Shreya and Deepa were among the crowd. They hated Ankita from the very first day for capturing their most coveted seat. But seeing her helpless state, they smirked at each other. They would be a fool to miss the chance of taking out their anger and jealousy on her.
Deepa marched forward and slammed Ankita to the wall and forcefully pinched her chin.
"Are you jealous that Sreemanti, Koushik's number one fan would snatch your seat? So you dared to push her to scare her away?" Deepa said with a twisted face.
"I... I...di.. didn't... please...pl... please let... me g...go" Ankita shivered from pain and fear.
The sinister look on everyone scared her. She bit her lip hard to force the tear back.
News of obsessive fans harassing celebrities to fulfil their twisted fantasies or beleaguering those who got close to the said celebrities was not uncommon. In extreme cases such fans threw acid on someone's face. The reason was that they were fans of the same star but the latter was praised by the celebrity for having beautiful eyes at a fan-meet. Social standard wise his eyes were not considered beautiful but that praise made him tear up and his idol, the actor comforted him. This scene was caught live on camera which was then seen by that obsessive fan, who then threw acid on that man from envy.
"Guys, what should we do with this obsessive fan? Today she hurt Sree, who knows whom she'll hurt tomorrow?" Shreya said crossing her hands.
Everybody concurred with her. Blinded by envy they lost their rationality. Logically, it would be hard for Ankita to intentionally push Sreemanti who was taller and heavier than her, unless they collided accidentally and Sreemanti lost balance.
Ankita looked at them, horrified by how they labelled her as an obsessive fan.
"We should knock her arrogance down by a peg. One of you guard the entrance. You, ensure no one witnesses what's happening here." Deepa said with a menacing look.
"But I too want to teach her a lesson." The student Deepa spoke to pouted and said softly.
Most of the students present were academic. No one relates bullying to studious children. It was believed that an academic person can tell right from wrong and hence never hurts others deliberately. These students used that belief as a cover to bully others.
The person who spoke was in the top five in her section. She heard from her classmates in X-A that the Koushik who refused to let his fans sit beside him, allowed a nobody like Ankita to be his deskmate. Moreover, she heard that they also had a pretty good relationship. She was burning with hatred and envy recalling the numerous times she tried to get close to Koushik. But all her efforts were wasted because of this one girl, Ankita.
Deepa chuckled seeing the girl's face turn purple with rage "Don't worry, everyone will get a chance. You go and guard the entrance first, someone else will take your place later. You can take your sweet time then."
"Remember. Don't kill her or make her severely injured. Just be careful to hurt her enough to let her feel pain." Shreya said gravely.
In VN HIGH, students with high academic results were revered. Shreya was among the top ten in the entire class X batch, so everyone listened to her.
Ankita's face paled hearing their discussion. She struggled, but there was no way to escape. She was dragged into the washroom and pushed against the wall by two people. They were stronger than her so she could not push them off. Even if she succeeded in freeing herself from their gasp, it was impossible for her to escape from so many of them.
Scared out of her wits she broke down.
"Please let me go. Please. I beg you." Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Seeing her state, everyone roared in laughter. Two of them made her sit on the floor on her knees. They were careful to not make her uniform too dirty. Ankita struggled with all her might shaking her head and kicking her legs but all was for nought. She tried to scream, to call for help, but Shreya yanked her hair so hard that the pain turned her screams to muffled groans.
"Don't you dare scream. Otherwise, it'll not end well for you." Shreya slapped Ankita with her free hand.
Ankita bit her lips as her scalp and cheek stung from the pain. Her cool tears could not ease the heat she felt on her cheek from the slap.
Deepa squatted down making a concerned face and shook Ankita's face holding her chin "Tch tch tch tch. What did you do Shreya? You made her cry. Look how pitiful she is."
Her grip tightened, making Ankita wince "All she wanted was to rub some fame off her celebrity desk mate. But look at her state now. So pitiful."
"I did not sit beside Koushik to rub off his fame. The teacher made me sit." Ankita tried to defend herself against Deepa's accusation.
"Look who's talking!" Deepa made a surprised face.
"Am I being lenient on you?" She clasped her hair and slammed her head back against the wall.
"Aaaaa! You're hurting me." Ankita shut her eyes.
"You should've remembered that before sitting beside my Koushik. The place next to him belongs to me and me alone!" Deepa's grip tightened.
"Koushik is not yours. He's nobody's. He's a person of his own, not an object you can claim. He has the right to choose his deskmate and you said it yourself, he rejected you." Ankita voiced through the pain.
"Shut up!" Deepa slapped her hearing the term reject.
"Are you trying to say that he chose you? You're better than me? And what do you mean by he's not mine? As a celebrity, he belongs to his fans. I'm his fan. He is mine. A celebrity is supposed to live up to the fans' expectations. The moment he became a star he lost his right to his personal life. A celebrity must cater to the fans' wishes. Anytime, anywhere." Deepa repeatedly slammed Ankita's head on the wall.
Ankita shook her head helplessly.
"I'm not better than you and he did not choose me. The teacher made me sit there. Neither I nor him had the right to refuse without proper reason. And you're wrong. A celebrity is also a human and has their rights. He need not live up to your fantasies when he's off stage." Her voice broke as she said weakly.