16 A Stronger Heart

"I thought you would sleep till late in the afternoon, as you were awake till midnight yesterday," Bhadra asked Aditya as they made their way to the cafeteria, it was eight in the morning as students were in a hurry to complete their early morning activities. Some did yoga and meditation, some played basketball and other outdoor games, some liked gardening, Aditya along with Bhadra usually played basketball.

Aditya felt different today, he had experienced many things yesterday which actually strengthened him. The clouds which hovered in his mind since the last few months had cleared which made him feel relaxed and happy.

First of all, he knew that his parents were safe, there was hope. He had also got his mother's 'message' which he had to go to his home to find out. He had also figured out his problem of excessive sleep and also was 'cured' by the 'electrotherapy'.

Also, Aditya could see a lot of things clearly due to the dream he had last night, it did not feel so uncomfortable or painful anymore. He also realized that it was his mistake to presume things without making sure of them. Now he knew that 'not' everyone is the kind of person, he saw them as. Especially when we like a person deeply, we tend to create a 'perfect' image of them in our mind but the reality might be something else. That was what happened to Aditya.

He also felt that he had become a better person with a stronger mind after experiencing all these things. He felt peaceful and happy just walking in the morning light along with his best friends. He did not think he should ask for more.

As they walked towards the cafeteria, Aditya saw two girls standing in the shades of trees in front of the cafeteria. He smiled as he recognized them, he discovered to his surprise that he did not feel the restless or uncomfortable feeling he had experienced the last few days. Sometimes people feel better from letting go rather than holding on to.

When Anupama saw the smiling face of Aditya, she was mildly shocked, she had noticed that Aditya was avoiding her since the last few days, she had even noticed that if he saw her coming, he would just turn away without even nodding at her or smiling at her. Anupama knew that Aditya crushed on her from the moment he joined this school last year, she had not taken this seriously as there was no dearth of pursuers for her. She was even happy that at least in school Aditya kept off all the other pursuers.

But what she didn't imagine was that she had started imagining Aditya as her potential lover in her thoughts since the last few months. She knew that he was not the ideal boyfriend she had determined for herself. He was not responsible as far as she saw, he did not take his studies seriously, she heard that his goal was to become a racer, was she supposed to worry for his life whenever he went to a race. So, Anupama had decided that as long as Aditya proposed to her or gave any indication of the same, she would reject him heartlessly so that there was no chance for him to pursue him again and thus Anupama did not need to worry that she would fall any deeper.

But what shocked her was that, since Aditya's parents went missing, he had not shown any signs of confessing her, he acted normal with her but she could sense that his attention was somewhere else. So she could only wait, but what upset her calm mentality was that he was 'avoiding' her since the last few days as if he wanted nothing but to be away from her. She did not know why but her heartfelt constricted when she saw him behaving like this. Wasn't it her who was supposed to avoid him? Why was it the other way round?

So, when Anupama heard that Aditya was involved in an accident, she wanted to run to his side and see for herself if he was safe and unhurt. But her pride stopped her, she does not want herself to be seen as if she cared about Aditya. Also, she thought Aditya might misunderstand her care and concern as love. So she controlled her impulse and inquired Aditya's news from Kavya. When she found out that Aditya was alright, she felt her heart beating normally again. As she wanted to see that Aditya was unharmed by herself, she tagged along with Kavya as they waited in front of the cafeteria.

When Anupama saw Aditya walking in a relaxed manner towards them with a calm smile on his face, Anupama went into a daze as she thought, it has been many months since she saw Aditya smile, she found out that she had actually missed that smile. She recovered when she saw that Aditya and others had already drawn near.

"Whoa, I am so happy to see that Kavya cares about me so much that she is waiting for me outside risking darkening of your skin, are you planning on changing your boyfriend? Am ready." Aditya smiled evilly as he teased Kavya, he was familiar with her since she had accompanied Bhadra when they usually roamed the city.

"You wish." Kavya aimed a kick at Aditya's legs as she walked held onto Bhadra's hand. Aditya laughed as he escaped to Anupama's side. He turned towards Anupama as he asked, "Have you had your breakfast?"

Anupama stared blankly at Aditya for a few seconds before shaking her head. She had noticed that Aditya was back to normal, but somehow the more normal Aditya behaved, the more uncomfortable she felt.

"Bhadra, didn't I tell you to stay away from this lascivious playboy, look at his thin physique, I think that his essence has been sucked by many girls, maybe he will become an old man in a few months. You have to stay away from him, understand?" Kavya explained to Bhadra as if he was a kid and she was a kindergarten teacher.

Jatin coughed as he said sadly, "ah, I thought that I would gift a 60 TB SSD (Solid State Drive) to someone on her birthday at the end of this month, looks like that 'someone' doesn't need it."

Kavya turned to look at Jatin like a child looks at a lollipop as she said, "No way."

