Nikki vs Rikky

Chapter 12 - Trisha

The Disney princess got back to her weekday job and woke up Ira bang on time. ‘Here starts the week,’ Ira said as she got out of the bed. She walked lazily up to Nikky’s door and then knocked on it. ‘Wake up, Nikky! School time.’

Rikky opened her eyes in delight. She was looking forward to attending the school, the place she had heard so much from Nikky. The endless stories of school, some funny, some strange. Now was her chance to become part of something she had only heard of.

Rikky got up from her bed and dashed into the bathroom, making sure that she locked the door. This was crucial because she didn’t want Nikky’s mother to notice that she a mere reflection, the only thing that distinguished her from Nikky.

Rikky didn’t have an image of her own. The mirror was only a piece of a shiny wall for her. ‘The reflection can’t see its own reflection. How ironical,’ she thought. She quickly bathed and got into the school uniform.

‘Ah, ha!’ Ira exclaimed as Rikky walked into the living room for breakfast. ‘I see someone has let her hair lose today for school.’ Rikky wondered if she had made a mistake and touched her hair in astonishment. ‘Is there anything wrong?’ She asked.

‘No, nothing! It’s just that you have been tying a ponytail, so I just wondered. Come, sit,’ Ira said with a smile. Rikky sat down for breakfast and didn’t make any fuss at all. The weekend had unknowingly turned bad and she didn’t want to make things any worse.

Rikky nibbled on her food and thought about Capricia and all the others in Fantastica. She hated the work she and the others were ordered to do at night just so that Capricia could continue with her whims. And what did her army get in return? No appreciation at all! Rikky concluded that she was much happier in this world.

Ira dropped Rikky to school and kissed her good bye. ‘Bye, mamma,’ Rikky waved and then turned around to face the school’s huge building. Instantly, she grew in awe of the big white and brown structure that had plenty of windows on every storey. She counted one window above the other to determine the number of storeys in the building. There were four in total. Just then, a raspy female voice called her from behind. ‘Wow, someone is going to be showered with compliments today.’

Rikky studied the petite girl with light brown hair and deep brown eyes, obviously not having the faintest idea who she was. Rikky smiled confidently, the way Nikky would have done, and exclaimed, ‘Hey! I was bored of ponytails, you see!’

The girl winked at Rikky and gestured her towards the classrooms. Rikky made sure she kept pace with the friendly stranger but walked a step behind.

‘Hi, Trisha! Hi Nikky!’ someone shouted as they entered a room with an intolerable noise level.

‘Ah, Trisha,’ Rikky said to herself raising her eyebrow. ‘So, she is Nikky’s best friend.’ All of a sudden Rikky felt a bit comfortable in this new place.

Rikky settled down on a vacant seat, just like Trisha did. She noticed that most children in the room were behaving rather oddly, unlike Trisha who sat composed a desk away from her. ‘I hate maths. It is certainly not the best subject to begin the week with,’ the girl next to Rikky grumbled but before she could add a word, someone shouted, ‘Mr. Marsh!’

The room felt silent.

***
‘Nikita?’ A piercing voice echoed through her head. ‘Nikita?’ It was even louder and harsher the second time. Rikky blinked, startled. ‘Do you hear me?’ the cacophonic voice said, as she saw a sharp, pointed nose closing on her face. Rikky had drifted away in her thoughts a few minutes into the math class.

‘Do you know the answer, Nikita?’ Mr. Marsh repeated, pointing his finger at the whiteboard. Rikky steered her eyes toward the direction of his finger and saw a bunch of bananas drawn on the whiteboard. Why are people here so obsessed with food? She mumbled to herself. Luckily she was taught how to read and write. It was part of her training once she was recruited for this job.

She mumbled the sentence again. ‘A dozen bananas cost 18 rupees. Find the cost of 1 banana.’ She knew what rupees were as Nikky had often told her about the pocket money she got from her mother. What she didn’t know was the meaning of the word ‘dozen’! She didn’t remember it being any number that she had learnt from one to hundreds! Only if this too was part of her training!

