Nasaza

I

𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕜𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚

I didn't mean to kill her.

I was just joking.

Well, so much for innocent pranks. Who knew throwing a measly water bottle could lead to such a dramatic scene.  And her friends? Bunch of saps, trying to console her as if I've caused a tragedy.

"I'm dead. I'm dead. You killed me! My mother would kill me!" Laxmi wailed pathetically.

And let's not forget the looming threat of her mother's wrath. Because heaven forbid, I'd suddenly become the Grim Reaper for a water bottle tossing session.

To be more specific, her mother was going to kill her. I didn't.

What a shame.

Brushing past their group, I strolled over to the window where I'd tossed the infamous water bottle. The bottle was there, just chilling on the ground, cap open and water slowly leaking out. No big deal. But apparently, no one had the bright idea of checking on its wellbeing from up here.

"So much fuss over a mere water bottle. I mean seriously, didn't any of you just consider taking a quick glance out this window to see if it was in one piece or not?"

Second 'collective glares' of the day earned. Improving, indeed. It seemed I'd unlocked the secret level of their collective annoyance. Maybe next, we'd reach the 'group eye roll' achievement.

One of Laxmi's friends walked over beside me and checked the condition of the bottle in question. "Water's leaking out" She eyed me...in a weird way.

Laxmi glared at me (three scored today). "You'll be giving me the wasted water. You'll pay for that."

That got a smirk out of me. "Whatever. It's not like we're at Gajapati." I referred to the time we were at a camp to Gajapati and faced severe water shortage.

Plus points because she's from Gajapati.

Her cheeks colored but before she could retort a voice called at me.

"Sanskriti!" Kavya paced towards me. "What are you doing with them?"

"What do you think I'm doing with them? In the middle of a corridor at a public place?" I asked.

 She grinned, "There's no telling what you'll do at any time, anywhere." 

"Quite true madam, I'm quite unpredictable." I flipped my hair.

Laxmi intervened, "All I know is that she's one hell of a-angel." She suddenly smiled.

Ayo?

I looked at Kavya, who averted her eyes towards the end of the corridor. I followed her gaze and saw the reason Laxmi suddenly turned so polite walking towards us.

Krish was arriving.

"Hi Krish!" Laxmi smiled at him. He blatantly ignored her, addressing me and Kavya, "Hey."

He's about to ask where she is in 3...2...1...

"Have you seen Shreya? Where is she?" He asked. I looked at Laxmi and suppressed a grin.

"Maybe with Komal?" Kavya shrugged. 

"Komal was with someone else, I just saw her."

"Then maybe with someone else?" Kavya looked around the corridor. 

Krish looked low-key worried.

"We need to find her." He frowned. 

"Why?" One of Laxmi's friends asked. "We just need to." Krish said and Kavya and him were on their way to assemble a search party. 

"I'll...look in the washrooms!" I yelled after them. 

Laxmi was about to speak something to me-presumably continue whatever she was about to call me-but her friend asked her to drop the topic and that I was mad. I grinned at her when she poked out her tongue at me and left, her face red with anger.

Like Akshit's.

"Sanskriti?" A girl whispered in my ear, startling me.

My natural response was to push her.

"Ow, why did you do that?" Shreya asked, rubbing her stomach. I blinked at her.

"You're here!? Kavya and Krish have gotten a search party to go find you!" I yelped.

"What? Why? I was talking with an old friend..."said Shreya, frowning. I sighed, then smiled. "I guess it's just you and me right here then" I winked at her.

Shreya winked back at me and laughed. "I swear, if you were a guy I would've dated you." she said, smiling. That was true. I bet that if I were a guy, all the girls would've been after me. I mean, who could resist a cute, dorky, funny guy who reads and writes, plays a sport, is good at studies, sings and is a gentleman?

"Who said I need to be a guy for you to date me?" I leaned towards her, eyebrows raised. She grinned, "Oh, I don't know, but there are certain things you can't provide me as a girl." she smirked.

"And what is that?"

"You know very well what." Shreya stepped away from me and and grinned again. Oh, how I loved to sharpen my flirting skills and make her laugh (or sometimes flustered, as I can).

It's another thing that I can't speak a word around a boy I like.

As I looked at Shreya, I noticed, not for the first time, how beautiful she was. Especially when she laughed. In winters, especially, her skin had a different glow. I remember one time, last winter, she was laughing at a joke I made and her eyes were gleaming, her cheeks a rosy red. She looked...enchanting. She looks pretty even in her aadhar card photo.

I get why Akshit just loves her.

I don't like you.

I just love you.

Who can't fall in love with Shreya Sehgal? 

"I should leave now Shrey. Recess is about to finish and I'd like some time alone. Maybe take a nap of...four minutes?" I smiled. She opened her mouth to speak something, but maybe decided better of it. I walked back to my class.

Shreya, Kavya, Komal, Krish, Akshit, Aditi, I, we all used to be in the same section last year. But we had section division this year so we all had to separate. Shreya, Kavya and Komal are in the same section, Krish in another and, for a short time, Aditi, Akshit and I were in another. Akshit had to leave the school after a few months, and Aditi...

Aditi and I were best friends. We were joined to the hip. Her, Shreya and I were a trio. Even if there was always a duo in that trio, we worked past that. Never went a day when I didn't think of Aditi and what she would've done in a particular situation. Many times I felt that even she preferred Shreya over me, and she denied. I never made her choose between the two of us, as that would've been cruel. She and I were bench mates during the first few months of this academic year, but then...

She had to go away.

I walked into the classroom to the familiar shouts of 'VIRAT KOHLI ZINDABAD' and 'M.S.DHONI ZINDABAD'. I yelled a complimentary 'ROHIT SHARMA ZINDABAD' and moved to my single table.

Everyone had big benches to sit in, two at one. After Aditi left, I was a bench-nomad, sitting with anyone from the girls, taking place of whoever was absent. And if no=one was absent I would ask someone to adjust. This went on for months till no-one could take it anymore, least of all I, and I was left bench-less. So I arranged a table and chair for one person and that was kept adjacent to the blackboard, in front of the window and facing the door. As when everyone was facing east, I was facing north. At first it felt like quite a nice arrangement.

Then it felt lonely.

"Hey Sanskriti, do you have your English classwork notes completed?" Amrita, a friend, approached me as I took a seat.

"Sorry bro, I'm more hopeless than you are." I smiled and leaned into the table, resting my head in my arms and drowning her out. Amrita, Naina, Alisha...I had a lot of friends. In fact, I was friends with everyone.

Yet, I had no-one to call a friend.

A friend to all is a friend to none.