Page 40 of Born in Sin (Phoenix #3)

“Virat!”

He stopped at the sound of the abrupt shout, his hands overloaded with a tower of books. The one on top wobbled precariously. He leant carefully to one side to compensate but it didn’t work, the entire pile crashed to the floor.

Virat sighed as he crouched to pick them up. Manohar, the boy who’d been calling out to him, dropped to his knees beside him to help.

“Chandrashekhar Sir is calling you to his office.”

Virat’s hand froze on the last book he’d picked up. He dropped it on top of the pile he’d created and nodded. “Sure.”

Manohar flashed him a quick smile and rose to his feet, hustling away now that his errand was done. Virat rose carefully to his feet, with the books once again in an orderly tower in his hands.

“Why are you being called to the Head of School’s office?” Amay’s voice from behind him startled him and the books went crashing to the floor again.

Virat sighed again, bending to start the whole process of picking them up, once more.

“Vir,” Amay grabbed half the books, stacking them haphazardly in his hands. “I asked you a question.”

“And I’ll know the answer when I go to his office,” Virat replied, rising and holding his hand out for the books Amay was holding hostage.

“I’ll help you take them to the teacher’s den.” Amay started walking, Virat forced to match his stride and follow along.

“I’m worried about Ishaan,” Amay said abruptly. “The wilderness camp fee isn’t covered in the scholarship.”

Virat grunted in acknowledgement, his mind already working to untangle the issue.

“If he’d just let us pay for it…”

“But he won’t.” Virat and Amay’s fathers were assholes, but they were assholes who’d given their unwanted sons generous bank accounts. Ishaan hadn’t been that lucky. He’d got the asshole and none of the money.

“He’s talking about skipping it.”

“He can’t.”

Ishaan was struggling in physical education, and the wilderness camp was his one chance to bring his grade up. Without that, his shot at the academic excellence trophy was shaky.

“Leave it with me,” Virat said, his mind picking through his mental archives where he stored every little bit of information he’d come across since arriving at Crestwood.

When you swam with sharks, you couldn’t afford even a hint of blood in the water and Virat had been swimming since the day his feet first touched the grounds of Crestwood.

They dropped the books off at the teacher’s den and left before they could get caught running more errands.

“Vir.” Amay’s quiet voice was laced with a mix of pain and worry.

Virat turned around to follow his friend’s line of sight. Majid and Celina sat at one of the benches that lined the walkways on the school campus. She was laughing while Majid told her some story, his hands moving animatedly.

“You have to tell her-“

“I have,” Virat interrupted harshly. “She doesn’t see him the way we do. He’s her friend.”

“That lot are nobody’s friend, except each other’s to an extent.”

“I know, Ams,” he gritted out. “She doesn’t see it the same way.”

“Then you need to make her see it the same way.”

“How did that strategy work out for Dhrithi and you?” Virat snapped back, stress loosening his usually iron clad grip on his tongue.

Amay reared back like he’d been slapped.

“You didn’t actually go there.” Ishaan’s amused voice intruded on the tense silence that had fallen between them. “I thought we were never allowed to mention Dhrithi, ever again.”

“Shut up, Ish!” Virat and Amay both snapped at the same time.

“Jha!” Mrinalini Ma’am, the Administrative Manager, glowered at him from the doorway leading to the school corridor. “Chandrashekhar Sir is waiting for you.”

Oh shit. He’d forgotten all about the summons from the Head of School.

“I’ve got to go,” he muttered, leaving his friends to their silent stand off and hustling his sorry ass down the corridor to the Administration Wing where the Head of School’s cabin was located.

He walked past Mrinalini Ma’am’s now empty desk and stopped outside the cabin. He took a moment outside the imposing double paneled wooden doors to brace himself and then knocked.

“Come in,” Chandrashekhar Sir barked.

Virat took another deep breath and entered.

“Sir.” He kept the greeting short and sweet.

“The proof you submitted with regards to Mohan…the ones that got him fired.” Chandrashekhar said without preamble. “What was your source?”

Virat kept his steady gaze on the principal, the man’s bald head shining in the overhead lights.

“Sir, like I told you, I just happened on the information in the music room.”

“Don’t play games with me, Jha.” The man stood, his bulging paunch hanging over the belt that valiantly struggled to stay in place.

“I never play games Sir.”

“No?” Chandrashekhar smiled, a thin smile devoid of all humour. “Only the ones you can win then?”

I always win, Virat thought, but he kept that to himself and continued to watch the principal with a bland expression.

“What’s your plan after school and college, Jha?” The principal asked abruptly, shifting tracks without notice. “Politics?”

“No, Sir.”

“You would make an excellent politician,” he mused.

Virat said nothing, just waited for the older man to get to the point.

“The school board is looking to make some changes. Maria Fernandez’s role in the Mohan scandal has not gone unnoticed.

We had a deal. I keep Ms. Fernandez’s job safe thereby ensuring her daughter’s continued education at Crestwood and you bring me information on the going ons on campus. That was our deal, wasn’t it?”

“Yes Sir.”

“The night watchman has seen light coming every night from the grove at the north end of campus. He says that it’s haunted. A strange laughter floats across the breeze.”

“Did he check it out Sir?”

“He tried. He says when he gets too close, the lights and the laughter disappear. When he walks away, they reappear.”

The bloody idiots. Couldn’t they get up to their shit without the unnecessary theatrics?

“What do you know Jha?”

Virat chose his words carefully. “I don’t believe that you would want to know the names of the parties involved.”

“Why not?”

“It might prove expensive for the school.”

In other words, they were the kids of some of the largest donors at the school and Chandrashekhar wouldn’t be able to punish them anyway.

“I see. So, what do you suggest we do?”

“Sir, we are so close to graduation. I don’t believe the ghosts will return next year. I suggest you tell Manju Bhai to walk the South end of campus between eleven and twelve thirty every night for this academic year. He can resume his regular patrol in the new year.”

Silence met that response. And then Chandrashekhar shook his head and picked up his pen.

“Alright, we’ll work with that. You can go now.”

Virat didn’t move.

Chandrashekhar put his pen down again and eyed him. “What do you want now?”

“Sir, Ishaan Adajania’s scholarship does not cover the wilderness trip. He needs it for his sports grade.”

“I don’t see how this is my problem.”

“Sir, if you could make it your problem, I can make a lot of your other problems go away. In fact, I already have, haven’t I?”

Chandrashekhar picked up the pen and tapped it against the folder on his table. “Hmm. You’ll keep an eye on the ghosts for me? See that it doesn’t get out of hand?”

“Yes, Sir. I promise.”

“I’ll see that Adajania’s name is included in the wilderness trip.” Chandrashekhar chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “Politics, Jha. That’s where you belong. With your skills, you could be king.”

I’d rather be the kingmaker, Virat thought. But like most of his thoughts, this too was one he kept to himself.