The Way We Were

Chapter 7

(Monday)

Khushi had been ecstatic all day. First, the news of Payal and her getting head girls was bubbling an infinite desire to scream in happiness.

Then, the fact that she had known Lavanya since a few months cemented her belief that Payal would indeed be performing, whether she wanted to or not. Lavanya had eerie ways to get things done if she wanted them. For example, with Khushi's transformation. Lavanya had taken one look at her eyebrows and given such pathetic expressions all day that by the second day around Lavanya, Khushi had conceded to having the pain of getting her eyebrows done over seeing Lavanya like that all day every day. Khushi knew Payal would be dancing, and not on her practice 80s songs.

Third, when Arnav had told her about Diya and the fact that the boys had broken into the school to fix the votes for Payal, Khushi had been angry at first, but later she understood the concern her friends had. And they hadn't made a bad choice. Payal did deserve Head Girl. And if Khushi was extra honest with herself, she knew that something about Diya had been off since that girl had got to know that Khushi was, in fact, Payal's cousin.

So, all in all, Monday wasn't the worst of days for Khushi Kumari Gupta.

(Tuesday)

Payal had been on the edge ever since waking up on Tuesday. She was the Head Girl. Students would be looking up to her. Teachers would be expecting better from her.

And if Akash was to be believed, her peers were already jealous of her previously. There would be no telling what Diya and her friends would get up to next if Payal didn't command respect. But she couldn't let people take advantage of her sober nature. She hadn't on the first day when Akash and Aman had fought.

The day passed without any trouble wherever she went. She had a meeting with the Principal and the previous head girl, alongside Mayank, to understand her responsibilities. It wasn't tough, the list.

Yes, she needed to be gentle yet commanding. It would be a fine line, but with her sister and the Head Boy, she would achieve it. And she would sustain it.

(Wednesday)

Lavanya was on cloud nine since Saturday. Having your boyfriend break into your school was not the biggest headache for her. She thought it was the best thing to have happened.

Her best friend was Head Girl, as she deserved. Khushi was Vice Head Girl, which was another well deserved spot. And the cherry on top, Lavanya was able to lord it over Diya since Monday.

She got the extra songs, she made Payal dance, she essentially was now the IT girl, if she wasn't before. And she had the best boyfriend ever. He kept her grounded enough for her to not cross her limits when she wanted to break someone's head about the comments Khushi was getting.

Yes, Lavanya Kashyap was indeed very happy.

(Thursday)

Aman Mathur was not always a popular guy in his childhood. Thus, getting stared at for being Lavanya's boyfriend would have made him want to ghost out, if not because of a similar experience he had had before.

It had been the first day of class seven, when Aman had thought that school couldn't get any more boring. He had stepped into a desk at the back, ready to be invisible for another school year. That day, two new students were introduced to the class. Akash and Arnav Singh Raizada.

They had sat beside him, owing to the empty seats. By the end of the first class, they had made him laugh his stomach to a point of pain. By the end of the day, the trio had pulled of a very successful prank on a bully. The next day, Aman was not invisible anymore.