"... And this is the last question for the day. What is Aniline, draw its skeletal structure."

Man... this is so boring… 

It was the last period before lunch break - The Chemistry class.

I looked at my righ- "Oh, my-"

Debu, my bench partner, was totally drooling on my notebook.

Wasn’t he responsible for taking the ball for his team today…? Whatever - Not that I care.

Bell Rings

Ahh, finally…

I sighed and leaned back on the wall.

Nothing interesting really happens nowadays. Although that is kind of expected when your “life deciding examination”  is near.

“Huh…?”

“Good Afternoon” 

“Did I fall asleep… Wait, is it lunch break already?”

Debu sprang up on his seat with a confused look on his face.

“...Thanks for swapping with me, Diti.”

This guy is at it again... dunno what he’s trying to achieve, but some sort of red string has tied him to an eternal rivalry with Debu, for no reason whatsoever. Oh wai- red string sounded so weird there, sorry, my bad.

He thanked his bench partner - Diti for allowing him to swap positions with her.

“So, today it’s finally my win” he exclaimed with a smiling imp expression “I defeated you; You are done!”

This guy is none but Ipsit, who rushes out every lunch break to issue the only soccer ball available for each class for his friends so that Debu and his friends remain deprived. However, that attempt - has always just been an attempt. 

He will never grow up. 

I can vouch for that.

“I see…” 

Me and Diti both averted our glance towards Debu.

“... I have disappointed my team!”

Ipsit was already halfway towards the exit and there was no possible way to stop him unless someone-

“Sir, didn’t he have five sheets of homework from the previous day; what about that?”

Whoa… Perfect timing!

“Oh yes, it had almost slipped my mind; Thank you for reminding me”

The person who asked that question was Diti.

Although Ipsit got kind of framed, it was just the kind of handicap Debu needed at that moment.

Ipsit stopped in his position trying to figure out the situation.

“Everyone…! Submit your homework here on the desk and then leave.”

Debu took out the notebooks from his bag in an instant and rushed towards the teacher’s desk.

"He he..."

Debu smiled as he passed by Ipsit, who was now in complete awe.

“Thanks Diti...”

A happy ending for Debu, a usual one for Ipsit and…

I looked at Diti’s face.

She was smiling back at Debu.

… a good one for her?

Having lost, Ipsit dragged his feet back to his desk for taking out the notebooks.

“Diti…”

“Hmm?”

"Why did you do that?"

"Hmm?"

“Nothing, here- submit mine too”

I kept my notebook on her lap.

“Lazy fool…” she replied, after processing my request for a moment… 

“Thanks”

She took all the notebooks and left.

Little things like these certainly makes living a little more enjoyable...

I made a cushion with my hands and kept my head on it.

It was technically the winter season but it didn’t feel like that at all. Although the intense summer heat was gone, the humidity remained…

Moreover when something constantly weighs you down you lose all interest in doing anything. That weighing factor was the approaching 10th grade board examinations in my case.

It’s kind of a mystery to me how most of the students are able to stay so positive against the approaching danger. 

Is it all just acting? 

Maybe who knows...

This situation is kind of like a curse constantly haunting you all day leaving you irritated and disturbed psychologically.

“Bhai…”

My senses glitched back to reality.

Someone, with a not so familiar voice, poked me.

I slowly looked up, re-adjusting my posture as much as I could to not hinder my resting phase.

“Are you (even) awake?”

“Hmm... What is it?”

The person standing beside my desk was Dhruba, Dhruba Kumar Singha.

“Bhai, please show me how to do it - I have not gotten to the helm of this problem for an hour now…”

Huh?

“Wait, wait, wait - Why me?”

This is wierd…

What is this guy even talking about? Like how does he even know me, it is like the first time I am talking to him in this whole year...

He pointed towards two girls standing a bench apart talking excitedly about something.

“...What a creepy weird pervert, looking at all kinds of places in the pretext of understanding problems”

“Oh, I didn’t know…”

I looked back at him

“The girls are not showing…”

“Wh- What do you even want them to show…!?”, I asked in a flustered manner after adding up whatever I could make out of the situation.

“THiS Freaking SUM!”

“Come Sit.”