Anything for you

Part Two :: I'm an idiot.

There stood my sister in all her Sam-like glory, beaming at our schoolmates like a Goddess looking down at all her devotees.

The audacity of her clothes was what had shocked me. It was surprising, even by ‘Sam standards’. A black skirt which was – even short would be an understatement. She’d paired it with a semi-transparent top (I hope I can call it that), her neon pink Victoria’s Secret bra very visible underneath it. Innumerable jewellery pieces hung down her slender neck and she hadn't bothered to comb her hair (which, I noticed, she'd colored).

“Samantha Marie Jones” I pulled her aside and hissed.

“What?”

“You’ve walked into school in a semi-naked state and you’re asking me what?”

“Hey” Sam pretended being hurt “Relax, Shan. We’re late for class, remember? Let’s go” she started dragging me towards the Math Room but we were soon separated by swarms of my sister’s devotees.

I sighed in relief when I managed to reach the comforts of the Math Room but soon realized that I had thirty odd pairs of eyes staring at me, led by Mr. Venkatraman, our Math teacher who was standing in the front, supervising the test which, I realized, had already started.

“I.. um.. well.. actually” I found myself fumbling for words when Sam barged in and even Mr. Venkatraman’s expressions changed (probably for the first time in the two years that he’d been teaching us).

“Sorry I’m – we’re – late” Sam said and pulled me towards our usual seats without bothering to wait for a reply.

“What’s the test about?” she asked me. I shrugged. I had spent the weekend studying the only chapter of my course that I hadn’t studied properly – Trigonometry. I wasn’t worried about the test because I’d completed the course well in advance. Actually, I’d completed the Class 12th course last year, when I was in Class 11th, itself.

“Whatever. You know the drill” Sam said to me when Mr. Venkatraman handed us our question papers and answer sheets.

‘The drill’ was that I would keep passing on my answer sheets to Sam as I filled them one by one and she would copy the answers down on her paper and return me my sheets.

The test was on Calculus. Easy.

I completed it in twenty minutes and passed on the sheet to my sister and waited for her to finish.

“Can I come inside, sir?” I heard a male voice and looked up to see who it was. It was a boy, probably a new admission – tall, little bit of stubble, light complexioned and his ruffled hair added to the boyish charm.

I heard the girls of my class sigh collectively as he walked inside, his stride confident. I wanted to keep looking at him but I needed my sheets back.

Did I just say I wanted to keep looking at him? What? No.

I signaled to Sam, asking for my papers. She returned them immediately. Before I could marvel at how quickly Sam had copied all the answers down, I heard the bell ring. I handed my sheet to Mr. Venkatraman and went to Sam.

“New guy!” she said, excitedly.

New men were like new challenges for Samantha. Well.

“Huh?”

“Hello! The new boy, Shan. The one who entered. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. Look. Look there” I followed her gaze and saw the new guy standing in the middle of the crowd, laughing. I simply nodded. Sam continued.

“His name is Rohan and he’s not one of those cute guys who have pea-sized brains. He’s here on scholarship, can you beat that?”

Getting admission in Rockfield High was difficult. But getting admitted on scholarship was a different thing altogether. Every year, our management committee chose five students and funded their education. But these five students had to be perfect. Hard-working, active participants in every activity – academics, sports, co-curriculars – everything.