our wounded heartbeat

7-

AUTHOR'S POV

The low hum of Ms. Sharma's voice usually had a soothing effect on Sakina. Today, however, it was doing little to calm the storm brewing in her stomach. The history lecture, usually a welcome escape into tales of ancient empires and courageous leaders, felt like a slow march towards a cliff edge. Sakina doodled absentmindedly in her notebook, transforming the stoic face of Ashoka the Great into a cartoonishly grumpy one. Anything was preferable to actually absorbing the details of the Kalinga War.

Just as her patience was about to snap, the blessed, glorious bell rang. A collective sigh of relief swept through the classroom as students began packing their bags with almost indecent haste. Relief, however, was short-lived.

"Alright, class, just a moment," Ms. Sharma announced, her voice cutting through the rising tide of chatter. "Before you rush off to the canteen, I have an important announcement."

Sakina groaned inwardly. An announcement? Now? This was a violation of unwritten student law. The bell was a sacred boundary, a guarantee of freedom from academic pronouncements. Whatever could be so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?

Ms. Sharma cleared her throat, adjusting her spectacles. "Next week," she began, her voice taking on a slightly more serious tone, "we will be holding the half-yearly examinations."

The air in the room seemed to thicken. A silence, thick with dread and resignation, descended. Sakina felt a cold wave wash over her. Half-yearly exams. The bane of her existence. The week-long torture that threatened to suck all the joy out of her existence.

Sakina slammed her hands lightly on her head, a gesture of theatrical despair. "No, no, no," she muttered under her breath. The other students were reacting in various ways.....some were whispering nervously, others were exchanging glances of shared misery, and a few, the unnervingly diligent ones, were probably already mentally outlining their study schedules.

Sakina belonged to a different category altogethe the category of students who approached exams with a mixture of apathy and existential dread. Studying felt like a monumental chore, a form of self-inflicted torture. She preferred spending her time reading novels, sketching in her notebook, or engaging in witty banter, even if it often involved her arch-nemesis (or was he a friend?), Kamran.

Gathering her books with a sigh, Sakina joined the exodus from the classroom. The canteen, usually a place of refuge and culinary delight, now felt like a battlefield awaiting her The thought of spending the next week buried under textbooks filled her with a deep sense of foreboding

The canteen was a cacophony of noise and smells. The aroma of samosas, fried noodles, and questionable gravy hung heavy in the air, mingling with the boisterous chatter of students eager to escape the confines of the classroom. Sakina usually loved the chaos, the sense of freedom and camaraderie that permeated the space. Today, however, it felt overwhelming, an assault on her already frayed nerves.

She navigated the crowded room, her eyes scanning for her usual table. It wasn't exactly her table, but it was the one she and her friends generally congregated at. It was strategically located near the window, offering a decent view of the school grounds, and far enough away from the notoriously messy "senior boys" corner.

As she rounded the corner, her heart sank. Occupied. And not just by anyone.

Sitting sprawled across her table, as if he owned the entire canteen, was Kamran. Kamran, the bane of her existence. Kamran, the king of sarcasm. Kamran, the infuriatingly charming senior who seemed to take immense pleasure in disrupting her peace.

This was not how she envisioned her lunch break.

He was leaning back in his chair, his long legs stretched out, blocking access to the table. He was engrossed in a conversation with one of his friends, punctuating his sentences with dramatic gestures. He hadn't even noticed her.