Mr Dangerous

Chapter 2: Anticlimax

The sound echoed in the silence, sending a chill straight down my spine. I was terrified, my heart hammering against my ribs, but I refused to let fear break my spirit. I moved toward the sound. From the other side of the wall came strange noises - like someone was beating someone else up.

I stepped out of Room 3, and right across from me was a small, odd-looking door - probably leading to wherever that sound was coming from.

Going in there would be like walking straight into the mouth of a shark. I turned to leave - and that's when I heard the little door creak open.

The sound sent that same feeling of the ground disappearing from under my feet, but this time my body reacted before my brain could - I ducked straight into the nearest classroom and hid behind the door.

Someone stepped out of that door and started walking away. I peeked out just slightly.

It was him.

"Nepo kid," I whispered.

He stopped and dialed his phone.

"Hello," he said in that same deep voice. "Did you bury him?"

My mouth fell open. My hand flew up to cover it, and only one thought was running through my head:

Beauty is a beast

Night had fallen, and I was lying in bed with only one thought circling my head.

What should I do? Should I tell the police?

But he was a rich man's son - nothing would stick to him. If anything, he'd twist it around and have me arrested instead, bailed out before the ink even dried on the paperwork.

But I couldn't just sit here quietly either, not after learning something this big. He'd been terrorizing someone today too, and God only knew who he'd been talking about burying.

There was no version of this where I stayed silent.

And that's when a brilliant idea hit me - one you'll all find out about tomorrow morning, right along with me.

And then I fell asleep.

The Next Day

I was sitting in class, the teacher lecturing away, but my mind was entirely on my plan. Let me walk you through exactly what I'd been thinking.

I'll walk up to him and say, "Hi."

He'll try to walk past me, ignoring me completely.

"I've brought you a really good deal," I'll say.

He'll stop and look at me.

"Do I know you?" he'll ask.

"You will after today," I'll say.

Both his eyebrows will lift, impressed.

"Listen, the people here are pretty awful, so I want a shield - something to protect me from them," I'll say.

"Then go get a shield," he'll say, turning to leave.

"That's exactly what I came here to get," I'll say.

He'll stop again at that.

"This is your father's university. If I become your friend, no one will even think about messing with me," I'll tell him.

"And why would I do that?" he'll ask.

"Because in exchange, I can help you with anything you need," I'll say.

He'll laugh. "You can't help me with anything."

I'll gesture for him to lean in closer.

He'll lean his ear toward me.

"I can help you with murder too," I'll whisper.

He'll be stunned - and just like that, we'll have a deal, because burying bodies requires people, doesn't it?

And then, pretending to be his accomplice, I'll help every single person he tries to hurt - filming everything and leaking it straight to the media.

And then I'll become the hero of this whole story.

What a plan.

I was smiling to myself, lost in the fantasy, when-

"You. Stand up," the teacher said, pointing straight at me.

My smile vanished instantly and I shot to my feet.

"Care to share the joke with the rest of us?" the teacher asked.

How exactly was I supposed to explain that I was laughing because I'd just devised a master plan to save innocent people?

"Speak up," he said.

"Sorry, sir. It won't happen again," I said.

"Be more careful next time. Sit down," he said.

I sat back down, mortified.

Class ended and I was heading out when I spotted the girl I'd been meaning to befriend. I changed my path and walked toward her instead.

"Hello," I said.

She turned and looked at me.

"Oh, hello!" she said.

"You were late today," I said.

"Yeah, I was pretty exhausted yesterday," she replied.

"Yeah, fair," I said.

A few seconds of silence stretched between us.

Should I just come out and ask her to be my friend?

Maybe I should ask if she already has one.

When she says no, then I'll offer.

"Do we have the next class?" she asked.

"Next class starts in fifty minutes," I told her.

"Oh, I see," she said.

"Do you have a friend here?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said.

And there goes that entire plan.

"I see," I said.

She smiled.

"Do you?" she asked.

"No..." I admitted.

She laughed.

"You're so cute," she said.

"I know, right," I said.

"Wanna be my friend?" she asked.

"Yes!" I said, delighted.

"So what's your name?" I asked.

"Isha," she replied.

"Nice name," I said.

"Thanks. You?" she asked.

"I'm Meera."

"Cool. Meera, come on, let me introduce you to my friend," she said.

I was thrilled and about to say yes - but then I remembered. I had people to save.

"Sure, Isha, I've just got something to take care of right now. Introduce me after class," I said.

"Yeah, okay."

I started walking away, then remembered.

"Number!" I called back to her.

"Oh, yeah!"

Once I had Isha's number, I set off - straight to go find Mr. Dangerous himself.

I stopped mid-step.

Where exactly was I even going to find him?

I didn't know a single thing about him. Then I remembered - that girl from yesterday had said his name out loud, right before humiliating me in front of everyone.

Something starting with 'Ar-'

Arham? No... Arsalan? No, that sounds too nerdy for him. His name was more like a Bollywood star's son.

