Unlock

Part 1

"I want to strangle the person who said high school life was easy."

I stood leaning against the wall outside my classroom, bending down, holding my stomach, cursing while out of breath. I had run all the way from the entrance to my classroom, running up two flights of stairs, only to find my classroom door locked for latecomers. Mr. Nath was a strict teacher. He had zero tolerance for unpunctuality, late submissions, or goofing in class. In the online mode of learning, he was my favorite teacher but in person, it was a different story. And having his class as the first period of the day did not help at all.

A month ago, we returned to school after 11 months of online learning.  And my batch was attending high school for the first time, after attending high school online for a year. This was like being a fresher or going to a new school for the first time. Sleeping in late, snacking between classes (or sometimes even in class), attending school with a phone in one hand, etc were our new habits and new norms. So when I had to attend school in person, all the newly acquired habits had to go. But come on! According to me, we needed some leniency which Mr. Nath never provided. So here I was, late by just a minute and stuck outside my classroom. 

After getting back my breath, I looked down the corridor. There was not a soul in sight.  I walked over to the end of the corridor and peered down the stairs. Still no luck. Pin drop silence prevailed except for an occasional chatter or laughter emitting from classrooms. The previous two times that I was late, I had the company of a handful of latecomers like me. But today, looked like I was the only one still trying to adjust to the new timetable. That reminded me of the last warning I had received for being late the previous week and I quickly moved away from the stairs. Tapping my fingers noiselessly over the railings, I thought of the best way to escape being caught. The corridor ran long, with rooms on both sides, a set of lockers right in the middle, and the bathrooms at the other end. I could wait out in the bathroom but to do that, I had to cross all the rooms and risk getting caught.

I could not wait near the stairs forever so I decided to climb down and get into the cafeteria where I expected a decent crowd of seniors.  Taking a step at a time on the tip of my toes, trying to keep my sneakers from squeaking, I climbed down, ducking down at times or hiding behind a pillar to avert any glances of passing staff. On reaching the ground floor, half running, half walking, steadily I moved towards the cafeteria when I heard a clink and a clank of some tiny object pushed away by my feet. By the time I looked down, I saw it sliding towards a potted plant. I stopped and fidgeted with my bag hanging down my left shoulder to check if I had accidentally left it open and dropped something. Convinced the bag was securely zipped, I checked the pocket in my skirt. There was nothing there, to begin with. Convinced that whatever it was, was not mine, I took a step forward and gave the object a passing glance. A key stared back at me. I stopped and picked it up. Maybe someone lost it and is looking for it. I thought that the least I could do was drop it off in the lost and found box in the office. It was a medium-sized key made of shiny steel without a chain. Slipping it into my skirt pocket, I walked to the cafeteria. As expected there were a bunch of seniors hanging out. Picking a table at the far end, I sat down and grabbed my phone from my bag.

I had managed to successfully evade being caught for tardiness. But was it all required? I mean someone may think that all these precautions and evasive maneuvers were unnecessary. What can go wrong? Get called to the Principal's office, get a note, and get it signed by parents. But for me, it was a big deal. I had never been punished in school. I was one of the best students in middle school and here I was in the second year of high school, struggling to even get to school on time. The guilt that I was feeling was enough of a punishment for me. To top it off, I had missed Mr. Nath's physics class so I had to make up for it. Taking out my Physics textbook from my bag, I pushed my phone into my pocket. The key jingled reminding me of its presence. Pulling it out, I studied it. It looked used but sparsely. Its make looked old, not a very modern design. As I was staring at it, a cafeteria employee walked out of the pantry and closed the door with a thud, startling me a little since I was sitting close by. My eyes landed on the lock of the pantry door.  'Would this key work?' I wondered and walked over to the closed door with the crooked sign "Employees only"  hanging over it.  Checking my surroundings quickly, I put the key into the lock. It fit perfectly. Then I turned it and with a click, it unlocked the door. I couldn't believe that it worked. 

"Who are you little guy and what else can you open?" I muttered as I tightly pressed the key deep into my closed sweaty palms.