She also noticed the double standards from her parents when it came to her and Sahil. While she was cooped up doing household chores during the weekends, her brother rode the city with his dudes. While she was abused for the smallest of things, her brother would get away with something as big as breaking a vase. While she was brushed away for bringing ninety percent marks in her exams, his brother was allowed to party for bringing sixty percent marks in school. The crap list was endless. 
'You are a girl. It's unsafe for you to roam around without a trusted elder.' Her father would explain when she reasoned. Having no one to confine to, she often conveyed her jealousy to Sahil, resulting in bitter fights. Their distance only grew further. 
Other students craved holidays, to spend time and play at home.  Natasha dreaded it more than anything. Home was a place of nightmare for her. In order to avoid being beaten, she would resign to her room all day long. No one would interfere. No one would bark. She was safe. Atleast for the meanwhile.
She was fifteen years old with no friends and no capable elder to rely on. 
* * * 
Life was more or less the same when Natasha reached the eleventh grade. Meaningless. Although it became a little more bearable with an annoying friend she made a few months back. She would often crack at Abhishek's jokes while he would laugh at hers. They had lunch together to secretly diss at their classmates and teachers. It was easier being with him than with others, who always judged her. He was fun to be around.
Studies became harder during this time. With the pressure of exams riding along her shoulders, she needed tuitions to pass through it. She was recommended a physics tutor through a classmate who attended the same tuition. The tutor was Tejas Wadiya— a fourty- four year old married man, who used to teach physics in their school. He quit last year, since he wanted to focus on his side business. He had been doing home tuition since then, earning enough to run his home. 
Tejas managed to impress Natasha since day one. The man possessed profound knowledge in his field. Natasha saw a genius in Tejas while he saw a bright student in her. They ended up chatting, hours after her class was over. She left home with a content smile, knowing she wouldn't have problems dealing with physics now. 
And, indeed Natasha was right. She managed to score the highest in her upcoming tests. Everyone was proud of her, including her parents. She brought a box of sweets, just to thank Tejas and promised to perform the same way in her final exams. 
Since she had chemistry and mathematics, she had to readjust her timings with her physics classes. Often she would end up attending his classes on Saturdays. Although Tejas was adamant on teaching anyone on that day, he made an exception for Natasha. 'Special exceptions for my special students,' He would say, smiling. 
It was after a few Saturdays, Natasha noticed something strange. A woman, and a beautiful one at that. He called her Geeta. She would visit Tejas on Saturdays while his wife and sister were gone. Whenever she visited, Tejas would follow her to his room and give Natasha a written test to solve in the meantime. 
'Geeta and I are going to discuss something important about business.' Tejas once said when Natasha asked. She believed it. They would usually come out after half an hour. Either that, or Natasha would leave the house after completing her test as per his instructions. Whatever Tejas talked or did with Geeta was of no concern for her. She was only here to learn from him. That's all it mattered. 
There was one Saturday Natasha remembered it vividly. She was almost done with her weekly test. Tejas and Geeta exited the room, looking somewhat disheveled. She couldn't help but notice Tejas as he hurried Geeta out of the door. Natasha couldn't quite understand the situation that time, even though it was blatantly obvious. She simply lowered her head to write down her last answer.