“Roll No.3 , Roll No. 3,” the teacher shouted, her voice cutting through the morning hush like a rooster announcing the dawn.
“Yes ma'am . Present .” came a breathless voice from the back door.
Heads turned to find Divangshi standing there, panting heavily, her cheeks flushed as if she'd just sprinted a marathon. The teacher raised an eyebrow, catching sight of her disheveled student.
“Divangshi !” the teacher sighed, “I told you a thousand times , you don't have to run every day.Your friends can mark you present . Now come in , have some water, and calm down.”
Divangshi , still catching her breath , rolled her eyes in playful defiance “As if I can trust these buffoons to even remember their own attendance, let alone mine,” she thought , the corner of her lips quirking up an amused smirk.
As she made her way to her desk, she unscrewed her water bottle and nudged Maisha, who sat next to her, to remind her that roll call was still on.
“Maisha, seriously. If you don't answer the first time from next day , I swear I'll make sure to mark you absent.” the teacher warned.
“But , ma'am....” Maisha's protest died down as she exchanged a mischievous grin with Dibya and Divangshi. A soft giggle rippled between them like a shared secret.
“Alright ,alright .” the teacher said, turning back to the blackboard. “First period today is chemistry , and we are starting with the mole concept ”
The scraping of chalk on the blackboard echoed through the room, but the serene moment didn’t last. A tentative knock at the door interrupted the flow.
“Excuse me , ma'am...” a soft voice floated from the corridor.
Divangshi’s heart skipped several beats, and her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red as she turned to see Hamza standing outside the door. Her lips instinctively curved into a soft smile, the kind she reserved for moments that caught her off guard.
Unaware of Divangshi's momentary daze, Maisha leaned over to Dibya. “Dibu , don't you think Adil should know what's happening? His best friend's got quite the crush, after all , ” she whispered, eyes darting toward Divangshi and Hamza.
“Oh , absolutely !” Dibya grinned. “Adil bhai should definitely be clued in . “His best friend is crushing hard over someone. We can't keep this a secret!”
The last words pulled Divangshi back to reality. “Wait , crushing? Who? On whom? And why don't I know about this?” she asked, her eyes widening with curiosity, her heart still fluttering from her earlier encounter with Hamza.
Before either of her friends could answer, the teacher’s voice broke through the gossip.
“Divangshi! ” she called, “note down the names of the boys Hamza just gave and make sure they submit their Physics and Chemistry worksheets by tomorrow. ”
“Sure , ma'am ” Divangshi replied, pulling out her notebook and pen, grateful for the distraction but still feeling her pulse quicken whenever Hamza’s name was mentioned.
As Hamza listed off names, the boys’ football practice outside caught her eye. It didn’t help that every time Hamza’s name was called, her heart raced like it was in a sprint of its own. Concentrating during the next few periods felt like an uphill battle, her mind split between Chemistry equations and the boy running drills on the field.
---
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the school day ended. Dragging her feet home, Divangshi collapsed on her bed, exhaustion and excitement swirling in equal parts. She had barely turned on her phone when a notification lit up the screen.
1 new message from __Hamza__007
Her heart thudded in her chest. “Hamza? Messaging me? May be by mistake...”
With trembling fingers, she tapped the notification open.
“Hey! Can you do me a favour? ” read the message.
Divangshi’s mind raced. “A favour? What could he possibly need from me?” she thought
“Yeah ,sure! If I can I'll surely help.” she typed back, feeling the uncertainty gnawing at her.
Seconds later, her phone pinged again. “Actually, your classmates are a bit scared to ask you , but they really need help with those worksheets from this morning. You know, for the guys playing football ? Could you help them out?”
Her eyes narrowed at the screen. Afraid to ask? My own classmates? She shot back a reply, her irritation barely masked by the text.
“Hm ,sure.”
Almost immediately, another message popped up. “Do you say anything other than ' yeah,sure ' and 'hm,sure ',😕"
Divangshi blinked, momentarily thrown off by his teasing tone. “Wait , sorry ,what?” she typed, confused.
“Nothing serious. Just kidding. ” Hamza replied, adding a light-hearted emoji. “By the way, I heard your dance competition's coming up. You ready for it?”
She frowned at her screen. *He knows about the competition.*
“I guess I'm ready. Practices are on. Let's see what happens 😥” she replied with a sigh, the weight of the competition looming over her.
His next message caught her off guard. “Don't worry , you're gonna kill it , just the way you've been doing since childhood .”
A strange warmth spread through her. *He knows I’ve been dancing since childhood?* She hadn’t expected that.
“Thanks, that means a lot,” she typed, her fingers pausing for a moment before hitting send.
Hamza’s response came almost immediately. “We don't thank our friends ,do we? And I guess we're friends , right? ”
Divangshi nearly dropped her phone in shock. Friends? Her heart leaped in excitement. Acting as nonchalantly as she could, she replied, “I don't usually reject friendship offers , and if you are offering, there's no way am saying no. So yeah , friends .”
The moment she hit send, she dropped her phone on the bed and leaped to her feet, doing a little victory dance in the middle of her room. Her heart raced with excitement as she whispered to herself,
"Divangshi and Hamza. ... Are friends now!!!”
