The Urban Chronicle ✔

1: It all started with detention

"Tara wake up! How many times have I told you not to sleep in the bathroom!" shouted Tvisha, "I need to go, and it's urgent so get out right now!"

I woke up with a start and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I checked my watch and realized that I had spent the last forty-five minutes sleeping in the bathroom. Oops!

"Shut up Tvisha!" I shouted back. I wanted to spend some more time inside just to annoy her but I just wasn't in a mood to today.

I opened the door and walked out smiling brightly at her, and said, "Good morning! Isn't the weather just perfect! "

She glared at me in response and shut the bathroom door with a bang.

Well I'm Tara Bose. Sleeping in the bathroom is just one of my superb qualities that annoy my dorm-mate and best friend, Tvisha Kabra. Besides being a very loyal and sweet friend, Tvisha is one of the best athletes in school. She hates the fact that I read a lot and that I top the class in almost all the subjects. She and I are quite opposite but maybe that's why we get along so well. After all one of the laws of magnetism states that unlike poles attract.

We go to a boarding school for girls and boys located on one of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is the best school in India and only the best get into it. Everyone here is excellent at something. The school is beautiful- it's built on a cliff overlooking the sea. The island is pretty small; the only sign of civilization is the school. The rest of the island is covered with dense forest, beaches, hidden coves and a few acres of agricultural land where some fruits and vegetables are grown for the school.

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We were already late for breakfast which we decided to skip, and that was the start of the week ahead of us. If we didn't reach the first class of the day in the next five minutes we were sure to get detention.

We half walked, half ran to the cafeteria to grab a bite before class. On the way I realized that I had forgotten my history homework, which was due today. I told Tvisha to carry on and that I would join her in the twinkling of an eye. I ran back to the dormitory.

Usually, I was never late for anything and I hate breaking school rules. But I could not ruin my reputation of a responsible and intelligent girl by forgetting my homework. On reaching the dormitory, I grabbed my homework, checked my hair in the mirror quickly and left. I checked my watch- shit! It was almost eight- forty five, class would start in thirty seconds.

I started running- I didn't want to be scolded for being late for the first class of the week. On the way, the clumsy person that I am, I tripped on my own feet and fell down. Someone chuckled behind me. I quickly got up, straightened my dress and looked behind.

In front of me stood Neel, the most popular guy in my grade, star athlete and almost as good as me in academics.

He smirked at me and said, "Can't run can you?"

I glared at him. "Well, don't you have anything better to say? A normal person would have come and helped me. Oh right, you are a downright mean, arrogant pumpkinhead. Aren't you." I retorted.

He glared back at me but said nothing. "Besides, aren't you late for class?" I said.

He replied by saying, "Do you work at a call center?"

"No." I said unable to think of anything else to say.

"Then stop wasting my time!" And with that he walked away.

"Oh so I'm the one wasting your time? You're the one who started it!"

He was about to respond with another scathing remark, when our came out of the staff room and shouted at us. He said to us in a very soft, crisp and intimidating voice, "Ms. Bose and Mr. Malhotra, why are you late for class? And if I'm not wrong, Ms. Bose you are known to have never broken school rules."