Chapter 3: Campus Storm

3

Expressionless, I closed the video.

My roommate sent another message:

'Yashu, did you really curse out Priya?'

I frowned: 'Who’s Priya? Some streamer?'

Roommate: 'Arrey, you don’t know Priya? She’s the second female lead in that hit costume drama. Yesterday the show broke TRP records. She promised fans she’d stream herself playing games, even brought the male second lead. She was doing some stream antics, and then this happened. Didn’t expect the girl who cursed her was you. Gotta say, you’re gutsy.'

I was silent for a moment: 'So now everyone thinks it’s my fault? Didn’t anyone bother to check what really happened?'

'So what if they did? Priya has over ten million fans. Besides, she always acts like a pure white lotus. Who’d believe she started it?'

My roommate sounded resigned: 'Sigh, just consider yourself unlucky.'

In other words, if I ignored it, things would blow over.

But when I got back to the hostel after class, planning to do some homework, my laptop blew up with messages.

'Bitch, just go die.'

'Tu kya samajhti hai apne aap ko, Priya di ko insult karne wali?'

'You think everyone has to put up with you, bitch.'

'Apologise to our Priya right now, or don’t blame us for doxxing you.'

A flood of insults, like garbage overflowing my screen.

I skimmed a few, my brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

Her fans weren’t just cursing me on Insta and ShareChat—they were threatening to doxx me.

This was seriously affecting my life.

So I opened Insta, typed up a post, and sent it:

'I will not apologise. Since Priya is a public figure, she should be even more careful with her words and actions. She provoked me first in-game, and after I quit, she dragged me into a custom room to humiliate me. It’s understandable I cursed her out. If we’re talking about right and wrong, she’s more at fault than I am. Also, she incited her fans to cyberbully and attack me, causing me real distress. I hope she clarifies the truth and acts responsibly.'

As I posted, my hands shook, the smell of antiseptic from the hostel corridor mixing with the stale air of panic in my chest. Even as I hit 'send,' I could hear a group of girls laughing outside, their voices carrying echoes of the same jeers now flooding my DMs.