As Rahul stepped
inside the house, he saw his father glaring at him with anger in his eyes.
After a moment, Rahul realized that a neighbour had come to complain to his
father. The neighbour claimed that Rahul had scratched his beloved scooter with
his bicycle while it was parked outside. Rahul, however, had no memory of such
an incident. He’d been consumed by the tension of his results all morning and
couldn’t even recall touching the neighbour’s scooter.
Rahul said, “I haven’t even touched Mr.
Sharma’s scooter!” He then asked,
“Where’s the evidence?”
As soon as he
said that, and as all this was happening, a sweet 18-year-old girl stepped out
from the crowd and said, "I’m the one who scratched it. Sorry, it happened
because of me." The
whole crowd turned towards the girl, and Rahul also turned, anger flashing in
his eyes. She was Pallavi, Mr. Sharma's niece.
Rahul's father
asked, "Who is she?"
Pallavi had just
recently moved here. She had only been living here for a few days. She was so
shy that she didn’t speak much to anyone.
After seeing
Pallavi, Rahul's anger melted away and changed into calmness, like cool ice.
Mr. Sharma asked,
"Pallavi, you scratched my scooter?"
"Yes, uncle.
Sorry for that, it's my fault," she replied.
Mr. Sharma looked at Rahul’s father and
apologized, then turned to Pallavi and apologized on her behalf to everyone.
Just as they were about to say something more, everyone’s phones buzzed with
messages. Everyone started checking their phones.
“Result published!” Rahul said.