Right - Shah Rukh Khan's son. Aryan Khan. Yeah - Aryan.

"That was it. Aryan."

Just then, a group of guys walked past me.

"Excuse me!"

They stopped.

"Do you know where Aryan is?" I asked.

"Looking for our Aryan Ali?" one of them asked.

I didn't actually know his last name, but sure, that had to be him.

"Yes," I said.

"Zaid, go get Aryan," one of the friends told another, and off he went.

"Thanks," I said.

"What do you need from him?" one of them asked.

"Nothing, just needed a word," I said.

"Ah, okay," he said.

A moment later, the guy came back with someone - who was not even remotely close to being Aryan.

"You called for me, ma'am?" Aryan Ali said.

This Aryan was the complete opposite of the dangerous Aryan - total nerd energy.

"No - I'm sorry, not you. I might be looking for a different Aryan?" I said.

"This is Aryan Ali," he confirmed.

"Um... sorry," I said, trying to get out of there.

So embarrassing. How many Aryans could one university possibly have?

I checked the time - thirty minutes left until my next class.

Now where do I find that nepo kid? Then it hit me - he was practically the university owner's son. Let me just search him up.

I pulled out my phone and googled it.

'Manzoor Ghujjar.'

Meaning - Aryan Ghujjar.

I burst out laughing. My entire mental image of him just collapsed.

I put my phone away - mission now: find Aryan Ghujjar.

I started laughing again.

"I bet when he's murdering people, they're probably going, 'No, Mr. Ghujjar, please don't kill me!'" I couldn't stop laughing.

"OMG," I said between giggles.

"Speaking of murder... what if he's actually there right now, killing someone?"

The second that thought hit me, I headed straight for that spot.

I found myself standing in front of the same small gate he'd walked out of yesterday.

"This is basically suicide," I muttered. "If I go in there and he's just murdered someone, he'll kill me too."

Then I heard footsteps coming up from behind, and I ducked straight into Room 3 - but this time I didn't hide. I just stood at the doorway.

And yes. It was him.

As he walked in, time itself seemed to hit pause.

In breathtaking slow motion, he ran his fingers through his hair, turning a simple gesture into pure magic. Once every strand was perfectly in place, he adjusted his bag with effortless grace-completely unaware of the girl watching him, completely spellbound by the moment.

He's so damn hot.

Then his eyes landed on me.

Is he going to ignore me again?

He walked right up and stopped in front of me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, glancing at the small gate, as if checking whether I'd come from there.

"Why, am I not allowed to be here?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Seriously?" I genuinely hadn't known no one was supposed to be up here.

"Yes. Now disappear," he said.

"Wait - if it's not allowed, then what are YOU doing here?" I said.

He narrowed his eyes and leaned slightly toward me.

"This is my FATHER'S university."

Just because it's your dad's university doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want here, I thought - but somehow the words wouldn't come out.

"You have five minutes to vanish from here," he said, snapping his fingers, then walked past me straight into Room 3 - not toward wherever he'd originally been heading.

"Wait, I actually came here looking for you, I need to talk to you," I said.

Now - this was the moment. Time to deliver the speech I'd rehearsed.

"Four minutes. Talk fast and get out," he said.

Unbelievable. He hadn't even asked whether he knew me or not - well, fine, skip that line then.

"I've brought you a really good deal," I said.

"Keep it to yourself," he replied.

I swallowed my anger, though every part of me wanted to scream.

"I want you to help me - in return, I'll help you," I said.

He started laughing in the creepiest way possible. He took a few steps toward me, still laughing - and then, abruptly, he cut the laugh off completely and said, in a low, cold, deliberate voice:

"Leave. Now."

Something about it terrified me - like if I didn't walk away right then, I'd become his next murder victim.

I looked away and left.

"Nothing went the way I planned," I muttered, my face nearly crumpling into tears. And after today, I've decided - I am never messing with him again.

Sorry, everyone. I can't save you.

I went back to class. I have this habit - when I'm stressed, I pick at the skin around my fingernails - and I did exactly that through the entire lecture, thinking about Aryan the whole time.

When class ended, Isha came up to me.

"Free now?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course," I said. "Actually, I'm really excited to meet your friend."

"Let's go then," she said.

"So what department is your friend in?" I asked.

"Forensic Science," Isha said.

"Wow!" I said.

"Wait till you actually meet them, then you'll really say wow," she said.

"Really," I said, smiling.

We ended up sitting on a bench in the park.

"When did you two meet?" I asked.

"After I got bullied, they helped me out - we started talking, and became friends," Isha said.

"I see."

I looked away from Isha for a second - and right in front of me, walking toward us, was Aryan.

My expression shifted instantly.

I tried to look away, but he was walking straight toward us. Is he coming to hurt me?

I turned to tell Isha we should leave - and that's exactly when Isha pointed at him, waving him over.