stood in their way and preoccupied in their thoughts, they eagerly waited for the dawn to break.
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