Playing Her Lover

Part 7 - Hot Then Cold

Monday morning rolled out and all the students reluctantly made their way out of bed, barely having gotten a few winks of sleep. The ones participating in the skit groaned as they remembered that they had set three days a week for practice, and today was one of them. Indu gulped down some Horlicks and rushed out the door, already late for the bus. As she got onto the bus, panting, she looked at Sameera, her lips not curving into her usual frown. She sat at the front and opened her book. 

Sameera glared at the back of Indu's head. As long as Raghav was hell-bent on dating that low-life, she could never look at her in a friendly way.
'I wish I could though...' one part of her softly whispered. Ignoring the voice in her head, Sameera brought her attention back to the Computer homework she had not been able to finish during the weekend. 

At the assembly, she looked over to the boys' lines - the fact that Raghav hadn't spoken to her since Friday evening hit her for the nth time that morning. Nur bounded over to him once they were allowed to disperse, and Sameera's heart burned with jealousy. She walked cautiously towards them, but the two turned and walked away swiftly before she could even approach them. When she reached class, an even greater horror awaited - some random kid in the class had occupied her seat and was showing no signs of moving.

"Dude, that's my place, could you move?" she snapped. The guy looked at her, confused. Raghav pointedly looked away from her, avoiding any eye contact. Sameera felt her cheeks burning up.
"Could you maybe sit somewhere else today Sam?" Nur asked, her eyes sympathetic, but firm. She gestured to Sam to bend down. 
"I don't think this will be permanent, babe. Give him some time, okay?" she whispered into her ear, and Raghav shot her a dirty look. Biting the inside of her cheeks, Sameera managed a small nod.

She scanned the class for a seat and found one right next to the door. Having no other option, she sat down and pulled her notebooks out. As she lay her head on the table, she saw Indu right in front of her.

As Indu entered the class, she saw Sameera with her head on the very first table. She looked over to Sameera's usual seat and saw someone else occupying it. 
She understood immediately.
Indu didn't realise how long she had stood there. Just as she was about to go to her seat, Sameera looked up, glaring at her. Indu was surprised. Sameera's features were contorted in rage, and her eyes were slowly turning red. Indu looked down and scurried to her chair, utterly confused. Even if Sameera and Raghav were having a fallout, why was Sameera directing that anger at her? 

Before she had the chance to mull properly over this, their Maths teacher walked in, along with the Commerce and Humanities students who had Maths as their elective. One sat near Indu, and the class went on as scheduled. Everyone was completely swamped with their work until the end of the day, with even the short and lunch breaks being taken up to hastily complete assignments and study for class tests. Before they had a chance to breathe, the final bell rang, bringing with it an eruption of joyful noises.

The Monday exhaustion was evident in the practice room that day. Everybody was lying on the floor when Indu walked in, and she threw her body on the floor, using her filled bag as a pillow. Swara, who was near her, smiled. 
"Long day for you too, huh?" she asked softly. Indu nodded. She looked the other way and saw that Sameera had completely fallen asleep due to sheer exhaustion. Indu frowned, the glare from the morning resurfacing in her mind. She turned back and closed her eyes momentarily. She heard Siddhu doling head-pats out to both Swara and Mirzab. Siddhu came to her too - "Want some head-pats, Indu?" he asked, his wide smile heard clearly in his voice. 
"Nope." Indu shut him down. "Sorry..." she added as an afterthought, two seconds later.

Siddhu simply smiled again and moved on to Sameera. Sameera's light snores were stopped immediately when Siddhu lightly patted her. She jumped up and stared wide-eyed at Siddhu, as if at an alien. She calmed herself down, rubbed her eyes and stood up. Siddhu was still on his knees. "So-sorry!!"
"Ya, don't ever do that again," said Sameera, still in a bit of a daze after her nap.