25 - STAIRCASE ROMANCE AND CORRIDOR WAR
Next Day at School -
Aashvi (arms crossed, eyes blazing): If you don't stay away from that overripe papaya named Khushi, I SWEAR on my TikTok streak—I'm telling my sister EVERYTHING about you two and your shady little love saga!
Pranjal (flipping imaginary hair): Oh please, go ahead! Tell her! You've already leaked more gossip than a nosy aunt at a wedding! What's left? You want to print pamphlets now? And FYI—she likes me, not the other way around. So how is that my fault?
Aashvi (annoyed As Fuck): Shut up, liar! You totally like her too! That's why you keep annoying her, pulling her hair like it's some medieval flirting tactic, and sitting so close you two could share one oxygen molecule!
Pranjal (grinning): Why do you care so much when I talk to her? Hmmm?
Aashvi: EXCUSE ME?! Me? Jealous? Of that dried-up lizard with extra attitude and no personality? Puh-lease! That girl acts like every moment is a sad music video and she's the tragic heroine begging for sympathy like it's free pani puri!
Pranjal: I just wish you said this to her face. I'd grab popcorn and enjoy the Royal Rumble – Corridor Edition.
Aashvi: Don't worry, sweetheart! I will give her a live performance soon. But first—I'll spill the staircase romance truth to my sister!
Pranjal (nervous blink): WHAT staircase romance?!
Aashvi (dramatic slow-motion flashback voice): Don't play dumb! I saw it with my own two beautiful eyes! You, standing like a budget K-drama hero, hand against the wall, Khushi trapped like a helpless side character! Your faces were so close, I swear if she inhaled, she'd suck your entire soul out through your nose! Oxygen and carbon dioxide were having a full-on romantic duet!
Pranjal (panicking slightly): If you open your mouth in front of Sanvi, I swear I'll delete your contact and block you in real life. I'll back off from her too—just decide if you still want me to talk to you! Happy now?
Aashvi (fake crying voice): Oh wow, betrayal! And now that mole-faced bat is glaring at me like I stole her snacks!
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Meanwhile, Sanvi During Lunch Break…
Sanvi (in her head, pacing like a detective): What on Earth is going on between these two circus monkeys and that discount K-pop extra Khushi?! I've had enough! I'm going straight to her class. I don't care if Pranjal likes her or if she's stuck to him like a leech on summer vacation. If she opens her mouth, I'm pulling her hair like it's a dying bitch and tossing her down the corridor! Period. Peace out, patience!
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*Sanvi marches into her sister's class like a warrior queen. Background music: Dhintana dhintanaaa…
Sanvi (smiling sweetly like a serial killer): Hey, sorry to interrupt your "silent film," but can someone kindly point out who Khushi is?
Pranjal and Aashvi internally scream louder than a fire alarm. Meanwhile, Khushi beams like she just won the lottery.
Khushi (angelic voice): Hi! That's me! Do you need something, cutie?
Sanvi (gritting teeth under her smile): Oh, no no… just wanted a friendly chat. Girl to girl.
Khushi: Ooh, sure! Let's go somewhere private. Just the two of us.
Sanvi: Perfect. Let's find a place with more mosquitoes than morals.
Pranjal and Aashvi were staring at them like two kids being marched into the principal's office to check their exam results—knowing damn well they didn't just flunk the test, they practically used the answer sheet as toilet paper. Their souls had already left their bodies, and the only thing left was regret
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At the "Secret" Spot (which has 10 mosquitoes per square inch)
Sanvi (ready to strike): So. Tell me the truth. Do you like Pranjal?
Khushi (rolling her eyes): Yes, duh! Got a problem? And for your information, he came to me first! So obviously I caught feelings. Tell your clingy koala of a sister to back off. She's always showing up like Pranjal's shadow on a sugar rush!
Sanvi (offended royal voice): Watch your tongue, lady! What exactly has my sister done?
Khushi (fake laugh like a villainess in a serial): What has she NOT done?! Ask what all she hasn't let Pranjal do. He's already squeezed her boobs like stress balls—they're nice and bouncy too, by the way. And she's always jumping around him like a Bollywood backup dancer. Obviously things are gonna bounce! I don't know if she wants attention or just enjoys a public display of physics!
Sanvi's brain stops functioning.
Sanvi (calm but deadly): That's enough. Leave. I don't want to hear another word from you.
Khushi (flipping hair): Fine. I've said what I had to do. Toodles!
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Sanvi (talking to herself, fuming): Since I came to this school, this horny cockroach has turned my peace into a horror show. How can someone be this fake AND popular? Like—what is her skincare routine? Devil's blood and lies?
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Back in Class
Khushi struts in like a villain entering the final scene of a daily soap.
Khushi (to herself): And look at Pranjal and Aashvi—eyes wide open like I just smacked their family secrets onto a projector! But I'm done explaining. No more words. No more excuses. It's ACTION TIME, bitches !!
SANVI'S ROOM – NIGHT.
The lights are dim. A storm brews outside, thunder rumbling faintly. Sanvi stands near the window, staring into the dark, her voice calm—but laced with exhaustion.
SANVI (softly, to herself):
"I'm tired… so damn tired. Of all this drama… the lies… the pretending. None of it matters anymore. In a few months, I'll be gone—far from here. Far from them... I need to start ignoring him now. Whatever game he's playing, let him play it alone. I'm done being the audience."
A knock at the door. Aashvi enters quietly, holding an envelope in her hand.
AASHVI (hesitant):
"This... this is from Pranjal. He wanted you to have it."
Sanvi turns slowly, eyes locking on the letter like it's poison. Her voice is ice-cold.
SANVI:
"Another sorry letter? How original."
(She grabs it without hesitation, pulls out the previous one from her drawer, and without a second thought—
sets them both on fire. The flames dance in her eyes as the paper crumbles to ash.)
AASHVI (startled):
"Sanvi—"
SANVI (cutting her off):
"Don't. Say. A word. Whatever happened between you and Khushi—whatever snakepit drama that was—I want no part in it."
AASHVI (defensive, hurt):
"You don't understand—"
SANVI (laughs bitterly):
"Oh, but I do. Why would you care about my words when your real interest was Pranjal squeezing your chest on the staircase like a cheap thrill?"
Aashvi's face turns ghostly pale. Her mouth opens but no words come. She looks down—ashamed, humiliated.
SANVI (stepping closer, voice cold and lethal):
"I don't need your excuses. I don't need your guilt. And most of all—I don't need him."
Aashvi turns and walks away silently, her footsteps barely making a sound—like she wanted to disappear.
Sanvi exhales sharply, opens her phone, and with a blank expression—
deletes everything connected to Pranjal.
Every message. Every photo. Every memory.
Gone.
She stares at the blank screen for a moment. And then, finally, smiles—
not with happiness—
but with freedom.
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