With Mangoes And Chocolates | ✓

1. Amusement.

A quick REALLY  important note:

If you are a re-reader (I had taken down the book for editing), there are some really important things I have mentioned in preface. Kindly go through those points. If you are not, then I think you should also do the same.

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Mathematics was hard. Physics was harder. But Chemistry. . . well, it sucked.
I somehow manage to sprint across the street while holding the book in my hand. I had to cram up—I had to cram up all the (useless) equations.

I kept mumbling them under my breath—so focused that I hit a car—and I winced. 
"Oh Gods," I moved aside and continued my journey; no stagnant vehicles could come in my way to score full marks.

I entered the school premises, the (comparatively) huge buildings engulfing me in. I made my way to the stairs, balancing the heavy bag on my shoulders. My legs almost hurt at this point. I searched for my classroom, careful not to run into anyone.

I glanced around the room—same usual murmurs and gossiping. There was some unusual crowd at the back. Well, not really that unusual, since there's always a crowd, but today, there were a lot more people. Boys were gathered around something.

I absolutely hate it when they do that. Why? No reason; it's a prejudice.
Anyway, I was about to turn my eyes back to the textbook, when something pale flickered in front of my eyes.

I thought it was Yuvika, since she's fair and has a habit of talking to a lot of people at once, but it wasn't her. . . she was near the window. . .

God, it was a boy. His thin lips were curled in a modest smile, as if to say, oh, I am a very average guy, but thank you for the compliments. His complexion was quite fair, to be fair, and his hair were a blend of waves and curls. . . his eyes. . my goodness, it was hard to figure out, but they were amber.

He didn't look at me, not that I wanted to. I licked my lips and looked out for my place. I spotted Ishita. Gawking. 

She was standing in my way. "Get aside, Ishita, and sit down," I told her. She did not obey, of course, like the stupid girl she was.
"You see that heavenly human?"
"Get aside." I said calmly, to which she rolled her eyes, and thankfully, listened to me.

I dropped down my school bag, my textbook, and at last, myself. I sighed and tucked the loose hair strands behind my ear. "Name?"
"Bhavuk," she whispered delicately, "Bhavuk Thakur."
My heart leaped at the prettiest-name-I-have-ever-heard but I ignored it. "I don't care."

"Not even a bit?"
"Not even a bit."

She started rambling about something. Something about the TV show she watched last night, or the pasta she made. I kept humming and nodding as to not to hurt her, but I really needed to mug up the equations. I think she had to do so, too.

"Maybe, we should start studying or something."
"Like what?"
I forgot she was too dumb to be in tenth grade. "You know, like, Sulphur dioxide or something?"

She started talking again, but this time, I wasn't paying much attention. Unfortunately, she noticed, and snatched away my textbook. "At least hear me ou—"

The temperature inside me, somehow, rose. Soon, I was trembling with rage. 
"Ishita!" I yelled out. "Do not misbehave with my belongings, I've told you this a thousand times."

She fell silent as I continued, "I have no interest in your stupid news about weird people I don't even know, at least not when I am doing something important! It's not my fault that you have no desire to read textbooks!"

I calmed down after bursting out. I curled my toes and rub my fingers against each other in nervousness, and looked around the room. Though it wasn't deadly silent, but sure the students had taken out their precious time to stare at me making out a fool of myself.

Ishita didn't look at me, and soon I realized my mistake. I had embarrassed her. As annoying as she was, she hadn't done that much harm for me to yell at her like that. I felt sad, mad, and bad.

I frowned when I spotted Bhavuk Thakur staring at me. I knew he had looked at me for the first time, and he was not modest about it. I stared back at him, trying to figure out the expression hidden in his eyes. It wasn't surprise, annoyance, worry, or even resentment. It was something I knew but could not find the right word.
Oh. I knew what it was.

It was amusement.

For having that evil expression, I concluded that he was really mean and obnoxious. He reminded me of those despicable villains who would enjoy killing people just for the sake of entertainment. 

I imagined him to be new, thus, shy and nervous. He wasn't. I should've known that with my excellent people-reading skills. He was already friends with Arav and Kartik, (Ishita had mentioned something about him being family friends with Kartik) and wasn't hesitant to make new ones.

He turned his attention away from me, breaking the tension, silence and the eye contact. He continued his work with his textbooks and didn't look back at me. I translated this gesture as, a silly girl just made a scene, and oh, she looks so angry. Whatever.
I found that quite disrespectful.

Call me judgmental, but I decided to loathe him from that moment.

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