Ephemeral

Chapter V: Rapture

Aditi walked in, in her usual confident stride, eyes scanning the room. Her gaze settled at the sight of Ravi, who was already sitting at the back, surrounded by his herd of alien friends.

Ravi looked up and caught her gaze, a familiar smirk spread across his face. "Ah, finally the queen graces us with her royal presence," he said loudly, making a mock bow. "Welcome, Your Majesty. Let the day begin," he announced.

Aditi rolled her eyes and sighed. " Oh Please, Ravi. If I am the queen, you're surely the court jester."

Ravi's smirk widened. "Touché," he replied, raising an imaginary hat in salute. "So, Your Majesty, what's the plan for today?"

Before Aditi could respond, a loud crash echoed from the front of the room. Aditya, Ravi's best friend, had somehow managed to topple over a stack of books while attempting to impress a group of girls. Papers flew everywhere, one letter.......love letter? flitted across the floor and the class descended into chaos.

"Aditya, when will you grow up? If you can't handle stuff just don't do it, instead of messing up" Aditi called out, her tone half-amused, half-exasperated.

"Hey, Chill! I can handle a lot of stuff. I'm just adding some excitement to our dull academic lives, which by the way is as boring as you are" Aditya shot back in a mocking tone, grinning sheepishly as he scrambled to pick up the mess.

Sneha, Aditi's best friend, nudged her with an elbow. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us, how does he even function" she whispered.

"He's an alien, don't you get it?" murmured Aditi back.

Aditi nodded and turned to Ravi. "Alright, Mr. Court Jester, let's get this under control. Shall we? You take the left side, I'll take the right."

Ravi gave a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am! Your command is my delight" He walked over to the left side of the classroom, clapping his hands loudly. "Alright, everyone! Settle down! Let's show some respect for Her Majesty's commands."

Aditi moved to the right side, her voice firm but kind. "Let's get this place back in order, asap. I've got a lot to study today."

As the commotion subdued, Aditi and Ravi worked together to restore calm. They fell into an easy rhythm, as if a well oiled machine.

"So, Aditi, how's the studying going? Still trying to beat me?" Ravi asked, his tone teasing as he collected stray papers, as he noticed the letter under his bench.

"Beat you," Aditi scoffed, not missing a beat. "I am just trying to put someone back to their place"

Ravi leaned in slightly, trying to hide it (the letter) from her sight, lowering his voice, he said, "Oh... Okay. Well, you know, you don't have to try so hard to impress me. I'm already quite taken a liking to you."

Aditi's cheeks flushed slightly, but she maintained her composure. "Why would I ever want to impress a fool like you? Besides, I think you're the one who's trying to impress me, you know to get on to the right side of the world that is to get into my good books"

"Maybe," Ravi admitted with a playful wink. "But can you blame me? I mean a subject always follows his queen."

Sneha, overhearing their conversation, rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh, please. Will you two just get a room already?"

Aditya, now back in his seat, joined in. "Yeah, the heat is killing us. Sneha could you turn on the fan?"

"Excuse me. I am not your servant. Get up and do it yourself," retorted Sneha.

"Aditi could you do it for me? Your friend kinda sucks just so you know." said Aditya, ignoring Sneha's words.

Aditi shot them both a glare. "Why don't you focus on something else? Maybe try studying some time, good for your idle brain and my friend is a 100 times better than you and your friend," said Aditi as she eyed Ravi.