Amara thought she was alone in the school library when she heard a soft thud behind her. Turning around, she saw her classmate, Rahul, searching for a book on the bookshelf, and accidentally, he dropped his notebook over there. Sensing Amara’s gaze, he made a sorry sign, thinking she got disturbed by his presence. But for Amara, it was the best sight, as he was her crush, a one-sided love. She was constantly seeing his movements, without sensing that he had approached near her to sit on a chair next to Amara’s. She felt her cheeks blushing and an adrenaline rush. She couldn’t focus on her notebook anymore, so she decided to use this opportunity and started a conversation with him.
“So, ready to win tomorrow’s interschool quiz?” Rahul teased.
“Kiara is unwell.” Amara sighed. Her bestie got into another silly bet with her brother and ate too many ice creams. “I’m sure you and Sushant will bring the trophy this time.”
“He slipped outside the washroom and sprained his ankle,” Rahul murmured, glaring at his notebook.
“Shall we team up?” Amara blurted and blushed.
“But… you don’t mind…? I mean… you talk only to Kiara…”
Amara winced. “I’m an introvert.”
Moreover, they were the sole proprietors of the thriving AK Detective Agency, even if their biggest case was the Mystery of the Missing Roses. Kiara did the questioning, while she made spreadsheets and analyzed the clues.
Not that she would reveal it to Rahul. Yet.
“Okay. We can.” He flashed his charming smile, and she flushed.
“Could you fetch the latest Tell Me Why? It’s at the other end.” Amara sweetly requested.
Rahul nodded and walked away. The moment he was out of sight, Amara swiftly flipped through the pages of his notebook. Her detective instinct kicked in. A boring lecture often got students doodling their secrets on the last pages.
She wasn’t wrong. Hidden behind the neat paper cover, were a bunch of little hearts, with ‘RAARA’ scrawled in each of them.
Amara’s mind worked fast, RA was Rahul. And ARA? Her heart skipped a beat. AMARA.
Had he followed her to the library? Didn’t he come to her first?
But then, it hit her like lightning.
Could it be…KIARA?
Maybe I am thinking too much, Amara told herself. Meanwhile Rahul approached with the Tell Me Why’. They both began to look for questions and answers.
Rahul opened his notebook to note down some of the important questions, but the page with the bunch of little hearts with RAARA scrawled on each of them opened up. Rahul tried to cover it quickly with the school diary. But before he could cover it up, a strange sound pierced through his ear. Amara too looked around and for a moment clutched on to Rahul’s hand as she shrieked in a shrill voice.
“Ahhh! Watch out Rahul, there is something strange inside the school library. “
Rahul stood up. “Who’s there?” But much to his disappointment, no one replied. “What did you see, Amara?’
“Uh… probably it was nothing.” Amara stammered, hoping Rahul would not notice the mangled red roses someone had dropped on the librarian’s table.
“But you said there was something strange?” Amara blushed at the sight of Rahul’s creased brows. “I’m sure it was nothing… let’s study.”
Rahul paced around a bit. Sliding into a chair next to Amara, he said, “I’ll take geography, and you can start with politics.”
But Amara wasn’t listening… she was lost in her thoughts, trying to recall the data from her excel sheets. Hiding her phone from Rahul’s view, she texted, “K, nd 2 tlk. It’s about the roses.”
Putting down her phone, she pretended to study, but she could hardly focus on anything, except that she was sitting beside her crush.
The thought that she could be ARA in Rahul’s scrawling, thrilled her to pieces. However, she was also anxious about the ‘What if’ part of it.
Juggling with these thoughts, when she glanced at Rahul, he was absolutely engrossed in the book, aggravating her doubt of she being ARA. He wouldn’t have let this splendid opportunity go in vain, had she been his ARA, thought she.
But later on, it struck her that Rahul being an introvert like her, might not have been able to muster the courage to express his love. Anyhow, she chose to cling to the rosy side of the situation.
Her mobile vibrated. It was a message from Kiara.
[Meet me @ usual place b4 going home]
Rahul was leafing through the book. Amara smiled and put the mobile back on the table, when it buzzed again.
[XOXO. 23092024]
What? When did Kiara become so lovey-dovey with her?
[Sorry. These typos. Hehehehe]
Amara rolled her eyes. Yeah! Since when did typos attain such meaningful proportions?!
Rahul closed the book, picked up his mobile, and swiped the screen. His cheeks blushed, and he continued to stare at the screen. Suddenly, he straightened up and opened the book again, but his eyes continued to dart towards his mobile.
