I Need A Bottle of Bleach please

Adah's P.O.V.

I felt warm sunlight on my face. I tried to open one eye, but it was stuck together with tears. I rubbed my eyes and finally opened them. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 4:15 AM. I still had four more hours before I needed to get up for classes, so I tried to go back to sleep. But I couldn't. All the thoughts I tried to bury last night came flooding back.

I needed a distraction, so I took my laptop and logged into my emails. I saw two new messages requesting the removal of spy cam videos. I got to work, and in about an hour, I had taken down both videos from many websites.

I still had some time before my classes, so I prepared for them by doing some revisions and scrolling through my phone. When I opened Instagram, I got a notification that almost made me think I read it wrong. It was a friend request from Tamas, sent just 20 minutes ago. How did he even get my ID? It's not like it's just my name; my ID says "ADASAURAOUS." I decided to ignore it. We weren't friends or even acquaintances. As I was about to charge my phone, I saw an SMS from an unknown number: "Stop doing that if you don't want to be dragged into this." As soon as I read the message, I felt my blood drain from my face. Someone knew what I had been doing. I hoped it was a joke, but deep down, I knew it wasn't because when I tried tracking the number I couldn't.

I tried to push the negative thoughts out of my mind and got ready for classes. I went to the kitchen to find breakfast and saw my mom cooking. She glanced at me and asked, 'Did he beat you?' Without looking at her, I replied coldly, 'Why do you care?' Even I was surprised by the iciness in my voice. I felt nothing for them no respect, no empathy, no love. Just a void. I grabbed a few biscuits and left for my classes. On the train, I felt someone's eyes on me. Trying to shake off the paranoia, I forced myself to ignore it, though the uneasy feeling lingered.

When I entered the campus, I saw a group cheering for someone in the middle. I decided to go to the library to return some books, but Hiya pulled me into the group. There he was, with Aaryan and Abhi, competing to see how many push-ups they could do in 5 minutes. Hiya and I screamed to support Aaryan and Abhi, but they both gave up before 3 minutes. Tamas kept going, and the cheers grew louder. Our eyes met briefly, and we looked away quickly. After 5 minutes, Aishwarya ran to Tamas and kissed his cheek, stinging pain pierced my heart, but I ignored it. As I walked to my classes with Hiya, who was bickering, I couldn't stop thinking about our brief eye contact. Why was my mind making such a big deal out of it?

In class, Abhi and Aaryan entered with their gazes fixed on the ground, making us burst into laughter. Then I realized Siya wasn't there. Hiya said she had a fever, so I decided to message her after classes.

By 1:00 PM, our classes were over, and we decided to go to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I suddenly remembered I needed to change my ID card picture. I told everyone to wait for me at the restaurant and that I would catch up with them later. I rushed to the office, where I was informed the Photography Club would take my picture. I messaged Aishwarya but decided to go anyway when she didn't respond.

After what seemed like an hour, I found the club room. It was empty, as most students had already gone home. I knocked but got no response, so I opened the door. I wished it had been locked. There was Aishwarya, semi-naked on the table, with Tamas between her legs. They turned to see me, horror on Aishwarya's face, but Tamas stayed neutral. My first instinct was to slam the door shut and shout a string of apologies.

After a minute or two, Aishwarya called, "You can come inside, Adah. I'm decent now." I wanted to run, but running wouldn't change anything. I kept my head down and entered, saying, "I messaged you that I was dropping by." She nodded and asked me to fill out a form, then left to set up the room for my pictures.

I didn't want to be in the same room as Tamas after seeing their intimate moment. I felt disgusted and wanted to throw up. What irritated me most was the little ache in my heart.

"You look good in the picture. Why do you want to change it?" Tamas said, irritated. He was still shirtless, twirling my ID card. I snatched it from him and said, "None of your business," making him smirk. "Why didn't you accept my friend request?" he asked, smirking. "I accept friend requests only from people who are friends, not strangers," I replied. His smirk grew wider, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Or did your boyfriend tell you not to accept requests from handsome men?" Before I could respond, Aishwarya called my name. I gathered my belongings and left without a second glance. Tamas hit a nerve I didn't know existed.

After my pictures were taken, I met up with my friends. After lunch, I headed home and messaged Siya to check on her. She called, sobbing, and I immediately went into protective mode. I let her calm down and asked softly, "What happened? Are you okay?" She said in a thick voice, "Adah, I don't know what to do. Many intimate videos with my ex are uploaded on different websites. I'm getting messages from people threatening to rape me. I'm so scared. I haven't told anyone, not even my parents or the police. Please help me." I calmed her down and told her to email all the details to my "friend" who could help.

At home, I locked myself in my room and opened my laptop. I saw an email from Siya, but the morning's threat loomed over me, making my hand freeze mid-air.