Veda sighed and slowly advanced towards the cat, careful not to scare it. The cat stayed stock-still. Veda made sure to keep a healthy distance in between.

She slowly broke up the samosa and placed the food on the ground, and ran off to the canteen for a bowl, while the cat gratefully ate up the food. Minutes later, it happily licked up the last drops of water from the bowl.

Dheer watched all this in awe. He had never seen anyone so kind and selfless: while growing up, many people had told him that his needs came before others’. And here, he saw the very opposite of that false advice, happening in front of him.

Dheer finally decided to step out of hiding. He made his way to Veda, who now sat on the bench, sighing to herself; the cat had given her a grateful look and disappeared.

When Veda saw him, she got up immediately. “Y-Y-You!”

“Veda, I want to tell you something,” Dheer said, wondering how to calm her down.

“Were you spying on me?”

“Yes, I was. But- “

“Going to tell Saloni that I had money?”

“No, but-”

“You can tell her that I didn’t eat anyway. I gave it all to the cat.”

“Ok, but-”

“And also tell her that I don’t care how she bullies me. I have my parents’ and Ms Divya’s support. She can never make me bow down to her.”

“Veda, can you please listen to what I’m saying?” Dheer said with a note of impatience in his voice. “I’m not here on Saloni’s orders, I’m not planning to tell her anything I saw, and I’m not in the least interested in bullying you. Now, will you let me say what I wanted to say?”

Veda opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it and mutely nodded.

“Shall we sit down on that bench?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yashita Sudhir is a fourteen-year-old from Hyderabad. From a very young age, she was interested in reading books, and at the tender age of eight, she decided to become a bestselling author herself.  The School Tyrant is her first book and the first step towards achieving her dream!

You can buy a copy of The School Tyrant here to find out what Dheer had to say.