Vyani made her way to the staffroom, glancing around like a spy on a secret mission. She just needed one thing the bunch of Hindi notebooks dumped near the top shelf.
Just as she was stretching to reach them — half her body already on tiptoes, fingers grazing the topmost register — she heard someone call her name.
“Oh my god, Vyakhya di! It’s you!”
Vyani blinked. “Akshara?”
Her junior. Her friend , they have always shared the same fate during the morning assembly duties.
“You didn’t move schools?” Vyani asked, eyebrows raised.
“Nope! It got cancelled last minute,” Akshara grinned, grabbing her hand. “Come here, I have to show you something!”
“Wait — I just need to—”
Too late. Akshara dragged her out of the room like a tornado in a school uniform.
---
Meanwhile…
“There. See that brown bag?” Raghav whispered, pointing through the window like he was planning a heist. “That’s Chadda Sir’s. His phone’s in there.”
“What do you have against that baldy?” Ayaan whispered back, already annoyed.
“He suspended me last week for no reason,” Raghav growled. “Now go change the wallpaper. To that pic. You know which one.”
Ayaan sighed, throwing Nishkarsh a final what-the-hell-are-we-even-doing look before sneaking inside.
He tiptoed to the bag, like a raccoon breaking into a pantry, and fished out the phone. 2-0-0-2 — unlocked. Easy.
He opened Google. Searched. Downloaded.
And then, like a true idiot with commitment, he thought if he should set the ‘dirty’ pic as the home screen… or the lock screen… then thought for a second and set it again — just to be sure — as both. Efficiency matters in crimes, apparently.
Outside, Nishkarsh was doing silent victory fist-pumps through the glass window, while Raghav looked like a proud villain watching his plan unfold.
And Vyani? She’d just returned to the corridor and had stopped in her tracks.
“What the—?” she blinked, spotting Ayaan inside, crouched near the bag, looking like he was performing open heart surgery on a phone.
She watched, it was like watching zoo animals escape their cages before he looked at her, his eyes landed on hers, they always does, the same eye contact they had the first time, the same one they always have, but ayaan looked away quickly, knew he was caught as he bolted out of the staffroom like it was on fire.
119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYCmRKM6Wl
Vyani, still confused, walked in from the other door. A confused frown on her face.
“I don’t even know why I liked him,” she muttered under her breath, before her eyes landed on the bag — and the phone peeking out it was so obvious.
She picked it up.
The screen lit up.
An almost-naked guy stared back at her.
“Aaaaa– WHAT THE—” she squeaked, but quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
She opened the phone using the same pass — 2002. Of course, she knew it. Mr. Chadda’s daughter Akshara, the junior , the one she always had the most faith in the morning assemblies, had once casually mentioned it was her birthday, 20 feb, and Vyani never forgot birthdays Or passcodes.
Without blinking, she changed the wallpaper back to the default mountain scenery. Silent. Swift. Professional.
Then, as if nothing happened, she picked up the Hindi notebooks — and yes, just as expected, the result sheet was tucked neatly inside Amisha’s.
She walked back to class, triumphant.
Or… at least, she felt triumphant — until a nagging question hit her halfway through the corridor.
Why had she changed the wallpaper?
Why had she covered for them?
119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEqoKJX5Pq
---
The next morning...
Morning assembly.
The sun was way too bright. The principal’s tie was way too red. And Mr. Chadda was on stage, gripping the mic with a stern look and his lightning-bald head shining under the lights.
“Attention, everyone,” he said, adjusting his glasses.
“Yesterday, Mrs. Sheela’s wallet — 5,000 rupees — went missing. She last saw it in the staffroom during seventh period. It was placed near my bag. If anyone knows anything, speak now. Otherwise, we’ll check the CCTV. And trust me, the punishment… won’t be easy.”
His voice was calm, but that last line sliced through the crowd like a blade. Shivers ran down half the school’s spines.
“Did he just say eighth period and staffroom?” Nishkarsh whispered to Ayaan, sweat dripping down his neck, his shirt’s top buttons undone.
“I think he said CCTV and his bag too,” Ayaan swallowed hard.
“Did you steal the money too? Are you that desperate, Ayaan?”
“Shut up! I don’t touch ladies’ purses without permission, you ass,” Ayaan snapped.
“So, what now? They check the CCTV and boom—game over?”
Ayaan sighed, “I miss the days when I wasn’t even born.”
---
The lunch bell rang. Mr. Chadda walked into the science section, asking for Vyakhya Kushwaha.
The situation was serious.
The CCTV was broken, but the truth would come out in front of the whole staffroom.
Vyani stepped into the room, which was packed with teachers. Standing there, heads down, were Ayaan, Raghav, and Sankshipt—three suspects in a 5,000-rupee mystery.
All eyes turned to Vyani.
She wasn’t a suspect, everyone in the room knew that, they could even carve that on a stone without a second thought.
All three suspects looked at her.
Ayaan’s face was blank, but his eyes scanned her from toes to head — like asking why she was there, for what actually?
Nishkarsh just blinked at her.
Raghav barely knew her — just the girl who had once complained about him and his gang smoking behind the cafeteria — so he looked away.
“So, Vyakhya beta, you came into the staffroom during eighth period yesterday?” asked Alka ma’am, the vice principal.
“Yes, ma’am. I forgot something in my Hindi notebook that I had submitted.”
“We wouldn’t have called you if the CCTV worked. Now, tell us—who was in the staffroom when you went in?”
“When I went in, the room was empty, ma’am.”
“Before or after? Did you see anyone? A junior said she saw these three idiots bickering outside yesterday.”
Vyani’s eyes flicked to Ayaan. His face was unreadable, but his eyes flashed—was it warning? Fear? Guilt? Hard to tell.
“It’s okay. Tell us,” the teacher urged.
This time ayaan glared, he glared the harmless glare but his feet took a Little step towards her unconsciously, just a small step a small displacement and-
“Raghav! Mam it was raghav who was inside the staffroom” Vyani sputed before even thinking about what she was saying.
All eyes turned to Raghav, who shook his head fiercely.
“No, ma’am. She’s lying. I didn’t steal anything.” He pleaded
Ayaan’s expression flickered — surprise, then that familiar smirk as he saw her defend him.
Not a coincidence. She was protecting him.
Blaming someone else to save him, right?
“We’ll see if you stole it or not. Everyone else, back to your classrooms. Raghav, stay. Bring your backpack here.”
“But ma’am, I didn’t—”
“Didn’t you hear?” the vice principal interrupted sharply.
Vyani and the two others walked out, barely halfway down the hall when Nishkarsh burst into loud laughter, smiled at Vyani, and his hand on Ayaan's shoulder.
Both, following her with chuckling , and that same unshakable smirk on Ayaan's face.
“Raghav? Ugh such a eww guy, I can never, he said, voice low, chuckling deep.
Vyani clenched her fists.
She had no reason to cover for him.
But she did.
Why?
Suddenly he came forward, standing right behind her, towering from behind her and said again in that same sharky voice
“It wasn't me right? It can never be me” he chuckled before high-fiving with Nishkarsh as they both walked back to their respective classes.
Vyani stood frozen, her mind a mess, didn't she had to fix the apoorva’s problem and save the world she was actually in a way bigger mess than this but this one was physically, way too physically.
119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qC2dYRfyT
119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45oKw8aU4U
119Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6Fk56wliI
and then Add to home screen.