Jatin smirked at her as he said complacently, "My uncle works in Seagate company, Cupertino, California, he is part of the product development engineering team, they had recently developed this product and is not available in market yet, but if I wanted, it is possible to get it at the end of the month just in time for 'someone's birthday so that she might find it helpful for her programming."

"Bhadra, you look at Jatin, he is so friendly and caring, you have to appreciate him and thank him for the gift he prepared for my birthday, okay?" Kavya used the same kindergarten teacher tone to Bhadra who was smiling bitterly as he looked at Aditya who was laughing hard while holding his stomach, Anupama also couldn't hold back her smile at her friend's shamelessness.

"I guess, Kavya would sell Bhadra if anyone could get her a quantum computing processor." Jatin thought jokingly as he stood at the side of Aditya looking at Bhadra with pity.

"Okay let us talk while we eat," Aditya spoke as he led everyone into the cafeteria. Everyone could see that Aditya was fine, in fact, they felt that Aditya had reverted back to his joyful self like how he used to be four months back.

Just as they were about to occupy a table, Aditya was stopped by someone, when Aditya looked at the figure who was in his way, he saw that it was Karan who got splashed with his own soup yesterday. Except one would find it hard to recognize him as Karan's fair skin on his face had become red and swollen, they were some kind of smelly ointment which was applied on the swollen areas which made it more difficult to identify him.

Aditya found it hard to hold back his laughter as he asked Karan with a straight face, "Who is this schoolmate, why are you in my way?"

"Bastard," Karan gritted his teeth, as he said, "Am Karan, didn't you I have the risk of getting Herpes from that actress, but I forgot that I wore a condom, so take back the words you said yesterday and apologize to me otherwise you don't have to stay in this school anymore."

Karan sneered as he continued, "I found out all about your information yesterday, aren't you just an orphan who got admission in this school on scholarship, what's so great about you if not because of those two idiots behind you? You know, just a bit of an effort and a small excuse is required for a scholarship student to be rusticated."

"F**cker," both Jatin and Bhadra jumped towards Karan but was immediately held back by Aditya as he thought the meaning behind Karan's words. He figured it out immediately, for the organization who had eliminated all traces of his parents in this world, it was not difficult for them to change his profile in his school digital records. Anupama and Kavya did not know the true circumstances of the matter and so were puzzled at Karan's words as they scolded Karan 'idiot'.

Aditya calmed down immediately and smiled at Karan with a twinkle in his eyes as he said, "I know that a condom works but are you sure u didn't touch her orally any inappropriate place, if so, good luck. As for making trouble for me, if you are as capable as you sound, get me rusticated, dickhead."

Anupama blushed when she heard Aditya's words, she did not expect Aditya could talk so crudely, even if he talked usually like that, he would put up a gentleman's facade in front of her, but now it looked like Aditya was not holding himself back.

Karan swollen face changed drastically when he heard Aditya's words, how could he do the deed like a gentleman while spending so much money, so of course he tried to do all kinds of things with that actress. He saw that many of the students who had heard their conversation were laughing at him like he was a clown, he had been made fun of in the same place by the same person about the same topic, how could he swallow his anger. He looked at Aditya full of rage as he squeezed the words 'see what I will do to you' and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Aditya looked at the fleeing figure of Karan with a small smile on his face. The angrier he could make Karan the faster his goal will be reached. As he turned to pick a food tray for his breakfast, he saw the cute Chinese girl he saw yesterday stand in front of him.

Looking at Aditya's questioning look, Yu Yan mustered her courage as she stuttered, "Big… Big brother, thanks for helping me yesterday, Yu Yan wanted to gift big brother some food." Aditya looked at the little girl who was a head shorter than him for sometime before accepting her food. He could see Yu Yan had tightly held her fists as if she was stressed.

As he looked at the food, he found them vaguely familiar, "these look like those momos we had in that Tibetan restaurant the other day right?" Aditya asked Jatin as he put one inside his mouth. He found them tasty but a little bland. Aditya usually liked spicy food, he had heard some special Chinese cuisines also specialized in spicy food, maybe he should ask Yu Yan about that in the future.

He smiled at Yu Yan as he said, "they are very tasty, thank you, if possible could you make me some more in the future." A nice smile blossomed on Yu Yan's face when she heard Aditya's praise as she nodded repeatedly and hopped back to her friends as if they were springs in her feet.

It was rare for Aditya to interact with girls much younger than him as all the girls he knew were either the same age as him or elder, so he enjoyed these short sweet moments with Yu Yan. It warmed his heart to know that doing good would be reciprocated. Anupama looked at all these with complex emotions welling up her heart.

Aditya shared this food with his friends, as he expected all of them found this a little bland to their taste. Only Anupama looked like she liked this food. When Aditya and others finished their breakfast and walked outside, a school attendant came towards him and asked him to go to Administrative Dean's office immediately.

Aditya pacified his friend's worries and bid goodbye to them as he walked towards the Dean's office. He knew that the administrative dean was Karan's father, looks like his plan worked.