Nandini walked through the rows of benches in the empty classroom till she reached the one at the end, the only one which didn't have a bag on it. She kept hers on the desk and with the last bit of energy left in her tired bones, she slumped on the seat. What was she doing here, and what was she going to do in the exam, apart from staring blankly at the rest of the class, writing away furiously in their respective papers. Why had her principal called at her home and coaxed, no not coaxed but literally forced Amms into sending her for the Annual exams when both of them knew that she was going to fail. Nothing and no one could change that and for once, Nandini was not bothered.
Yes, Nandini Murty, who was loathed by the rest of her class for topping every year was not scared of failing her class XI final exams. Because, she had recently experienced bigger upsets, well a little bigger than just upsets actually....one of those life altering experiences that divides your life into pre and post-it.
She had lost both of her parents in an accident, less than 2 months ago!
Her eyes were beginning to cloud, for the millionth time. She knew her tears won't leave her so soon and that's why she had intentionally arrived late, to avoid walking into a class full of people with a swollen face and bloodshot eyes. Atleast this way, she could take some time to settle down till her classmates returned from the assembly. But it seemed, God wasn't willing to grant her even those few minutes of melancholy for she heard thumping footsteps coming her way. She didn't raise her head to see who it was. She couldn't care less.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The footsteps got louder and louder till they stopped abruptly, very close to her. She heard a thud on the desk as whoever it was had dumped his/her bag. She moved her eyes slightly up to see the bag and immediately she knew who it was.
She knew that bag, just as well, as she knew her name. She knew it well enough to recognize it even with blurred vision. How could she not, when, for as long as she could remember, she had been eyeing that one bag...the black and red Nike backpack.....Because.... it belonged to him, the pied piper of her class, the guy who could get any girl to dance on his tunes, the guy who was the rockstar of her school, the guy whom every single teacher and every child from class 1 to class 12 knew by face, that bag belonged to THE MANIK MALHOTRA.
She raised her eyes further to look at him. What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be in the assembly with his buddies, the famous FAB5? Why had he kept his bag on her desk? would he not spare her even today?
Their eyes locked, for a lingering extra second. It could have been her imagination, but she thought she saw a questioning expression bordering on concern. She was expecting the usual anger or mockery in his eyes and she did find them eventually, but perhaps a tiny second too late.
"And here you are drama queen, look at you, you have started crying first thing in the morning? Don't you have anything better to do? God! why did I even see her face, now my whole day would be a big mess!" No, she had been wrong. He would always be the bullying monster that he was. He would never stop ridiculing her, no matter how distressed she were. The hint of concern she thought she had seen was exclusively her imagination.
