Aditya was sipping papaya milkshake merrily, while playfully shaking his legs, as he looked at Bhadra and Jatin with schadenfreude. These two idiots tried to give him a beating ignorant of the fact that Aditya's body was an anomaly. Bhadra fared better as he had a healthy physique, to begin with, but poor Jatin seemed to have strained his wrist joint. Swelling could be seen forming on knuckles of his right hand.
"This dead son of a gun seems to have become even more abnormal," Jatin cursed. He made painful hissing sounds as he rubbed his hand. He felt as if he had hit an iron pole instead of a human body. Bhadra nodded as he looked at Aditya with amazement, it had only been two months since they saw each other and he felt Aditya had changed a lot. This change was not just physical. He could feel that Aditya had transformed as a whole.
The depressing aura, which used to linger around him, because of his missing parents, had vanished entirely. Instead, he could feel vibrant and energetic vibrations from him. He felt gratified that Aditya had come out of the shadow. Bhadra smiled as he and Jatin asked Aditya about his life and what happened in the last two months. They did not ask him about his abilities as this was not the right place.
"Big brother Aditya?" a soft exclamation was heard from Aditya's back, as the three friends were conversing. Aditya turned his head to find a cute east Asian girl who was looking at him with excitement. Aditya's eyes lit up as he remembered that he had helped this girl a little when he was in his previous school. Her name was 'Yu Yan'.
"Yu Yan, right? How are you doing? Come sit." Aditya smiled as he beckoned her and gestured at the empty chair to his right. His first impression of this girl was that she looked like a beautiful doll. She possessed a small, round face, baby fat on her cheeks, little adorable dark eyes and straight black silky hair.
"You remember me?" Yu Yan asked elatedly as a light blush formed on her cheeks. She smiled as her eyes turned into crescent moons and sat on Aditya's right.
'How could I forget?' Aditya thought. It was not just Yu Yan, even strangers who were seen by Aditya were recorded clearly in his mind. Of course, it was after he got those abilities from Tya.
"How could I forget such a lovely girl," Aditya teased as he looked at Yu Yan. He was mildly surprised as he looked at her flushed face. 'this little girl seems to have some feelings for me. If she has fallen for me, it would be the most cliched love story. A girl gets bullied, a boy helps, and she falls in love with the boy.'
Aditya turned to look askance at Jatin for confirmation as he was usually the expert in these matters. Jatin grinned as he nodded at Aditya. He had observed this a long time ago. Jatin guessed that Yu Yan had been secretly eyeing Aditya even before the bullying incident. The bullying incident was just a trigger of sorts.
"Have you come back, big brother Aditya?" Yu Yan asked with anticipation in her eyes. She seemed to have not registered the fact that Aditya was wearing a different uniform.
"I have indeed returned, but I am studying the national curriculum as you can see from my uniform," Aditya smiled as he loosened his tie a little. He looked at Jatin as he asked, "What's up with Karan? I don't see him here."
Jatin chuckled, "it is not surprising that he would not be here. I doubt that he is currently filling a form for transferring schools. As long as you are here, he won't dare to come. That is the effect of your elder sister Maahi's retaliation."
Jatin looked at Aditya as he said, "By the way, I did not expect that the girl, you had a tryst with, would be Kumari. Also, you haven't explained the reason for not joining our batch."
Aditya shook his head as he said, "International curriculum has all sorts of things like 'Theory of Knowledge', creativity, arts, service etc. which cost a lot of time. The national curriculum is purely academical, as long as I attend the exams and pass, everything else is optional. Even though I have joined the school, I can not guarantee that I will come daily. It is much more convenient for me this way."
"As for Kumari, she is a childhood friend who is indeed very close to me. We did have our moments, but it was not 'love'. She has someone in her heart," Aditya replied succinctly. Aditya knew that Kumari truly liked Sameera but did not explain these details to his friends as it was unnecessary. Yu Yan's expression changed when she heard Aditya talk about his affair with another girl.
"Well, if it isn't our 'playboy Adi'?" Kavya snorted as she sat beside Bhadra. She thought angrily, 'I always felt that Jatin was a danger for Bhadra but never imagined that Aditya would turn out even more dangerous. It is good that Anupama did not get together with Aditya.'
Aditya could practically 'see' Kavya's thoughts from her expression but did not speak anything as he coughed and ignored her words. Jatin was watching this scene with relish as Kavya would always target him. For the first time, he felt relaxed as the target had been changed.
Anupama, who had sat beside Kavya and on Aditya's left, looked at Aditya as she asked, "Adi, what about that elder sister, whom I saw in the food festival. Didn't you say that she was your girlfriend?"
