"By the way, why did you react that way?" You're emotional but not irrational. What had actually happened that made to respond like that?" Rishi asked.
Koushik stared at his feet for a while before speaking, "This Olivia, looked somewhat like Ankita you know?"
Rishi and Bikram stayed silent. When Koushik turned to them they seemed to have woken up from their reverie.
"Yes... Now that you mentioned it, Olivia indeed looks a little similar to Ankita though. But Ankita is much shorter and has a friendly personality, unlike Olivia's cold demeanour. Olivia's also quite tall, 5'11" I think, whereas Ankita was 5'2" or about. But there can be similar looking people you know?" said Bikram.
"I know right? That's why I was so agitated because I constantly kept brooding over why Ankita would behave so unkindly to someone. She never turned her back on a helpless person. My brain got befuddled and it didn't even strike me that the person before me was someone else. I asked her many times but she ignored me each time and it made me frustrated, which I know was very stupid of me. It was like, I was thinking of Ankita in place of Olivia. I mean, I could see Olivia before me, a different person, but somehow my brain was relating everything to Ankita. Ufff! What the hell!" Koushik held his face in his hands and grumbled.
Rishi patted his shoulder in a consoling manner.
"I need to make things right. It was stupid of me to do this. I'll go to Anupam first and confirm whether Olivia was responsible for making him cry or not." Koushik dusted his pants and set off.
Bikram and Rishi looked at each other. They knew how much Koushik valued friendship and how hurt he was after learning about Ankita's departure. Although he tried to hide it behind his carefree smile, they caught him secretly looking at the Dey Villa a few times, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of her. It would not do him any good if he starts seeing Ankita in Olivia. They made a mental note to keep an eye out so that there was no repeat of that incident.
"Hey, is Anupam here?" Koushik asked.
After looking around a little, he found out that Anupam was a student in section A.
"No." Someone said.
He was about to leave when another person called out, "Are you looking for Anupam?"
Koushik nodded.
"I saw him in the library some time ago. He might be still there."
Koushik thanked them and left.
"There you are!" Koushik said, breathless.
He had been running the whole way, fearing Anupam might leave if he were late. Even after getting to the library, he had to search around the maze of shelves to finally find him. He found him seated with a thin book at the innermost corner of the library, behind the History shelf.
Anupam was startled by the raspyvoice. He stood up from his seat and looked at Koushik with a questioning gaze.
Peering at his face for a while, Anupam recognised him, "Oh... I... it's you.... tha... thanks...for sta... stan... standing up fo.. for... me th... there."
Koushik sat on a bench and patted the space beside him, inviting Anupam to sit. The latter sat down and waited for Koushik to speak.
"It's no biggie. They were in the wrong not you. But why didn't you say anything? If you don't protest they'll trample you. Fight for yourself okay?" Koushik looked at him, concerned.
Anupam smiled at his words, "The Ca... Captain als.. so... s.. said th.. the same thi... thing."
"Huh?" Koushik gave him a baffled look.
"Captain? You mean Olivia?" He asked, trying to confirm whether his ears played a trick on him.
Anupam nodded.
"What did she say?" Koushik inquired.
Anupam revealed what happened between him and Olivia after the others left.
"...a.. and I com... compla.. ained to the Pri.. incipal about th.. this matter. He s.. said he'll look in.. i.. into it and ma... make sure they get p... punished." He concluded his speech with a proud little smile.
Koushik was quiet. He was speechless.
Suddenly he said, "Wait. That means she didn't say mean things to you, right?"
Anupam shook his head cluelessly.
"Then, why were you crying?" Koushik asked.
"Oh. Th.. that." Anupam smiled and explained.
He was raised by a single parent, his mother. Her family wanted her to get married and have kids but she was not interested in marriage. She just wanted to have a child of her own, hence, she adopted Anupam. His name was also given by her and he inherited her surname. But she was diagnosed with a terminal disease two years back. And after suffering for a year, she could not hold on.
Her last words were Always stand up for yourself when you face injustice. If you don't help yourself, no one else can.
From the start, her family never saw him as their own. The little bit of discretion they maintained in expressing their dissatisfaction with his presence while his mother was alive and well, vanished completely after she became bedridden, and after her death, he was subjected to their outright bullying.
They often complained about how costly it was to raise him and how troublesome he was. Hence, he developed the habit of enduring any kind of inconvenience no matter how big or small, so that his relatives were not troubled by his problems. He was also bullied a lot in middle school for his imperfections. He tried to get help from his family in the beginning but their attitude towards his situation made him feel like a burden. Thus, he started tolerating everything silently.
"Ca.. captain s.. said the... sa... same thing. Her wo... words re... minded... me... o.. of... maa. I.. ju.. just got... e.. emotional. She a... also said th... that i... if I don't st... stand up for mys... self th... there will be many ot... others l... like me. I'll be res... ponsible for th... their s... suffering and be... become those bu... bullies' ac... acom... plice." Anupam said shyly, lowering his head and fidgeting with his fingers.