Amara felt as if a heavy boulder had been placed on her chest. She thought of the mangled roses. God! I’ve been so blind!!!
She took out her mobile and messaged Kiara. [ Change of plans, TTYL]. Her phone vibrated [wassup]. Amara ignored Kiara’s message, flipped through her book while glancing at Rahul over the top of the book. She wondered if he was involved in any way and decided to follow him.
Her detective instincts kicked in and she cleared her throat. “Ahem, can we call it a day?”
“So soon, it isn’t 3 pm as yet?”
“Oh! I feel a little unwell, may be a bug in my stomach”. She lied.
“Ok, see you tomorrow at the finals, mate.”
Amara took pictures of the mangled roses while her eyes darted around.
Evidence, a good detective creates evidence out of clues. Humming she walked to the bike park.
The scene in the bike park left her dumbfounded.
Amara froze as she reached the bike park. Rahul’s bike was missing. In its place, lay a neatly folded note, placed on the ground. Her fingers trembled as she picked it up. She carefully opened the note.
It read, “The truth isn’t always easy, but some mysteries are worth solving. Meet me tonight, library steps, 7 PM. -R”
Her heart raced. Was this his confession? Or a trap?
***
(7pm: Library steps)
Amara noticed that Rahul was waiting there, hiding something behind his back. As he observed her approaching, he bent on his knees, revealing a rose.
He confessed, “I’ve been wanting to say, I… love you, Amara.”
Amara stood flabbergasted. Wait… then, why was Rahul blushing earlier?
She decided to confront Kiara.
Amara headed over to Kiara’s place and banged on her door.
“Ki, we need to talk” said Amara. She sat down comfortably on the couch and got straight to the point.
“Do you like Rahul??” she asked in a rather displeased tone. Kiara stared blankly at her for a moment before replying, “Amara I’ve been meaning to tell you this since forever….I think I have fallen for you.”
“WHAT????” Amara stood up from the couch in shock. “Ki….but…”
“I knew that u liked Rahul when I saw you both at the library.” “I had come there to surprise you with the missing rose and ask you out. But when I saw you with Rahul I realised that u both love each other.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Amara stood flabbergasted, her mind in turmoil. Ki loved her? What did it mean for their detective pursuits? What about their friendship? Kiara was her bestie, the one to giggle with, share secrets, crushes and hearbreaks with.
“Ha! Just look at you, standing there white as a cadaver. I was joking. I know you have a crush on Rahul. Now tell me what the two of you were doing in the library together?” Kiara teased.
Amara relaxed. She told Kiara about teaming up with Rahul for the quiz and the proposal. Kiara listened with a smile on her face, her fingers desperately kneading her thumb where the mangled rose had pricked her.
Amara left soon, all excited for the quiz the next day.
The next morning Rahul rushed to the scene after receiving an alarming message on his mobile phone and found Amara’s lifeless body surrounded by a crowd.
Kiara was accused of Amara’s murder by the CBI. The evidence included:
– A diary revealing Kiara’s obsessive feelings for Amara and her inability to accept Amara with someone else.
– A spiked drink
A year ago, Amara and Kiara, through their flawed detective findings, falsely alleged that Rahini had leaked the question papers. Unable to bear the humiliation, Rahini committed suicide.
He had given Amara the spiked bottled drink that evening. Everything happened as planned. Finally, Rahul took revenge for his girlfriend Rahini. Meanwhile, Kiara remained in the ICU.
Author Credits
Beyond the Box is the first platform in India to have conducted an Online Write-A-Thon which encourages collaborative story writing. In the months of Nov-Dec 2024, 48 participants made Season 4 of this exciting event a memorable one. They were divided into 4 groups and each participant in the group contributed to the ongoing story in 100 words approximately. The 12 writers of Team 3 (Adults) who came up with this story are: (Names mentioned in the sequence allotted to them for the Write-A-Thon. A line has been used in the story to indicate change in the writer.)
| Sequence Number | Team 4 |
| 1 | Suboohi Jafar |
| 2 | Srivalli Rekha |
| 3 | Preethi Warrier |
| 4 | Aditi Lahiry |
| 5 | Chandra Sundeep |
| 6 | Leela Satyan |
| 7 | Narayani V Manapadam |
| 8 | Umayal Subramaniam |
| 9 | Lakshmi Ajoy |
| 10 | Shrreya Ajoy |
| 11 | Sheerin Shahab |
| 12 | Sandy Kesavan |