Page 22 of Reckless Hate

Her first class was advanced chemistry. After her class was done, she walked towards her locker to place her books inside before heading to her next class when she saw a handwritten note stuck on the top of her locker.

SLUT. Get out of Simha.

For a split moment, she wondered if it was Ved, but she knew it couldn’t be him. The handwriting looked feminine, and from what she knew about her former best friend, he wasn’t the kind to do things secretly. He was more of an in-your-face confrontational type of person.

Maybe he has changed.

She didn’t know for sure. So, she pulled up her phone and took a picture of the note before pulling off the note. Crumpling it, she threw it in the trash can opposite the lockers.

Ignoring the note and everyone else staring at her, she continued with her day.

It was late in the afternoon when she went to tennis practice being held at the central sports arena, where several other game practices took place as well. She walked past the badminton courts and the cheerleading practice to get to the tennis courts.

It was three hours of brutal practice with close to a dozen games. But at the end of it, she felt energized.

“That was wonderful, Samantha!” the Eagles tennis coach said with excitement. He turned to another man. “What do you think, Ravi?”

The other man smiled. “You were right. I think Samantha might be a strong contender to represent Simha this year.”

The Eagles coach turned to her. “Ravi is the head coach for tennis at Simha. I was telling him about you. The final pick leagues will begin in a few weeks. Although we have a list ready, we will add you to it.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

Samantha nodded in acknowledgement at both the coaches before heading to the sports recreation building to take a quick shower. The weather was slightly humid that day, and she didn’t want to wait until she got to her housing unit to wash off.

The recreation building was quite busy. With selections coming up in a few weeks, everyone was training to get selected.

Following the directions to the closest women’s shower area, she placed her bag on a wooden bench before grabbing the towel and heading to one of the empty shower stalls.

The hot, steamy water washed away the tiredness from the multiple games, but her mind didn’t relax. Thoughts of Ved Simha and what he was possibly planning crept into her mind even as she tried hard to block them.

Stop thinking of him! He’s no one to you now.

She forcibly pushed thoughts of Ved away from her mind and instead thought about what the family lawyer said during the last call.

Rinsing her body and washing away the soap, she turned off the shower and dried herself with a fluffy towel she hung inside the shower room. The towel was thick, fluffy and luxurious. Wrapping it around her body, she stepped out.

When she reached the wooden bench, she frowned. Her clothes bag was missing. She looked around to see if anyone had moved it, but it couldn’t be seen anywhere.

“Not so smart now, aren’t you?” a familiar girl’s voice said in a mocking tone.

Samantha turned to see Keya Gupta and her minions standing in the changing room dressed in their cheerleading attire.

“Did you take my clothes?” Samantha asked calmly.

Keya smirked. “What clothes?” She looked at her minions. “Do you know what clothes she is talking about, girls?”

The minions shook their heads.

That’s when Samantha knew Keya was the one to write SLUT and stick it on her locker earlier that day.

“Return my clothes, Keya,” she said calmly.

Keya laughed. “Well, if I didn’t take your clothes, how can I return them?”

Samantha looked around. “My clothes are missing,” she announced. “Can I borrow any of yours?”

Some of the girls were about to offer her, but Keya intervened. “No Don’t give her anything! Ved took her clothes. She insulted him and he wants her to suffer. If you help her, it's going against Ved Simha.”

---