But, Do you really?

Chapter 1

Rayansh Gupta

"Do you hate me?"

"No Aashna, what sort of question is that?"

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Somethings are better left unsaid, don't you think?"

Aashna opened her mouth to speak something but stopped in the midst of it and just slightly nodded her head in disappointment. She wanted to say a lot more to the boy in front of him but just walked away silently into the adjacent corridor.

"That could've been a lot worse", Ray thought to himself as he started walking towards his own classroom. The chilly wind of late August left a breezing sensation on his face. He looked outside the corridor window and noticed a bird sing joyfully as it pecked into a fruit, that made Ray smile, he started watching the bird and in no time was lost in his own thoughts which filled his mind every now and then. He looked peaceful with his mind full and didn't take his eye off the bird for even a split second until something startled the both of them, the period bell. He realised that the bird had taken up a lot more of his time than he expected, "I should really not get lost like this in the middle of the school hours", he thought to himself and he sprinted towards his class.

The corridor was still packed with students and teachers but it was not that much of a problem for Ray. He bolted through the long and sharp corridors, ran up the stairs, which according to him could break any day. His classroom was in sight and there was no teacher around, did he actually made it? He had a huge smile on his face as he slowed down near his classroom's doorframe thinking he had beaten his teacher to it, little did he know that he was actually being awaited.

His smile vanished when he saw Mr. Malnhotra, his English teacher, sitting at the teacher's desk of his class with his arms folded, his usual position when he plans to punish someone. Ray already knew, he was in for a treat.

"Mr. Rayansh, please remind me how many times this week, have you been late to my class already?"

"Thrice this week, sir", Ray never had a problem answering to teachers, it was his father's gift he supposed.

"And would you give us all a reason as to why you are coming in late again?", Mr. Malnhotra said in a crisp accent.

Ray stood their in silence, he obviously had no answer for that question. He was able to see Laksh, his best friend, dying out of silent laughter in their seat. After a brief moment, Mr. Malnhotra broke the silence and said, "Well, you know the drill young man, out of the class you go."

Ray quietly walked out of the class without any hesitation, he was actually glad he could stay out of the class but was pissed at getting punished for the forth time, for the same reason and by the same person this week. He stood by the doorframe and overheard Mr. Malnhotra saying "Now that the nuisance is gone..."

"Why am I being punished? It's not like I disappeared without saying my last goodbye"