"What? Another one?" everyone was shocked as they looked at Aditya as if they were looking at a monster. Yu Yan had a dejected expression on her face as if all her dreams were being crushed.
Aditya bitterly smiled when he heard Anupama's question. He had wanted to tease Anupama and joked that Taarini was his girlfriend.
Aditya had never imagined that this lie would come to haunt him in the future. He turned towards Anupama and said, "Taarini is also a friend. I was kidding with you."
Everyone became calm as they did not know what to believe. Jatin was not willing to let off Aditya. His wrist pained a lot. So he gave an innocent smile as he asked Aditya, "Adi, there was a woman who stayed in your place during the night, right? I forgot to ask. How is she?" Jatin's words accurately depicted the nature of media nowadays, highly misleading.
Kavya's nostrils flared as she looked Aditya and said, "Good, Adi, a girl who locked lips with you publicly, in school, is just a friend. Then, it is no surprise that you have other such friends."
Aditya held his forehead with his hands. He could imagine what was going on everyone's minds. Aditya failed to understand why Yu Yan was looking at him as if he had cheated on her.
"What happened, Adi darling?" a voice filled with mirth asked Aditya. Aditya's heart skipped a beat when he heard the tone of Kumari's voice. He immediately realised that this female devil was going to do something outrageous.
Before Aditya could do anything, Kumari sat on Aditya's lap as she wrapped her hands around his neck. She looked at every other person on the table with a smile and said, "Hello guys, I am Adi's girlfriend and future wife. I am so happy to meet you all finally. Adi talks about you all the time."
Everyone else was stunned, while Jatin was the one who answered enthusiastically, "sister-in-law, nice to meet you." Bhadra looked at Aditya with pity as he knew that Aditya was being framed. He knew that Aditya would never lie about his love interests. If Aditya said that Kumari was a friend, then that was what she was. But he did not dare to defend Aditya when he looked at Kavya's livid expression.
Aditya looked at Kumari with a smiling expression as he asked in a low voice, "Why are you doing this to me?"
Kumari kissed Aditya on his cheek as she whispered, "this is for lying about Aloo Bonda."
Aditya got angry as he pinched her butt and said, "No wonder Sameera liked me more than you." Aditya immediately regretted after he uttered these words.
Kumari turned to look at Anupama who was eating with a straight face as she said, "Oh, are you Anupama? You are truly gorgeous. Adi always wanted a mistress, and he had told me that he had chosen someone for that role. Is it you?"
Puff!
Jatin, who was drinking water, sprayed all of it on Bhadra's face. But Bhadra did not have the mind to think about it as a cold aura permeated the entire table. Anupama turned to look at Aditya coolly.
Aditya gulped as he stared at Anupama and tried to shake his head, but couldn't as his body seemed to ignore him. He started to regret agreeing to Maahi's request. School, fun, relaxation, valuable memories, everything was just trash. It was more relaxing to go beat up some corrupt politicians. That was the only way that he was going to vent his frustration. It would be nice if he could vanish from this place.
"Adi, how could you ignore our classmates like that? Come with me. Many people want to congratulate you," Kranthi's voice was heard from the distance.
Aditya sprang from his chair, lifting Kumari as if she was a light feather. He placed her aside and said, "My other friends are waiting for me. See ya next time."
Kumari giggled when she saw Aditya run. When she saw that Aditya went away, she immediately clarified her words. Jatin also explained what had happened that night. Dragging these misunderstandings for a long time would not be fun anymore.
Anupama ate her food as complicated feeling surfaced in her heart. Yu Yan's face bloomed once more as if her dreams rejuvenated. Kavya snorted as she warned Bhadra to stay away from both Jatin and Aditya, better be safe than sorry.
Aditya escaped while sweat started forming on his forehead; he felt like he had escaped a land mine infested field. Suddenly, he thought that this fatty was his one true friend.
Aditya chatted with his classmates and asked Kranthi to bring his bag home. He was not going to come to the post-lunch classes. Kranthi agreed and went on his way. He did not have the habit of questioning Aditya.
Aditya went to the restroom, and a few minutes later, another student with Aditya's build came out. That student made way for the school perimeter and jumped the wall as if it was a small fence. He made way for an apartment building and entered it. After some time, a mature man, with a muscular physique, walked out of that apartment building.
With a buzz cut hairstyle and a thick lumberjack beard, the man had a roguish aura around him. He seemed to be in his early thirties with rough, brown skin which showed that he stayed in the sun for long durations. A knife scar cut across his right eyebrow which, along with his narrow eyes, gave off a sharp intent.
He walked out from the entrance and got into a brand new Red Mercedes 'G-Wagen' as he said in a deep voice, "Thomas, move."
The driver who had a fierce face and a sturdy physique looked at this person with awe as he nodded and started the vehicle.