Page 47 of Born in Sin

The first day of eleventh grade was chaos. Celina dropped her bags off beside her bed in the twin sharing room she had. Her roommate was nowhere to be seen. She wondered who would be assigned and really hoped it was someone she could be friends with. God forbid, she got stuck with someone like Mayukhi Chatterjee!

She left the room and wandered down the corridor, smiling at classmates who were checking room allotment lists and searching for their names. She wandered out of the building and towards the mess hall.

“Celina!”

She turned to see Majid walking towards her, a very pretty girl with a very bored expression trailing behind him.

“Hi,” Celina grinned. “Did you get science like you wanted?”

Majid grimaced. “Commerce. My math marks were a little lower than I’d expected. Pretty sure the examiner was drunk when he graded it.”

Celina raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly. “Math is literally the only subject which has right or wrong answers. Even if the examiner was stoned, he would still not get it wrong.”

Something flashed in Majid’s eyes, something weird, his expression changing for the barest instant. Then it was gone and Celina wondered if she’d imagined it. He smiled, gesturing the bored girl beside him forward.

“This is my cousin Ameera. She starts at Crestwood this year. She’s also picked Arts so you guys will be in the same classes.”

“Hi.” Celina smiled at the new girl. “Welcome to Crestwood.”

A slight sneer touched the girl’s lips. But she just nodded and looked away, clearly not interested in Celina’s attempt at conversation.

From the direction of the school gardens, she saw three familiar faces approach. A squeal of happiness escaped her and she ran, forgetting all about Majid and his snooty cousin.

Virat caught sight of her first, a smile to rival her own crossing his face. Amay raised a hand in greeting and even Ishaan managed to look pleased to see her. She came to a stumbling halt in front of them.

“Hello.” It was the most redundant greeting in the history of greetings. She turned to face Ishaan and Amay, automatically moving closer to Virat. His hand brushed against hers, his pinky finger hooking around hers, a gentle caress but one that had her entire soul sighing. She was home, back where she belonged, beside him.

“So, science huh?” she teased, looking up at Virat’s handsome face. “More Math with Mohan Sir? Why wouldn’t you have avoided that when you had the chance?”

“Mohan Sir quit,” Amay answered. “Didn’t you hear?”

“Really? Why?”

She dug an elbow into Virat’s side when he didn’t answer immediately. He shrugged. “Probably got a better job,” he murmured, but there was something in his voice that told her he wasn’t telling her everything.

“Majid looks pissed,” Amay commented, drawing her attention away from Virat. “Who pissed in his protein shake?”

“Who’s the girl with him?” Ishaan chimed in, curiously.

“Ameera, his cousin,” Celina supplied, glancing over her shoulder to where Majid still stood. His friends had gathered around him, and it looked like Parash was hitting on Ameera already. Majid, however, was staring in their direction. His gaze locked with Celina’s the minute she looked their way. She raised her hand in a hesitant wave, but he turned away, deliberately giving her his back.

“What’s that about?” Ishaan frowned. “You piss the snake off in some way, Celina?”

She flushed, still watching Majid ignore her. “I was talking to him and then I saw you guys,” she mumbled, scuffing the front of her shoe into the dirt. “I might have run off without ending the conversation.”

“Saw us or saw Vir?” Ishaan teased.

“Shut up Ish.” Celina and Virat snapped at the same time. But her heart wasn’t in the banter. Her worried gaze went to Majid’s stiff back in the distance. Majid had always been a good friend to her. She knew the guys didn’t like him but that was only because they didn’t see the side of Majid that she did. He was a good guy. She knew he was and now she felt bad about having been rude to him. She’d apologise to him later. For now, she was just going to bask in the joy of being back at Crestwood, with Virat.

But as she watched Majid and his friends walk away a strange sense of unease rippled through her. She shivered, rubbing her arms where goosebumps erupted. Something felt off. She just didn’t know what.

Chapter Eighteen

CARA

Cara sat in her chair, in one corner of the set, her director walking her through the next scene. Her attention, however, was on the people who’d just walked through the door at the far end of the space.

Naveen and his wife led the way, followed by Parash and his second trophy wife. Ashish sauntered in with his girlfriend and finally Majid stepped into view, a beautiful woman beside him. Ameera.

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