Spice and Solace

Chapter 19 - The Big March On Stonehenge

I was in English class with Nisha, and it was 9:55–exactly five minutes before our scheduled walkout.

Nisha and I kept glancing at each other, then our phones to see the time. I watched as the time went from 9:56, to 9:57, to 9:58. Suddenly, Mr. Black Bear, my English teacher, walked up to our desks.

"It's time," Mr. Black Bear smirked at us, fist bumping Nisha, then me, as we grinned and got up. And yes, Mr. Black Bear was in on the walkout.

All the students in class saw Mr. Black Bear encourage Nisha and I to begin, and they got up. Jason, a guy who sits in the back, even pulled out a large poster from his backpack, decorated with rainbow glitter and stickers of soccer balls and everything that boldly spelled out "Justice for Riyaj."

Tears gathered in my eyes.

Without a word, the whole class walked out of class and into the hallway, and we noticed that the neighboring class also followed suit.

Adrenaline buzzed through my veins as I saw more and more and more students walking out. Our plan had worked. Some teachers were screaming in surprise, attempting to restrain us (which didn't work because the amount of students kept multiplying and multiplying), but some teachers were marching with us too. Which was something I never expected.

"RIYAJ! RIYAJ! JUSTICE FOR RIYAJ! RIYAJ! RIYAJ! JUSTICE FOR RIYAJ!" someone loudly chanted, and everyone soon started following suit.

Soon, the hallway was an explosion of colors–of chanting students and pride flags and "Say No To Racism" flags and soccer balls. Someone even spread holi powder all over himself. Students from different halls from all around the school paraded out in loud, bold colors.
It was absolutely breathtaking.

The energy in the hallway was electric as more and more students poured out of classrooms, joining our growing procession. The school was an explosion of color. Nisha and I linked arms, feeling a sense of pride for organizing this whole thing, helping Riyaj and standing up against racism with our peers as we marched forward.

As we made our way through the crowded hallway, we spotted Asifa and Raj ahead, their faces alight with determination, joy and everything in between. We hurried to catch up with them, exchanging quick nods of encouragement before falling into step beside them.

"Can you believe this?" Nisha exclaimed, her voice filled with awe. "Look at everyone coming together for Riyaj."

"It's incredible," I agreed, feeling a swell of pride in my chest. "This is exactly what I was hoping for."

Raj flashed us a grateful smile, his eyes shining with emotion. But... something didn't look right. His dark circles were so thick they looked like bruises, and he looked tired and disheveled, as if he didn't sleep at night. But all he said was "I'm so glad that Riyaj is finally getting the justice he deserves."

"You okay?" I asked Raj, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

Raj nodded stiffly, as if he was trying to convince me he's fine but he's really not. "I'm good. I just had a... rough night yesterday."

"Same here," I replied, and Raj and I gave each other a comforting hug.

"I'm just glad that we could do this for Riyaj," Raj told me as I nodded.

"Yeah. Poor guy," I agreed. "He only moved here a month ago and he's already facing all this. He doesn't deserve this at all."

"I won't let him suffer," Raj said out into the distance, a look of steely resolve on his face.

Before I could respond, a commotion up ahead caught my attention. A group of students had gathered around a projector screen in the center of the cafeteria, their voices rising in confusion.

"What's going on?" I muttered, exchanging a worried glance with Nisha.

Suddenly, the projector screen had turned on, showing a video of Asifa and Amir.

"Amir, it's not that," Asifa said on the projector as my jaw dropped to the floor in absolute shock. "I just wish that I was with Riyaj. Instead of Raj."

"Eventually he'll find out what he's missing. Let's do something about this," Amir told her as gasps and shouts occurred all around me. I was in so much shock that I didn't even figure out how to react. I turned to Asifa, who was standing in complete shock, her mouth hung open as she stared at the projector.

"Is this true?" Raj's voice suddenly came, and Nisha and I whipped around to see Raj facing Asifa. "Did you post that picture of me and Riyaj?"

Asifa gasped, her jaw quivering. "N-no, Raj, I swear I didn't-"

"I thought you were my friend," Raj shouted, and all eyes turned to face us. "I trusted you. I wholeheartedly trusted you. And in return... you ruined my life!"

Tears spilled down Asifa's cheeks. "No, Raj, please believe me. I swear I didn't do it. I would never do that to you. I swear on Allah. I–"

Raj only stormed off, parting through the crowd, Nisha running after him, as I stood there, completely dumbfounded. My mind raced with a flurry of thoughts, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" I asked Asifa, my voice trembling with concern as I reached out to touch her shoulder.

Asifa turned to me, tears falling down her cheeks. "Shruti, I swear I didn't do it," she pleaded, her words choked with emotion. "I would never betray Raj like that. You have to believe me."

"I do believe you," I assured her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I know you would never do something like that. But we need to figure out who did."

"Amir and I were at the mosque in that video. We were talking about my stupid crush on Riyaj. It was taken completely out of context. When Amir said "we need to do something about this,", it was about finding me a new guy to like. And the "i wish I was with Riyaj" and the "instead of Raj" things were edited together which I never said in that way. But someone recorded our conversation and mashed words together. Someone recorded my brother and I, Shruti. Someone was spying on us."

Both of us fell silent at how dire the situation was.

"We need to find out who's behind this," I replied, anger surging through my veins. "We can't let them get away with ruining your reputation and trying to tear us apart."

"What do you mean, 'trying'?" Asifa slumped. "Raj hates me. I thought he'd know me. I thought he'd know I'd never do something like that. Turns out I'm just mistaken."

"Hey," I softly said. "Raj'll come around. I know it."

Asifa nodded. "Yeah. I'm just hurt he didn't believe me."

"He's hurting too, Asifa," I replied, my voice filled with empathy. "We all are. But we'll get through this together. And when the truth comes out, he'll see that you've been nothing but a true friend to him."

Asifa sniffled, wiping away her tears. "Thanks, Shruti. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Hey, that's what friends are for," I said with a reassuring smile. "Now let's focus on finding out who's behind this. We won't rest until we uncover the truth and set things right."

"But how, though? Asifa quivered. "Where do we start? How do we even go about this?"

I looked to the front and saw teachers and administration gathering everyone and corralling them back to class. So much for a damn walkout.

"We could start by gathering any evidence we can find," I suggested, my mind racing with possibilities. "We'll comb through social media, talk to students who were at the scene, and see if anyone has any information about who might have tampered with the projector."

Asifa nodded, her determination returning. "That sounds like a plan. Let's split up and cover more ground. We'll regroup later and compare intel."

Asifa and I set off to unravel the mystery behind the damning video, determined to clear her name and expose the truth. And I would not rest until everything was sorted out.