#EXPOSED

CHAPTER - 05

A smile that cries for hope.

Vaanya

I stare at the needle of the table clock as it ticks away second by second. The silence hangs heavy in the room as Saxena Sir waits for me to speak but I don't know where to begin.

"How are you feeling now that you are aware of Kunal's cause of death?" he repeats his question and I struggle to swallow the lump that's beginning to form in my throat.

I feel...furious-hurt because my friends think my boyfriend has everything to do with his death-but I can't say that out loud, can I? "It's still very hard to believe that he isn't here with us." I meet his dark gaze and he leans back to his chair.

His brows rise mildly. "Do you feel responsible?"

"Why would I feel responsible for anything?" I feel my body tense and he sighs.

"Because you could have stopped him if you knew he had a hard time dealing with substance abuse." He clasps his hand on the table.

"None of us ever knew he was into substance at all." I shrug dismissively. "He was always so outgoing we doubt he even had a personal life."

"Everyone has a personal life we know nothing about," he says and I nod to acknowledge.

I wonder why Sambhavna likes him so much. He is old and he speaks too much. It's been three days I haven't spoken with her-neither Ella for that matter since our big fight, but Maira keeps checking up on me. I'm sure she does the same for the rest of the girls but I can't stand to be with them in the same room any longer.

"But he was Maira's boyfriend. That gives us some right to such classified information on him." I mentally kick myself after saying that. I shouldn't be garnering more attention on this subject. It will only make Ranveer look worse.

I'm sure I have piqued his attention because he is looking right at me. "I suppose that's fair to say," he mutters and I look away. I should have just zipped it. "Do you think someone might have been behind it?"

"You're asking me if I think Kunal's death was no accident?" I'm so baffled, I can hardly breathe.

"I just want to know how you're navigating through this, how are you coping or if there's something the police should be looking for that you already are." Okay...he is definitely onto something. Is it even safe to talk to him about how I feel? He is CSU's counselor after all.

"It's actually a lot to process at a time," I mumble and he nods silently. "So I'm taking each detail one at a time."

"No, that's good." His eyes glint as he flashes a smile. Oh...so that's why Sambhavna likes him. He is handsome when he smiles. "You're doing the right thing." We both remain silent for another awkward beat. "Do you think someone close to you has anything to do with it?"

Aagnay without a doubt but I can't tell him that. "Um, not that I can think of." I shake my head quickly. "But it's quite strange that he out of all the people overdosed strangely."

He looks at me intently. "And how does that make you feel?"

"Why do you keep asking me the same question?" I ask acidly and he sighs audibly.

"Because your friend is dead after returning from the same party you were returning from."

I haven't been so mortified until now. "And you believe one of us have something to do with his death? You think I or my friends would actually kill him? For what possible reason?"

"Because of that column probably?" This is a thirty year old man-who not to mention is a counselor-reads the stupid gossip column? Who on earth even hired him?