One Cuppa Chai

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Chapter 12

Dethroned from the Pinnacle of Coolness

When I had enrolled for PE classes the other day, most lethargically if I might add, I'd signed my death warrant.

General Health PE was not as flowery as it sounded. At first, I was perfectly relaxed during the warm-up, doing little skips and torso openers when the instructor called a girl up in the front. She puffed in her stomach and bent down to touch her toes.

Pfft. Of course, I can do that! And then considering that I was sporting these spongy, lovable sports sneakers which were cushioning my feet delicately-

That was when the girl began to twist into agonising shapes. I blinked at Elastigirl, frozen into solid ice when the instructor gave a piercing whistle from behind.

"You, with that checked shirt, get a move on!" She hollered.

I didn't need to turn back to confirm that she'd just singled me out. I was the only one, standing as erect as the Statue of Liberty among the herd of students. I quickly ducked down to the floor with a huff, struggling to pull my hips up with a grunt of a wounded tiger.

To my comfort, a few other students struggling with the postures, but seem to be faring better than me. I dragged my knee over the ground and up into the air."One, two, three, four...Keep going!" The lady barked.

After a few more minutes of similar strenuous torture, she'd let us go... For a water break!

Soul rejuvenation drink, more like.

A change of clothes later, we had lunch which I was ever so grateful for. My box of dry lemon rice tasted like manna from heaven after that ordeal. I scooped a spoonful for a humongous bite while one of the girls beside me dragged her chair over to the side noisily. Since I basically stuck like a wad of gum to Isha, inadvertently I befriended people she had already been acquainted with in class.

There was nothing to complain about.

They were last-benchers and shared some of their sumptuous goodies with me. Lunchboxes were being swapped and chatter growing more absurdly louder. I chewed on another spoon of my food quietly. I was fine with the chatter while I was all by myself with this one nice kid but then now that the population had multiplied, I didn't think I had much to add to the conversation.

"So," One of the girls began, stabbing her upma with a spoon, "how many singles here?"I recognized her from the previous day of inconsequential chatter. But what was her name? Kaila? Kesha? Kasturibai?

"Please Kavya," her friend muttered, "It's so overrated to spin around with one guy, I just find it so cliche that--"Now that she'd confirmed that she was a bland, lonely girl, she was brushed past.

"What about you?" Kavya asked Isha with a smug simper.

"Oh, god no, have never been in a relationship," She replied flatly, "But you guys tell me if there's anything juicy I need to know."

"You, NO WAY. You don't look single at all," The interrogator continued, "I mean look at you! Come on!"

Yes, use reverse psychology on her and squeeze the truth out.

I half-enjoyed the drama, looking from person to person. Isha simply rolled her eyes.

I didn't like Kavya now, that she was prodding people to spit out their personal stuff in a few days of acquaintance. She was literally probing everyone like a private detective.

But of course, now that this topic was brought up, one brave girl with a mousy frame pulled a picture from her wallet, which went around in circulation with a few whistles and murmurs. The picture was passed on to me and I grabbed it, hoping to see an innocent passport picture of a young man.