Life was moving fast. Time seemed too elusive. Couples were seen around but the group hangouts were rare. The 2nd year results brought lovers closer and drew friends apart.
Aditya asked everyone, "Do you guys want to meet every Friday for some group studies?"
"Yeah, count me in. I know I could use some help," Koel responded immediately.
"Well, me and Will are way too busy planning for the Grand Final Year Meet, and whatever time we have off, we spend studying. Can't commit. Sorry guys," Zara spoke as she looked at Will.
Will did not mind her speaking on his behalf. But everyone else noticed how Zara had become the dominant person in their relationship.
"Can you speak for yourself Billu?" Roshan frowned.
"I am not speaking for him. We had decided this ahead of time that we cannot meet you all as often as before. We need to focus on our studies, future, and the meet. We can meet in a group once in a while but it seems we overdo everything and forget that we all need space," Zara spoke and everyone listened with surprise.
Roshan said, "Why do you always need to be rude?"
By now, Nandita was pulling Roshan's sleeve again.
"No, don't Nandita. Someone needs to tell her that she doesn't care about anyone but herself. Now that she has Will, she is creating a distance between us and Will"
Will got up, thrust his palm in the air and said, "Enough bro. You are crossing the line. Zara is right. Let us focus on our studies. We need to cut down on the hangouts. The group studies never turn out to be serious and we end up chatting and frolicking."
Aditya decided to interfere and end the argument.
"OK, sorry I asked. Whatever everyone is comfortable with. Nobody is compelled. We will meet when we meet," he said.
Everyone retired for the night without any happy feelings.
One day, Zara, Nandita, and Koel were sitting at Raghu's cafe waiting on their order. They saw Urmi sitting quietly in a corner. Her face was pale. She stood up and said to Raghu, "I have to leave, not feeling too well"
"What's up?" Raghu asked.
"I just want to go back to my room," said Urmi.
Everyone looked concerned and offered help.
"That's OK. I'll walk her," Raghu replied and assigned a boy to watch the cafeteria.
The next few days Urmi didn't show up in class. The guys asked the girls, who admitted that they knew nothing. They went to Raghu's cafe and Raghu said that he had been trying to reach her over the phone but in vain. The girls decided to visit her room.
Urmi was an average student; well an average Lawrencian. She enjoyed living in the moment. She liked spending most of her time being in the company of well-liked people. Urmi liked celebrating life and not brooding over regrets.
When the girls visited Urmi's room, they didn't see the same Urmi they knew. She looked pale and upset. She wasn't smiling or communicating. Her roommates were away when Nandita, Zara, and Koel visited.
"What's up girl, everyone's been looking for you, where were you?" Zara asked.
"You don't look good," Koel added.
"Yea, I am just a little sick. Just been throwing up and getting headaches," said Urmi.
"Chal abhi doctor ke paas," Nandita spoke quickly.
"No. Will be all right," Urmi said.
"Is there something you are not telling us?" asked Zara.
Urmi was quiet and suddenly broke into tears. The girls, surprised at her sudden rupture of emotions, tried to comfort her.
"I may be pregnant," she said.
There was a momentary silence that shrouded the room. Everyone was struggling for the right words. Zara broke the silence, "Which month are you into and how did you know. Is it Raghu? Does he know?"
"3rd month; just did a home pregnancy test. It is Raghu's, and no he doesn't know. And I don't want him to know, so please spare him the news," Urmi cried.
"What have you thought?" Nandita asked
"What do you mean 'what have you thought', you should raise it," said Zara. Everyone looked surprisingly at Zara. They knew she was a self-proclaimed feminist, but they didn't see this coming.
"Have you lost it Zara? I can't raise it; my parents will die if they hear this. My career will be ruined. I am not ready for this. My parents don't even know about my relationship. Oh God!" Urmi scowled.
"Do you really want to go the other way? You should talk to Raghu about it too, you really should," said Koel.
"No. I don't want to," said Urmi.
"It is his responsibility too, why don't you tell him that," said Zara.
"No. It was my decision to go this far. I don't want him to be a part of any responsibility. I want to get over this, like it never happened. Can you guys help? I just need my friends right now," she said. She looked helpless.
The girls looked at each other and then at their helpless friend. A week later, Urmi got an abortion. The three friends accompanied her and they unanimously decided to keep this a secret from everyone, even from their men.
Urmi went back to a normal life later. It was explained to everyone that she had been to her parent's because of an emergency. Raghu believed. Her absence made Raghu restless. He decided to take a loan and pursue his own business, so he could stand up to Urmi's family and ask her hand in marriage.
"How are you going to do that?" Will asked.
"I will mortgage my house and put all my savings into it. It doesn't matter as much as she does," said Raghu. Will offered help but Raghu refused.
Meanwhile, Roshan was staying up nights to work as a driver in the city bus. He deliberately avoided serving the area near Lawrence. He had confided on Will and Aditya. Roshan had started saving and repaying all the outstanding loans. After all, those expensive dinners, twice a week movie in the multiplexes, and those expensive gifts had its toll. The fact that he was trying, convinced Aditya and Will to tweak their values just a wee bit by keeping the secret from Nandita.
Aditya watched Koel struggle between her college courses and her application to US universities. He helped her as much as he could offer. Koel's belief only grew stronger that Aditya might join her to the US some day and that he wanted to. But Aditya preferred staying quiet about his plans.
That would be too much of a distraction for her. She may end up giving up her dreams because of me, he thought.
