9 years ago.
The dreaded preboard examination was finally over. Anuradha rushed over to Vineet's house to discuss the physics paper.
The moment she entered the house she realized she had come at the wrong time.
"The little brat has nearly failed his math exam!" Nina yelled. Anu froze.
Vineet was shielding his brother. "I wouldn't call getting 34 on 40, failing his exams, ma."
"You used to get 40/40 in every exam in 2nd grade-"
"He's not me. I'm not him. When are you going to understand that?"
"If he can't even get full in these exams, what will he do when he moves up grades-"
"He'll be fine."
"How will he be fine, Vineet? That's not-"
"You and dad are doing just fine in life, aren't you?" Vineet snapped. Nina seemed to grow more furious. "How dare you speak like that-"
Vineet whispered to Shrest. The little boy went inside the room clutching his shirt. Anu stood, dumbstruck. She didn't feel it was proper for her to intervene. So, she stood quietly near the door.
Vineet didn't bother responding to his mom, after that. He signaled Anu to follow him and he shut the room's door.
"Let's get started, then."
Anu quietly discussed the paper with Vineet. She was losing 5-6 marks but it was a fairly good performance.
She got up and glanced at Shrest who was lying on his bunkbed, face down. She placed a candy (that she had bought for herself and Vineet to eat) next to him and tapped him. Then, she smiled Vineet, gave him the other candy and waved goodbye.
As she went back home, she realized how grateful she was to have parents like her own. Her parents didn't scold or criticize her too much when she got bad marks and were more supportive and encouraging of her.
She had, by this time, a fair understanding of Nina and how fixated she was on marks. Anu glanced at her paper. She felt sorry for the two boys next door.
✿
word count: 382 words
[behind the scenes]
The 'Candy' story
Shrest, while unwrapping the candy paper, accidentally dropped the candy on the floor where it broke. It couldn't be eaten anymore. Shrest demanded to have Vineet's candy instead. In the end, Vineet didn't get to eat the candy Anu gave him.
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1.1 | Under The Clear Summer Sky | ✓
Romance❕UNDER EDITING❕「 light-hearted contemporary romance x slowburn x timespan 」 ▬▬▬ Anu and Vineet's relationship can be summarized in many ways - tutor and student, friends, grade-mates, neighbors. After 10 years, they can confidently add another to th...
