Page 88 of Born in Sin

“Do you?” Amay ran a hand through his hair. “You chose now to start a physical fight with Varun and get suspended? Come on Vir. I expect this shit from Ishaan but not you!”

“Hey!” Ishaan said mildly from where he sat, scooping up rice into his permanently open mouth.

“Shut up Ish,” they both snarled.

“I’m not the one doing all the talking!” he protested before shrugging and focusing on his food. “Or shouting,” he grumbled, while he made short work of the food on his plate.

“What’s going on, Vir?” Amay was relentless, like a dog with a bone.

In response, Virat grabbed Ishaan by his arm, yanking him away from his plate mid-bite and hustling his friends out of the cafeteria. The minute they stepped out of the cafeteria, a support staff from the cafeteria team walked up to them.

“Virat, Sir said you have to go straight to your room if you leave the cafeteria.”

Frustration roared through him. He led his friends over the threshold of the cafeteria door, positioning himself just inside it.

“Is this okay?” he asked the staffer pointedly.

The man shrugged and walked away, clearly not bothered beyond following his direct orders.

“Two days ago,” Virat said in a barely audible murmur. “Chandrashekhar told me the nightwatchman heard noises and saw lights in the grove late at night. He thought it was aghost. I told him to ask the watchman to patrol an alternate route until graduation and I said I’d handle the ghost.”

Virat took a deep breath. “I spoke to Varun and warned him to take it easy until we’re off campus.”

Ishaan’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “So, he took that warning and used it to beat that poor man half to death.”

Amay stared at Virat. “Shit,” he breathed.

“I just couldn’t,” Virat bit the words off. “I couldn’t just let it go, okay?”

“You should have broken his fucking arms.” Ishaan glared at where Varun was still sitting, laughing and talking to his friends, one arm around Dhrithi.

“Keep your voice down,” Amay snapped. “We don’t need any more shit right now. Vir’s already suspended. You want to join him?”

“I don’t give a fuck.” Outraged, Ishaan turned on him. “Does shit only bother you if it directly affects you? That poor man…”

“Listen you idiot.” Amay got right in his face. “You getting into a brawl or otherwise with the DD’s is not going to bring that man out of a coma. The only thing it will do is screw us all over even more. We need to finish out our time at Crestwood and then, when we’re off this campus, away from their sphere of influence, we can actually do something useful. Virat’s already put himself in their sights. Don’t add your ugly face to it too.”

They glowered at each other for a long moment.

“He’s right,” Virat said, swallowing his pride. “He’s right. Now’s not the time.”

Ishaan shook his head but he looked away from Varun’s smug face and at them.

“What’s going on with Celina?” Amay asked now, his tense face watching Dhrithi, his expressional painful to behold.

“I don’t know,” Virat groaned. “She won’t tell me and I can’t get enough time with her to find out with this stupid suspension.”

“Celina and you need to cool it a bit till we graduate.” Amay’s calm, reasonable tone was starting to piss him off.

“What the fuck, Ams?”

“Use your brains, Vir. What happened the last time you brought someone to his attention? The man ended up in a coma! You really want to bring Celina to his?”

Fuck. The Brain Trust was right.

“Just tonight, Chem Lab at 9? I need to know she’s okay. Will you tell her? Pass on the message? I need to see her, Ams.”

Amay gaze softened, his eyes drifting over to where Dhrithi sat picking at her food. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll tell her.”