As students worked towards their personal goals, Will and Zara were working on that and the Grand Final Meet, a tradition amongst Lawrencians, to be held two weeks after the finals. Nobody ever missed that. The timing of the event had always been very crucial; to ease off the strains from the test, it was held two weeks after the exams were over. Will and Zara were made the creative heads for the event.
They had their hands full with auditions from juniors, selecting a panel of judges for the Mr. and Miss Lawrencian, arranging cultural events, and selecting the college bands. The list was endless. They enjoyed it; it was the first time they were working as a team in an event that involved their joint efforts, leadership, creativity, and skills. It was like running an organization, they being the emerging entrepreneurs, challenging each other every time with innovations. They were more in love now than ever.
"You know, I love it when I come up with an idea, and you refute it and then the panel approves it, ah the taste of victory," Zara said as she smiled. Will kissed her and said, "And I love it when you win and gloat."
Zara pushed him away, smiled and said, "I hate it when you have the last word."
The finals were just three months away. The library was almost always full. The computer labs were packed. Lawrence was preparing to produce the best. Placement tests were around the corner. Almost 75% of Lawrencians made it through the placements, and the rest either failed or skipped the exams to pursue their own interests. Aditya and Koel were amongst the ones to skip. Koel wanted to pursue higher studies in USA. Koel was confirmed that Aditya wanted the same. He was researching schools, helping her prepare for GMAT and never said no to her proposal of higher studies in the States. That sufficed her beliefs.
Will was placed with an MNC in Mumbai and so was Zara. Nandita made it through too and was placed in a MNC in Delhi. Roshan had been struggling between his jobs, his midterms, and the placement exams. He was already fighting to cover up his failures both academically and personally. All this had taken a mental toll on him, resulting which he failed to be placed.
Roshan didn't step out of his room after the placement results were announced. Nandita made efforts to contact him and send him emails. "It is all right. Life is full of other opportunities," Nandita texted him. But Roshan was way too upset to be ready for any communication. Even when his friends offered to comfort, he was unwilling to recover. He tried to reassure himself that he wouldn't be a bus driver forever, that he would get a job, and that he would soon propose to Nandita on their Goa trip. He was frightened at the thought of Nandita rejecting him when she found out the truth.
One night, Zara and Will were returning to the campus after finalizing choreographers for the event. They had taken the same bus which was serviced by Roshan. Roshan usually worked in a disguise to avoid being noticed by anyone, fearing they would report to Nandita. With his current failure, he hadn't been to work for a few days. Will was confident Roshan would be away that night too. He watched the bus arrive - Route 2. It was already 7.45 PM and Zara had convinced Will about taking the bus instead of waiting for a cab. Unaware, Will and Zara took the bus. Roshan being the driver that night noticed the two. Will noticed him in shock but remained silent. While getting off the bus, Zara thought she saw Roshan. She summoned him, "Roshan"
Roshan looked back and quickly turned away. He realized he shouldn't have looked. Immediately after, he drove off in a jiffy. Zara, stunned by the incident, looked at Will for an answer.
"Will you explain what I just saw? I know you know something," Zara commanded an answer.
"I can't," Will couldn't lie so he attempted at not speaking.
Zara, being a smart woman tried to investigate the matter herself, although she believed she had made progress already. She always knew something was wrong about Roshan; that there was more to his story than what they knew. But she couldn't prove it to anyone.
"Tell me, is this why Roshan didn't get placed, because the rich kid was too busy driving a bus and lying to his girlfriend?"
Will's silence answered her questions. That night they spoke very little, and when Will tried to convince her to ignore what she saw. She said, "I can't be a part of a lie. Nandita deserves to know the truth, and I will find the truth."
Next day, Zara went on a mission. She dug every possible information she could behind the Roshan story, which she called the The Roshan scam. What she found blew her mind. She didn't know what she could do to make it easy on Nandita. But she wanted to help her friend, and provide her with the truth. She knew how much Nandita valued honesty. Deep inside, Zara felt a stab of guilt. A few times she decided to drop the whole thing. But a voice inside her reminded her, I am an independent, self-respecting woman. Being a woman myself, I can't let another woman be misguided by a dishonest man. To see another man hurt a woman's sentiments, was too much for her to handle. She was never really fond of Roshan anyways. She felt torn between her friends and her duty. But she had already broken the dilemma now.
Nandita came back to her room after meeting Roshan, as she usually did. Koel looked through her window at Nandita waving at Roshan.
"Zara, she is coming. I still feel you should drop it. Please, discuss it with the guys first; maybe there is more truth to this than you know," said Koel.
"The guys knew everything. They are equally responsible. But I will handle them later. If you are a true friend, you would tell Nandita too," Zara angrily responded.
"No I wouldn't. I would discuss it with them first, think, and then decide. You are acting too soon; it could ruin things"
"It would ruin things for her anyways, when she finds out. Its better we inform her now. If you don't have the guts, please just let me do my duty"
Nandita walked in to the room and saw the two argue.
"What are you guys arguing about? Anyways, you know Roshan said he had a surprise for me on my birthday. You guys have any idea what it is? He says it is grand. I hope he doesn't spend too much money. He always spends too much on me. Sometimes I think he is richer than what he claims to be. Anyways, I do not give a damn about his money. I would love him irrespective of that," Nandita spoke as she looked at her rack of gifts and soft toys.
Koel and Zara looked at each other quietly.
"What's up guys? You guys look like…"
Koel interrupted, "I think, I will get something to eat," and then she walked out.
Zara held Nandita's hands and asked her to sit. Nandita looked nervously at Zara.
"I have something to tell you"
"Yes? Please tell me what's going on"