#EXPOSED

Prologue.

'Hashtag Exposed'

Maira.

I press my finger against the key fob and hear my car lock before I skate towards the college building and push past the old oak doors to reveal a hallway crawling with dumbfucks. What's-her-name eyes me and chats with her friend-as if that's not something I'm already used to. If you were a part of Caliber Sigma University and all the jazz that follows the elite, you'd wonder how to make it past a single day. No gossip is real if not sensationalized and that's just another way of living around this prestigious university in South Mumbai.

"I would've bought you some flowers for moral support." Some random junior winks at me as I move against the flow of students heading to the first floor, wondering what the fuss is all about. Damn. I hate him. I flip my middle finger and he roars a laugh, passing a dismissive wave as I make my way to the ladies'.

"Asshole," I mutter as I yank the door open to the ladies' room. My best friends are already here, and I pause to take them in. Not exactly the kind of faces I was hoping to see. Okay...

"Where in the hell were you?" Ella fires as I shut the door.

"In the living room of my house until half—"

"Did you even check your phone?" Sam shoots, crossing her arms and Ella rolls her perfectly made eyes.

I shake my head slowly. "Not yet," I mutter and narrow my eyes on them. "I was caught up with so much this morning and Mom is breathing down my neck for some silk dress she thinks I need to buy for—" I shut up as I look at Vaanya trudge out of one of the stalls and collects paper towels from the paper towel dispenser. "Why is she crying?" I croak as I walk past the girls to her and she wipes the streaked mascara from her cheeks.

Upon noting a no response from her, I turn to face the girls. "What the fuck is going on?"

Ella crosses her arms and taps her feet against the tiled floor. "Where's your phone?"

"What does my phone have to do with any of it?" I look at them once more and can't picture a reason for them to act so bizarrely. "Fine," I huff and unlock my phone to check the updates.

Ella.

"Who—how—what the fuck?" Maira snarls under her breath and Vaanya sniffles as she pivots on her heels to face us.

I snatch her phone from her hands. "Somebody is trying to punk us."

"But why would anyone do that to us?" Sam asks as I face the mirror and fish my lip gloss out of my satchel.

"To scare us of course," I say in a matter-of-factly tone. We are the best and the brightest-if that isn't already a reason, I can't imagine what is. "It just makes me sad that I'm missing piano classes for this charade."

"I can't believe everyone knows..." Vaanya whispers softly as I glide the wand over my lips.

"And how are you so cool about this?" Maira asks coldly as I turn to face her and drop my gloss back in my satchel. "In my experience, you should be freaking out more than any of us. What would Aagnay think?"

"That's because I'm not stupid enough to break down in college," I say with a straight face. I can go berserk all I want after classes but not here-not in front of whoever this moron is. He—she—they can't have the satisfaction of wrecking a havoc on my love life. I won't let that happen. "I'll deal with Aagnay," I say and the girls stare at me alarmingly. "Later."

"So that explains why these fuckers were acting so weird when I got here," Maira fidgets with her lip piercing thoughtfully.

Vaanya sighs. "Look guys, I really have to go."