I SEE YOU

CHAPTER 1- SPECIAL TUESDAY

"Rhea Rao!" an annoyed voice called out, jerking me out of my semi conscious day dream. My eyes shifted from the scenery outside the window to the front of the classroom only to see a lanky woman with protuberant eyes and thick rimmed glasses hanging precariously on the tip of her nose. She was glaring at me. "Y-Yes ma'm " I said nervously, straightening my posture.

" How many times do I have to tell you? Pay attention to me when I'm teaching!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry ma'm" I said in a low voice.

" No. A sorry won't do. If you do not answer my question, you will be punished" she said and crossed her arms. "Tell me, what is Pauli's exclusion principle?"

I stood up hesitantly, feeling everybody's eyes on me as I did so. I shifted my weight from one foot to another, not knowing whether I should answer. I knew the answer, but I didn't want to say it. It would just make her hate me even more.

"Well?" said my teacher.

I sighed.

"Pauli's exclusion principle states that in any particular atom, no two electrons can have all the four quantum numbers identical" I said.

The class went motionless for a moment and I noticed my best-friend Nikki who was sitting beside me stifle a laugh. The lecturer gave me a vindictive look and I gulped. After a few seconds of eerie silence, the last period bell of the day came to my rescue, echoing through the corridors.

Almost reluctantly, the lecturer broke her stare and turned to address the class. "That's it for today's class. Work out all the problems in the back exercises. I want all 40 books on my table tomorrow." She arranged her books into a pile and walked out of the class.

I sighed, relieved. Chemistry had always been my least favourite of all subjects and hence it was always a herculean task for me to pay attention in class, which didn't exactly endear me to chemistry teachers . But what made them hate me was that I could always answer their questions even without listening to their lectures. I smiled smugly to myself. What they didn't know was that I was always three chapters ahead of them.

"Nerd" said my best friend Nikki laughing as I sat down. She was petite with a wheatish complexion and adorable round brown eyes. Her hair cascaded down till her shoulders in waves and framed her pretty face perfectly.

" Shut up" I said crossly. I didn't like it when people called me that, though I was pretty sure I was one.

I shoved my books into my bag and zipped it closed. Nikki and I walked out the classroom and made our way into the hallway that was now crowded with students that had poured out of their classrooms. After a while, we reached the entrance of the high school block and I found a good-looking, tall, dusky guy wearing a blue T-shirt and ripped jeans waiting for me.

"Hi,Vicky" I said and he grinned. When his eyes moved from mine and met Nikki's, they both greeted each other with scowls.

One of the worst things ever was to have two best friends that absolutely hated each other.

Vicky had been my neighbour ever since we were in diapers and we always walked or rode our bikes to school and back together every day.He was one of the only people I could be myself around and he was also the only person that knew how much of a tomboy I was. We had so much in common that I could actually relate to him better than any other girl of my age. We also shared our love for horror and crime fiction and went to the movies together every now and then.

My relationship with Nikki was totally different. I'd met her only two years ago and on our very first meeting, we just clicked. Though we were completely different people, we always loved each other's company and I always turned to her for advice when in trouble. We shared our deepest darkest secrets and knew each other inside out.