Chapter 4

"Get the chapathis soon. See, people are waiting.." screamed Mr.Ramesh, our mess' head officer.
He was also the father of one of my ex-classmates Sonali. Sadly, Sonali died a couple of years ago, and ever since that incident, Avantika, Shreyas and I, the three of us who studied with his daughter, had become extremely special to him.

So, as we entered the mess, he exclaimed in delight, "Welcome my kids! How are you'll? Long time since I saw you'll last. What a pleasant surprise!!"
"Hello uncle, Avantika is into some kind of a problem. So now I don't think she would be in any kind of a mood to chat", said Shreyas.
Ramesh uncle nodded his head and went away to get the chapathis.

I took a seat by the window of the mess with Avantika getting seated opposite me. I asked her what went wrong and why Shalini died. She replied with a "How are you?"
That swept me off my feet. Man, my girl hadn't lost herself in the one and a half years I didn't know her.
"I'm doing ok. How are you?"
"I am good. Missed you all the while? I was obviously angry with you for what I did. But, you could have approached me."
*Fool, I know the number of nights I spent on Sharav lawns, trying to catch a gaze of you.* "I'm sorry! Now, let's back to the matter. Why did Shalini die? Do you have any idea?"
"I don't know. But, I'm pretty sure there is someone behind it."
"You mean to say.. "
"Yeah, she didn't die. She was killed!! Someone has planned her killing."
"Your sure? Why would someone want to kill an innocent kid like Shalini?"
"I don't know, but someone did!!"
This was when I heard Shreyas screaming for help. I rushed there, when I saw him in a marsh of water. The marsh of water behind Sharav lawns were one green place, and Shreyas had his white shirt greened.. He was supposedly pushed into it, and by whom? He didn't know. As I brought him back to the mess, Avantika was missing. I called her cellphone. It was switched off. Something was wrong!!