Playing Her Lover

Part 3 - Negotiations

The end of the day was close. Both Sameera and Indu held their breath, hoping that they would not have to see Archana ma'am walk into their classroom. 5 more minutes to the bell. She hadn't come. 3 more minutes. 2 more. The seconds of the last minute ticked down as the two girls visibly relaxed. She hadn't come. The bell rang, and soon it was a frenzy to run towards the buses to get the good seats. Sameera confidently marched ahead towards the class door.

Her bubble of joy popped instantly. Waiting there was Archana ma'am. Her smile told her everything. 'Okay, okay... there's still a chance that it's me and Prakash right? Right?!' By then, Indu had come out of the classroom too. Sameera watched anxiously for the teacher's reaction to Indu.

She smiled. And it was not the polite one either... "Congrats girls!! You two will be playing the roles for the skit. Sameera, you're doing Shanti, Deeksha you're Ram! How does that sound?" Both stood there at the entrance without speaking a single word, until some other classmates who were exiting the class far too quickly jostled them. "O..Okay ma'am, thank you very much..." Indu stuttered. "I'll expect you to start rehearsing from tomorrow onwards. I'll tell your class teachers that you and the others will be staying back after school on some days, okay? The competition is on the 6th of August, so you have a month to prepare. Use it properly"

Still trying to process that their worst-case scenario had come true, Sameera and Indu started walking toward their bus. "So... we're working together... Wonderful wonderful," Sameera broke the silence, her tone intending to stab. Indu rolled her eyes and rushed forward. Sameera, walked much slower than usual, thinking about the consequences that this would have for her. She shouldn't go, right? I mean, it sounded mildly interesting, but no, she couldn't spend an hour each day after school with Indu out of all people. 'Who are playing the other characters?' She wondered. Could they at least be nice people? Well, even if they were, she was done taking risks. Ending her train of thoughts, she entered her bus, saw Indu sitting in the front, miles away from her usual position

Indu turned her eyes towards the window, resting her chin on her hand, 'She's staring at me again. Is it because I changed my seat? Did she expect me to be anywhere near her? I'm restricting the amount of time I'll have to see her ridiculous face and hear her waste her pretty voice on whatever her shit is' Indu closed her eyes to take a quick nap after the extremely exhausting day. Sameera on the other hand could not sleep with her frustration coursing through every vein.

The next day hurried to them as fast as it could. Amazing. Just amazing. Indu considered faking being sick. Sameera thought about running away from the city. Of course, neither could follow their plans, whether that was because of a mother's literal superpowers (Indu tried very hard indeed), or because money was not lying around the house (It was all at the bank, don't worry). The girls walked in defeat to school and knew that they had to negotiate with Archana ma'am and get out of the skit. They would face her head-on, and what's the worst that could happen?

"No.
And I'm very sad that you even considered this after you got chosen, Indu," she said, in the most pensive way
"Bu-" 
"I said no, Indu. You decided to come to the room and try out. You agreed on it yesterday, so the decision and its consequences are yours to bear now. As a sixteen-year-old, I'd expect you to already know this. I will not be making any changes, much less for what seems like a petty fight between you and Sameera. I'm extremely disappointed in both of you. You two consider fighting over small things so important that you have to avoid events that may shape your school life?"
Sameera got the same treatment, a little harsher even. Archana ma'am could not believe that their fight was that important and nasty to them.
"What is this fight about? What about it is that important? I can't believe I get both of you in my office with this issue"
She looked Sameera up and down. She was standing with her hands clasped behind her back, looking resolutely down at the floor, jaw clenched, rocking back and forth on her heels.
"Ma'am, we... aren't fighting or anything"
Archana ma'am scoffed "As if. I do have eyes, you know? Now please get back to class and sort this out. Don't tell me you haven't informed your parents that you are reaching home late today?"
"No ma'am, I did..."

At lunch, Sameera recounted the whole thing to Raghav and Nur.
"I still don't understand why you don't want to work with Indu, she seems fine, just very aloof"
Of course, Raghav was defending Indu.
Sameera contemplated her next words, "Look... I just... Let's not talk about okay?"
The two tall people bent their heads down in curiosity. "Why do you say that?..."
Sameera looked away, Raghav's intense gaze making her uncomfortable. "Um.... we were in the same school till the tenth and... Shit had happened with her, that's all"
"You two were in the same school before?! How come I never knew this?? So, you've known her before this?" Nur was almost screaming.
"B*tch shut up! I've never known her properly, she was just a classmate, always has been." 
"So... what happened?" Raghav asked again.

"You won't stop unless you've got it out of me, will you?" She melted at their puppy eyes. She rolled her eyes to show her disapproval, but her eyes immediately darkened.
"Back in 9th grade, Indu was quiet, but not this much. She had a friend at that time, Kriti. I think they had been friends for the longest time, and she didn't talk to anyone else. Kriti was much more social, of course. Indu got a boyfriend that year, much to all of our surprise. But, she looked happy. It was very short-lived though. One day, Kriti comes to school all deject, and says that Indu had... kissed her. Without asking her, even! We were all flabbergasted, and the poor thing stuck to all the other girls the whole day. We didn't even know that Indu was.... that. They completely stopped talking after that, and she became the loner in the class. Not like she did not deserve it though."

Raghav and Nur stared at her with wide eyes. "That's why I don't want to do a literal Romeo Juliet adaptation with her... She's an actual... umm, yeah. I just feel very uncomfortable with her. It's also why I'm not really for you dating her, Raghav"
"Hmm... I understand."
Nur held her arms together as if searching for warmth, "Man, I thought she was fine only..."

Indu ate her lunch in silence, shaking herself to think of ways to get out of the situation, but always ending up with the most unrealistic and absurd ideas. She let out a scream of frustration, eliciting a few stares from kids walking by. She stuffed the last of the Maggi she cooked that morning into her mouth, opened a book and proceeded to pretend the problem didn't exist. At that perfect moment, the heroine of her story walked in, two idiots in tow. While the royal queen herself honoured her with the now customary scowl, the other two were trying so hard to avoid looking at her that it was pathetic. She did not have to wonder long about the change in their behaviour. It was obvious enough. Her face fell, and she held her cheeks to stop them from getting any hotter.

All she could wait for was the month to go by - and that the other people in this were tolerable and would leave her alone to her own devices.