Chapter Three

BETRAYAL

Chapter three

As everyone else was outside having a pleasant Sunday and sharing the joy of the lord. Joy was in bed wallowing in sadness dreading waking up to nothingness. She had suddenly lost the will to live. She had never been one to be put down by circumstances. She kept telling herself this was different, that this was extreme and way beyond her limits. She was done and couldn't face this kind of life.

Sunday went by so slowly and she waited for her friends to come and tell her what happened. She had no idea how she had become a prey in a midst of hundreds of other students. just this one limelight and it was already feeling stained. Someone must have seen something. But who was that someone and how was she going to identify them?

She was extremely hopeless. Her studies never meant anything anymore unless justice was done to her. But what kind of justice yet she did not even report the incident in the first place. So many thoughts ran in her mind and they all led to pure negativity and much more pain. One thing she dreaded was how she would go back to school the next day and act like nothing happened. No, she just couldn't do it. But what if the answers she was searching for would be found just at school?

So much thoughts crossed her mind but at the end of it all, one thing was certain. She had to find justice, AT ANY COST. She resolved. She had lost all that she ever cared for, so what more could she lose anyway? She had struggled to secure her place in that campus and she wasn't ready to let that go to waste. In fact, if anything, she would suppress her pain and shine more so that her enemies would be more envious. She was not one to give up so easily and she wasn't ready to let them have it just like that. There will be a fight to the end and its going to get messy and definitely with casualties. They wanted war, and it is war they will get.

She stood up though with difficulty. Went to the kitchen to look for something to eat. And just like they sensed the war was under control her friends arrived smelling of bhang and giggling like idiots. When they saw Joy, they almost froze. Like they expected a different kind of welcoming look, probably that of misery. But Joy wore a face of total control like everything was fine. In other occasions their arrival would have been different, a jovial Joy would have welcomed them for a cup of coffee or would have rushed to the kitchen to bring cakes she had tried to bake following the google recipe and procedures, but today was different. There was something unusually unpleasant. So, Vida finally decided to break the silence with fake praises.

"Hello there beauty queen!" she went to hug her.

Joy could sense that the hug was cold and this only alerted her the more. Were her friends involved with her misfortunes? But she had never treated her badly, so why the sudden coldness. She however decided to play their game too.

"Hello" she simply answered.

Then there followed silence and Ivy was uneasy. On noticing this, Vida pinched her secretly to do the same. Joy noticed the signal and she was now certain that something was up. She however still pretended as the two friends acted weirdly in front of her.

"No surprise for us today?" Vida asked feigning surprise

"Unfortunately, I didn't do anything today, sorry" joy replied looking from one to the other.

"Well, am tired and am sure Ivy is tired too. We will just head to our rooms to freshen up before bed. I guess it's a good night then. See you tomorrow" Vida said. All along Ivy was just staring at Joy to gauge her reactions. But Joy gave her none of it. She was totally in control.

"Goodnight" she simply replied. On normal occasions she would have asked them to stay and chat, but not today.

Vida and ivy, silently walked to their respective rooms, wondering what was in Joy's mind.