Rikky didn’t have the faintest idea what to reply and stood flummoxed. Everyone in the classroom was staring at her. Her eyes fell on Trisha who was sitting just behind Mr. Marsh’s back. She was trying to communicate something but Rikky couldn’t lip-read. Finally she said, ‘I don’t know.’

‘That’s strange,’ Mr. Marsh said, looking a bit confused and agitated. The impression that he got was that Nikky was playing mischief. He continued, ‘You are the best in the class in solving money problems. Look at the board again.’

Rikky wished she could run away from the classroom. Nikky used to say that school was fun and that was what she said every day. Rikky stared at the whiteboard and said in a staid voice, ‘How does it matter how much a banana costs? You got to trust the shopkeeper when you give him the money.’ The whole classroom burst into laughter. Trisha couldn’t believe what she had just heard and Mr. Marsh looked equally stunned.

‘You don’t seem fine, Nikita,’ he said harshly, turning back to the whiteboard to complete his lesson. ‘And I don’t tolerate such brash behaviour. ’Mr. Marsh had barely finished speaking when the bell rang and the 30-minute torture for Rikky finally came to an end. After Mr. Marsh walked out of the classroom, Trisha and a few other girls came rushing up to Rikky.

‘What was that?’ Trisha asked in bewilderment. ‘You are supposed to be the best in class in Math and what did you even say to him?’

All Rikky did was shrug her shoulders. They all rushed back to their seats as their English teacher entered the class. Rikky crossed her fingers and hoped that the teacher wouldn’t ask her anything. She tried to pay attention and found English lesson to be more interesting than Math. Luckily, all went well.

The bell rang to start the 15-minute recess. Trisha hurried to Rikky’s seat. ‘Let’s go,’ she said excitedly. ‘I have to show you something.’

‘What?’ Rikky snapped.

‘Come on,’ Trisha dragged Rikky out of the class, who was already finding Nikky’s best friend annoying, but she knew anything stupid would be unpleasant. It was only when they strode into the corridor that she realised where it was leading to. Rikky froze as she saw the sign displayed a few feet in front of her, girls’ washroom. Mirrors, she thought. That was the last thing she wanted. ‘I am too tired to walk further. Can you not tell me now?’ Rikky said hastily.

‘Okay, if that’s what you want,’ Trisha said stopping abruptly. She looked around and took out something out of her shirt’s pocket that looked like a small black stick.

‘What’s this?’ Rikky asked.

‘Lip shade. Remember, we spoke about it last week?’ Trisha said as her eyes darted quizzically around Nikky’s face.

‘Ah, yes,’ Rikky said forcing a smile on her face. ‘The lip shade, of course.’
Trisha noticed her friend’s odd behaviour but shrugged it off. ‘I finally got our favourite shade, Bubblegum Pink,’ she said, but Rikky stood expressionless. ‘Goodness, Nikky, you better get back to making a ponytail.  This hairstyle is doing you no good. You are losing memory and even energy.’

Rikky’s strange behaviour was now definitely a cause for concern. After all Trisha was Nikky’s best friend and knew her in and out. Trisha brushed aside Nikky’s conduct on the pretext that it was just one of those days, but Tuesday wasn’t any better than Monday. Neither was Wednesday. On Thursday, after the school got over, Trisha reminded Rikky of the Friday sleepover.

The overnight stay had been planned a week ago and it was Nikky’s turn to play the host. As predicted, Trisha’s best friend had forgotten about it.

Trisha thought about the Nikky she knew, her childhood buddy. Nikky had never made a fool of herself in the class. Even the teachers were surprised. Neither had she been so forgetful and detached. Trisha vowed to get to the bottom of Nikky’s strange behaviour and looked forward to the sleepover. She was certain that the sleepover would wipe away all her doubts.

***

Two days later, Ira had received a phone call from the school’s principal to say that the teachers were concerned about Nikky’s behaviour and that she wanted to meet with her on Friday.