"Come along," she said. "We'll finish our lesson later."
The class whooped and Rashid was the loudest, of course. He has a very loud voice. I mean,no matter how much I tell him to talk in a low voice, he just can't and he always gets us into trouble.
Today was no exception. Our teacher had separated our seats in class so that Rashid sat in far most corner at the back. We could still talk through eyes though but you can't really high five your best friend or slap him if he's sitting at a two metres distance from you.
As soon as we got into line, we began talking our faces off: jokes we didn't have the chance to share in class, a boy whose pant was belted way too high up his waist, our Biology teacher's new haircut... Everything that had been on out minds since the beginning of this day.
I didn't even realize where we were going and we ended up in the auditorium. Health class... Great!
Not that I hate health class. No one ever really listens to what the chief has to say anyway. Its a great time pass but I don't know, I was expecting something better maybe.
We took out seats in the auditorium and I tripped our House Captain. He's a real shot. Rashid burst into fits of laughter and I had my fist in my mouth, trying to act all cool so the House Captain wouldn't spot me. He didn't but out Biology teacher caught Rashid and dragged him away to stand against the wall. This boy had gotten into trouble yet again.
I glanced at the teacher to make sure she wasn't looking and then turned towards Rashid. I pointed at him and laughed dramatically. You know that fake soundless laugh to mock someone? That, exactly.
He showed me his middle finger so I showed him mine too. And that's just the way we best friends are.
The crowd settled down and the chief began his address in his monotonous voice
B-O-R-I-N-G
I glanced at Rashid again but he was looking somewhere else.I turned around again and tried to settle myself in a comfortable position. I sighed. These health classes last for what feels like days and it's no fun attending them without Rashid by my side. Yeah, there were other boys sitting on either side of me but they were talking among themselves and even if they weren't, I'm just not the type to strike up a conversation with a random person. That's Rashid'd thing.
A few minutes later, I heard banging somewhere nearby. Finally! Something fun! I started banging the floor with my feet too and soon enough, every boy in my row was banging the floor at a steady rhythm. Our Bio teacher came striding in our direction, much like a tail-less lizard and that was when we all heard a bang that was way too loud to be a 9-grader's foot or even a door shutting close. Everyone froze and one by one, all eyes turned towards the exit door.
A chill through my spine, a sudden jolt to my heart and the door was ripped off its hinges.
The chief dived from the stage, someone yelled, gunshots were fired and kids Lau on the floor, whether dead or to save themselves from the bullets, I did not know. I stayed glued to my seat.
Terrorists. Fire. Guns. Blood. It was simple. We were under attack. So why was it so hard to process?
Something welled up inside me: a yell. I felt it spread from my stomach to my fingertips, my toes, my mouth and I sprang up from my seat, yelling my head off and running, stumbling, regaining my balance and running again towards the door we had entered the auditorium from.
Halfway through my streak, I realized that I had not just yelled. I had yelled out Rashid's name. I called out to him again, my head practically spinning on my neck as I searched the mass of crisp white shirts turned crimson; for any sign of my best friend.
A boy flying over the maroon auditorium seats caught my attention.
Flying?
No, not flying. It was Rashid! Rashid jumping from seat to seat and he had seen me too.
Our eyes met for a split second and we both knew what we had to do. We both ran, or rather skidded, towards the storage room at the edge of the auditorium. Knowing that Rashid was with me had put a new sense of courage in my thumping veins and I really believed that we would make it.
Rashid got there first and I was just seven metres behind. He had his hand outstretched for me to grab.
Six metres...
Five...
Rashid's body jolted as if he had been electrified but he didn't fall.
I stopped running.
Boys pushed past me but I didn't move. Together, our eyes turned to rest at Rashid's chest and then at each other.
His usual light brown eyes were misty and distant, his pupils so wide, they hid the color of his eyes so that it was just a black cave inside a larger, white one.
It was painful, so painful. As if something sharp had gone through my heart, ripping it apart. I never knew the expression "bleeding heart" until I felt it. It sucks away your breath, causes your saliva to stick to your throat, forms lumps there so you find it hard to breathe. It's just an expression and yet, it felt so real, so... Wet.
Almost involuntarily, I looked down at my shirt and saw that the part about something ripping through my heart was, indeed, true.
Rashid felt to the ground and I did too, though I did not know why. Everything was a blur but I kept my eyes on my best friend and he did not leave my stare either. I knew he would die first... He was already fading away...
"You guys do everything together," Maham said as Rashid and I sunk our teeth into our corns.
"Hmm?" We said together and then burst into laughter so that my sloppy corn flew out of my mouth but Rashid was not one to let go of his food so easily. He tried to swallow the bite he had taken and ended up choking. I slapped him hard on his back. Now it was Maham's turn to laugh her face off.
I paid the 'challi wala' 50 Rupees for our corns and joined Maham in humiliating Rashid.
"It's true," Rashid said after a while.
"What is?" I asked.
"That we do everything together."
"Yeah, we were born on the same day too."
"That's not true," Maham intervened.
"And we went to school together on our first day," Rashid continued.
"And our first prank," I added.
"We laugh together..."
"And choke on corn at the same time," Maham tried to joke. It was lame.
I laughed anyway but stopped when I saw Rashid eyeing me. I pursed my lips to drop a hint to him, telling him to keep his mouth shut.
Okay! I liked Maham and Rashid was the only one who knew about it but he had promised to keep it a secret.
"You guys will probably get married to the same girl too," Maham scoffed.
"Not to the same girl but definitely on the same day," Rashid replied and winked at me.
My eyes widened and I had to stop myself from slapping the dumb-ass on his head. Then, I tried to carry on the joke.
"And Rashid Junior and Salman Junior will be born on the same day," I said.
They both laughed at this.
"And we'll die together," Rashid said.
"And have our funerals together," I added.
"Then we'll be lowered into our graves together."
"Don't you dare mess up the timings Maham!"
"You guys are crazy," Maham rolled her eyes.
"And we're also best friends," we said together.
I didn't know...
But No, I could not watch Rashid die first. We were supposed to do everything together.
So when Rashid closed his eyes, I closed mine too.
Something hard collided with my side, a shoe. I sensed someone trip over me and fall. But when I tried to open my eyes, I couldn't.
